Football Season Review

It was a season of disappointment for Oldham and their fans, as the Latics looked like strong play-off candidates for two thirds of the season, only for their campaign to completely fall apart in the final third of its course. There were two major reasons for their late collapse, with the first being Lee Johnson's decision to leave the club and join Barnsley, and the second being the horror injury crisis that the Latics had shortly after Johnson's departure, as their caretaker boss Dean Holden had to do without as many as nine potential starters at one point. However, it would have been hard to see the Latics stay on course for a top six finish even if their injury crisis never happened, as it was clear for all to see that Holden simply did not have Johnson's tactical nous and that he was unable to make the Latics reproduce the sort of football that they had played under Johnson. Another factor that made things very difficult for the Latics was a persistent knee injury carried by their top scorer Jonathan Forte, as the journeyman striker was a late withdrawal from their squad on numerous occasions after pain in his knee got the better of him. To sum things up, there is little doubt that the Latics will see the season that is now behind us as an opportunity missed, and the big question regarding them is whether they have the resources required to rebuild properly during the summer and make themselves genuine play-off candidates going into the new season.

Player of the Season: Jonathan Forte