Oldham Athletic 1, Tranmere Rovers 0, League One, 25th January 2012

At the last Tranmere home game we went to (I think it was the Huddersfield one), a few of the young kids sitting at the back of the stand unveiled a 'Parry Out' banner. They were booed by a good number of people around me and, probably unaware of  human rights laws in this country, some of the Tranmere stewards waded in and made them put it away.

On Saturday, the banner appeared again, but this time there weren't so many boos and there was certainly no response from stewards. In fact, the photographers wearing OAFC jackets were goading 40-50 kids to hold the banner up and look menacing while they took a few shots of them. I would say nearly half of the 600 Rovers fans who turned up joined in with the 'Parry Out' chants.

With the notable exception of a brief purple patch at the start of the season, I've never believed we would get anywhere with Les in charge - and I've said so lots of times.

It sounds snobby, but he's always been a comical figure: welder turned physio, physio turned manager, famous for writing funny programme notes and for showing off his little white legs in a shorts and t-shirt combo even in the middle of winter. For years, he traded off being the court jester of the dugout, so how on earth was anyone, right through from the players to the supporters, supposed to take him seriously?

And PR-wise he's lost the plot completely. After this latest abject performance, particularly up front and in midfield, he turned on the fans. That's not the way to get them on your side Les.

It's difficult though. He's clearly not the brightest biscuit in the barrel. I'm sure he supports the club and I'm sure he doesn't get paid much. I can't imagine what he will do when he eventually gets the sack, for he certainly will at some point.

All of which makes it seem a bit mean when people appear to want to physically rip him apart by the end of every game. I guess the way he seems to be trying to pass himself off as a Mr Tough Guy doesn't help. Stoic, apparently unaffected by any criticism, even though many of the accusations that are levelled at him are bang on, he just appears a ridiculous figure, standing by helplessly while we win one game in four months.

There are some similarities to Steve Kean, the Blackburn boss. He too appeared over promoted and he too appeared to believe he was a 'real manager', even when the fans' rage and embarrassment at who their manager was made it clear they wanted someone at the helm who might actually know what to do at that level.

But the biggest similarity between the two Rovers is that, in both cases, the supporters' wrath is directed at the wrong man. Kean is just a stooge. People don't care too much about him but he is a focal point for anti-Venkys protests and the same applies with Les. Yes, of course he's out of his depth. Yes, of course he doesn't know what he's doing. Yes, of course we have no hope of achieving anything with him in charge, but who appointed him?

It's not Parry's fault, but he is a symbol of everything that has gone wrong with the club. With Les in charge, we look like complete amateurs and that doesn't appear to bother Peter Johnson one bit. In just under three years, PJ has undone all the goodwill he had deservedly earned in the previous twenty. Things have got to change - and not just on the manager's bench.

All wasn't lost on Saturday though. Sam thinks Oldham make good pies and that's seven down on his 92 Club Tour. Just another 85 to go.

Great music from friends and family

I'm so busy these days, I hardly get time to share anything online that I can't sum up in 140 characters or less.

What with work stuff, managing Newton-le-willows FC under 8s (b), moaning about Tranmere Rovers, eating posh food, drinking beer and red wine and tending my gout (OK, the gout bit is an exaggeration), I've ended up with a backlog of good stuff that really needs to find its way onto the Ear I Am blog.

For starters, Mrs H's cousin Sean is well overdue another massive plug for his and his mates' latest batch of new tunes that they've put together for their Dear Old Mother Songs project. There's a video been shot for this one. It's of Sean singing the best song from the current lot. He's good isn't he?



No offence though Sean, the Dear Old Mother vid isn't a patch on the one that's just been released by my old friend from work Aaron Starkie and his band The Slow Readers Club, who do seem to be making a bit of a name from themselves on the Manchester circuit. This video is really, really good but I would expect it to be. Aaron was one of the most creative of the whole bunch at the agency we worked at together. I would expect any group he was in to have great tunes and to be on top of all the digital technobabble that goes with being in a band these days.

Aaron is the singer. He's good isn't he? Amazeballs, as Tim Burgess might say....

The Side remembered - Issue One, Peter Hooton, Pat Nevin, Frank Skinner

It's a while since I had look back at an old issue of The Side magazine. I've fondly remembered old copies on this blog before, but I stumbled across another batch when I was up in the loft the other week.

This one, with a shaggy haired Peter Hooton on the front cover was the first one we put together. They were great days. Somehow we managed to put out a 48 page mag that had just two pages of advertising. Even the most novice publisher would predict that it wasn't really sustainable over the long term but we had great fun doing it.

The Farm singer was interviewed at Birkenhead Park I think, where he was taking part in a regular five-a-side fixture with various Half Man Half Biscuit and Kevin Sampson types. His was a good interview and, a few weeks later, he popped into our poky little Crosby offices to see us when the mag came out. He was a nice bloke.

I conducted my own first ever 'celebrity interview' for this issue. It was with Pat Nevin, who was one of my Tranmere heroes back then (still is of course) with the interview taking place in some dingy weights room at Tranmere's training ground.

It ended up being a decent piece when it finally appeared in print, but I don't know how. I was cacking it when I met the bloke and I was shaking like a leaf all the way through our conversation. He probably thought I was a right freak.

I eventually got into my stride though and got less star struck as time went on. By the time issue one had been put to bed I had also interviewed Jimmy Case, David Unsworth and Peter Reid's brother, Shaun, who was playing for Rochdale.

A few days after the magazine came out, I distinctly remember one of the lads in the office telling me there was someone on the phone for me, calling about an article I had written about him. It was Bob Latchford and he wanted to say he was really pleased with it. Unreal.

Also in this issue we interviewed Frank Skinner, who was at the height of his Fantasy Football fame. I don't think he understood anything about our little magazine but he did the interview all the same, so good on him.

And current Radio Merseyside breakfast DJ Tony Snell made an appearance too. He was at Radio City then and we managed to wangle a pair of brand new adidas predators, which had just been launched, for him to wear when he played for the Radio City footie team. He gave us a few plugs on air as a thank you but in the end the station's advertising department got involved and told him he had to stop giving us free publicity.