The Latics came unstuck again on Saturday when they relinquished a 1-0 lead and had to settle for a point against Colchester United, who had just lost their last nine games. Oldham set a new club record of 11 home league games without a win and have now gone 16 league games with just two wins since David Dunn took over in September. Goalkeeper David Cornell made the mistake which allowed Colchester their equaliser when he misjudged a cross and the ball bounced off ex-Latics’ player Chris Porter and into the net. They had taken the lead within five minutes when Rhys Murphy scored from a well rehearsed free kick.
The manager admitted, “Everyone is thinking it, so I'm going to say it - it's like watching a circus at times. When the opposition have pressure against you, you've got to be big enough to deal with it. We did that for the majority of the game, but yet another individual error cost us. It's the same old story. We aren't good enough to play with eight or nine players every week, but that's what we do. I feel sorry for the lads who are working their backsides off. I'm angry and I feel let down. This was a game we needed to win. We prepared the players right, but how do you prepare a team who keep making individual errors? You could get Jose Mourinho in here, but he couldn't do that.The same lads are putting in the work every week, but it's about everyone having the courage to be responsible for their own performance.”
“This is the lowest I've felt since I came here and January is going to be one hell of a month for us off the pitch. We need to recruit better and I'm confident the players I want to sign would strengthen us, but it's whether or not I can get them in.”