OLDHAM’S search for Matt Diskin’s successor is already under way with Roughyeds in a hurry to find the man who can keep them in the Betfred Championship.

Club chairman Chris Hamilton, never a leader to shy away from making tough decisions, knows better than anyone that whoever gets the job will face a Herculean task to turn the Roughyeds’ season around sufficiently to keep them up.

On the other hand, it’s a wonderful opportunity for someone to make a real name for himself.

Enormous kudos awaits the man who can win Oldham’s “dog fight” – Hamilton’s words – but with only 10 games left in the second half of the season time won’t be on his side.

That’s why we can expect an early appointment with the new man in the hot seat before the next game against fourth-placed Bradford Bulls on Sunday week, July 11.

Furthermore, of the 10 games remaining, four are against teams currently in the top six – Bradford (third), London Broncos (fifth), Toulouse Olympique (unbeaten leaders) and Featherstone (unbeaten second).

All are winnable, but the six the new boss will be targeting, in particular, are Newcastle Thunder at home and no fewer than five on the road – at Whitehaven, Swinton Lions, Sheffield Eagles, Widnes Vikings and Dewsbury Rams on the last day of the regular season.

The tough decision to terminate Diskin’s contract half a season early was made after a run of seven league losses in a row and only one win in 10 – relegation results in anybody’s book.

Interestingly, Hamilton made the decision, delivered the bad news and then spoke of his sorrow for his departing team boss because the poor results were caused in the main by mistakes on the field rather than by poor coaching.

“Nevertheless, they are losing us games,” he went on “and we have to do something to stay in the dog-fight and stay in the division.”

He said Diskin had worked hard in his time at the club – most of it during Covid – and added: “Furthermore, I’ve enjoyed working with him which makes the decision all the harder.”

One wonders if Diskin reflected on what he said when he was appointed on a two-year contract in the autumn of 2019, succeeding Scott Naylor, who had decided himself that, after seven seasons at the club, he had done enough.

Then aged 37, and appointed to his second head coach’s job after three seasons at Batley, father-of-five Diskin confirmed that it wasn’t his decision to leave the Yorkshire club.

He went on: “I’m not naive. It’s a results-driven business and if they don’t meet expectations, it’s the coach’s head that will roll.

“The job here is a tough one, not least because of the disparity between budgets at the top of the Championship and those lower down.”

You can say that again.