He was only being honest, what young Premier League regular wouldn’t harbour hopes of an international call up. With Ashley Cole banned there’s an opening at left back, and Baines’ form over the last two years warrants a look. That’s it, nothing more, nothing less. So how do we get from he wants to/should […]
Latics 4-0 Manchester City Saturday 21st October 2006 You’d be excused for believing that Latics didn’t show up for the game yesterday, that City merely came to the JJB, flapped about a bit and, just to really upset the travelling faithful, put 4 goals in their own net. However understandable City’s failure being a bigger […]
Latics 1-2 Manchester United Saturday 14th October 2006 For the first 15 minutes of this game Paul Jewell must have been pleased. His side looked like they finally understood what he’d been trying to tell them for the last 3 months. They pushed and pressured United in every part of the pitch, were direct without […]
After a staccato first couple of months, Saturday presents the first real chance for Latics’ new team to start to build some momentum. The six league games that Latics have featured in thus far are just the appetiser as they are followed by more than twice as many between now and the turn of the […]
Blackburn 2-1 Latics Sunday 1st October 2006 Call it bizarre if you like but my interest in form and league tables is only a recent one. Maybe it was something to do with the years of mediocrity that heralded my watching Latics on a regular basis, maybe it’s just something personal, but I’ve always tended […]
So, after a season of over achieving, you rebuild your side for the next step up. Of course the new players take time to gel, but is it ok to only have one win under you belt 5 games into the season? Am I talking about Latics? Or Blackburn, whose record after five games was […]
Latics 1-1 Watford Saturday 23rd September 2006 You’ve not had a home game for a month, it’s three weeks to go until the next one so what you don’t want is an over fussy referee, a pair of linesmen with a bet on who can flag for offside the most and two teams that aren’t […]
Everton 2-2 Latics Saturday 16th September 2006 Last season, this was the fixture that really announced Latics’ arrival in the top flight following tepid results in the first three games of this one, Paul Jewell would have been hoping for a similar effect as he took his team to Goodison to face a revitalised Everton […]
Portsmouth 1-0 Latics Saturday 9th September 2006 Last season’s games against Portsmouth told stories all by themselves. The first was all about the unknown full-back bursting his way into the big time, the second a morality tale about passion, application and survival. With no Pascal Chimbonda and with Portsmouth riding a wave of excellent form […]
Yet again the football equivalent of Christmas Eve swung into action yesterday as all across the country the carefully laid plans of managers and agents came to fruition, or alternatively every club in the land was plunged into panic as they realised that their shopping so far might not be enough to fulfill their ambitions […]