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LEAGUE ONE 21st FA CUP Second Round
LEAGUE CUP Second Round TOP SCORER Freddie Ladapo (19)82 Season Preview 2019-20 FourFourTwo
OLDHAM ATHLETIC PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
2019-20
SKY BET LEAGUE TWO
FFTVERDICT
23RD FFT VERDICT
1ST
In June, former Monaco manager
Laurent Banide became Oldham’s
sixth permanent boss in less than
two years. In turn, the Latics are
the 12th club he has managed in
11 years. The lack of stability is
very concerning, as are comments
from people who leave the club.There’s a lot of love for Ryan Lowe
here and the job he did in putting
together a promotion season with
Bury, settling on an attractive and
effective 3-4-1-2 formation and
blowing teams away. With Danny
Mayor, too, the Pilgrims should be
quickly returning to League One.The big talking point among the fans
is yet another summer of uncertainty
for Oldham Athletic. Our chairman’s
modus operandi leaves the supporters
well and truly scratching their heads.
It’s never dull at Boundary Park, and
sometimes you do wish for a soupçon
of normality around the place.
This season will be different because
Pete Wild – the head coach at the end
of last season, formerly the academy
coach and a lifelong Oldham fan – left
the club. In his place, we’ve appointed
Laurent Banide. “Who?” I hear you and
every Oldham fan ask. A week later
we appointed his assistant boss, one
Bouziane Benaraibi. “Who?” I hear you
all ask again...
Look out for Tom Hamer [below], who
has got bucketloads of potential and
is only 19 years of age. It would be no
surprise to see him signed by someone
higher up the food chain between now
and this time next summer. Hamer is
a solid right-back who can also play
at centre-half – and he may need to,
seeing as Oldham sold Player of the
Year George Edmundson to Rangers
and didn’t offer a new contract to his
partner at the heart of the defence,
experienced club legend Peter Clarke.
The one change I’d make to the club
would be to have player recruitment
handled not only by the chairman and
his brother, who just so happens to be
the club’s sporting director.
Save the date for both of our games
against Bradford City, our rivals from
Yorkshire. Latics fans always travel in
numbers, particularly for away games
that are closer to home, and we’ll be
there on August 17; then Bradford are
bound to bring an excellent following
to Boundary Park on February 1.
The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is
that it remains to be seen if these two
unknown Frenchmen can transform
the fortunes of our club after many
years, if not decades, in the doldrums.
We’ll finish 14th again. I expect we’ll
struggle at the start of the campaign,
recover in October and November and
slump over the Christmas period, then
reach the 50-point mark by mid-March
and tail off at the end.The big talking point among the fans
is the arrival of Ryan Lowe [below]. It
was a coup for us to get him, and an
even bigger coup for him to snap up
Danny Mayor, arguably the best player
in League Two last season.
Save the date for the Devon Derby on
March 21, against them that shall not
be named from just up the A38.
The signature local dish is the pasty.
End of. Claim to find a better baked
product and you’ll be a liar.
Our key player will be Danny Mayor.
He was a world-beater last season, so
let’s hope he can continue that form.
The best club social media account
is @ArgyleVoodoo. I don’t think you’ll
find a better user of GIFs across the
entire internet.
Our best celebrity fan is comedian
Josh Widdicombe – he’s certainly the
funniest and most high-profile. There
aren’t any bad ones. You need a sense
of humour and a serious amount of
patience to follow Argyle.The one recommendation for away
fans is to get yourselves to the top of
Plymouth Hoe for one of the country’s
best sea views (not that I’m biased).
Did you know that we’re an integral
part of Fans Reunited. In 1997, when
Brighton were in financial meltdown,
Argyle fan Richard Vaughan – 14 at
the time – had the idea for fans from
any and every club to go to a Brighton
game, to show support and increase
funds through ticket sales. Albion fans
returned the favour in 2011 when we
almost went to the wall. Looking at
the Devonport End to see a massive
contingent of comrades clad in blue
and white, alongside supporters from
countless other clubs, highlighted the
very best side of football and proper
football fans.
The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is
that there’s an excitement about his
arrival. Lowe is known for playing an
attacking style of football, so we’re
hoping it’ll be an entertaining season!
If he left, he should be replaced by
club legend Paul Wotton [currently
at Truro City]. He’ll be our gaffer one
day – mark my words.
We’ll finish top, of course!FAn FILE
CHRIS WOOD
@WoodythedrumFAn FILE
KEITH GLEDHILL
@kgquantum