'Recruitment is still not finished' - Ford

Mike Ford, once a star player, now the 57-year-old managing director of Oldham Rugby League Club 1876 Ltd, has agreed that he hand-picked most of the club’s many new signings, although new head coach Sean Long was in full agreement and knew all along what was going on.

“Sean is delighted to take over the squad,” said Ford, “and he is very happy about it.

"Decisions were down to me only because of timings etc and the fact that we wanted and needed to get on with it.

"Needless to say, I am very happy that we have a squad for success and I am as confident as anyone can be in my position that we have a group of players, a head coach and a coaching team that can take us to where we want to go.

“Recruitment is still not finished by the way.

"We have a squad of 24 currently and I would like to see us with 27 or 28 players judging by the number of players we’ve used in each of the last few seasons.”

He said the fact that, of the 24 already signed for next season or beyond, only Emmerson Whittel, George Hirst, Jordan Paga and Kian Morgan were on the books when the new board arrived at the club, and that showed the full extent of the player turnover that had taken place.

Ford went on: “About 15 players have gone. Most of them wanted to stay.

"Suffice to say we had some very disappointed players, but members of the board were adamant they didn’t want to make hasty decisions so they gave everyone a chance over most of last season and then considered our performances, results and where we finished and concluded we needed a new squad if we were to achieve our intention – to build a squad that would hold its own in the Championship.

“It isn’t easy  telling players ‘ Sincere thanks for everything, but . . . ‘ but somebody had to do it and that was me.

"That’s sport, I’m afraid.

"It’s happened many times before, including to me, and it will happen again.

"It’s the nature of the business.

"It’s no different to the normal work place except that, in sport, you are more in the public eye,”

He said back-row forward Whittel was the only member of last season’s squad on a two-year deal and that Hirst, Paga and Morgan were offered the opportunity to stay – and had agreed.

"Most of the new squad were on two-year deals and this had obvious benefits to both club and player.

“This way, we are covered either way — and we have a squad which we feel will be up there in the League One title race if that’s what we have to do when the RFL make the big decision soon. 

“During recruitment I spoke to lots of players as well as those who were offered terms and who subsequently signed.

"If they were coming here, they had to be good players first and foremost, but they also had to have, as far as we could tell, other qualities such as a good work ethic, a good attitude towards the club, supporters, backroom staff, directors, fellow players etc, and a willingness to accept the club’s philosophy and to buy in to its long-term objective to “go places”.

“For instance, we didn’t want to sign anybody who had stipulated they only wished to sign if we were going to be in the Championship.

"They had to accept our situation, and buy in to our plans to take the club forward from wherever we start.”

Players signed so far are:

BACKS: Jamie Ellis, Jordan Turner, Mo Agoro, Nick Rawsthorne, Jack Johnson, Jordan Paga, Ben O’Keefe, Kian Morgan, Danny Craven, Logan Astley, Jumah Sambou, Kieran Tyrer, Mackenzie Turner.

FORWARDS: Emmerson Whittel, Josh Johnson, Joe Wardle, George Hirst, Brad Gallagher, Jay Chapelhow, Pat Moran, Owen Farnworth, Adam Lawton, Bailey Aldridge, Craig Kopczak.

Some of these players can play in a variety of positions, of course, and of those some can play in the forwards and the backs, thus giving Long a wide variety of options on team selection.

There is also a nice blend of you and experience with the recruitment of several young players, among them Ben O’Keefe, Logan Astley, Jumah Sambou, Kieran Tyrer, Mackenzie Turner, George Hirst and Bailey Aldridge.

The pack is bigger physically than last year, it being generally recognised that in 2023 Oldham were a smallish side and that we needed more bulk, size, strength, quality and experience up front.

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