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The Unofficial Daily On-line e-zine for  244 Oldham Athletic Supporters Worldwide
 
Today's Edition for
 
    29th January 2002 
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 Oldham Evening Chronicle (www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk) Athletic trial for Argentine mid-fielder ATHLETIC have taken top Argentinian player Christian Colusson on trial with a view to a permanent move. Colusson, a left sided midfield player, has represented his country at under-20 and 23 level. And Colusson (24) was in the Pumas side that won the world under-20 event in Qatar. Colusson is currently with Argentinian side Rosario Central for whom he made his first-team debut at the age of 17 making him one of the youngest players to appear at the highest level. And as Colusson holds an Italian passport there would be no difficulties with regard to a work permit. Colusson is expected to stay at Boundary Park for one week after which head coach Mick Wadsworth must decide whether he wants him to remain permanently. Chief executive Alan Hardy explained that it is exciting to attract a player of that stature. He added that clubs in Argentina are looking to unload players because of the economic problems in the country. These have been made worse, he added, because the players are paid in American dollars. Wadsworth visited Argentina a number of times on scouting missions while at Newcastle, who signed Daniel Cordone from Racing, and has established contacts there. Garnett’s debt of gratitude SHAUN GARNETT believes he can extend his Athletic career after undergoing successful surgery on his knee. One of the most determined people you could ever meet, the big defender has set his heart on a Boundary Park comeback. Garnett (32) has had two bad knee injuries this season, the second of which was the dreaded cruciate ligament. He will be out for up to nine months but, as he celebrated signing a new contract, Garnett insisted Athletic fans hadn’t seen the last of him. “I’d love to play for the club again and I honestly think I will,” he said. “After the meeting I had with Alan Hardy, Chris Moore and Mick Wadsworth, I got the feeling there was a chance for me. “I’m not saying I would walk back in, but the gaffer has been saying there’s a place in the team once I get myself fit and have a loan spell somewhere. “I know I’ll be a year older, which some people might think is against me, but I feel optimistic about the future. “I want to get back and play well for Oldham because it would be the best way of repaying what they have done. “I could have been left in limbo with my contract up this year, so giving me another 12 months was a great gesture.” Garnett’s initial problem involved medial ligaments, which he damaged at Colchester in Athletic’s first defeat of the season. On his comeback three months later, he suffered the cruellest of blows – an unrelated injury in the same knee, but this time even more serious. Garnett recalled: “It was a reserve game at Tranmere and I can still picture what happened. “I’d had about 40 minutes when a long ball came down and I cut across Stuart Barlow to take the ball off him. “I tried to release it early as usual, but I just buckled. It seemed like nothing at the time and when I was told the cruciate was ruptured I was absolutely gutted. “Cruciate is a word we never used to mention in football because everyone knew it was so serious. “But the specialist mentioned top players who had come back from it like Shearer, Keane and van Nistelrooy. And, although it will be a long process, he was 100-per-cent sure I’d make it as well.” Part of the tendon below Garnett’s knee was cut away and inserted as a new ligament. The nine-month recovery is because the knee needs time to fuse together but, amazingly, he was back in the swimming pool four days later. Garnett was one of the players on Athletic’s list of 13 when they started their squad cutbacks. So the vote of confidence which came with a new contract, taking him through to June, 2003, was just the tonic he needed. He added: “I was still in hospital when the gaffer rang and said he had some good news for me. “I was over the moon when he said I’d been a good servant and had got 12 months because it’s peace of mind for me and the family. “The best I’d hoped for was to be kept on until I got fit, then for both sides to take it from there. “It was a surprise and I was very grateful. I want to reward the club by coming back fit and strong next season – hopefully as a first-division player.”  
Carlo gets assurance over Athletic future ATHLETIC have pointed out that they are not looking to offload Carlo Corazzin permanently. Corazzin was included in the list of 13 players made available, but they only felt he needed a loan spell. The way the list was released caused initial confusion and Mick Wadsworth was unhappy that it looked like he was wielding the axe. Some of the players concerned have already left and others will follow if they receive an offer. But Corazzin, who was out with a double hernia when the news broke, is part of Wadsworth’s plans. The coach said: “Anyone who can score goals is an important commodity. Carlo is definitely not a player we want to lose.”  Ironically, Corazzin’s injury may have done Athletic a favour as it stopped him from playing international football. The 30-year-old would have been called into Canada’s squad for the Gold Cup – a southern hemisphere European Championships – which is being contested in America this month. Canada were surprise winners last time and Corazzin finished as the tournament’s top scorer. He missed 10 club games after his operation, but his return coincided with fellow strikers David Reeves and Allan Smart being ruled out.
 TEAMtalk (www.teamtalk.co.uk) Reeves eyes County comeback 
Striker David Reeves is set to return against Notts County on Saturday after being out for three matches due to ankle ligament damage. Reeves has been out since picking up the injury in the opening minute of the win over Swindon Town almost two weeks ago. And Mick Wadsworth said: "It will be good to have him back because we have missed him. We will assess his fitness on a day-to-day basis." The veteran forward finished the game but ligament damage was not diagnosed until the swelling had gone down. Reeves recently switched to Boundary Park from Chesterfield following a successful loan spell when he scored three goals in five games. Meanwhile, The Latics have no midweek game for the first time since before Christmas and Wadsworth is keen to take full advantage in the training sessions. A leaky defence is his main concern - it has let in 18 goals in the last seven games and Wadsworth admitted to being a little bit baffled. "It is something of a mystery because in the games leading up to the end of last year we kept three clean sheets on the bounce," said Wadsworth. "Some individuals haven't been performing to their abilities and it is something we have to put right. "We will be spending this week correcting a few flaws." 
We are not out of it - Boss Mick Wadsworth says The Latics can still reach a play-off place, despite picking up just one point from their last six games. Wadsworth insisted that last Saturday's game against Bournemouth was win or bust time in the promotion stakes - and they could only manage a draw. But Wadsworth said: "It didn't work out too badly because quite a number of other clubs also dropped two points and it worked in our favour. "It meant we didn't lose as much ground as we could have done and we are still within striking distance. We are certainly not out of it. "You have to look at the situation in its totality and if we keep picking up points at the rate we have been doing then we will be up there."

Latics top scoring charts The Latics are back on top of the Second Division's scoring charts after their record of 53 goals in 30 games. Oldham were the runaway leaders early on in the season when they hit top spot but had slipped down the table until now. The Latics have scored 31 at home and only Tranmere can beat that with 32 goals. On their travels they have found the net 22 times and that can only be bettered by Bristol City with 23. And Mick Wadsworth has said that his team have not had any problem scoring this season, and with figures of 198 shots on target with another 144 off target and another two hitting the woodwork, there is little surprise. 

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