Well, here we are then, the first pre-match thread of a new season!
For most of the time since the last home game, it's been a quiet summer at Roots Hall. Very quiet actually - no new signings, no home pre-season friendlies, nobody cleaning the dressing rooms since the last home game and, until our wonderful fans showed up 6 days before the start of the season, nobody doing any work on the poor old girl that is Roots Hall Stadium.
Somehow though, mainly through the graft of generous volunteers, at the last minute we've secured a safety certificate and it's game on against Oldham Athletic - and on Tuesday 1st August we're going to start selling tickets so people other than season ticket holders can come and watch!
Saturday's visitors, Oldham Athletic, meanwhile - a year on from being taken over by local businessman Frank Rothwell - have had a more normal build up to the 2023/24 season. They have played 6 friendlies - drawing 0-0 at Hyde and 1-1 at Southport, winning 6-1 at Chorley and 2-1 at Curzon Ashton, before drawing at Barrow and finally losing their sole home friendly 3-0 to Mansfield Town.
Unlike ourselves, they've also been busy in the transfer market with manager David Unsworth securing a number of new signings including Shaun Hobson who I hope will be given a decent reception at Roots Hall this Saturday.
The Latics, the first club ever to fall from the Premiership 4 levels to the National League, are like ourselves a big club at this level and now on a firm financial footing look to be one of the favourites for promotion this season.
Of course our own pre-season campaign has been curtailed for reasons well-rehearsed elsewhere, and after the departures of Hobson, Steve Arnold, Rhys Murphy, Chris Wreh, Henry Sandat as well as a few younger squad players like Tommy Davis and Jon Benton, manager Kevin Maher has been left with a somewhat threadbare squad.
It remains to be seen whether out of contract players like Jack Bridge and Nathan Ralph can be registered to play on Saturday, and whether the rumours of Louis Lomas and Dan Mooney wanting to leave come to fruition as well. If the worst comes to the worst the starting XI may really pick itself and God-forbid anything should happen to young Collin Andeng-Ndi who is our only 'keeper.
Nevertheless, the three amigos have built an incredible team spirit at the club and hopefully the players will have been buoyed by the fans' presence to clear and clean Roots Hall on Sunday along with the messages of support left on the white board.
Admittedly there's not a wide variety of squad members to pick from, but for the first time this season who would you pick to start against Oldham and what do you predict the result will be?
(Oh - and if you try and discuss anything other than team selection on this thread, the mods. will be ruthless in deleting it!)
For most of the time since the last home game, it's been a quiet summer at Roots Hall. Very quiet actually - no new signings, no home pre-season friendlies, nobody cleaning the dressing rooms since the last home game and, until our wonderful fans showed up 6 days before the start of the season, nobody doing any work on the poor old girl that is Roots Hall Stadium.
Somehow though, mainly through the graft of generous volunteers, at the last minute we've secured a safety certificate and it's game on against Oldham Athletic - and on Tuesday 1st August we're going to start selling tickets so people other than season ticket holders can come and watch!
Saturday's visitors, Oldham Athletic, meanwhile - a year on from being taken over by local businessman Frank Rothwell - have had a more normal build up to the 2023/24 season. They have played 6 friendlies - drawing 0-0 at Hyde and 1-1 at Southport, winning 6-1 at Chorley and 2-1 at Curzon Ashton, before drawing at Barrow and finally losing their sole home friendly 3-0 to Mansfield Town.
Unlike ourselves, they've also been busy in the transfer market with manager David Unsworth securing a number of new signings including Shaun Hobson who I hope will be given a decent reception at Roots Hall this Saturday.
The Latics, the first club ever to fall from the Premiership 4 levels to the National League, are like ourselves a big club at this level and now on a firm financial footing look to be one of the favourites for promotion this season.
Of course our own pre-season campaign has been curtailed for reasons well-rehearsed elsewhere, and after the departures of Hobson, Steve Arnold, Rhys Murphy, Chris Wreh, Henry Sandat as well as a few younger squad players like Tommy Davis and Jon Benton, manager Kevin Maher has been left with a somewhat threadbare squad.
It remains to be seen whether out of contract players like Jack Bridge and Nathan Ralph can be registered to play on Saturday, and whether the rumours of Louis Lomas and Dan Mooney wanting to leave come to fruition as well. If the worst comes to the worst the starting XI may really pick itself and God-forbid anything should happen to young Collin Andeng-Ndi who is our only 'keeper.
Nevertheless, the three amigos have built an incredible team spirit at the club and hopefully the players will have been buoyed by the fans' presence to clear and clean Roots Hall on Sunday along with the messages of support left on the white board.
Admittedly there's not a wide variety of squad members to pick from, but for the first time this season who would you pick to start against Oldham and what do you predict the result will be?
(Oh - and if you try and discuss anything other than team selection on this thread, the mods. will be ruthless in deleting it!)
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