Assistant boss Ian Baraclough is delighted to be back working in a football environment after being confirmed as Steve Robinson’s number two last week.
The pair met in Scotland in February 2015 where they worked together at Scottish Premier League side Motherwell.
Whilst Baraclough left Motherwell in the September of that year, he has been working in football in a scouting role but is delighted to be back working full time for Oldham Athletic.
He said: “I was working with Doncaster last year predominantly in League One and keeping our eye over League Two and the Conference so the knowledge is invaluable.
“I wasn’t just at home sitting looking after the children working on my garden every day, I was still doing stuff in the game, expecting this time to come so you are prepared.”
Whilst his time out of the game has allowed him to extend his knowledge of players, he has worked hard with manager Robinson to bring fresh faces into the club.
“We needed to bring players in sharpish having only taken on five contracted players,” Baraclough admitted.
“The manager felt that they were the right type of characters to bring in and we did that in the first couple of days and now we have something we can build upon.
“We feel we have brought the right players in at this time but it’s still a work in progress."
The results during pre-season have not gone Latics’ way, however Baraclough knows that friendly matches are just to test the players.
“Pre-season is for planning, preparation and getting the group together,” he explained. “We have had to do it in quick time but we feel like we are getting there.
“Each game has been a progression, each game we have seen aspects that we are delighted with and it’s thrown up certain areas in which we know we need to work on and that will carry on through the season.
"We are very diligent and articulate in what we try and get across to the players. We learn from every game and every session and that won’t be any different between now and the end of the season.”
With the season opener against Millwall only just around the corner, the assistant manager is excited for the new campaign to kick off.
He said: “This is something different. It’s a challenge but it’s something we are relishing.
"We know it won’t be perfect straight away but we know what we are working towards. It’s something that we do enjoy or we wouldn’t be here.”
Watch the full interview on Latics PlayerHD.