Latics swoop - but not for Cohen

Austin Lipman: trial period at Athletic, but now looking for another club.

Oldham Athletic were today set to sign a new centre back with leadership credentials.


The decision not to hang on to South Africa-based trialist defender Larry Cohen was based on the new arrival, whose name the club was last night keeping under wraps.

A 24 year old with experience of skippering his club side, the player was described by one player as having decent pace, being strong and aggressive and appearing to be a good fit with the club following the departure of Anthony Gerrard, Adam Lockwood and George Elokobi.

The plan was that the newcomer would train today before putting signing a permanent deal.

Both Cohen and fellow trialist Austin Lipman are to start their search for contracts elsewhere.

The ex-Arsenal academy striker was judged to be no better than players already in the squad.

“Austin and Larry did well,” Kelly said. “Larry is a good ball player, but in terms of what we were looking at, he didn’t quite fit the bill.

“We have a player coming in to train today who has been captain at his previous clubs. He has had injuries, but when fit I see him as a championship player.”

Provided the deal is done, Kelly will still be looking for another centre-back. He has several options and if need be can also borrow a promising young defender from a premier league club.

Athletic’s players face their first pre-season friendly at Chester at the weekend, immediately followed by a week-long camp in Scotland.

With a squad free of injuries, Athletic fans will get their first glimpse of the club’s new signings at the Deva Stadium and the only two players who won’t be involved are Mike Jones and Jonathan Forte.