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Today's Edition for
 
    15th January 2002 
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 Oldham Evening Chronicle (www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk) Appleby in Latics loan switch ATHLETIC are poised to bolster their squad with a move for utility player Matt Appleby. The Barnsley man is already training at Boundary Park and will sign on loan, with a view to a permanent transfer. Appleby (29) had injury problems recently and, following the appointment of ex-Rochdale boss Steve Parkin, is unable to get first-team football. Athletic stepped in and Barnsley, one of nine clubs where Mick Wadsworth has worked as coach, agreed to let Appleby go. The experienced Teesider can operate at centre-half or right-back, while he has also played sweeper at Oakwell. But many believe he is best as a holding midfielder – and, through injury and suspension, Athletic have just lost Darren Sheridan from that position. Appleby played a handful of games for Newcastle before making his name in a two-year spell at Darlington. Barnsley splashed out £250,000 and he has since made 185 appearances for the club, including during their Premiership season. Wadsworth said: “I’ve watched him a lot and he is a talented player, the sort we need for a better squad. “He has plenty of experience, but 29 is still a good age and he was a huge part of Barnsley’s success. “He is versatile – capable of playing in three different positions – and it’s good timing for us because Darren Sheridan will be out several weeks. “This is another step in improving our squad. The result on Saturday didn’t help, but we are in much better nick than we were three months ago.” Appleby could go straight into Athletic’s plans tomorrow when they are at home to struggling Swindon. It is a vital match after defeats against Cheltenham in the FA Cup, Blackpool in the LDV Vans Trophy and Chesterfield in Saturday’s league game. Goalkeeper Gary Kelly is an injury doubt as he is unhappy with the condition of his knee after surgery over Christmas. The operation was a minor one to clear debris, but Kelly continues to struggle. Tony Carss was hoping to play for the reserves last night, only to be withdrawn from the game as a precaution. Carss – with one senior appearance in the last four months – has had three separate injuries since last season, the latest a niggling calf strain. Reeves aiming to pull rank on twin AFTER an emotional return to his former club on Saturday, David Reeves has another special occasion lined up for tomorrow night. Reeves will be marked by the man who knows him best of all – his twin brother Alan, who plays centre-back for Swindon. David is 10 minutes older than his sibling and has already pulled rank this season by scoring against him when playing for Chesterfield. They are similar, rather than identical, but have been known to experience that strange telepathy which is unique to twins. It doesn’t extend to the football pitch, though, and David will be as confident as always that he can find the net in tomorrow’s league match. He has scored three goals in four games for Athletic, making an overall tally of nine for the season. At the age of 34, Reeves is hoping for his second successive promotion after leading Chesterfield to glory last term. As his new side collapsed at Saltergate on Saturday, Swindon’s visit – followed by a home game against lowly Wrexham – will be crucial to those ambitions. Reeves said: “It would be great to go up twice in two years and I think we have a great chance of achieving it. “We won my first three games here and I could see there’s a good mixture of talent in the side. “I haven’t played in the first division for eight or nine years so, although my aim is to keep going to as near to 40 as possible, it would be nice to get back there. “Maybe I’ll go into coaching after that because football is the only thing I can relate to.” Eighteen months ago, Reeves was offered the post of assistant manager at Chesterfield but turned it down as he didn’t feel ready. He did his talking on the field with 16 goals. The team’s success, however, was tainted by shame and controversy. Chesterfield were running away with the third division when the Football League announced they were to be investigated for financial irregularities. Among the allegations were illegal payments to players, all of whom became entangled in a web of someone else’s making. Though most charges were dropped, Chesterfield were docked nine points and fined £20,000. Many people thought they were lucky not to be thrown into the Conference. And Reeves found that everyone at the club, whether innocent or guilty, was tarred with the same brush. He recalled: “We were being accused of taking brown envelopes, which was a disgraceful situation. “It was completely unfounded and made last season a very difficult time. “With everything that was going on there, we did well to keep it together and get out of the division. “We all stuck together and set our sights on promotion. If none of the other stuff had happened, we would have won the league by 20 points. “They are still unstable and had been trying to get me off the wage bill since all the problems started. “But it was also a good move for me because I needed a fresh challenge at this stage of my career. “The big reason I came here was Mick Wadsworth. He knows me personally from our Carlisle days and he knows what I’m like on the pitch. “It was on loan at first, but once I’d scored three in my first two games I knew we’d be making it permanent.” Reeves is now with his ninth club, having played for Sheffield Wednesday, Scunthorpe (on loan), Burnley (on loan), Bolton, Notts County, Carlisle, Preston and Chesterfield. But there were plenty of familiar faces at Boundary Park as former strike partners include youth coach Tony Philliskirk and another recent arrival, Allan Smart. Reeves and Smart are the club’s clear first-choice pairing, which gives them great responsibility for putting Athletic back on track. After three defeats in league and cup, these home games with Swindon and Wrexham are the sort they would have hand-picked – and failure to cash in could ruin the promotion dream. Roller-coaster ride ends in glory for Innes MARK INNES came back to haunt Athletic on Saturday – after admitting his exit from the club was a big surprise. The midfielder, named man of the match in Chesterfield’s remarkable 4-2 victory, thought his Boundary Park roller-coaster ride was heading upwards. Innes (23) was once viewed as the Athletic youngster with most potential. He broke into the side amid great fanfares and seemed destined for the highest level. But the next four years brought wildly fluctuating fortunes. He was out of the team, then back in, and finally back out; he was a midfield player, then he was a left-back; and he was on the transfer list, then he was off it. After all that uncertainty, Innes was ready to stake his claim under a new management duo of Mick Wadsworth and Iain Dowie. But, along with Mark Allott, he found himself heading out in the deal which brought David Reeves to Athletic. Innes said: “It all came totally out of the blue. I honestly thought things had turned round for me with Mick Wadsworth. “He and Iain Dowie had given me 20 or 30 minutes in a few games and told me they liked me as a player. “I wasn’t on their list either (when 13 players were told they could leave), so it seemed like I was going in the right direction. “But then they said Chesterfield wanted me to go on loan and told me they thought it would be best. “I was unsure at first, but they said I needed games and I realised it was right. “It isn’t the greatest of signs when the manager lets you go on loan, so I knew things wouldn’t turn out for me at Oldham “And it was very frustrating because I thought I did okay when the chance came along – I just couldn’t hold my place. “There was a game with Tranmere (Andy Ritchie’s last match) when I played really well. But I wasn’t even on the bench a few days later and it’s hard to get your head round it. “I was in a situation where, no matter how well I played, I wasn’t going to get back in the side.” So Innes, whose breakthrough at the age of 20 helped Athletic avoid the drop to division three, left after fewer than 100 appearances. He scored a cracker on his Chesterfield debut – doubling his tally of league goals – and struck again in the next match. His loan deal inevitably became a free transfer and, after Saturday’s great comeback, the Chesterfield faithful were raving about their new midfielder. The Scot will continue to live in Oldham for a while but says he is enjoying life in new surroundings. He explained: “I thought I was going to be a left-back for the rest of my life, so it’s nice to get forward a wee bit and score a couple of goals. “Luckily results have been quite good since I moved, which gives you confidence and helps you get there with team-mates and fans. “It all came as a shock at first because I had only ever been with Oldham for the last eight years. “But it’s really good to be playing football again and you realise there’s more than one club in the world.” Latics cushion the blow for Garnett ATHLETIC have pledged to stand by Shaun Garnett as he bids to recover from a serious knee injury. The defender is having an operation this week after suffering cruciate-ligament damage in his comeback for the reserves. Garnett is out of contract in six months, while his rehabilitation is expected to take much longer. But Athletic will do all they can for the 32-year-old as he tries to get fit and find a new club. Coach Mick Wadsworth said his advice to the directors would be to keep Garnett on board for as long as necessary, paying him until he is fixed up. As the big centre-back hasn’t played since September, he will have had a year or more out of action. Hotte set for Scarborough DEFENDER Mark Hotte has left Boundary Park and signed for Nationwide Conference club Scarborough. The 23-year-old didn’t play a league match for Athletic this term after a suffering a rapid fall from grace. He was a first-team regular to the end of last season, but the signs weren’t good when a more experienced centre-back, Stuart Balmer, arrived from Wigan. Hotte managed a couple of substitute appearances, both in the Worthington Cup, but was transfer-listed before Athletic changed their manager. Like short-term signing Paul Shepherd, he joins a Scarborough team struggling against relegation to the Unibond League. Shepherd is reportedly doing well at sweeper and there is hope for the Yorkshiremen – where Andy Ritchie and Mick Wadsworth are former coaches – as Hotte is one of seven new signings. Bradford-born Hotte, who joined Athletic as a 14-year-old, was under contract to June, 2003, but the agreement was cancelled by mutual consent. His initial deal with Scarborough, which will probably be extended, is to the end of this season. In all, his Boundary Park career lasted 74 games, starting with a belated league debut in late 1999. Ben Futcher also dropped into the Conference when he moved to Stalybridge and, in the next few weeks, both will be come up against Steve Whitehall, the ex-Latics striker now with Southport. 
 Official Oldham Athletic Web Site (www.oldhamathletic.co.uk)Content from the Oldham Athletic Web Site is used with permission of Oldham Athletic Football Club Re-Arranged Fixture

The Latics have re-arranged their Division two game against Tranmere Rovers, which was postponed on New Year's Day.  The game will now take place on Tuesday 19th February 2002 with a 7.45pm kick off. It's good news for the Latics because it is scheduled to break up two long away trips, Bristol City on February 16th and Peterborough on February 23rd. Reserves report v Wolves (Jan 14th 2002)

Latics Reserves unfortunately went down 1-0 tonight but according to the Reserve Team Coach, Dave Cross, the lads gained valuable experience from the game. Facing a multi-million pound team which included former Rangers star Kenny Miller (bought from the Glasgow giants for £4 million), George Ndah, Cedric Rousell and ex-England winger Andy Sinton our lads gave a good account of themselves. As early as 10 minutes into the game Latics fancied their chances as the home side were reduced to 10 men. Latics tried to take advantage of the extra man and had most of the play in the first 45 minutes. Chance after chance was created with some good work from Lee Hardy who was playing in a deeper role than usual at left back. Going forward Hardy was proving to be a handful for Wolves as the player fired in numerous crosses. However despite the lion's share of the play Latics, for all their efforts could not put the ball in the net. Five minutes before half time, Wolves dealt what proved later to be the killer blow as they scored a classic breakaway goal and led going into the second half. After the interval, the game proceeded in the same vein as the first, with Latics applying most of the pressure. The visitors were seeing plenty of the ball and were passing it well.  Again creating chance after chance. On this occasion it was the home side's defence and an inspired keeper that kept Latics at bay.  Throughout the 90 minutes Latics arguably had eight clear cut scoring chances but failed to capitalise. There were also 10 crosses into the box that on his day Sugden would have easily put away. Despite not getting on the score sheet it was difficult to criticise the striker due to his endless running and attempts to put Latics level. On quizzing the coach, Cross was clearly disappointed with the result but not with the effort of the lads. He praised the team, in particular an impressive display by Hardy and the young and up and coming players that had featured. Cross's parting comment was "This wasn't going to be our day."

 TEAMtalk (www.teamtalk.co.uk) Latics seal Appleby loan swoop 
Barnsley midfielder Matt Appleby has joined Oldham on a month's loan with a view to a permanent deal. The 29-year-old right-sided player is out of favour at Oakwell and there is every possibility that the move will become permanent. Appleby, who has also played for Middlesborough and Darlington, is the only surviving member of the Barnsley team which won promotion to the Premiership in 1997. He could be given an immediate debut in Wednesday night's home game against Swindon Town as a replacement for the injured Darren Sheridan.

Kelly injury doubt 
Gary Kelly is still doubtful for tomorrow's visit of Swindon with a knee injury, whilst Tony Carss has suffered another setback. Kelly was only on the bench for the 4-2 defeat at Chesterfield on Saturday and may well miss out at Boundary Park tomorrow as The Latics bid to overturn a three-game losing sequence. Carss, meanwhile, was due to feature for the reserves at Wolves last night but aggravated his ankle injury in training. The 25-year-old midfielder has missed 28 games through injury but finally looked to be putting his problems behind him when he scored in last week's behind-closed-doors game against Rochdale. Elsewhere, Darren Sheridan is out for at least a month after being stretchered off at Saltergate with ankle ligament damage. 
Reserves lose to ten-man Wolves Oldham's reserves lost 1-0 at Wolves last night, despite the home side having Andy Sinton sent off after just 70 seconds. The former England international received his marching orders when he kicked out at Matthew Tipton after he was unintentionally caught with the Oldham player's elbow. The versatile Paul Rickers, who has been sidelined with a knee problem, came through okay and he could now be considered for Wednesday's game against Swindon. But strikers Craig Dudley and Tipton, who have been first-team substitutes in recent games, both suffered knocks and are under treatment. Duo back for Oldham clash Swindon head for Oldham's Boundary Park on Wednesday night boosted by the availability of both Giuliano Grazioli and Bobby Howe. There was the disappointment of losing at home last Sunday to local rivals Bristol City, a disappointment compounded by the size of a potentially money-making crowd. Only just over 7,200 watched the game at the ground, far less than hoped for, though the match was screened on local TV. The good news for Andy King is that Grazioli and Howe are available again after completing one-match bans. But tough-tackling defender Andy Gurney is still out for another two matches as his punishment for a red card. Neil Ruddock is still out, as are Matt Hewlett and winger Paul Edwards who has knee problems. Scouts check out Wolves striker 
Rovers again had scouts watching transfer-listed Wolves striker Michael Branch last night, as he set up the winner in a Wanderers reserve game. Branch, who has been in the shop window at Molineux for a while, has been attracting the interests of Tranmere for some weeks. Rovers had scouts at the Wolves second-string clash with Oldham, in which 23-year-old former Everton forward Branch engineered the goal that won his side the game. Wolves boss Dave Jones says there have been no official enquiries for the hitman, but he is hoping that it will not be long before he is removed from the West Midlands club's books. 

 Clive from Oldbury writes: In view of David Eyres rich vein of goals do you know what the record is for an Oldham player scoring in consecutive games ( all Or league only) ? I can remember a player called Beardall ( I think it was Jimmy!) starting one season scoring in about the first eight or nine games and then fading into obscurity - I think he left before the season end going somewhere like Great Harwood. regards Clive Heywood I passed this onto Mike Stott at http://members.aol.com/mikelatics/betterdeadthanred.htm and the man with the numbers came up with the following (Thanks Mike) Hi Gary,

Been doing a bit a research for you and I've found the results.

League

Matt Gray - 6 consecutive games - 1929-30
Peter McKenna - 6 consecutive games - 1951-52

League & Cup

Andy Ritchie - 7 consecutive games - 1989-90 (3 league,, 3 League Cup & 1 FA Cup)
Tom Davis - 7 consecutive games - 1936-37 (5 league & 2 FA Cup)
William Walsh - 6 consecutive games - 1935-36 (4 league & 2 FA Cup)
Ron Futcher - 6 consecutive games - 1986-87 (5 league & 1 league cup)
Bert Lister - 6 consecutive games - 1962-63 (5 league & 1 league cup)

Contributions and letters should be sent to Gary Davies by e-mail at LaticsGary@ntlworld.comor at Boundary Bullet-zine,41 Verney Road,Royton,Oldham,United Kingdom.OL2 6AZ07786 928689Or in the Setons Chaddy end Row R Seats 67 & 68Boundary Bullet-zine Archive can be found at http://www.oocities.org/laticsgary.geo.The views expressed on this e-zine are not the views of Oldham Athletic F.C. nor necessarily the views of the Editor.This e-zine is a unofficial publication NOT sanctioned by Oldham Athletic Football Club.The editor will not publish any letters containing bad language.This e-zine is written using Microsoft Outlook Express and is best viewed with the HTML (rich) text option enabled.