Boundary Park next stop for Pools

By Albatross
December 27 2003

After the defeat to Barnsley, Pools have little respite with a trip to Oldham Athletic on the agenda on Sunday. Oldham may have just lost their manager, but as things often go their form is starting to pick up.

At first glance, an away game aginst Oldham should be an easy one for Pools. The Lancashire side have just lost manager Iain Dowie, they are still struggling financially (although a takeover is on the cards), and their last ten league games have seen them win just once.

That win however came last Saturday at home to QPR - a team that Pools know full well are worthy of respect. Boxing Day saw them draw an entertaining game at Grimsby 3-3 under the charge of John Sheridan and David Eyres - the two veterans record is now P2 W1 D1, something of a revival. Oldham also felt they should have won the game at Grimsby after being ahead twice.

The new management team (at least until Administration is completed) don't lack for experience. 39 year old Sheridan last played in the FA Cup defeat by Blackpool at the start of December, and suffers with knee problems, but has more than 700 senior appearances, while Eyres - 40 in February - has just under 700 appearances and is still pulling on his boots on a regular basis.

With the new men in charge, it's hard to say what formation Latics will put out. Against QPR they went 4-4-2, while yesterday away from home 3-5-2 was deployed.

Leading goalscorers so far this season are Scott Vernon and Newcastle Loanee Calvin Zola with six; midfielder Ernie Cooksey has five, as does Sheridan, while John Eyre has four.

At the other end, we face one of a number of Australian goalkeepers in this division (Ilic, Talia) in Les Pogliacomi; Mark Hudson and Will Haining look set to start in defence.

For Pools, there seem to be no new injury doubts after the defeat by Barnsley, although one or two picked up minor knocks. Cooper was intending to have them in for a light training session, so more news on that may emerge later, although Eifion Williams did seem to have picked up a slight knock towards the end of the game.

In terms of team changes, the issue of left back remains unresolved. Brackstone may be preferred again to Robson, but I would be tempted to go for 3-5-2 with Shuker and Robson as wing-backs and Humphreys moving inside. Shuker showed signs of promise against Barnsley and is another option in the centre, and you wonder if Tinkler is in danger of losing out given our need for a more creative player in the centre of the park. Istead should at least retain his spot on the bench after providing Pools with a valuable extra option late on.

Oldham will no doubt be fired up for this one, and their recent improvement suggests that we will find them no pushovers. I'm predicting a 1-1 draw, Williams to add to his tally again as both sides settle for a point.