KEITH Curle believes his current crop of players lacks the qualities needed to bring the good times back to Latics.

The Oldham boss is in talks to extend his stay at Boundary Park beyond his initial short-term deal which ends on May 8.

And the former England defender thinks plenty of change will be required over the summer to ensure Latics are competing in the right half of League Two next season.

The former England defender has memories of facing Oldham in the late 1980s and 1990s and believes the values that made those such memorable times are severely lacking at the moment.

Asked what he felt needed to change to get things heading in the right direction, Curle pulled no punches.

“New players,” he told The Oldham Times. “I go back to when I played against Oldham and you had to earn the right.

“If you came to Oldham, whether it was a Saturday or a Tuesday, you knew that everything you got you earned. That’s not here at the minute.

“There was a hunger about this football club that started to rise to the success that they got and the foundations that they had were built on hunger, desire, application.

“I don’t see enough of that to build success on in that changing room at the minute.”

Curle has backed himself to be the man to return those values to Boundary Park.

“Yes. I think I can bring it back but to do it, it might need some different personnel,” he added.

And even those who are under contract for next season are not safe, with a significant player turnover expected.

“Having a contract for next season doesn’t guarantee you playing,” the Latics boss said.

“It might have the security of being paid for 12 months but for people to progress their careers they’ve got to get in the team.”

Curle is the latest in an increasingly long line of managers since owner Abdallah Lemsagam took over three years ago, but the former Northampton and Carlisle boss insists the dressing room is not immune from criticism.

“Somebody needs to come in here and be prepared to do things differently,” he said.

“I don’t accept mediocrity, I don’t get blagged by people not putting in a shift.

“The football club’s had eight managers in three years, they can’t all be bad managers.

“Sometimes the changing room needs to look at themselves. The foundations of the changing room need to change, we need to bring in people with the mentality that winning games becomes a norm, but you earn that.

“I’m looking for improvement. I’m looking for players that can potentially go on a journey and want to be part of that journey.

“If not you are looking for bus stops and people to catch another bus out to somewhere else.”