Usually, when a team is relegated, retribution for the manager is instant.

Last season Oldham tumbled out of League One on the final day, but Richie Wellens was allowed to plan for the coming season.

He released seven players, including Tope Obadeyi, news which was followed by the chairman being 'removed from his position' following a board meeting.

After 21 years in League One, Oldham had never been less prepared for life in League Two. Wellens wasn't sacked until the beginning of June, leaving little less time for the new man to plan.

By that time he had already signed Jose Baxter from Everton, but that has been the total of incoming players at Boundary Park. It might be fair to describe the situation as disarray. In some quarters, the word carnage might even be used.

Former player Frankie Bunn was later appointed manager, but it emerged he'd applied twice before and been refused both times. Now, when they're at their lowest ebb, they're finally willing to give him a go. It must seem an eternity since Clarence Seedorf and life-long fan Paul Scholes were linked with the role.

Bunn has never managed in the Football League before though and, on being announced, he said he was going to 'give it a go'. Hardly stirring stuff.

The last time Oldham were in Division Four was 1970/71, their two-year stay fleeting and quickly forgotten. Since then they've been in the Premier League, been FA Cup semi-finalists and League Cup runners up. However, like Coventry and Portsmouth before them, the heady days of trips to Old Trafford are long gone, replace by trips to Forest Green and Morecambe.

Whilst both the Sky Blues and Pompey bounced back quickly, they did so from a platform of security, boasting managers with Football League experience and signing players pre-season who could make a different. The Latics look unlikely to do that, struggling to pay wages or attract players.

Many pundits are tipping them for a swift return, based purely on their size and history, but a cursory glance into the National league reveals Leyton Orient currently languishing there, with Stockport a harsh example of how far a former Championship side can sink.

Whatever is going on at Oldham, League Two will not be a warm and comforting place in which to nurse their wounds and look for a way back. It will be unforgiving, packed full of ambitious sides looking to elevate themselves above the likes of Oldham Athletic.

If things don't change quickly, they might well be able to do just that.

 

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