Shez and Muzza Leave, JJ and Eyresy Offered Contracts

News broke this afternoon that Darren Sheridan had failed to get a new contract at the club and will leave the club this summer. ‘Mini Shez’ as he was nicknamed by the fans has been at the club for 3 seasons since Andy Ritchie signed him in the summer of 2001 on a free transfer from local rivals Wigan Athletic. The move saw him join his brother John at the club and the chance to play in the same professional side at the same time. Darren always gave his all for the club and made sure that opposition players knew who he was with his tough tackling which led to disciplinary problems. He has been a regular throughout his career at Oldham and was a valuable member of the team. He played 108 games for the club scoring 3 goals.

Paul Murray announced his decision to reject the contract offer made by Oldham. He is now believed to be on his way to Portuguese club Beira Mar managed by former Oldham manager Mick Wadsworth. Paul was brought to the club on a free transfer by Mick Wadsworth in December 2001 after an unhappy short spell at Premiership side Southampton. He quickly became a popular player with the Oldham fans with his determined style of play, scoring a few cracking goals in his first season pushing Oldham up the table. His second season at the club was a bit mixed, in pre-season he badly injured his knee and was out for months of the season but he came back and helped Oldham to the play-offs. After everyone around him headed off to different clubs Murray decided to stay and help fight. He was instrumental in Oldham’s survival bid this season. A number of superb, battling performances kept Oldham up and he was rewarded late on in the season with the captaincy which he revelled in, his performances increased further, scoring important goals to secure Oldham’s safety. He could have left before now to Preston North End, Crystal Palace or Rotherham United but he stayed and helped Oldham and I can’t thank him enough for that. Muzza played 102 games for the club scoring 15 goals.

Both Darren and Paul leave with our best wishes. Hope that they are both successful in their next ventures and hopefully we’ll see you back at Boundary Park sometime soon!

There was better news for David Eyres and Jermaine Johnson as they were offered new one year contracts with the club. It is now up to them to decide if their futures lie with the club or not. Eyresy is likely to sign up for another year as he came out publicly to thank the fans for their support of him since he’s been at the club, he’s said he wants to stay. Jermaine Johnson will most likely have to accept reduced terms in order to stay at the club and that might want him to find a club elsewhere. Both players have until 1^st June to accept the offers given to them.

Les Pogliacomi now has a week in which to accept his contract offer or leave the club. Will Haining has been offered a 3 year contract and Mark Bonner has been offered a 2 year contract and both players are likely to sign up and be Latics players next season.