Latics diary: 409 derby to be played in total silence

Rochdale AFC have declared that Saturday's clash with Oldham at the Land of Spots will be played in total silence, with fans being urged to bring something to keep them busy during the game.

Dale have helped Latics fans to keep shtum by reducing the ticket allocation. Latics could sell this fixture out twice over on their own, so the move is an absolute triumph for Dale's business prevention department. Their bank manager will be so pleased when they find out.

Dale have also banned The Drum in an attempt to stop Latics fans singing. The club have instructed stewards to use the finger-on-lips gesture if fans so much as whisper to one another. Anyone raising their voice above a whisper will be ejected forthwith. A small amount of ersatz cocaine will be planted upon their person before their arrest and incarceration. They will not be able to avail themselves of the prisoner early release scheme.

No such instructions have been issued to Dale fans, but you don't need a crackdown to keep that lot quiet.

Do we take each game as it comes or do we think about the next unforgiving minute?

Somebody needs to ask Drew Povey, Latics' motivational Magic 8 Ball, about this.

The each-game-as-it-comes mantra, say critics, begets mediocrity. Sides that want promotion, and players who want promotion, need to think about the material connection between what they do in the next minute and the club points tally at the end of the season.

For reasons that Povey alone can enunciate, Latics seem not to have that mentality. They seem to be waiting for something. Three defeats in six games at the start of a season when you've declared that promotion is the objective is not good enough.

If Latics want promotion, they have to stop dropping points now - tomorrow. They can't wait until things have gelled or until they have a settled side and a comprehensible formation. Last season, Latics were all but done and dusted at the beginning of February, but Micky Mellon managed to salvage the season to give his side a chance of a play-off spot with a scarcely believable run of results.

Promoted sides have a stable points income stream rather than a one-in-a-hundred burst of form. It's no good getting fired up when your league bid is almost an impossible task.

Derby games are stand-out fixtures in the calendar, but Latics need a result tomorrow because they desperately need to add to their end-of-season points tally. It's as simple as that.

I just hope Latics fans can keep quiet during the game.