His former Manchester United team-mate, Roy Keane, could be a worthy candidate. He would have been impressed with Oldham’s fighting spirit in the cup game with Liverpool, but would be just as unimpressed that they do not seem to show the same amount of passion in the league.
He, like any other contender I suppose, would want them to approach every game the way they did against the Reds. That’s the making of winners. Some people have suggested that Keane has not got the patience with players he manages because he was such a great one himself, but with his period at Sunderland in mind (took the reins with them bottom of the Championship table then led them to promotion), he’s certainly worth considering.
Alex McLeish, has just left Nottingham Forest, so all the others that I have named will more than likely be after the vacancy there as the club are at a level where those managers would probably rather be, coupled with the fact that Forest are a bigger club than the Latics anyway. We all want job satisfaction and would probably take the one with the better prospects – which is what Forest have – but should these managers be so picky?
Brian Clough joined lower league clubs despite having already accomplished success at the top-level. And we’re talking about winning league titles and European Cup semi-finals here, not sixth place finishes, but this is what Clough achieved with Derby County, only to resign then join Brighton & Hove Albion soon after, a club who were in the wrong half of the old third division.
This was a period that would be a blot on the great man’s CV. Having inherited the mighty Leeds United side of the 1960s and early ‘70s from Don Revie albeit only for 44 days, he then took a major step down again in order to manage Nottingham Forest who were in the old second division at the time and in a very similar position to where Derby found themselves when he joined them – mid-table fodder.
If it was good enough for Clough then one could say it should be good enough for the young upstarts I have mentioned. Obviously, one should take everything into consideration when joining a new club – Oldham are not in great shape – but sometimes managers can be too picky. Mind you, with the threat of the sack coming quicker than ever nowadays, they know they will probably not get the time to bring stability to a club like the BoundaryPark outfit.
Having said that, being in the same division for 16 years like Oldham have would seem pretty stable! Dagenham & Redbridge boss, John Still, has done wonderfully well on a shoe-string budget and would likely see the Latics as a step up, so he’s someone who could also be considered. The club’s health will probably play a major role in determining whether any of the managers mentioned would take over, but what path should Oldham take?
Be ambitious and go for ones such as Nigel Adkins and Mark Hughes? Or should they know and accept their role and go all out for a John Still type – a man with a decent record and for whom League One would be a glamorous proposition?
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