Dino wants to restore Latics’ famous history

DINO Maamria says he can take Oldham ‘back to where they should be.’

The new Latics is in his first week in the role after replacing the sacked Laurent Banide at Boundary Park.

And he made the perfect start, with victory over Morecambe on Saturday.

“I’m delighted to be leading this football club, a club that has been underachieving for the last two years. It’s my job now to take it back to where it should be,” said the Tunisian.

“It’s a big club in League Two. Can you take them to the Championship in two or three years? Yes, you can. Can we win promotion? Yes.

“It’s got the history, the tradition, it ticks a lot of boxes.”

Saturday’s win was just Oldham’s second in the league this season and Maamria was quick to outline what they need to do to improve.

He said: “I know what needs to be done, we need to bring the fans back together and connect them with the club again – the easiest way to do that is to win football matches.

“The first thing is stability. For a period of time we’ll play a certain way, our recruitment has to be right and we can’t keep changing every six months. Short-term we need to win matches.”

Banide’s sacking raised questions regarding the policies of chairman Abdullah Lemsagam after the Frenchman became the fourth Latics manager to leave in 2019.

“I think the chairman is being harshly treated, I think it’s your job as manager to work through that and get the best out of your chairman and give him what he needs as well,” said Maamria.

“Not many managers are in total control, managers now are there to win football matches and if they don’t win quickly, they’re out.

“What I can control is my players, winning matches on a Saturday and the rest of it is influence.”

And despite this underlying pressure to succeed quickly, Maamria – whose side travel to Carlisle on Saturday – is confident that he can take the club forward.

He said: “I love working under pressure, I think the minute that you take pressure off of yourself, you start declining.

“I’m a very ambitious person, I’ve got to compete with the best and I’ve got to play hard to get that.

“It’s not going to be easy it’s a process, but I’m taking it all one step at a time.”