Football Season Review

Oldham are coming from a nightmare of a season, as they were relegated to League Two after spending 21 consecutive seasons in the third tier. The Latics entered the new campaign with a lot of hope surrounding them after performing so well in the second half of the previous season. John Sheridan had the summer to make the squad his own and expectations were high, but the Latics won only one and lost seven of their opening nine games, which caused Sheridan to lose his job. Richie Wellens was named caretaker and oversaw a complete U-turn in their fortunes, with the superb form displayed under the rookie manager leaving the board with no other choice but to name him the permanent boss. Oldham even looked capable of pushing for promotion for a while, but an injury suffered by top scorer Eoin Doyle caused a lengthy winless streak, as the Latics were without a win during a nine-game run that lasted from mid December to late January. Doyle had his loan stay with the club ended in the meantime and signed another loan deal in February, but an injury meant that he was unable to return to action until late March. The Latics got used to playing without him in the meantime and looked set to comfortably beat the drop going into the final month of the season. However, they went on a remarkably frustrating run which saw them draw seven and lose one of their final eight games. They entered the final round knowing that a win over an already-relegated Northampton side would keep them up, but they were held to a draw by the Cobblers, while their rivals Rochdale won their game to leapfrog them in the table and stay up. Huge changes are expected at the club over the summer. Chairman Simon Corney has left the club a few days after the relegation was confirmed and the new owners, which completed their takeover in January, will be looking to make further changes. Wellens's destiny remains up in the air at the moment and Oldham will be desperate to avoid the destiny of numerous other clubs who kept dropping down the divisions after being relegated from League One.

Player of the Season: Eoin Doyle