Nowadays we do it with an expensively assembled group of underperforming players going through the motions on long term contracts. On the whole I preferred the old days.
On an uncharacteristically warm and sunny day in Oldham what was to prove the last game of the Bradbury era began with Zavon Hines (on loan from Burnley) partnering Stockley up front. Defences dominated in the first half with both sides looking short on creativity and largely confined to shots from distance. Oldham came closest to scoring when Brown’s header from a free-kick clipped the top of the bar with Flahavan struggling.
Taylor replaced Stockley at half-time, but as neither is remotely up to League One football at the moment it made little difference. Oldham took a not particularly deserved lead with a good goal early in the half, Kuqi and Lee opening up the left side of Bournemouth’s defence with some neat passing and Taylor finishing the move off with a shot from 6 yards out.
Goals sometimes kick games into life, but this one would have needed a defibrillator. There was one moment of quality, quite out of keeping with the rest of proceedings, a spectacular dipping thirty yard effort from M’Changama which flew over Flahavan but thudded off the bar.
Bournemouth showed no sign of being capable of getting back on terms until the closing stages when Addison was pushed up front and added some overdue urgency and enthusiasm to the proceedings. The makeshift striker quickly won a header that resulted in Taylor being hauled to the ground in the six yard box, but a reasonable shout for a penalty was refused. Another Addison header was cleared off the line after he beat Oldham keeper Cisak to Hines’ cross, and substitute Arter had a couple of shots saved, but all too little too late.
Miles Addison defended well enough and achieved more up front in ten minutes than Hines, Stockley and Taylor managed in the rest of the game.
AFCB: Flahavan, Francis, Cook, Addison, Malone, Fogden, MacDonald, Cooper, Pugh, Stockley, Hines
Subs: Jalal, Zubar, Gregory, Taylor (for Stockley, HT), Arter (for Cooper, 60 mins)
Richard Barker, Leyton