The Scratching Shed

This week, with Ryan still away on his holidays I caught up with Millwall fan, Neil for a look ahead to tomorrow’s fixture at Elland Road.

TSS - It seems you’ve started the new campaign with all guns blazing. Is this a better start than you expected or did you expect to surprise a few people? More importantly, is it sustainable?

Neil – I laughed when people had us down as relegation fodder. We’d have won the league had we not had almost an entire side out injured for the first part of last season. Our record against the top sides last season was terrific and I had no doubt we’d make the step up and be competitive. I didn’t quite expect us to trounce City 3-0 at Ashton Gate and beat Hull 4-0 at The Den mind.

Read the rest of this entry →

This week the usual author of ‘Interview with an away fan’ (Ryan) is away on holiday, so I caught up with Rish Baruah from Nottingham Forest fan site EighteenSixtyFive.co.uk, for a look ahead to our first away game of the season at the City Ground.

TSS – After a long summer of World Cup disappointment, I bet you’re glad to be back at City Ground for the first home game of 2010-11?

Rish – Well, sort of – obviously there is nothing to beat the excitement of seeing your team walk out for the first home game of the season, but it has been an underwhelming summer in the transfer market with one player leaving permanently and two on six-month loans, and only young Ryan Bertrand coming in on a six-month loan. It makes our paper-thin squad look positively transparent.

Read the rest of this entry →

Lincoln City visit Elland Road tomorrow night for the first round of the 2010-11 League Cup. With almost half a century since the last time the two teams met, The Scratching Shed is joined by Grace Storr for a low-down on the visitors.

Ryan – Its 49 years since we last met in a competitive game. Are you looking forward to playing the mighty whites?

Grace – Of course we’re all looking forward to it! Definitely one of the best draws we could have got! Obviously being 19 I’ve never seen City play Leeds so I’m very excited to get to Elland Road!

Read the rest of this entry →

TSS welcomes Ryan to the team who will be running the ‘Interview with an away fan’ feature I occasionally did last season. With just two days to go before Derby County visit Elland Road for opening day, we’re joined by Derby fan, Daniel Warrick.

Ryan – Hi Daniel, after England’s dismal display at the World Cup I bet you’re as eager for me for the new football season to get underway. Every Leeds fan I know can’t wait for it to start, how do you think both teams will fare?

Daniel - I think for Leeds the aim should be more than just surviving in the league this season but this should be a starting point and be used to build on and see where you end up.  A large amount of your points will come from your home games with a passionate home crowd behind you but hopefully gaining confidence and momentum you can use this to pick up valuable points on the road too.

Read the rest of this entry →

Since I’ve decided match previews are about as interesting as watching people sleep on E4′s night time coverage of Celebrity Big Brother, the ‘Interview with an away fan’ series I’ve randomly done will serve as a direct replacement.

This week, with Wycombe the visitors to Elland Road on Saturday (assuming enough people can figure out how to drive in the snow) we’re joined be the co-editor of Wycombe Wanderers fan site, SMBU for what has to be one of the most entertaining interviews to date. 

TSS - Hi SMBU, thanks for taking the time to talk to TSS. Wycombe’s current form leaves a lot of space for improvement with four losses and one draw in your last five games. Not the best time to visit Elland Road, is it?

SMBU - There’s not really been a good time to visit anywhere this season. We’ve looked ill-prepared for the campaign from the opening day and though League One is seen by most Wycombe fans as our natural level, we’ve looked like League Two tourists on a minibus with bring-your-own binoculars most of the time. Obviously the trip to Elland Road was the one everyone sought out in June but while we probably thought you’d be top, I don’t think anyone thought we’d be so marooned in the mire come January.

TSS - Our top-goalscorer Jermaine Beckford revealed he wanted to leave this week and has submitted a transfer request to the club. This hasn’t gone down well with the fans of Leeds United and the chances of him playing Saturday are slim at best. Do you think that’s a good thing for Wycombe, or are you worried a defiant Leeds will go out intent on proving they can win this league without him?

SMBU - There’s nothing worse than a talented but grumpy wantaway striker. We had the same problem with Jermaine Easter a couple of seasons ago when he wept with rage at Wycombe denying him his rightful place in the upper echelons of the Premier League. How did that go Jermaine? To be frank, I’m sure whoever Leeds bring in on Saturday will still have enough to bring mayhem and muddle to the existentially ragged Wycombe defence so don’t worry on that account. Looking from the outside, it seems disappointing that he’s willing to jump ship when you’re homing in on the title but agents need their slice of pie, especially when you’ve got the central heating on all day.

TSS - Anyone in your team that we can buy to replace Beckford’s 30 a season?

SMBU - Yeah, tell Ken to make a sensational £30m bid for our entire squad and we’ll meet him in a layby near Chesterfield.

TSS - You’ve got the wrong Ken mate. Ours doesn’t spend money! As I said in my first question, you’re not in the greatest of form at the minute and lie 23^rd in League One. Is relegation an inevitability or can you turn this round?

SMBU - A few weeks it looked like we were turning a corner but a traditionally bleak Christmas (we’ve won once on Boxing Day in 16 seasons as a league club) has dumped us back in the doom zone. Certain brands of Wycombe fan may swan about town boasting about our undersoil heating but when it only allows you to lose games that could have been postponed it’s a bit pointless. I think there are enough poor teams in the division for us to make a dramatic escape but we’ll need to strengthen in the transfer window and I don’t know whether that will happen.  

TSS - Back in 2005-06, you were riding high in the league, but everything went wrong after the sad death of young midfielder Mark Philo, and John Gorman’s (manager at the time) wife dying. 21 matches undefeated turned into 6 straight losses as Gorman took time off to grieve. Gorman was later “relieved of his duties” as the club didn’t think he was in the right state of mind to continue managing the club, despite the fact he took over Northampton a few days later. What are your feelings on this?

SMBU - That was a very odd season. Some of the football played under Gorman beggared belief, all out attack and a defence made of play-dough. The deaths were an awful & bleak interlude and to see a record unbeaten run and a record run of defeats in the same season summed up the unreal nature at the time. John Gorman is one of the nicest men in the game but he came back too early after his wife died and the club probably did the right thing, for him more than anyone. His spell at the wretched shoe-goons in Northampton showed as much. It was good to see him back in the game at QPR.

TSS – Odd seasons hey? I once had a dream that we’d appointed an idiotic chairman who went crazy and threw money at over-rated players like Michael Dubious. It resulted in us going into financial meltdown and crashing down into League One… Oh wait…

Anyway, staying with management, like Leeds, you seem to go through them quite quickly. Paul Lambert and Peter Taylor followed Gorman, and Taylor has since been replaced by Gary Waddock. Is he the right man for the job, or do you wish one of the others had stayed?

SMBU – Lambert was a good manager, and turned the players that Gorman had signed into a proper unit, as evidenced by our run to the League Cup semis (indeed, Manchester City may be chipper at the moment but we’ve still been to more domestic cup semis this century than they’ve managed in the past 30 years). Taylor should be spoken of in great terms, the first manager since Martin O’Neill to get Wycombe promoted, but the football last season was like watching battery acid run down some double glazing and there were no tears when he departed in the autumn. Gary Waddock has turned things around, in the entertainment stakes at least. Even if we go down, he should be given a chance to get us back up but modern football likes to encourage relentless change like a divorcee at a one armed bandit.

TSS - Funnily enough, the afore mentioned Duberry currently plays for Wycombe. Not someone I’m particularly keen on given his involvement in the Bowyer-Woodgate incident. It also didn’t help that we paid him a ridiculous amount of money when the fish in Ridsdale’s office were on a par in terms of usefulness. The last time I saw him, he looked a little on the heavy side; Is this still the case and how is he getting on as captain of Wycombe?

SMBU – Duberry may currently be paid by Wycombe but there’s not much chance of seeing him on Saturday. He’s done more lumbering than a Canadian truck driver this season and to say the Wycombe fans are unimpressed is an understatement. He was appointed captain based on his reputation but has shown nothing but chunky thighs and the turning circle of the Austrian naval fleet. Clubs like Wycombe should be bringing through young talent and hunting through the non-leagues for rough diamonds, not paying faded stars to bring some glamour and a carbon footprint to the training ground car park. 

TSS – Another ex-Leeds player Ian Westlake also plays for Wycombe. I met him when he was younger and was always a fan of the lad. Always thought he’d do well at Leeds, but wasn’t to be. How’s he getting on?

SMBU – Bit of a panic signing by Taylor at the end of the summer and hasn’t featured too much. Has shown some nice touches on occasion but has also looked well off the pace and injury prone, plus it’s fairly clear that Waddock is keen to get rid sooner rather than later.

TSS – That’s a shame, he’s a nice lad and the talents definitely there. Guess he’s doomed to be another ‘could have been’ though. Aside from Dubious and Westlake, what other players should we be keeping an eye on this Saturday?

SMBU – Midfielder Tommy Doherty is one of the classier players in the lower leagues though has a temper on him, while wideman Matty Phillips has come through the youth team and is showing some genuine promise. We’ve also got local lad Scott Davies on loan from Reading, a youngster who started with Wycombe as a kid before moving to Berkshire in the Nathan Tyson deal, and he’s been a step above most players in the past few months, This will probably be his penultimate game, sadly.

TSS – I’m always quite interested in what other clubs think of Leeds, especially since we were voted the most hated club in football (despite our demise). What are your feelings on us?

SMBU – I always have soft spot for any big club who slip down to the third tier, like seeing a heavyweight boxer fighting at the local carnival for candyfloss and a bus fare. We were the only team to do a league double against Man City in 98-99 but they still escaped at the first attempt. You should clamber out this time and we’ll wave you on your way. Let’s be frank, Wycombe and Leeds have no history so any Wanderers fan dishing it out is skating on thin ice. Then again, it works both ways so if you start saying that a club formed in 1887 has no history then you’re just as bad.   

TSS – A soft spot for Leeds? That could well be a first! Finally, what’s your prediction for the game?

SMBU – Leeds to cruise into an early lead before the ref abandons the game due to frost on the stanchions. 

TSS – I’d be more confident in the game being called off by frost than Leeds romping to an early lead. Even when we’re on the up I can’t help but feel the next fall is just around the corner. Years of experience taking it’s toll I guess! Thanks for taking the time to talk to TSS and best wishes for the rest of the season.

I was recently featured on The Republik of Mancunia blog answering questions in the build-up to our FA Cup clash at Old Trafford. The author of the site and lad who was putting the questions to me also agreed to do the same in return, the results of which are below.

Obviously, the temptation to try and wind him up was hard to resist, but I think he countered well throughout. 

1 ) Hi RoM, it’s been a while since we last played one another. I hear your fans have been enjoying themselves with choruses of ‘we all hate Leeds scum,’ so I take it you’re happy with the draw?

Made up about the draw. As all the teams were being picked out it became like a countdown with us two still left in it. Felt a bit like a Football Factory moment lol. I hate Liverpool more than your lot but we get to play them twice a year already, so it’ll be great for us to meet again, and hopefully, absolutely batter you.

2 ) When Ronaldo was sold for an extortionate sum of money in the summer, everyone expected Manchester United to be big spenders thereafter, but it never really happened, did it? Do you think the money was used to pay off the debt the Glaziers have burdened your club with and what are you feelings on the owners these days?

The official reason given by the manager was that the transfer market was crazy so we’d never get value for money that summer. You have to consider when Lescott is being bought for £24m, Tevez for £47m and Ribery is being quoted at £60m, it’s probably not the best time to buy! We had agreed a deal worth £30m for Benzema but then Real Madrid came in at the last minute and offered £5m more. If we matched that, they would have offered £10m more. You can’t get in to a bidding war with them. We’ll see what happens next summer I guess but of course I won’t rule out the possibility of the money being absorbed by the debt. Since the Glazers have been here, we’ve enjoyed one of our most successful eras, but that has been in spite of them, rather than because of them. The sooner they f**k off the better. The money we pay for our seasons tickets and the transfer money that come in should be for the improvement of the club, not to pay off some debt that shouldn’t belong to us. There are always rumours that someone else is ready to buy, but realistically, they would have to pay around £1billion for the Glazers to get anything out of the deal, which isn’t going to happen.

3 ) If it’s any consolation, you cheered us lot up by making our debts look pathetic in comparison. Anyway, you hit a bit of a rough patch lately with defeats at home to Villa and a battering away to Fulham. Surely a team of your stature should be able to deal with a few injuries a bit better than that?

I suppose that’s the brilliant thing about football, isn’t it? If it was all won on paper, with which team should beat another, then there would be no point playing. We’ve put ten goals past Wigan this season, whilst Chelsea lost to them 3-1. That’s why football is great because it’s so unpredictable. I’d argue that having just one fit defender, left back Evra, is more than “a few injuries”. I’ve never known anything like it. Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Wes Brown, Jonny Evans, John O’Shea, Gary Neville, Rafael and Fabio all being injured. I can’t recall a club ever being hit so badly in one position like that. One of the biggest problems with the injuries, when playing our second choice keeper and three midfielders in defence, was the issue of other players being out of position. For example, Fletcher has been one of our best performing players this season in the centre of the park, bossing the midfield, but he can’t have much of an impact on the game from right back! Carrick plays a big role with his creativity in feeding the wingers/strikers, again, something he can’t do from defence. We lost 4-1 to Liverpool at home last season with our strongest team and beat Chelsea 3-0 with a weaker team. You’ve got to make the best of what you’ve got and on your days things can go your way. Against Fulham it just wasn’t our day. You move on. We’ve scored eight goals in our two games since and conceded one (a penalty). That’s football.

4 ) Yeah, you certainly seem to be back on form now, which is a bit of worry for us with Sunday in mind. Surely it’s not just me that thought Jenson Button deserved Sports Personality of the Year? Ryan Giggs hasn’t even got a personality!

I’d argue Michael Owen and Kelly Holmes are more void of personality, if I’m honest! Didn’t stop them winning it though. It is awarded to the sportsperson “whose actions have most captured the public’s imagination”. Winning eleven league titles (three more than any other player in the history of English football), playing in his third European Cup final and being voted as the PFA Player of the Year by his peers is pretty good going. I feel bad for Button because it was the best year of his career, but did he achieve as much in 2009 as Ryan Giggs? Depends where you rank an individual sport against a team game I suppose. I couldn’t give a f**k about F1 and have worshipped Giggsy for years, so you’re asking the wrong person!

5 ) What happened to Smith being the new Roy Keane?

Whatever happened to Alan Smith being a Leeds legend who kissed your badge? Things change. He had some great games in the centre of midfield for us, namely our 1-0 victory over Chelsea who had gone 30 games unbeaten (and we had just lost 4-1 to Boro the week before!). That was some midfield too – Lampard, Essien, Makelele, Joe Cole. Essien got subbed off at half time because he didn’t get a sniff, which Mourinho commented on after the game. But he just wasn’t good enough. Worked hard and we loved him for it, but he just wasn’t good enough for United, sadly. We still haven’t found the new Keane, or the new Cantona… maybe some players just can’t be replaced.

6 ) No, we never quite replaced Cantona either (ARGH!!!) On a more personal note, I have a friend who comes from the outskirts of Liverpool and now lives in Leeds. In his entire life I don’t think he’s ever set foot in Manchester and he’s certainly never seen Manchester United play, but still calls himself a fan! That’s not a fan, is it!?

I honestly find the idea of supporting a team from someone else’s city, who you never go and see play, as weird. I can’t imagine doing that. But it’s very easy for me to say that, as a lad born and bred in Manchester. If I lived in the middle of nowhere and if my local team was sh*t, would I support them? I hope so. But I can’t preach about glory fans because my local team is Manchester United, so it’s not like it’s hard work to support them. Would you support Leeds if they had been in Division Three when you first started getting interested in football? I think it’s pretty sad for people who are glory supporters, because I don’t think they’ll ever connect with the club the way locals do with their clubs, but as for whether it makes them fans or not, I think it is more difficult to define.

7 ) Glad you agree he’s a glory hunter! I can’t see you or Arsenal overcoming Chelsea this season. Their squads enormous and full of talented players that could get a place in anyones team. They’re champions in waiting surely?   

Champions in waiting? Hardly. United have been playing without any defenders, yet Chelsea are only two points ahead of us with a goal difference better by two. I think that is shocking and if the situations were reversed I would be wondering why the f**k we hadn’t raced ahead of Chelsea. What excuse do they have for dropping so many points? No key injuries, no particularly difficult fixtures, yet their advantage is tiny. Add to that they’ve yet to come to Old Trafford, they beat us in the most ridiculous of circumstances at Stamford Bridge, we are always much stronger in the second half of the season and they are about to lose their two best players to the ACoN. Nothing is in the bag yet but I’d rather our situation than anyone elses.

8 ) Alex Ferguson is knocking on a bit now and has nothing left to achieve really. Is retirement looming, and who would you like as his successor?

Laurent Blanc and Pep Guardiola seem to be front runners at the moment. I’ve long tipped Blanc to the throne though and with every season does more to make himself a good shout. But Fergie’s got plenty of years left in him yet. Premiership managers seem to be having operations left, right and centre, but Sir Alex is fit as a fiddle and will continue to manage until his health changes. You say he has nothing left to achieve, but I think he’s always gagging for more trophies. Who wouldn’t want to win the European Cup three times? Who would want to win a twelve league titles? Thirteen? Fourteen? If you’re still capable of creating teams that will compete for honours, why on earth would you walk away from it?

9 ) Personally think Jose Mourinho will be your man. He wants to return to the Prem and I think Alex will view him as his natural successor. Moving on to the FA Cup clash. What kind of team should we expect on Sunday from Man United? Will Fergy give the youngsters and reserves a game, or will he field a full-strength side to try and avoid the kind of upset that would be a massive embarrassment for himself and your club? If he does field some reserve players or youngsters, who are the ones to watch?

We’re all hoping he fields as strong a side as possible, that will dish out a huge thrashing, but that might be wishful thinking. We’ve got a semi-final three days later and a Premiership game three days after that, so we can’t afford to be playing our strongest teams. Hopefully the Da Silva twins will get a game – proper feisty pair of Brazilians who really like getting stuck in. Darron Gibson will most likely start and he tends to score screamers (LINK). Danny Welbeck and Macheda might play up front, although I wouldnt be too surprised to see Owen start up front and maybe Welbeck on the wing. Gabriel Obertan is a really pacey winger who has won the fans over straight away, it would be good to see him play. I imagine we’ll have a strong bench though, with players like Rooney and Scholes who can come on and change a game if necessary. To be truthful though, there’s no way in predicting Ferguson’s lineups anymore.

10) Why on earth did you smash little old Barnsley up and are you worried about the potential for trouble as Leeds and Manchester United renew their rivalry?

I don’t know what it’s like in Division Three, but we have some horrible scrotes who want to get in the action on away days. Getting tickets for aways in almost impossible these days but Barnsley midweek was easy enough. So a load of them showed up, the kiosks decided it would be sensible to pull down the shutters and not serve beer to the people that had been waiting, and so stuff kicked off a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not nice, but we’ve all seen a lot worse. A bit of ketchup getting flung about and the till robbed? Hardly murder is it.

Who’s worried about what Leeds are going to do though? Have the club said something? I have no doubt your lot will run riot in the away stand, this is the biggest game you’ve played for years, so of course people will get overexcited. Then we’ll send you and the FA the bill to clean it up, just like we did after the dippers got giddy with their Munich and Shipman graffiti in their FA Cup semi in 2006.

11) I think the Police will be worried for a start. I don’t envy the task they have ahead of them! Finally, what’s your prediction for the game?

I predict Leeds players to kick us about the pitch, maybe even score, but for United to come good. It will be a good test for our younger players and I honestly hope the scoreline gets embarrassing – that is probably wishful thinking though.

Leeds can’t lose either way in my opinion. In all honesty, you should beat us given that you’re two divisions higher and have a squad full of internationals. No ones expecting us to win, so it’s no major loss if we don’t. On the other hand, if we do pull off an upset, we’ll be hailed as heroes and you’ll suffer a massive embarrassment. Should be a great occasion either way. Cheers Scott.

In the second interview with an opposition fan, TSS welcomes Rob from thefishy.co.uk as we look ahead to the Football League Trophy game tomorrow night.

TSS - Hi Rob, thanks for taking the time to talk to TSS. Looking at the League Two table, you’ve not made a great start to the season, do you think you can turn it round or is relegation inevitable?

Rob – Inevitable, no way! There’s a lot of poor teams in League Two and there’s plenty of points to pick up. We managed it last season. No doubt we will strengthen the side in January and I’m sure we’ll start to improve soon from having a new manager.

TSS – Since we’ve competed in the Football League Trophy, I’ve heard fans from a lot of clubs write it off as a pointless competition. What are your feelings on the cup?

Rob – I think it’s a brilliant competition.  Dozens of teams have played at Wembley now in the final. The final is different every year (unlike, yawn, Man Utd v Chelsea, or Man Utd v Liverpool over and over again). Last year’s final was a cracker between Luton and Scunny. Real fans attend the final too, not your suits and corpoprate types, and glory hunters from places hundreds of miles away from where the teams play. I’d watch the JPT final ahead of the FA Cup final without a moment’s hesitation.

TSS – What’s happening with the management situation? I see you’ve parted ways with Mike Newell and Neil Woods is currently running the show. Are you expecting him to be a permanent replacement, or do you have someone else lined up?

Rob - Nobody knows, including the Chairman I suspect. Neil Woods is a good Youth Team manager and has been doing that for ten years. He quite rightly is not sure whether he wants the big job. The chairman seems to be giving him every chance though by giving him a nice long spell as caretaker.

TSS – Peter Sweeney is one player that stands out in your squad as you signed him from us last season. He never really got much of a chance at Elland Road, how is he getting on at Blundell Park?

Rob – He’s a good player, probably our most skillful player, the biggest problem is his mouth. He gets booked at least every other game for dissent. He’s suspended on Saturday against Bath for 5 bookings, probably all for dissent!

TSS – Who else should we be keeping an eye on, on Tuesday?

Rob – Barry Conlon can be a real handful up front. Akpro may play alongside him, he looks a bit like Drogba and is Ivorian as well, but there the resemblance ends LOL.

TSS – Everyone seems to have an opinion on Leeds United. What are you feelings towards us?

Rob - I like to see the “big” clubs get knocked off their perches from time to time. Nobody has a god-given right to be in the top divisions. Obviously Leeds also have the added spice of being one of the big Yorkshire teams, so Grimsby fans will have a particular rivarly with them, as we do with Sheff Wed and Barnsley. It’s a shame we’re down in the lowest division as most of our biggest rivals are playing higher up now, so no doubt our supporters will make the most of the occasion to express their dislike of Leeds! We had some right battles in the 80′s!

TSS – The last time you beat Leeds United was in the Old Division Two in 1986, although the clubs have met very few times since. Do you think you can cause an upset in the Football League Trophy?

Rob – We got to the final two years ago and won loads of games against League One sides away from home. Winning over 90 minutes is going to be hard but I think we can get a draw, and win on penalties.

TSS – Finally, what’s your prediction for the game on Tuesday and who do you think will lift the Football League Trophy this season?

Rob – I predict a draw which means it will go to pens (may the best side win!). I think a League Two side will win this year. The beauty of this competition is it could be any of the teams still in it.

Best of luck to Grimsby Town for the rest of the season and thanks again to Rob for taking the time to answer the questions.

In a new addition to The Scratching Shed, I’ve decided to try and interview an opposition fan before each of our league and cup games. Hopefully it’ll provide a bit of light hearted fun and an insight into what we can expect from the forthcoming fixture.

Ahead of our FA Cup clash with Oldham Athletic and for the first outing of ‘Interview with an opposition fan’ I put my questions to Bob from the OAFC message board.

TSS – Hi Bob, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for TSS. Since Leeds United were demoted to League One, the FA Cup (and indeed all cups for that matter) have often been seen as a distraction from the primary task of getting promoted. How do Oldham Athletic fans view the competition?

Bob – Always look forward to re-living the dream shattered twice in two semi finals!

TSS – I think it’s fair to say that you’ve had a good run of results against Leeds United over the last two seasons, most notably a 2-0 victory at Elland Road last August. With that in mind, I guess you’ll be expecting a win in the FA Cup clash too?

Bob – Our team is full of injured players at the moment. Threadbare team for Saturday but we will give it a go.

TSS – Sticking with the forthcoming FA Cup tie, it’s going to be screened live from the FA’s website. I watched the England match in a sports bar in Leeds and found the viewing experience intolerable. What are your thoughts on the FA’s decision to stream the game?

Bob – Too much money is ruining the game. Theres only one way to view and that is to go to the match.

TSS – Chris Taylor is the player who I remember most from the 2-0 defeat last season, probably because he scored both the goals that day. Who else should we be keeping an eye on this weekend?

Bob – Chris is one of our many injured players. Furman is good in midfield but we are so weak that its difficult to name any threats.

TSS – After finishing in tenth place last season, I was expecting to see Oldham a little further up the table this time round. What are your expectations for this season and how do you think you’re getting along so far?

Bob – Mid table at best

TSS – I remember your current manager, Dave Penney from his time at Donny Rovers. His record at Donny is a truly remarkable one, including two promotions. Do you think he can achieve similar things at Oldham?

Bob – It will need a couple of seasons to find out.

TSS – Overall, who do you think the big winners and losers will be in League One this season? Any surprises yet to come?

Bob – I think Charlton were good when I saw them down there recently. Leeds will walk it. Tranmere will go down. No real surprises apart from Colchester.

TSS – Finally, what’s your prediction for this weekends tie?

Bob – 3-1 to Leeds but we are at our most dangerous when everyone writes us off so who knows?

Thanks to Bob for taking the time out to answer the questions and to the OAFC board for allowing me to poach someone. Next week I’ve lined up Rob who writes long established Grimsby Town website TheFishy.co.uk ahead of our JPT clash.