Mike Fondop has come a long way, and not just geographically.
Eleven years ago the striker took a leap of faith in leaving his family in Cameroon for the UK in pursuit of higher education and a career in football.
The latter has taken him from Essex to the north west via the north east, arriving at Boundary Park from Hartlepool United in January 2022.
But this season alone has been quite the journey. Chastised for a one-on-one that would likely have turned one point into three at Altrincham four weeks ago - amid a run of 1-1 draws, in stark contrast he was lauded for landing a brilliant header to beat Yeovil last week, playing in front of his dad for the first time.
The 30-year-old made a good week even better by backing it up with a brilliant volley to secure a 1-0 win over Forest Green Rovers under lights.
"I always love him. I always back him. He's such a smashing guy," said Oldham manager Micky Mellon when asked how differently he felt about Fondop last weekend compared to post-match three weeks previously.
"I'm always dead honest, if I think people have a capability of putting those chances away, I'll come out and say to you 'he should have scored that' because when they do score it I'll say 'that's what you should be doing, you're good enough to be able to go and do that'. Then the players all know where they stand then because I'll always be dead honest with them.
"I'll say 'that's a terrific header Mike, but you're at the level that I expect should score goals like that'.
"The game at Altrincham, he should have scored because he's good enough to slot that and didn't.
"He'd be the first one to put his hand up. He came into the dressing and said so.
"But I know there were other times he was going to deliver, and he certainly delivered (this week)."
Mellon has also admired the striker's attitude as well as attacking attributes.
"He's never shied away. Never. He's shown a bit of accountability, which is sometimes missing in football, but you're not going to improve if you don't show a bit of accountability," he added.
"You don't apologise, you just practice and get better at it, and that's what he does. He's back on the training ground on Monday and goes again because that's the type of guy he is.
"We need loads of players like that. We have at the minute. That's what he's like."
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