The first game of the month was a difficult one, away to Man City. I was hoping for a good performance, but we were pretty hopeless to be honest. City deservedly went ahead in the 27th minute, and after that we never looked like scoring. We didn’t fight anywhere near as much as I wanted us too, and we rarely threatened. City should have scored more, but I was just glad when the game was over, the performance was embarrassing.

The next game wasn’t any easier, this time we travelled to Italy to play Inter, in a Champions League group game. Once again we played poorly in an attacking sense, but we were very solid at the back, and barely allowed Inter anything. We didn’t allow them any clear cut chances, and restricted them to just long range shots. It came as no surprise when the ref blew for full time and it was still deadlocked at 0-0, a good result for us, but I surely wanted us to look more dangerous in the next few games.

Our next game was away, again, and, again, it was a tough one, Everton were the opposition. I wanted a much better performance than in the last two games. We did play better, but still didn’t get forward and attack as much as I’d have liked. Everton were the dominant side, but again we held firm at the back. We only got forward now and then, but we did it to devastating effect in the 30th minute, a lovely move left Guilherme with a great chance and he punished Everton. We had another great chance just 6 minutes later, when Edinson Cavani was felled in the box. Up stepped the usually very reliable Marco Verratti…. who missed. The match continued in much the same way as before, and although Everton dominated, they couldn’t create any clear chances, which is the statistic I always think is most important when analysing a match. Because they struggled to create chances I don’t think they can really complain that we held on for the win, we looked solid at the back and I was very pleased with that.

We finally had a home game next, Wolves were coming to Boundary Park. We dominated the game all the way through, as I expected, but we struggled to create chances. We created our best one in the 16th minute, and thankfully Andrew Driver banged it in. After that not much happened, Wolves never threatened and we easily held on for a much needed 3 points.

Next up we took a break from the Premier League to play Rosenborg, at home, in the Champions League.  I wanted some goals for once in this game, and finally we did it. Captain fantastic Nicolas Otamendi opened the scoring for us, and we were dominating the game. Another goal was always coming, and it did in the 41st minute, Guilherme sliding in the finish. The match continued in much the same way in the second half, and we got a 3rd  to wrap it all when Edinson Cavani poked in his first goal for 9 weeks. It was a good return to form for us, I was pleased with that, although I was annoyed that Guilherme picked up an injury, he’ll be out for 2 weeks.

That win and the draw again Inter means we have secured qualification to the Knockout round, I’m pleased that we’re through, and hopefully we can hang on to top spot as well.

Our final game of the month was back in the Premier League, and it was a difficult game, away at Chelsea. I was hoping for a good performance and a draw, but again, we were poor going forward. We stayed solid at the back though, and we managed to go into half time level at 0-0. We came out after the break and immediately seemed to switch off. Poor marking left Ivanovic free in the area and he punished us, heading Chelsea in front. We then had to come out and attack more, and minutes after their goal we missed a huge chance. Chelsea punished us for that wastefulness in the 73rd minute, wonderkidSam Savage killed the game off, and we had slipped to our second league defeat of the month.

After that disappointing month we have been knocked off top spot, and now we must hope that Man City don’t capatilize on their game in hand. If they do we could really struggle, especially as we have more tough games towards the end of December.

As usual in December the fixture list is packed, I’m sure we’ll have to rotate and rest some players. We have to play both Man Utd and Arsenal, and they’ll certainly be tough games.

That’s all then folks, thanks for taking the time to read this, and hopefully we can pick up our form next month

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We started the monthwith our first Champions League game of the season, at home against Shakhtar, a decent side so I was expecting a tight game. We started the game quite well, knocking the ball around nicely, and we created a few decent chances. It was a very good goal that put us ahead though, Pablo Hernandez’s venomous shot from a tight angle was too much for their keeper. We continued our good display after the break, and we got a deserved second in the 56th minute, Edinson Cavani’s superb pass found Guilherme who finished one-on-one withthe keeper. Just 5 minutes later Shakhtar hit back, I was disappointed with the players for giving them a lifeline. That didn’t matter in the end though, Arend Werdens, on as a sub hammered home a third for us in the last minute, which completed a very satisfying win.

It was back to the Premier League for the next game, away at West Ham. We had a minor injury crisis. After the Shakhtar game Diego Benaglio tore his hamstring, he’ll be out for between 2-3 months, a big blow, now 19 year old Lee Ryan, who is talented but inexperienced will have to play every game until Benaglio’s back. Also injured was Guilherme, who would be out for 3 weeks, Ikechukwu Uche, also out for 3 weeks, and Darren Ward, yep, you guessed it, out for 3 weeks.

Anyway, back to the game, and we dominated the opening stages, it took us 29 minutes to go ahead, Jo turning and firing home. We continued as the better side throughout the game, we looked like the home side, as we had far more possession. It took us a long time to kill the game off, but we finally did it in the 87th minute, Jo nodding in his second from close range to complete a relatively comfortable win for us.

We were back at home for the next game, against Birmingham, I wanted a win to give us a lead at the top of the table. Once again we dominated possession and most of the play, but we couldn’t break down their very solid defence for a long time. We were frustrated until the 70th minute when Jo came to the rescue, jumping higher than everyone else to head home from a corner. I thought that was the winning goal, as Birmingham had offered no attacking threat. I was sadly mistaken though, completely out of the blue Cameron Jerome smashed in from 20 yards, and we could only manage a point.

We had our biggest game of the season so far next, Inter were coming to Boundary Park. To be honest the match was a very poor one, only one clear chance was created and we wasted that. Inter had lots of long shots but never really threatened, and we never really troubled them either. It was no surprise that the game finished 0-0, a boring game that didn’t live up to the hype before it.

Our last game of the month was again at home, Tottenham were the visitors, and we surely needed to play better than against Birmingham. Thankfully we did that from the very first minute, we came flying out of the blocks and it took us just 8 minutes to go ahead, Andrew Driver blasted into the bottom corner from a tight angle after a nice move. The two wingers were ripping Tottenham’s defence apart, in the 40th minute Pablo Hernandez drifted inside and placed a shot in, 2-0 to us. On the stroke of half time we got another goal when Cavani’s shot was saved and then somehow trickled in off Gomes’ back. We were playing fantastically well, and the game was all over by the second half, although we did get another goal when Uche punished some sloppy defending. Our clean sheet was spoilt in the last minute, but I’m not too bothered, it was a good win for us.

We are still top of the table, but only on goal difference, it’s incredibly tight at the top. Hopefully we can continue our unbeaten run for a while longer, although the number of draws is a bit high for my liking.

Next month we have a lot of fixtures, some of them are really difficult, particularly the away game against Inter. November will stretch our squad I’m sure, but hopefully we’ll be ok.

You may remember in my last post I’d all but qualified for the World Cup with Nigeria. We had two games in October with them, and we only had to win one of them to qualify. I wanted us to beat Gabon in the first game, so that we had no pressure on us in the last game.

We dominated the game throughout, but we really struggled to create chances, which is the opposite of most previous. However, Gabon didn’t deserve to go ahead, but they did, in the 18th minute. Suddenly I was a bit worried, but only for 20 minutes, because Michael Eneramo turned and fired the ball in from all of 25 yards. It was a brilliant goal, but we then got frustrated, Gabon defended very well. With the game entering the final minutes it looked like finishing level, but then we managed to launch a good attack, which was rare in this game. Yakubu slipped the ball through and Eneramoraced onto it, sliding home to book our safe passage into the World Cup 2014! We didn’t play very well, but we are there now, and we deserve it overall, we dominated this group.

Ourt victory in that game meant that the final match was a dead rubber. Still, the players wanted to win, and win they did, a fabulous first half performance giving us another 3 points. Goals from Chinedu Obasi and a double from Yakubu sealed another nice win.

The final group table looks like this then, we thoroughly deserve to be going to the World Cup, and now we can look forward to competing in Brazil in the summer.

Right then folks, that’s all for now, thanks for reading!

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Before the games we were top of our World Cup Qualifying Group, and with the winner going to Brazil in 2014, we were in need of a couple of wins to secure our position as group leaders. The first game was the easier one, at home against Burkina Faso, while the second game was away against Egypt.

We started the game poorly though, we looked a little sluggish, but Burkina Faso certainly didn’t deserve to go ahead when we conceded a penalty. We came out from the break looking determined to score, but Burkina Faso frustrated us. It took a slice of luck for us to draw level, in the 76th minute a Burkina Faso defender turned a cross into his own net to give us a deserved equaliser. Suddenly we looked very dangerous going forward, and just three minutes later Victor Obinna headed home from a right wing cross. We had more luck 7 minutes from time, Obinna’s cross hit another of their defenders and rebounded in, another own goal! That sealed the win, which in the end we deserved , although we got lucky.

We had a bigger challenge ahead, our next game was probably the most difficult of the group, away at Egypt. We got off to a fantastic start though, we were far better than against Burkina Faso, and Yakubu put us ahead in just the 10th minute. We had numerous chances in the 1st half, but we failed to put any of them away, I was disappointed with that. We were punished almost immediately after the break, Egypt got a barely deserved goal, although it was a good one, from 25 yards. We reacted well however, and in the 57th minute Yakubu nodded in his second from a corner. We looked to have the game in the bag, we were knocking the ball around and Egypt couldn’t really create any chances. In the last minute however, we were punished for not taking our chances, and Egypt got an equaliser they didn’t deserve. I was disappointed, but it’s not too bad a result, at least we avoided defeat. The  result means that if we beat Gabon in our next game (in October) then we’ll qualify for the World Cup.

After that it was back to Oldham, and back to the Premier League. Our first League game of the month was at home to newly promoted QPR. I figured that this was a great opportunity for Edinson Cavani to open his account for us and I think he thought that too. In just the 12th minute he was set up by Andrew Driver and stabbed home, to the relief of everyone. That opened the floodgates for us, and by half time it was 3-0, Guilherme and a second for Cavani, to leave him on a hat trick going into the break. After the break Guilherme got another one, now both strikers had a chance of a hat trick. Only one of them managed it though and it was Cavani, his third goal was a nice finish that rounded off a perfect afternoon for him. There was one more goal in the game, Driver smashed in to make it 6-0, it was a brilliant win for us, and I was delighted with our fluidity gling forward.

We began our Champions League campaign in the next game, away from home against Rosenborg. We were without Ognjen Vukojevic who picked up an injury in training, he’ll be out for 4 weeks, which is annoying. Anyway, back to the game and we got off to a bad start, going behind in the 19th minute due to some sloppy defending. The team reacted well, again we looked good going forward, and we drew level in the 30th minute when Nicolas Otamendi powered home a header from a corner. We looked dangerous every time we attacked, so there was little surprise when we went ahead in the 40th minute, Guilherme placing a shot in. Just 5 minutes later we had another goal, Otamendi again lost his marker and headed in, he was on a hat trick! He got the perfect opportunity in added time in the 1st half when we won a penalty. Otamendi stepped up to take it but blasted the ball straight at the keeper. However he wasn’t to be denied, just after the break he again lost his marker and again beat the keeper with his header, a hat trick! His marker must be feeling pretty ashamed, and his goals secured us the win. There was still 2 more goals, 1 for each team, with Ikechukwu Uche scoring ours.

It was back to the Premier League for the next game, away at Sunderland. Sunderland are a decent side and have two very fast strikers in Darren Bent and Fraizer Campbell. We started badly and played poorly throughout the whole of the 1st half and Sunderland deservedly went ahead just before the interval. I told the players just what I thought of them at the break, but that didn’t seem to work, Sunderland scored a second 5 minutes after half time. I was disappointed that the team hadn’t reacted, but after the second goal they finally did, and we suddenly started producing some good attacking moves. We missed a few chances, but a goal was always coming, although it came pretty late, Guilherme got it in the 83rd minute. Suddenly we layed siege to their goal, we were all over them, hitting the woodwork. Something had to give and it did with 1 minute left, Micah Richards stormed into the box to get onto the end of Driver’s cross and his header flew in. I was pleased that we had come back and rescued a point, the players really fought in the 2nd half.

Next up was a home tie in the League Cup against Liverpool. I decided to rest the whole of the first eleven, although Guilherme and Cavani did come on as subs near the end. I wasn’t too bothered about the result to be honest, but too my surprise we took the lead in the 39th minute through Ikechukwu Uche. Liverpool were at full strength though, so I wasn’t too confident about our chances of holding on to our slender lead. My fears were correct, and in the 75th minute Liverpool were level. To be fair they deserved it, but I was disappointed when the game went to extra time, as that was the one thing I didn’t want. Extra time was pretty dull, and so it went to penalties. It was Liverpool that won the lottery of the shootout, with misses from the 2 subs, Guilherme and Cavani sending them through.

It was back to Boundary Park for the last game of the month, newly promoted Notts Co were the visitors. They were languishing down in last place after a dreadful start, I was confident that we could get the victory. It didn’t take us long to find the breakthrough, in the 16th minute Driver beat the full back and squared the ball across for Marco Verratti to finish, his 1st of the season. We were by far the better team in the 1st half and we were always going to get a second. It came in the 29th minute and what a goal it was, Steven Defour guided the ball into the top corner, on the volley, from 25 yards. The game was sealed 2 minutes after the break, Otamendi continued his good goalscoring form with another corner-kick header.

We currently sit top of the table then, although both Man Utd and Man City could over take us as they have games in hand. It may be a little early to tell, but I think the title race could be pretty interesting this year, but I’m confident that we can retain our crown.

Next month we have some difficult fixtures, notably the clash against Italian giants Inter, at home. I would hope we can overcome both West Ham and Birmingham, but Tottenham might be a tricky match.

That’s all folks, as always, thanks for reading and enjoy your week.

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We started the new season at home, against arch rivals Man Utd. I was looking for a good start to the new campaign, but it seemed the players were still on holiday. We played really poorly in the first half, and we were lucky not to go behind. We went into the break level, and after that our performance started to improve. We finally started to create some chances, but we really didn’t deserve a goal. Having said that, Man Utd didn’t create a clear chance all game, and it was no surprise when the match finished 0-0. I was satisfied to get a point, but really not pleased with the performance, we have to improve.

We had the chance to improve in that performance in the next game, which was away from home against Aston Villa. They finished 10th last season, and are predicted to finish 9th this season, so they are a decent side. This time we started the game well, and we dominated the opening stages. The goal was coming and it was no surprise when,  in the 17th minute, Pablo Hernandezgave us the lead. We were playing well and created a couple more chances before the break, but we couldn’t double our lead. We needed another goal in the second half, and Villa were just starting to get a foothold when Andrew Driver countered down the left and crossed for substitute Steven Defour, who slammed it home, his first goal for the club. That pretty much finished the game, but there was still time for Ikechukwu Uche to place home his first of the season, a comfortable 3-0 win.

There was the first bad injury news of the season after the game, Guilherme was forced off and we later found out that he would be sidelined for 2 weeks, an annoying little injury.

The difficult start continued in the next game, at home to Liverpool. It was a fairly even game throughout, we just edged it in terms of clear chances created. Marco Verratti hadn’t made an assist yet this season, but it wasn’t long before he rectified that in this game. His delivery from a freekick was perfect, and Micah Richards rose to thump home the header, giving us the lead. The game was still pretty even though, and my side was working quite well. Disaster struck in the 35th minute, the usually dependable Joe Mattockthen suddenly decided to pass straight to Fernando Torres, who found Dirk Kuyt, who scored. I was disappointed and shocked, because I think it’s the first major mistake that Mattock’s made since joining us last season. We had to react but the game stayed level, as we entered the final minutes it looked like finishing all square. That probably would have a been a fair result, but we then struck the decisive blow, Ikechukwu Uche found space in the box and he punished them, sliding home to give us an excellent win.

We had more injury troubles before the next game, Martin Caceres picked up an injury in training, as did Ruben. The game was away from home this time, The Hawthorns was the destination as we faced West Brom. We came flying out of the blocks and got off to a great start, in the 11th minute Pablo Hernandez was played in, and he cooly fired home. It was the perfect start and after that we took control of the game, we really should have scored another before half time, but we couldn’t. I was disappointed about that and we were punished for it in the second period, in the 65th minute we conceded a stonewall penalty, which Simon Cox scored. I was still confident in our ability to grab a winner, but things got even worse in the 85th minute when Mauro Boselli looked to have secured the victory for them. We didn’t deserve to lose and threw everything at them for the final 5 minutes plus injury time, and they finally cracked in the 2nd minute of added time. Verratti’s perfect through ball found David Bentley in space, and he tucked it away to earn us a deserved point, although I still feel we should have won the match.

So then, we sit in 3rd place after 4 games, although there are a few teams with games in hand on us. I guess I can’t really draw any conclusions so early in the campaign, although I’m worried that Edinson Cavani, my £21m striker hasn’t scored yet. Hopefully all the new signings can settle in next month, and we can start to string some wins together.

We recieved news of our Champions League Group opponents towards the end of the month. We have been drawn in quite a tricky group alongside Inter Milan, Shaktar and Rosenborg. That is because we are 3rd seeds, which I can’t understand as I’d expect the winner of the Premier League to be 1st seeds.

We don’t play our first match of next month until the 14th, because of the international break. I have two games with Nigeria, at home to Burkina Faso and away against Egypt, which will be a tough match.

I’ll tell you all about what happens in the next post, until then, thanks for reading!

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We had the perfect chance to secure the  title with the first game of May, at home against relegation strugglers Bolton. We started the game brightly, the players were up for the game and looking to get the all important victory. Guilherme looked on fire, carrying on from where he left of last month. In the 16th minute he skipped past a Bolton defender and kept on going, advancing in on the keeper then smashing home to give us a crucial lead. That goal broke any tension around the ground, and straight from kick off we had another one. Bolton gave the ball away cheaply and Marco Verratti’s perfect through ball found Guilherme again, who slid in his second, 2-0! We were now playing with a lot of confidence, and Guilherme’s strike partner Ikechukwu Uche decided he wanted to come to the party, he did that in the 4oth minute with a nice header at the near post. In the second half we changed our ploy, just keeping the ball and waiting for an opportunity to present itself. We finally got one more chance in the last minute, Guilherme sealed his hat trick, and our title win with a header into the bottom corner from Darren Ward’s cross.

It was a really nice win, and the title was ours! It was a fantastic moment, on that everyone will always savour, and the board declared themselves delighted with the title win.

As we had already secured the league I decided to rest some players for the last 3 games, we ended up losing the last 2, against Everton and Chelsea, but at least David Bentley grabbed us all 3 points against West Ham.

Those results mean that we finish with 83 points, not a huge amount, and we’ll surely have to win more than 25 games next season if we are to retain the title next season, as I believe that the challengers will get stronger.

We still had 1 more game to play this season, the final game was my first cup final in charge of the Latics. We faced Newcastle, who finished a respectable 9th in the league.

However once the game started they looked anything but the 9th best side in the country. We dominated the 1st half, Newcastle didn’t manage a shot, and we hit the post through Nicolas Otamendi, and then the bar from Micah Richards. The 1st half somehow ended all square, but we were the better side, and Newcastle already had 2 men forced off through injury. I felt a goal was coming after the break, and we didn’t have to wait long, Alan Smith pushed Guilherme in the box and we had a penalty! It also resulted in Smith’s second yellow card, he was off! Marco Verratti stepped up to take the spot kick, and he fired home to give us the lead, 1-0! We had the upper hand for the rest of the game, with an extra man we just kept the ball, hoping to tire Newcastle. We did that and created some really good chances, but our strikers where unusually slack with their finishing. It didn’t matter though, we comfortably held on, Newcastle on managing 1 shot, and that was blocked!

It was the perfect way to end the season, we have done the double! I have been very impressed with the players this season, they deserve the trophies, and here are the statistics:

Micah Richards and Nicolas Otamendi have held the defence together all season, and Marco Verratti, Guilherme, Jo, and Uche have been our main creative and goal threat. I was also pleased with the development of Darren Ward and Nick O’Brien, who is a versatile right back/ central midfielder.

Not many players disappointed, but one that did was Matias Suarez, who has never settled, and will be sold in the summer after recovering from his injury.

We have already brought a player in before the start of next season. Ognjen Vukojevic has joined on a free in a deal that was actually done back in February. We had to wait for his contract at Dinamo Kiev to expire, but once it did he joined us on the 2nd June. He is a very hard working, combative defensive midfielder, with great tackling skills. He also brings valuable international experience, and will replace Lucas as the DMC in my midfield next season.

We had more good news after the FA Cup Final, the board have planned another stadium expansion! I think it’s crucial that we have a bigger capacity, and when the work is finished we will have all of 30,000 seats! Hopefully it means we can earn more money, although it may mean my transfer budget is limited this summer.

Right then folks, that concludes my 4th season in charge of the Latics, it’s been a great season for us. I have 2 games to play with Nigeria in June, then I’ll be off to look for more players to further strengthen the squad. I have already concluded some free transfers, but more about that in the next post.

Until then, keep safe and thanks for reading!

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