THE ins and outs in the matchday media guide ran to nine lines.

Twenty-seven players in total either coming or going over the summer.

The Oldham “model”, as Gary Bowyer pointed out before Saturday’s game, is very different from the rest of the division.

Frenchman Laurent Banide’s team featured five of his compatriots, a player from Benin and a winger from the Dutch Caribbean island of Caracao.

The Latics certainly stand out from the League Two crowd. But they also look like yet another example of what happens when an owner “knows football.”

The chant of “you’re not fit to own our club” is not a new sentiment at Valley Parade. Memories are still too raw of the many mistakes of the previous regime.

The booming chorus on Saturday came from the Mamma Mia Stand where just over 1,000 Oldham fans did their club proud.

They appear to be being badly let down under the watch of Abdallah Lemsagam, the Moroccan football agent who runs the Latics.

A team full of technical, tidy players looked good on the eye at times. But with three defeats out of three so far, they are in danger of becoming cannon fodder.

They were tailor-made opponents for a City side so keen to break their winning duck.

The emphatic margin did not flatter as Bowyer rang up 100 career wins as a manager.

The Bantams boss felt that his side has passed the ball better on the opening day without managing to break down Cambridge’s brick wall.

He had a point there because this first victory was achieved by taking a more direct route, playing on Oldham’s naivety with the power and physical presence that he has been so keen to instil since taking the club reins in March.

Not that anybody was complaining amid the celebrations of a first three points at Valley Parade since his debut in charge against Peterborough.

The programme had devoted the front cover and a four-page interview to Eoin Doyle, 24 hours after his season-long loan to Swindon had been rubber-stamped.

It was the only mistake that could be levelled at City on a day when most things went to plan.

Typically, Doyle got off and running instantly with a late equaliser for his new team at Exeter.

But his departure, while leaving much-needed wiggle room within the budget for the last fortnight of the transfer window, also made up Bowyer’s mind to go with 4-4-2.

The experiment of playing three up top, something that could still be resurrected with Shay McCartan back in the picture, was shelved for a switch to more conventional methods.

That appeased the doubters in the stands straight away. The mutterings over the narrow format to accommodate Doyle along with the front two had been growing.

Instead, City presented a more open formation with the purpose of shuttling the ball upfield with the minimum of fuss.

Sean Scannell was a popular sight on the right wing for his first league start of the campaign.

Connor Wood had earned his chance on the left and once again demonstrated that his game seems more suited further forward, where he began his career as a young striker.

City did not have it all their own way, with Oldham enjoying a good chunk of the first half with the extra man dropping into central midfield, but the hand brake was off.

And for their flurry of first-half corners, eight in all, the visitors got absolutely no joy from a dominant defence.

City also enjoyed the perfect start to prevent any nervous flutters from developing.

The game was barely five minutes old when Wood whipped in a delicious ball from the touchline.

Clayton Donaldson missed it at the near post but James Vaughan was right behind him to accept the tap-in.

Oldham skipper Mohamed Maouche, their best player, kept the excitement in check when he pinged the inside of the post.

But City saw off an awkward 20 minutes or so before Donaldson gave them some breathing space.

The front two’s movement opened a gap for Kelvin Mellor’s long ball to exploit and Donaldson met it with a fierce half-volley that flew past Oldham keeper Gary Woods.

The stopper, who had a brief pre-season trial with the Bantams in Ireland in 2013, was caught out again when Ben Richards-Everton lobbed Anthony O’Connor’s free-kick into the mix.

Donaldson climbed above full back Zak Mills and the helpless Woods but crashed his header against the bar.

City’s third goal arrived on 74 minutes – the reward of great persistence from the forwards and another convincing finish by Scannell.

Vaughan began it by throwing himself into a challenge on halfway to regain possession.

Oldham claimed a foul – and it appeared referee Geoff Eltringham was overruled by his well-placed assistant to play on – but Bowyer saw nothing wrong with a “perfectly good tackle”. Proof that the game hasn’t gone “completely soft” as he said afterwards.

Donaldson took the attack on, showing his strength to shrug off a challenge in the box.

Scannell was on his shoulder to receive the pass as the target man checked inside, realised he didn’t have Oldham company and had time to secure his sights and blast into the top corner.

City had equalled their largest winning margin since seeing in the new year by beating Accrington and the euphoria in the air was clear.

Vaughan, nursing a cough, took his bow to a standing ovation as Shay McCartan stepped out at Valley Parade for the first time in 15 months.

The rapturous reception he received would have been even louder if he could have taken either of two good chances, firing over the bar and then forcing a low block from the diving Woods.

But City settled for three and getting the monkey off their back with the first win since relegation. Even given the toothless nature of the opposition, that should put the more panicky minds at ease.

The boos and prickly post-match reaction were reserved for Oldham from a backing clearly reaching the end of their tether with a fantasy football owner.

While nowhere near their best, City won at a canter which will give confidence all round for the battle ahead.

Another positive result at Stevenage will represent a pretty solid start.