Sports Editor Tony Bugby brings us the latest from Oldham Athletic.
OLDHAM ATHLETIC’S derby victory against Rochdale lifted them into the play-off places in Sky Bet League One.
Yet the following day Latics’ appearance on the back page of one Sunday tabloid newspaper had nothing to do with their exploits at Spotland.
The Sunday Express had learnt, it claimed, that Latics’ hierarchy had met Ched Evans, the Wales international striker, who was recently released from prison having served a sentence following a conviction for rape.
And though Latics have subsequently denied that will be offering the former Sheffield United goal machine either a facility to train with them or a contract, it has still left a bitter taste.
You only had to look at social media to gauge the reaction of fans and the club also risked being ostracised by the wider community and world.
The Blades were recently forced to retract their offer for Evans to train with them following his release from prison due to a tsunami of negative publicity. That was viewed as a prelude to him returning to Bramall Lane.
So, why did Latics, as it has been reported, enter into talks with Evans, presumably with the intention of bringing him to SportsDirect.com Park when it would also attract such an outcry?
They were seemingly prepared to consider taking a punt on a player who cost the Blades £3million and, in his mid-twenties, ought to still have his best footballing years ahead of him.
And as a business proposition it must have been enticing because, if Evans rediscovered his form, he would have been a highly saleable asset.
But it would have been a high-risk strategy to take Evans on board, even though Latics do have history as they signed Lee Hughes in 2007 following his release from prison after he served a sentence for causing death by dangerous driving.
While Hughes’ arrival at Latics was highly controversial, the publicity generated was by no means as emotive and intense as that surrounding Evans in this age when social media is such a powerful tool in the world of communications.
Latics’ directors would also have had to weigh up whether Evans’ arrival would have provided an unwelcome distraction with the club doing so well and battling for promotion. Surely it would have done with the focus directed on him and not the team.
And it the wake of the revelations and subsequent furore, it look Latics only 24 hours to issue their statement to put on record that Evans won’t be joining them.
By the way, this column was originally intended to enthuse about how well Latics are doing until its agenda changed in the light of events which surfaced over the weekend.
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