Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

Lots of fight, but no cohesion – Wigan Athletic 1 Bournemouth 3

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions and tagged with , , , , , , , ,
Clarke

Leon Clarke scored on his debut.

 

Playing the league leaders was never going to be easy for a Latics team so short in confidence. Wigan started well, but once Callum Wilson scored a controversial first goal for the visitors it never seemed likely that they could win it. In the end Bournemouth had too much quality for a Latics who have sold off most of their technically-able players.

Malky  Mackay has jettisoned ten players, but brought in eight new ones. He faces the challenge that helped bring down Uwe Rosler, that of bedding in new players in a struggling team. Yesterday he started with three of them – Chris Herd, Kim Bo-kyong and Leon Clarke. Two more – Sheyi Ojo and Billy Mckay – came on in the second half.

Mackay had had a difficult choice to make. If he brought in too many of his new signings he would face a lack of cohesion between players who would not know each others’ games. If he did not bring in the newbies, he would be persevering with the what remained of Rosler’s squad, players desperately low on confidence.

In the event it was a lack of cohesion that stood out yesterday, a Latics short of the kind of “team intelligence” that the visitors showed in abundance. Bournemouth played a brand of football reminiscent of Roberto Martinez’s time at Wigan. The central defenders would drop back to receive the ball, playing it calmly out of defence. All of their outfield players were comfortable on the ball. When they received it there was always someone moving in space to pass it to. They won the match without duly exerting themselves, with a crunch game at Derby coming up in midweek.

Bournemouth’s first goal was well taken by the exciting Callum Wilson, whose pace and movement was to give Leon Barnett and Liam Ridgewell a torrid afternoon. However, Wilson was clearly offside when he set off for that run. It was the kind of refereeing decision that struggling teams like Latics seem to invariably attract. Chris McCann’s loss of the ball on the edge of the penalty area soon after led to Yann Kermorgant scoring with a low shot that Ali Al-Habsi might have saved. Wilson once again evaded the centre of Latics’ defence for his second goal.

On a positive note all of the new players did enough to make them acceptable to the crowd. Clarke played the classic centre forward role and scored a headed goal. Kim worked hard for 45 minutes, showing some glimpses of skill, but was not fit enough to play for longer. Herd was gritty and tenacious in the right back role. Ojo is still only 17, but he immediately showed the silky skills that we had heard of. However, after an exciting start Bournemouth wised up to his moves and denied him space. Mckay formed a partnership with Clarke, but was well marked by a tight Cherries defence.

It will be interesting to see what kind of lineup Mackay chooses to face Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. Will he jump in at the deep end and throw in his other new players ? It will be Ridgewell’s last game before returning back to Portland, but will Mackay give Jason Pearce his first game in place of the nervy Barnett? Andrew Taylor has the crowd on his back after a series of indifferent displays and people will be keen to see if Gaetan Bong can do any better.

Sadly it looks like Emyr Huws could be out for some time after injuring his suspect ankle in training. Mackay’s resources in midfield are stretched and it is an injury that could be a major blow for Latics.

Click here for post match comments from Malky Mackay.

 

Can Malky’s new players gel in time?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Reflections and tagged with , , ,

embers

The flames of Malky’s fire sale have now subsided. Only the embers remain of the most successful era in Wigan Athletic history.

Is there method in this apparent madness in selling off the family silver? Does Mackay know what he is doing? In what direction is the club heading?

Malky Mackay may well be the least popular manager in Wigan Athletic’s history. But perhaps only someone with ratings so low would be willing to withstand the ire of the fans by selling off the club’s most talented players. Did Dave Whelan bring him in as the axe man, ready to chop away the dead wood, so that new and stronger roots could start up? Is that why he has seemed relatively unconcerned about the awful results during his tenure? Is he at Wigan for the long haul, come what may?

The club is at its lowest ebb for decades. There is no doubt that we will be seeing a new reality over the next couple of years. Gone are the glory days of entertaining the rich and famous clubs of English football. Moreover it looks like we can also forget about attacking football. Mackay’s teams have been built on defence and resilience, unattractive but effective. But even that would be an improvement on what we have seen these past months.

Over the transfer window Latics lost ten players, four of whom played in the FA Cup Final. Only one of those heroes now remains – the 35 year old Emmerson Boyce. Mackay was not fully able to stick with his plan of recruiting “hungry British players”. He did manage to get Leon Clarke, Billy McKay, Sheyi Ojo, Jason Pearce and Liam Ridgewell. But he also signed Cameroonian Gaetan Bong and Australian Chris Herd, with Korean Kim Bo-Kyung seemingly about to become the eighth new player.

One of the concerns under Uwe Rosler was that a squad of 30+ players was too big. Most of us expected a considerable slim down in squad size. In fact with Juan Carlos Garcia coming back from an unsuccessful loan period at CD Tenerife the squad has not shrunk much at all. Granted Latics have shed many of their highest wage earners, but the current squad certainly looks much lower on quality, if not in quantity.

Some fans would say that Uwe Rosler made appalling signings and put Latics into the situation they are in at the moment. Others would say that the players he signed had genuine potential, but they could not adapt quickly enough and never reached the levels expected. Then again, it could be argued that they were not well handled and that led to their demise.

Typical of football managers, Rosler wanted to bring in his own men. He went on to sign ten on permanent contracts. That made the squad large, with inevitable problems. His demise was precipitated by those players not gelling in the squad.

To be fair on Rosler, he had taken over players who had been recruited by managers whose preferred style of play was diametrically opposed. He did well last season to keep some kind of harmony between the ex-Premier League players of the Martinez era and the mish-mash of quality players and journeymen brought in by Owen Coyle. But bringing in his own men added an extra dimension of complication that eventually was to become insurmountable.

Now Mackay is trying to do the same.

However, unpopular though he might be, Mackay has had the blessing of the majority of fans in making major changes in the playing staff. Put simply, players on fat contracts just had not performed as they should. It has given him carte blanche to cull the legends of the Martinez era, something Coyle was unable to do.

The acid test remains for Mackay.

There are 18 matches remaining for Latics to salvage a season where promotion was once a realistic possibility. Relegation looms.

Fans will back Mackay in bringing in new men, “refreshing the squad”, in his vernacular. Given the woeful lack of commitment by the players over the course of the season, it has been looked on as necessary.

However, in the process he has lost most of the creative talent that was there. However, he could say that those players were not being effective and his new charges may be less talented, but can achieve more.

Frankly speaking, some of the players brought in by Mackay during this transfer window would not have been signed in previous eras. Expectations have been lowered.

However, he now faces the problem that Rosler had. That is “bedding in” of his new players. With only 18 games left that is a major issue.

 

A Leeds United fan’s view of Rudy Austin

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Fan Views and tagged with , , , ,

 

Midfield has been a problematic area for Wigan Athletic this season. It has been missing the strong physical presence that is necessary at Championship level. Moreover the pace of play has too often been pedestrian, lacking the sort of midfield player who will run at the opposition defence.

Reports suggest that Latics are about to secure the services of Rudy Austin from Leeds United. Could he provide the kind of balance that the midfield has needed?

The 29 year old Rodolph Austin started his football career in his home country Jamaica. He played for Portmore United, based in the suburbs of Kingston. During his time there United won two league titles and the Caribbean Football Union Cup.

In the summer of 2008 he went to Bergen in Norway to play for Brann, well known to Latics supporters through Paul Scharner’s sojourn there. Austin’s most successful year there was in 2011 when he won the award of best player in the Tippelegaen (Norwegian Premier League).  During his three years in Bergen, Austin made 90 appearances, scoring 15 goals. He moved to Leeds United in July 2012, where he has since made 91 appearances, scoring 7 goals.

Austin has made 71 appearances for Jamaica, scoring 7 goals.

In order to find out more about Austin’s time at Leeds we reached out to  Adam of the Marching on Together site forum (@motforum).

Here’s over to Adam:

Rodolph Austin, Jamaican Warrior, signed to great fanfare from Brann by Neil Warnock in 2012 was something of a cult hero before he made his debut with fans having seen exploits of his powerful running, tough tackling and accurate passing on YouTube.

He has never really lived up to that potential however, perhaps mainly due to the position he has been played in. His stature and tough tacking have usually meant managers have marked him out as a defensive or holding midfielder but he has never really looked comfortable there, his positional sense really isn’t good enough for that role. He was made captain in 2013, you would think he was the ideal man to get players going but in reality he is a quiet man and he stepped down from the job in January 2014.

The best of Rudy Austin really comes when he plays in a more advanced role and is given licence to get forward. It’s a position that Neil Redfearn has played him in during recent matches and having been out of the side for a while he has been a revelation. Once he gets on the ball and starts running up the pitch at speed there really is no stopping him, he is like a juggernaut leaving opposition defenders in his wake. He’s also better when he keeps things simple, that old YouTube video may have shown wonderful long cross field passes but he’s equally likely to hit the ball into tough. Equally with his shooting, he loves a long range strike but rarely sees them hit the target.

 If you want to see Austin at his best check out the highlights of our last game against Bournemouth; strong forward runs and simple short passes. If you look at him and expect him to be a great, tough tackling, holding midfielder you’ll be disappointed. If you give him some freedom to get forward you’ll get the best out of him. He is certainly not the most cultured of footballers but he’s honest and a hard worker. Had he been rumoured to move on earlier in the season I wouldn’t have been bothered but given his performances in the last few games I’d be little disappointed if he left.

 

 

Ipswich – once again a turning point?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions and tagged with , , , ,
Will the Ipswich game prove a turning point for Mackay's Latics?

Will the Ipswich game prove a turning point for Mackay’s Latics?

“I think we were terrific. I have watched Ipswich four times this season as a neutral and I knew they grinded teams down before scoring and winning – that is why they are near the top of the league.

“We had to make sure we matched that and we did. There was very little between the two teams. Anyone watching that game couldn’t have said who was near the top and who was near the bottom.”

Malky Mackay’s words after a dire 0-0 draw at Portman Road yesterday.

How times change. A year ago Latics went to Ipswich having won their previous eight matches. They were too good for the Tractor Boys that day, winning 3-1, and it was no surprise. But that game sadly signaled the end of a wonderful run of results, Latics winning only 4 of the 12 league games that followed.

Mackay will hope yesterday’s trip to Ipswich will also be a turning point, but this time in the other direction. It has been something that we could have expected earlier in the Scot’s tenure. On his appointment one had visions of this kind of performance, all grit and determination. His teams have rarely been good to watch, but they have been effective.

Getting the defence right has been key to Mackay’s efforts at Watford and Cardiff. Yesterday, he wisely resisted the temptation to put in new signing Jason Pearce, instead relying on a back four that had played together the previous three matches. The end product was a solid performance from them, not riddled by the errors we have seen over the past months.

Mackay’s signing of Liam Ridgewell looked like a mistake in the loanee’s wobbly first appearance at Birmingham, but since then he has begun to provide the kind of defensive backbone that had been lacking. Ridgewell is the kind of combative professional that one might expect in a Mackay lineup. Moreover when Ridgewell’s short loan period comes to an end he will have Pearce to replicate that style of play.

In the meantime one hopes that Leon Barnett’s recuperation continues. Barnett was one of the stars last season until an injury at, of all places, Ipswich caused him to lose his place. Since then his form has plummeted and he just has not looked the same player. However, Barnett is an experienced and capable central defender, who would find a place in most Championship teams. He is by no means elegant, but he certainly has the ability to be a real asset at this level.

With Chris McCann injured, Mackay opted for a midfield trio of Don Cowie, Emyr Huws and William Kvist. Kvist is at last being given an extended run in the team, albeit not only for his ability in protecting the defence, but also for his long throws which are becoming one of Mackay’s key ploys. Cowie is sadly being maligned by many fans in the same way that Jordi Gomez was during the Martinez era. His pedestrian style of play does not do him any favours in this respect, but there can be no doubting his commitment and workrate. He and Andrew Taylor were key elements of Mackay’s Championship winning team at Cardiff and he is likely to continue relying on the two. Huws remains an enigma. He has all the talent and physical qualities to be a top player, but has still not shown his best in Latics colours. The question is whether Mackay will be able to give him the straight run of games that he needs in order to get his play into full gear.

The downside of yesterday’s performance was the lack of cutting edge up front. The stats show that each of the two front men, Marco Fortune and James McClean, was caught offside four times during the course of the game. That is unacceptable in a team so short of goals.

Getting a result through playing ugly is something that we are likely to see more and more during Mackay’s tenure. The question is whether Latics can do it consistently over the games that remain. Can Latics become the sort of team that nobody wants to play against?

On a positive note, Mackay, at last, got the commitment he sought from the players yesterday. Perhaps the selling off of the crown jewels will have a silver lining. He has lost most of his classy and skllful players. but enough quality remains for Latics to escape the trap door of relegation.

If Latics can show that same kind of resilience that they showed yesterday, over the final 18 matches, then they can look forward to another season of Championship football in 2015-16.

A Leeds United fan’s view of Jason Pearce

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Fan Views and tagged with , , , ,

 

Photo courtesy of football365.com

Photo courtesy of football365.com

For some time now the Wigan Athletic defence has looked in need of a leader with physical presence, someone who can outmuscle those big strikers that so many Championship clubs have.

Malky Mackay obviously recognized that by initially bringing in the combative Liam Ridgewell on loan, but now he has acquired another rugged central defender, this one on a permanent contract.

The 27 year old Jason Pearce started his career as an apprentice at Portsmouth in 2004. Over his three years at Pompey he did not make a first team appearance but had loan spells at Bognor Regis and Woking. As a 20 year old he joined Bournemouth, where he was to make 162 appearances in four years. In his third season he had helped the Cherries get promotion to League 1, being named captain midway through the season. The following season Bournemouth reached the playoffs, when Pearce was sent off in a match they eventually lost on penalties to Huddersfield. Despite his expulsion in that crucial game, Pearce was named Player of the Year for that 2009-10 season.

Strangely enough Pearce was resigned by Portsmouth in June 2011. He made 43 appearances that season, taking over as captain in March and gaining the Player of the Year award. However, due to their dire financial position Portsmouth had to sell him and he joined Leeds United in May 2012. He made 41 appearances for Leeds in the Championship the following season, then 49 in 2013-14.

In order to find out more about Pearce’s time at Leeds we reached out to a couple of fan sites. We were happy to receive submissions from both Kevin of Leeds United Mad @LeedsUnited_MAD) and Adam of the Marching on Together site forum (@motforum).

Thanks to Kevin and his site for the post below:

Jason Pearce was former United manager Neil Warnock’s first long-term signing in May 2012 when he joined the club from Portsmouth. He was highly-rated at the time and it was considered a coup that he joined the Whites.

Pearce, who started his career at Fratton Park as a trainee before moving along the coast to Bournemouth, was named Portsmouth’s Player of the Year in 2011/12 and won seven of the nine supporters’ awards.

The player had gained his reputation at Bournemouth, where he spent four years, skippering the side, before returning to Pompey at the start of the 2011/12 season in a £500,000 deal.

Initially his tough-tackling no-nonsense nature was a big hit with the Elland Road support but lately his indecision at times was a frustration, even though he was made skipper at the start of the season.

Therefore, when Liam Cooper and the erratic Giuseppe Bellusci forged a partnership when Pearce was suspended, it was generally thought it was better for the United defence. The signing of Sol Bamba seemed to be a suggestion that Pearce was no longer required and a move away seemed to be the logical conclusion for a player with a year left on his contract.

In short, capable when on form and marking a bog-standard centre forward but weaknesses appear when he is up against a more skilful opponent.

Thanks to Adam and his site for this fan’s view:

Signed in 2012 from Portsmouth Pearce was at the heart of Neil Warnock’s squad rebuilding. You cannot question Jason Pearce’s commitment, there can’t be many harder working players out there prepared to but their body on the line for the cause. He will fling himself in front of any ball, foot, man, post to deny a goal with little regard for himself. He will play on bloody and bruised with his head bandaged up. As captain of both Portsmouth and Leeds he was prepared to take responsibility, go get players going, he is a leader.

For all his commitment and strength he is a limited player though. Leeds major deficiency over the past few seasons had been our defence and Pearce has been at the heart of that. His positioning has a lot to be desired and he has a habit of panicking under pressure and slicing the ball straight to an opposition player. For all the points he saved us by heroically throwing himself in front of the ball he probably cost us just as many with his mishaps.

Pearce has slipped down the order at Leeds following the signings of Giuseppe Bellusci and Liam Cooper and with Sol Bamba coming in on load this week his opportunities for the latter part of the season would have been limited. Leeds fans love Pearce for his commitment but I can’t say many will miss him for his footballing ability. Mind you we said the same about Tom Lees and he’s gone on to be one of Sheffield Wednesday’s best players this season since we sold him to them back in August.