15th March 2002 

The player in question is young defender Fitz Hall who has signed for Latics on a deal that runs up to the end of the current season and then for another 2 years. Hall is a product of the famous West Ham youth system and was recommended to the club by Assistant Manager Iain Dowie's brother who is in charge of Hall's former club Ryman League outfit Chesham Utd. The 6'3", 20 year old has also played for Barnet. LATEST ON FITZ HALL

A press conference was held at Boundary Park to announce the arrival of the club's latest signing Fitz Hall, I bet you can't guess his nickname. Well maybe you can, "One Size" is the answer. Fitz, from, Walthamstow was recommended to Latics Assistant Manager Iain Dowie by his brother Bob who was Fitz' manager at Chesham United.  The young defender came to Boundary Park for a trial just before Christmas and impressed enough for the Latics coaching staff to keep an eye on him. The deal to bring Fitz to the club was concluded late yesterday (Thursday) and he has signed a contract up to the end of the 2003/2004 season.  The official website can exclusively reveal that Latics have paid an initial fee of £20,000 for the 21 year old with a further £10,000 to be paid to the Ryman Premier League club upon Fitz reaching a certain number of appearances. Fitz began his career as a schoolboy at West Ham but back then, he wasn't a defender: "I was a centre forward at West Ham and played alongside Bobby Zamora who is now at Brighton" he says The move to central defence came when he joined Chesham: "The coaching staff knew that I was comfortable on the ball and were impressed when they saw me at the back and they advised me that I had a better prospect of making it in the game as a defender and so that's what I did." Asked about joining the Latics, Fitz said: "It's the best feeling ever to get a pro contract.  Everyone's been really nice and very welcoming, now I've got to get my head down and work to push for a place in the first team." Latics Assistant Manager Iain Dowie who first spotted Fitz talent said: "My brother, Bob, told me about him, so I went down to see him play, I've seen Fitz on a number of occasions and he is a good player, he has pace, is athletic and is comfortable on the ball." Iain hopes that Fitz will soon be competing for a place in the 1st team: "I have high hopes for him, I can see him being a 1st team regular soon, there is a little bit of work to do to get his fitness levels up but once that is done he will be challenging the rest of the lads." 
GORAM SIGNATURE CONFIRMED

The official Oldham Athletic website is delighted to welcome Andy Goram back to the club. The Scottish keeper who was capped 44 times for his country has signed a short term contract that will see him remain at Boundary Park until the end of this season. We spoke to manager Mick Wadsworth at this afternoon's press conference to launch Andy's signature about the need to bring in another keeper following the injury to Gary Kelly. "Well I think that losing Gary Kelly was a terrible shame because he was playing so well after his knee problems and now he has done some quite extensive damage to his ligaments in his ankle.  We needed to do something."  said Mick. David Miskelly has figured in a couple of reserve team matches this week but has been rushed back quickly due to Kelly's injury and there are still concerns over his recovery:

Mick explains, "With David Miskelly only just returning from injury himself, we've had to rush him into two reserve games this week where ideally we would have liked him just to have trained this week and start his game playing action next week, so we were in a situation where if anything happened with David or his recovery hadn't gone as hoped then we could have been embarrassed by the time the transfer deadline came in a couple of weeks time." Speaking about bringing Goram back to Boundary Park, Mick said, "We looked at one or two options but once I gave this some thought, the chance to bring Andy back to Oldham, I remember him being here obviously at the start of his career, everyone I talked to thought it was a wonderful idea and opportunity and I am quite excited about it now." Mick looks ahead to Saturday's match against Cardiff City. We spoke to Manager Mick Wadsworth on Thursday afternoon about the forthcoming match against Cardiff on Saturday. Mick, looking ahead to Saturday, a tough game against Cardiff ? Yes every home game in recent weeks, we've said it's a key game, an important game and obviously with our good home form then the players feel they've a good chance of winning each game at home. What we need to do certainly, as soon as possible but most certainly for next season is to turn our away form into being more consistent and better in terms of the haul of points. Saturday comes along, Cardiff have still got a chance and I'm sure they'll think that and we have of getting to the play-offs so it becomes a huge game. The arrival of Andy Goram who has just come in today is obviously a massive boost for the club, he's a character with a lot of experience, what sort of a boost is he to the squad? Well I think that in losing Gary Kelly, which was a terrible shame because he was playing so well after his knee problems and now he's done some quite extensive damage to his ligaments in his ankle, then we needed to do something. Young David Miskelly is just coming back from a shoulder operation, we've had to rush him into two reserve games this week where ideally we would have liked him just to train this week and start his games playing action next week. So we were in a situation where if anything happened with David or his recovery wasn't as good as we'd hoped then we could have been embarrassed by the time the transfer deadline came in a couple of weeks time, so we looked at lots of options but once I gave this some thought, the chance to bring Andy back to Oldham, I remember him being here obviously at the start of his career, then everyone I talked to thought it was a wonderful idea and opportunity and I'm quite excited about it now. I know you were disappointed after last Saturday's result at Wigan and I am sure the lads were but being professionals, I am sure they have bounced back quickly and you've now got them looking forward to Saturday? The one thing these players have done is they have generally bounced back from any disappointment very well since I've been at the club, we've got a good record of if we've lost a game, we've often gone on a little mini run of not being beaten for a while and I'd like to think we can now go the remaining seven games of the league season without being beaten. We need to set out our stall to do that, we've four home games, three away and we certainly need to win the home games and see what we can pick up away from home so it's an exciting time in that sense. As long as we've got life in us and we've got a chance of the play-offs then we need to keep going before we even start thinking about next seasons preparations. In addition to Andy Goram coming into the squad, is there any other squad news you can give us, obviously Matty Appleby was taken off last week and has had a lot of treatment this week, what are the chances of Matty making the game? He'll be assessed again tomorrow (Friday) and we won't make a decision until tomorrow, I would say at this moment in time that perhaps, he's 50/50. We do welcome Paul Murray back after his suspension so he'll be back in the team for this key fixture.

Wadsworth backs Miskelly 
Mick Wadsworth has insisted that the signing of Andy Goram is no reflection on the ability of the Latics number two David Miskelly. The Northern Ireland under-21 stopper made his comeback in two reserve team games this week after dislocating his shoulder in his first, and only, senior outing of the season back in November.
But Wadsworth has said the signing of Goram was just to give the youngster more time to recover. He said: "David did very well although he is a bit ring rusty.
"But we did rush him back earlier than we wanted to because of the situation we were in. "Now that Andy is here he will have more time to get himself fit and his chance will come. It would have been unfair to throw everything at him at such a crucial stage of the season." On the new signing, Wadsworth added: "I am delighted to have Andy on board and there aren't many better keepers in he country. "He has the experience that some players can only dream about and it will be terrific for some of the younger players at the club. "When we contacted Andy he was up for it right away, really keen and eager, everything else was secondary. "We have some really big games coming up and I must admit I am looking forward to them with some glee."

Latics eye Ostenstad 
Latics scouts were at Ewood Park last night to watch Egil Ostenstad, who has been told he can quit Blackburn by boss Graham Souness. Oldham are said to be interested in the Norwegian international but could face opposition from the likes of Everton, Bolton and Manchester City, who all had their own scouts at the game.
There has been little interest shown in the former Southampton striker since Souness said he could leave Rovers, after failing to reproduce the form he displayed during his spell on the south coast. However, Ostenstad grabbed a second-half winner to hand the second string a 2-1 victory against Manchester United at Gigg Lane. 
Colusso's time to impress Christian Colusso has just seven games left to convince the Latics coaching staff that he is worth a permanent deal at Boundary Park. The little midfielder has scored two goals in five games and was given a run-out in a couple of reserve team games earlier this week but his loan spell expires at the end of the season. However, the 24-year-old Argentine was released by Rosario Central because of economic difficulties facing his homeland club and will have to put in some spectacular performances if Mick Wadsworth is to pay the £2million Rosario are asking for. It is almost certain, though, that The Latics would not meet that asking price but they are still considering Colusso's future at the club. Injury doubts for Latics clash 
Layton Maxwell, Scott Young, David Hughes, Jason Bowen and Paul Brayson are all rated as doubtful for tomorrow's trip to Oldham. Midfielder Maxwell damaged his calf in Tuesday's FAW Premier Cup win at Wrexham, while Bowen remains a doubt with his neck injury. Defenders Young and Hughes are both struggling to be fit but Josh Low is definitely ruled out with a hamstring injury. Des Hamilton was also injured at the Racecourse Ground and will miss the rest of the season with a cartilage problem. Strikers Robert Earnshaw and Gavin Gordon are nursing hamstring problems but took part in light training yesterday, while Brayson has an ankle knock and is rated 50/50. City and Oldham are level on 61 points and are both just outside the play-off places going into the game, although The Bluebirds have a game in hand.
Lawrence said: "I wouldn't say it was a must win game, but as long as we don't get beaten it won't be a disaster." 

Must-not-lose situation for the Bluebirds

CARDIFF CITY manager Lennie Lawrence has warned his Bluebirds they must win five of their last eight matches to stand a chance of making the play-offs in May. Lawrence re-assessed the task ahead of City after Huddersfield's last-gasp 4-2 victory at Wycombe on Tuesday moved the Terriers up into fifth spot. And realist Lawrence said Saturday's trip to Boundary Park, where City face play-off chasing rivals Oldham Athletic, is a "must-not lose" affair. "Huddersfield winning at Wycombe was a big blow for us," he said. "It's made our task even harder. "We've got eight games left and I think we've got to win five of them. "Huddersfield's victory has put another win on us. That result was a sickener, especially as they scored two goals in the 90th minute." That result at Wycombe ruined City's dressing room celebrations after the FAW Premier Cup semi-final shoot-out win over Wrexham at The Racecourse. "I wouldn't say Oldham is a now a must-win game but it's a match we mustn't lose," said Lawrence. "I'm still optimistic. Reaching the play-offs is still very much in our hands. "If we don't beat Oldham we're not out of it because Bristol City and Huddersfield could easily drop out of the top six." City still have to travel to Huddersfield on April 9 - a fixture that should have been played last month but was called off because of a waterlogged pitch - but most of their remaining fixtures are against teams in the bottom half of the table. But Lawrence has several injury worries with Des Hamilton, Layton Maxwell, Josh Low and striker Paul Brayson all hurt at Wrexham. Three of City's last eight games are at Ninian Park (against Wrexham, Port Vale and Notts County) with the other five on the road (against Oldham, Chesterfield, Colchester, Huddersfield and Tranmere).