Football Season Guide

Oldham have frustrated their fans in the majority of their previous two campaigns, as the Latics had to battle against the drop in the previous two seasons despite seemingly having the potential to fight for more than that. Under both Paul Dickov and current boss Lee Johnson, the Latics were capable of matching the division's best sides on their day, but their persistent problem has been inconsistency, as their top displays have been few and far between. Despite his side's disappointing 2013/14 season, young manager Johnson got a contract extension during the campaign and has been given the license to undergo another summer squad overhaul in a bid to make Oldham the top half League One club that their owner Simon Corney wants them to be. The summer transfer window saw the Latics getting rid of a lot of dead wood in their squad, but the list of departed players also includes two notable names, as skipper Korey Smith left to join Bristol City, while Jonathan Grounds joined Birmingham. However, the list of arrivals arguably more than makes up for the departed players, with Mike Jones and Joseph Mills looking like good replacements for Smith and Grounds, while the Latics also signed some other proven League One players, such as Brian Wilson, Liam Kelly and striker Jonathan Forte, who was their latest addition at the time of writing of this article. As usual, Lee Johnson opted to also sign some men who are unknown at League One level, and completed the captures of Timothee Dieng, Amari Morgan-Smith and Willie Gros, who are all yet to prove themselves in the English third tier. Had it not been for one important thing, it could have been said that the Latics had a successful summer window, but Johnson's big failure was his inability to keep hold of Gary Harkins, who was Oldham's arguably best player in the second half of the previous campaign as a player playing on loan from St.Mirren. The winger, who became a free agent in the summer, was widely expected to sign a permanent deal with the Latics, but opted to join Dundee instead. Interestingly enough, Johnson has not signed a player who could be considered Harkins's replacement, and it seems that Oldham's other players will be expected to chip in with goals and assists to make up for the departure of the talented winger.