Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

A look at Latics’ eventful start to the season

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

Forshaw

With the Brentford game looming Billy theBee Grant @billythebee99 of the Beesotted fanzine asked us at Amigos to give his readers some background information about what has been happening with Latics. Here are our responses to his questions, to be found on the Beesotted site at http://bit.ly/1wc0nrC

BillytheBee catches up with JJ (@JJLos3Amigos) from father and son Wigan blog Los Three Amigos and discusses Uwe Rosler, Adam Forshaw, the Grant Holt beef, Wigan Pies and Kajagoogo.

So lets cut to the chase here … Wigan’s start to the season hasn’t been quite as expected hasn’t it?

The season has been like an uncomfortable rollercoaster ride for Wigan Athletic, with some ups but too many downs. The downs have been quite depressing, characterized by low tempo football with little creativity and defensive weaknesses.

In terms of performances there have been two “ups” – a resounding first half display in a 4-0 defeat of Birmingham City and a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest. The 1-0 win over a clueless Blackpool side could hardly be called an “up”. The performance against Forest was better than Latics have had in recent weeks.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for the fans above all. The disappointment of a draw and three losses in the first four games was tempered by two successive victories and promising activity in the transfer market. There was genuine optimism before the visit to Blackburn after the first international break, but that dissipated following three losses and a draw in the next four games.

But last season you lost in the playoff semi-final to QPR .. and reached the FA Cup semi-finals too. Are you just having a bit of ‘nearly made it hangover’?

The stats actually show that Latics have won only 6 in the last 26 matches, drawing 8 and losing 12. Moreover in their last 13 away games they have won one, drawn 3 and lost 9.

Rosler has talked about the FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal and the hangover the team has suffered ever since. To win away at Manchester City in the sixth round was a remarkable achievement. But Latics were 1-0 ahead until the 82nd minute at Wembley. To suffer that equalizer, but still make it through extra time after playing so many matches in a condensed period of time, was equally remarkable. But it clearly took a lot out of the players psychologically.

The promotion push stumbled at the playoffs. By then Latics had done the marathon, having already played 62 competitive games during the season.

Despite their tiredness they pushed Queens Park Rangers into extra time of the second match, although in reality they had all but lost their best chance of going through by being unable to find a way past Harry Redknapp’s parked bus at the DW Stadium. That match called for a moment of magic from the likes of Shaun Maloney, Callum McManaman or Nick Powell which didn’t happen.

There was little to choose between Latics and QPR last season, but it was the Londoners who went up. Lots of teams came to park their buses at the DW last season and it is likely to be the same scenario this year.

Nowadays the “Little Wigan” tag we used to have has gone and the “FA Cup Winners” label applies. Managers of opposing teams know what quality Latics have in the squad and many will try to park their buses, as they did last year.

But once Rosler has his top players fully fit and firing on all cylinders that quality will show. Parking the bus will not be enough for visiting teams.

Brentford fans were slightly disappointed to see Rosler go before he had ‘finished the job’. Luckily Warburton picked up the baton seamlessly and no real damage was done. However, less that 12 months later quite unbelievably there has been much talk of #RoslerOut from Wigan fans. Surely one should give any new manager a chance to really get his feet under the table. Don’t you think your mob are being slightly ridiculous?

Following the achievements over the past decade expectations are high. There is a whole generation of younger supporters who until last year, were brought up on Premier League football. A return to the top flight is a ‘must’ for many of them.

Some nine months on from the departure of Coyle the keyboard warriors who may have contributed to his demise are lively again. This time their disgruntlement is aimed at Uwe Rosler. It might be hard to believe after what Rosler has already achieved at the club, but some are starting to question if he is the right man for the job.

Rumours were being bandied around the fan forums and social media of Rosler losing the dressing room, although none have since been substantiated. However, the intervention of Dave Whelan openly supporting Rosler has helped calm things down. There still remains a fringe of fans who want Rosler out.

The tale of Whelan’s eventful visit to the dressing room in the early days of Paul Jewell’s reign is etched in the minds of Latics supporters. Jewell was going through a hard time as a young manager, dealing with too many players who were not supporting him.

The story goes that Whelan let the players know in no uncertain terms that the manager was staying and that they could leave if they were not happy with that. It was to ultimately lead to Jewell taking Latics from League 2 to the Premier League and the League Cup final.

Whelan’s intervention this time around might well have sent a similar message to the players. The result was clear to see – a team putting in a real Wigan Athletic performance. Rosler was buoyed by not only the chairman’s support, but by that of the crowd.

The display against Forest was laden with the kind of physical endeavour that propelled Latics into the playoffs and cup semi-final some six months ago. It had been sadly lacking in previous games. Rumours about a divided dressing room and unprofessional behaviour from certain players were blown away by the chanting of “Uwe, Uwe” by the crowd at the end of the game.

Do you feel that Rosler has now seen there is a big difference between managing Brentford where there are less egos in the dressing room, and Wigan – where players are on big money .. and with many ex-premiership players to try and keep happy???

Whelan has backed Rosler by allowing him to assemble a large squad, with lots of quality. He has a strong backbone of players with oodles of Premier League experience. To maintain a squad like that costs money, with Latics having to offer commensurate salaries for those experienced players.

Interestingly James McClean took a significant salary cut when he joined Latics, but keeping players like him happy is clearly a challenge for Rosler. Perhaps the current squad is too big and Rosler is facing challenges in keeping those happy who don’t make the matchday squad.

Having a reputation as a serial rotator, the German continued in the same vein last season. From his first game in charge in December to the end of season playoffs he used 29 players. Faced with extreme fixture congestion, a degree of team rotation was certainly necessary. Moreover it meant that all players in the squad had a chance of getting on the pitch.

This in turn produced keen competition for places and raised the morale of those who might not have been involved. But it was not so much the rotation that fans questioned, but the way in which it was being done. Sometimes there would be wholesale changes, resulting in lineups lacking in cohesion.

Latics fans learned that Rosler’s team selections can be perplexing during his early days at the club. At times it might be easier to predict the winner of the Grand National than guess a Rosler starting lineup. Are his choices linked to a tactical approach or are they influenced by the players’ attitudes and their levels of commitment in training?

Critics say that Rosler has his favourites and his management style involves a “My way or the highway approach”. Fans have questioned his willingness to give all squad players a fair crack of the whip.

So what’s this beef with Grant Holt all about?

The case of Grant Holt has been extreme.

One of Rosler’s first moves when he arrived was to leave Holt out of the squad that travelled to Slovenia to play Maribor. Then in January the player was sent on loan to Aston Villa until the end of the season. When he came back he was consigned to training with the development squad and he was not given a squad number. Moreover his face was conspicuously absent from the squad photograph taken for club’s official site.

Holt has subsequently moved on to a short term loan at Huddersfield, where he seems to be regaining the form he was not able to show at Wigan.

How have your signings been? There was always a big question mark as to who was actually making the signings at Brentford. Manager Mark Warburton, who was the Sporting Director at the time, has very good links with academies around Europe and was thought to be the person to put forward many of the Brentford signings .. with all new players having to be ratified by both Rosler and owner Matthew Benham. Does Rosler have a team around him who he works together with to find and suggest new players to sign?

When the German was appointed in December, most of us expected him to bring in a swath of coaching and backroom staff from Brentford. Within a month he brought in Chris Haslam from his old club as Head of Performance – possibly because of concerns in the fitness levels of Latics’ players.

Alan Kernahan and Peter Farrell had left Brentford within a week of Rosler’s departure and it seemed a matter of time before they were installed at Wigan. It did not happen.The non-arrival of Rosler’s trusted lieutenants was put down to either budget issues or Dave Whelan’s loyalty towards staff previously appointed.

Veteran first team coach Graham Barrow was to continue and John Doolan (who left for Hibs in the summer) was brought up from coaching at youth level to help out with the senior squad.

Rosler has done well in his recruitment of players to be fair, bringing in a mixture of youth and experience. Delort, Forshaw, Huws, Tavernier, Taylor-Sinclair and Waghorn are in their early twenties and all are excellent prospects for the future. In Cowie, Kvist, Riera and Taylor he has players with proven experience.

Rosler’s recruitment contrasts with that of his predecessor, Coyle.

The Scot had a short-term approach, bringing in the kinds of seasoned professionals who could help secure promotion. Despite the pressure on him to get promotion this year, Rosler has stuck to his guns and shown a more long-term approach in signing that swath of younger players.

However, in Beausejour, Gomez and McArthur Latics have lost three key players with considerable technical ability.

Masters of the passing game.

There has been a considerable amount of debate among fans about the type of football Latics have been playing this season, which has alternated between the possession football typical of the Martinez era and the long ball of the Coyle reign.

It has been a difficult start to the season for Rosler. Not only has he had so many new players to settle in but also there have been serious fitness issues.

New players invariably need time to gel with their teammates, but the lack of a clearly defined style of play has made it even more difficult for them. Goals have been too often been given away by sloppy defending and goal opportunities have so often been wasted.

But more than anything else it is the lack of creativity that has stood out.

Rosler really went out on a limb signing Adam Forshaw. Im saying that not because I think Forshaw is a bad player who would let Rosler down .. he’s not .. he’s a great player. I say that because from what I can gather, your fans have been calling for a striker and not another midfielder.

When the hullabaloo started over the Adam Forshaw transfer there were fans who thought transfer funds available would be better spent on a central striker than a midfielder who had not proven himself beyond League 1. Latics had already signed Oriel Riera from Osasuna, whose settling into the team was hardly helped by woeful service from midfield.

The number one priority for the fans was another striker, even if there were concerns about the lack of creativity in midfield.

Despondency had crept in with the impending departure of that great Latics stalwart and FA Cup winner, James McArthur. It looked like Rosler was not going to get the extra striker he desperately needed with the Andy Delort situation continuing to be uncertain.

Moreover the Forshaw saga was dragging on. The creative midfielder was clearly within Rosler’s sights, but was it going to happen?

Then on the Monday we were to find out that Dave Whelan had splashed the cash after all. Leicester City had dropped out of the race to sign James McArthur, but Crystal Palace had moved in and made the acquisition.

By the transfer deadline we had confirmed the Delort and Forshaw transfers, plus the surprise signing of experienced midfield enforcer William Kvist from VfB Stuttgart.

The three signings signaled a statement of intent from Whelan and Rosler that they really wanted to finalise a squad capable of achieving promotion.

But there was another signing that was unexpected – that of young talent Emyr Huws from Manchester City on a permanent contract.

So where does Forshaw fit into your current side?

Rosler clearly has faith in Forshaw being able to provide a creative spark in midfield. He did it at Brentford and Rosler will be banking on him doing the same at Wigan. In recent matches Huws has provided some spark. But he is young and needs time.

However, if you were to ask a room full of Latics fans who is the best bet for a creative midfield role, the name of Shaun Maloney would surely be their typical response.

Without doubt the best football Wigan Athletic have ever played was in the final part of the 2012-13 season and in the FA Cup triumph in 2013-14. Sometimes Maloney would be played wide on the left. But he was most effective when playing an advanced midfield role in the “hole” behind the centre forward. If anybody made the side tick it was he.

Maloney proved himself as a top quality Premier League player. But questions remain, if at 31 years of age and after a major hip operation, he will ever get back to where he was. However, he comes off the back of two good performances for Scotland.

At his best and playing in his favourite position in the centre of midfield, he can be an outstanding performer in the Championship.

The dilemma for Rosler will be in deciding if there is room for both Maloney and Forshaw in the same team. If so will Maloney be consigned to wide position?

He’s made a few cameo appearances for you so far. I guess that he is still working on his fitness. How has he been?

Forshaw made his Wigan debut in the last ten minutes against Blackburn, but it was his first competitive football since May.

He made his first start against Ipswich. He looked out of touch in the first half, but rallied in the second when he switched to a more central role. In the closing minutes he put through a couple of exquisitely timed passes to split a stubborn Ipswich rearguard. He looked the part in those closing minutes.

Forshaw made his second start in the next match – a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth. He did not come off the bench in the Forest game that followed, but came on in the 57th minute in the 2-2 draw at Wolves before the international break.

Forshaw has shown some promise. But like several other players at the club, match fitness has been the issue.

Your parachute money surely runs out very soon. Surely if you don’t get back into the Premier League, you will be in a financial pickle

Last season Latics were due to receive £23m in parachute payments from the Premier League. With an historic Europa League campaign coming up the club decided to largely invest the parachute payments into maintaining a large squad. It is believed that the club had previously written into players’ contracts that their salaries would drop if they were to be relegated from the Premier League.

Moreover a number of players left the club. Several at the ends of their contracts. Others for significant transfer fees.

Latics actually performed relatively well last season in using their parachute payments to assemble a squad good enough to reach 5th place in the Championship. In the previous season the clubs who came down from the Premier League – Blackburn, Bolton and Wolves – finished in 17th, 7th and 23rd positions, despite parachute payments of £16m.

With the parachute payment and funds gained from the Europa League campaign, together with prudent financial management, it is likely that Wigan Athletic at least broke even financially last season.

The challenge is whether they can secure promotion back to the Premier League against clubs who are spending millions on new players.

Last season both Leicester City and Queens Park Rangers flouted FFP rules in gaining promotion. The London team is reported to have had a budget of £70m last year, losing £23m over the season. Fulham’s investment of £11m on Ross McCormack was staggering, especially for a player who has never played in the Premier League.

Wigan expects to open a new training facility at Charnock Richard by August 2016. This will then allow us to attract players of all ages and also develop future professionals. Were that to become a reality they would then need to apply for Category 1 status.

The main priority for Latics this season is promotion to the Premier League. However, in terms of long term sustainability the club needs to produce young players who can graduate to senior level. The Academy project is an indication that Latics are trying to secure long-term viability as a club in the upper echelons of English football.

So who should Brentford be looking out for on the pitch??

Callum McManaman is the man in form this season. Let’s see if Brentford resort to the kind of foul tactics against him that other teams have done so often.

And here’s our “Made in Wigan” section …

Bolton Wanderers or Wigan Rugby League?

Are you showing a red rag to a bull? Latics fans are not too distressed at seeing Bolton at the foot of the table. After decades of being treated with condescension by the followers of the egg-chasing game, Latics are in the ascendency in the town. Just look out for the blue, not the red.

Richard Ashcroft from The Verve or Limahl from Kajagoogo?

Both brilliant, but how about Starsailor ?

Roberto Martinez or Andy Liddell?

Both spent six years playing for Latics. Icons from different eras as players, not to mention Roberto’s achievements as a manager.

Chris Kirkland or Nigel Adkins?

Kirkland spent 6 years at Latics, producing so many heroic performances despite constant struggles with injury.

Adkins was Latics’ goalkeeper pre-Whelan, from 1986-93. Will he ever return to them as manager?

Wigan Casino or The Hacienda

Don’t ask a Wiganer a question like that! The Casino was from an earlier era but both were something very special.

Georgie Fame or George Formby Jnr

Both legends in Wigan, even if Georgie was from Leigh.

Kay Burley, Sky News or Ruth Liptrott, Channel 5 News

The more Wiganers on the news the better!

Head to head, Wigan are smashing it winning 18 games to the Bees’ 6 with 7 games drawn. Do you think the Bees will make inroads interning that record around??

A win for Latics by at least a two goal margin.

Do you think you can still get promoted?

Given the bad start to the season it is unlikely that Latics can reach an automatic promotion spot. But with the squad that Rosler has put together promotion through the playoffs remains a distinct possibility.

Blackpool are the obvious certs for relegation, but despite their owner they are a fine old club. Let’s hope they can stay up.

Where do you recommend away fans hang out out pre-match?

The Anvil, in the town centre just behind the Parish Church,is an excellent real ale pub. The Raven, just up the street from the station, is an old style Wigan pub well worth a visit. Don’t forget to try the pies while in the town centre.

 

BillytheBee
@billythebee99

Latics-Brentford preview [podcast]

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

Brentford travel to Wigan in search of 3 points .. after the shenighans of Rosler leaving West London for Wigan and Adam Forshaw following him, it would be fair to say this match may have a bit of an extra edge about it …

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Link: http://bit.ly/1Dft7SE

Billy theBee Grant @billythebee99 of the Beesotted fanzine got around the virtual table with the Mudhutter fanzine from Wigan to chat Forshaw .. Grant Holt .. Rosler .. corner tactics … and losing to Norwich ….. plus lots lots more ….

Starring:

Sean Livesey – Mudhutter
Billy theBee Grant – Beesotted
Martin ‘Jimmy’ Tarbuck – Mudhutter
Matt Allard – Beesotted
Dave Lane – Beesotted
Chris Marsh – Mudhutter

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Maloney back in the limelight – but can it last?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , ,

MaloneytScotland

Shaun Maloney has had a pretty miserable time over the past twelve months, but he can still hit the headlines. He was already being quoted about the resurgence of Gordon Strachan’s Scotland side before his deflected shot sealed a 1-0 victory for them over Georgia in midweek. Now he is in the limelight once more, quote after quote from him appearing in the media.

Through his ten years of service at Celtic and an international career that started in October 2005, Maloney is well known to Scottish journalists. Moreover in a sport where its professionals are hardly known for their eloquence, he comes over as intelligent and thoughtful in his comments.

Just a couple of years ago Latics had three players regularly making appearances for Scotland. Gary Caldwell was captain for both club and country, Maloney featured regularly and James McArthur was staking a case for a midfield holding position. Since then McArthur has left for Crystal Palace and both Caldwell and Maloney have had major injury problems. Given that Maloney had started in only two matches for Wigan Athletic this season, Strachan clearly has belief in the player to pitch him into a European Championship qualifier.

Injury has been a constant companion to Maloney throughout his football career. For Celtic from 2008-2011 he made only 38 starts in three seasons. He arrived at Wigan from the Glasgow club in August 2011 for a fee of £850,000. He struggled for fitness in the first half of the 2011-12 season, making just three substitute appearances. In early March 2012 he made his Premier League debut for Latics, setting up an equaliser for Victor Moses at Norwich and making a very positive impression.

He was to go on to become a regular starter and a key player in Latics’ miraculous escape from relegation. Maloney’s first goal for Wigan was a penalty in the memorable 2-1 win over Liverpool at Anfield. His great goal against Manchester United in early April secured a 1-0 win and moved Latics out of the relegation zone for the first time since October. He went on to score another beauty in the 4-0 demolition of Newcastle just over two weeks later.

Maloney was to steer clear of injury in the 2012-13 season when he scored 6 goals in 34 starts and 2 substitute appearances in the Premier League. He scored a memorable opening goal in the FA Cup semi final against Millwall, but Maloney will probably be remember best of all by Latics fans for the corner kick that he launched on to Ben Watson’s head for the Cup Final winner.

However, injury was to strike Maloney again only a few months later. After scoring three goals in 6 early appearances in the Championship under Owen Coyle, Maloney was out of action for five months after requiring hip surgery. His last match had been in the 2-0 defeat at Leicester City, where he was substituted after 63 minutes on September 14th. He returned on April 1st in the 2-2 home draw against the same opponents. Maloney was to go on to make ten more appearances, including the FA Cup semi final against Arsenal and the two playoff games against Queens Park Rangers.

Maloney’s return had given fans the hope that he could produce some of his magic to help Latics secure promotion, but it was not to be. He just could not hit his best form after so long a layoff though injury.

Sadly injury has continued to dog Maloney. He was unable to take part in the pre-season warmup games, but has since started in two league games, coming off the bench in five.

A fully fit Shaun Maloney could help kick start Wigan Athletic’s stuttering season. Playiing on the right of midfield for Scotland against Georgia on Saturday, he looked much more like the player who was key during the more halcyon days of Roberto Martinez at Wigan.

The question is whether Maloney can maintain his fitness, steering clear of injury. Latics supporters will be praying that this will be the case.

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Reading Rosler

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

sardine_psychologist_779205

I think I have options but players have to realise that I can only give them so many chances because we’re a top club in the Championship and, with the personnel we have, it can’t take you ten games to find your form.”

Quotes from football managers can be misinterpreted or taken out of context. Uwe Rosler has come out with some gems in recent weeks that have had people thinking. What is he really trying to say? How does it fit in with how the team has been playing? What goes on in his head when he is  picking a team?

Latics fans learned that Rosler’s team selections can be perplexing during his early days at the club. Having a reputation as a serial rotator the German continued in the same vein last season. From his first game in charge in December to the end of season playoffs he used 29 players. Faced with extreme fixture congestion a degree of team rotation was certainly necessary. In fact his predecessor, Owen Coyle, also felt the necessity to rotate his squad. But with Rosler it was not so much the rotation that fans questioned, but the way in which it was being done. Sometimes there would be wholesale changes resulting in lineups lacking in cohesion.

At times it might be easier to predict the winner of the Grand National than guess a Rosler starting lineup. Are his choices linked to a tactical approach or are they influenced by the players’ attitudes and their levels of commitment in training?

So far this season Rosler has used nineteen players in eleven league games. However, nine players have started in almost 90% of those matches. Put simply Rosler has stuck by a basic core of players, with others used sparingly as starters or substitutes. Is Rosler sending a warning to that nuclear core of players that if they don’t perform they will be replaced? Or is he referring to the new players who have taken time to settle in? Has he shown favouritism towards them at the expense of those recruited by previous managers?

The critics will say that Rosler has his favourites and his management style involves a “My way or the highway approach”. Grant Holt has clearly never met the manager’s approval and has now been sent away on another loan spell. Moreover Roger Espinoza, Fraser Fyvie, Lee Nicholls and Thomas Rogne have disappeared off the radar. Not so long ago Rosler was talking about sending players out on loan, with the inference that it could include those who had played in a recent development team fixture. They were Espinoza, Fyvie and Marc-Antoine Fortune. Since all three are in the final year of their contracts his remarks seemed to signal to those players that their time at the club was coming to an end. However, Fortune now finds himself back in favour with the manager.

Fortune is a player who has his critics, rightly so given his woeful goalscoring record. However, even they would acknowledge his ability to be effective in the target man role. Fortune is strong and hard to knock off the ball. Apart from his goalscoring he has fitted well into the Rosler machine. The big French Guianian would have surely realized his place would be threatened with the arrival of Oriel Riera and Andy Delort. In fact Rosler recently stated: “Marc-Antoine Fortune was told by me at the beginning of the season that the new strikers would be preferred at the beginning to get their chance.”

Fortune was on the bench for the season opener against Reading, with Riera leading the attack. He started in the next game, the League Cup debacle at Burton Albion. Riera was to go on to start in four consecutive league games. His form was hardly electrifying, but he scored a well taken winner against Blackpool and played reasonably well in the 4-0 home defeat of Birmingham. However, the arrival of Andy Delort meant that he was surprisingly relegated to the bench. Delort was to start in three consecutive games without really impressing. However, the names of neither Delort nor Riera appeared in the starting lineup at Bournemouth. Fans were flabbergasted when Fortune was named ahead of them both. Delort returned in the next match at home to Ipswich, only for Fortune to come back for the 2-2 draw at Wolves last Saturday.

Rosler has been full of praise for Fortune, following his fine performance at Molineux, which included a well taken goal. “Marco has been an exceptional pro. He’s never let himself down or us down. He’s continued to work hard and kept himself in good shape mentally and physically.  In the situation we’re in we need more Championship experience and Marco gives us that, he knows the Championship in and out. He has the physicality to cope with that and he takes the pressure off our new players because they need to adapt a little bit more.”

Rosler’s supporters will say that he is wise to bring in Fortune to allow Delort and Riera more time to adapt. Moving to a new country is a challenge in its own right, let alone being thrust into the physicality of Championship football.

However, critics would say that Rosler left Riera out of the lineup at exactly the wrong time, after he had started to show that he was adjusting to the pace of English football. Moreover Delort was immediately thrust into the deep end, rather than having a settling in period and a gradual introduction into the team. Both Delort and Riera came to the club following successful seasons with their clubs as central strikers who scored more than their fair share of goals. However, the poor service from midfield up to this point would have made it difficult for any Latics striker to get goals. Neither player could be accused of wasting valuable opportunities – the necessary level of service just has not been there.

Midfield was a strong point for Latics last season. However, the departures of Jordi Gomez and James McArthur and the long term injuries to Chris McCann and Ben Watson have hit Latics hard. Rosler clearly had to build a new midfield. In Latics’ three games of the season McArthur made up the midfield trio together with Don Cowie and Emyr Huws.

When McArthur left for Crystal Palace, Rosler had the option of bringing in Espinoza, Fyvie or youngster Tim Chow who had impressed in pre-season. However, it was William Kvist, newly signed just before the transfer window closed who was to claim McArthur’s spot in the next match at Blackburn. Fitness levels of Latics’ squad at the time were low and once again they caved in during the second half. However, having recently played a couple of games for Denmark, Kvist’s fitness level was possibly better than some. Moreover Kvist played for Fulham in the second part of last season, so his adaption was not as difficult as that of Delort and Riera.

Allegations that Rosler has shown favouritism to players he has recruited are hard to substantiate. He had little choice than to bring in new central strikers, midfield players and left backs. In fact, Rosler has signed ten players in his tenure at the club, but only four made the starting lineup for the Wolves match. Don Cowie has played in every league game so far, and Emyr Huws and Andrew Taylor in all but one. The experienced Kvist has already staked a claim to a regular place. Of the remainder Martyn Waghorn has started in only two games, as has Adam Forshaw. James Tavernier has been limited to appearances off the bench and Aaron Taylor-Sinclair has not featured at all.

Rosler has brought in a mixture of youth and experience. Delort, Forshaw, Huws, Tavernier, Taylor-Sinclair and Waghorn are in their early twenties and all are excellent prospects for the future. In Cowie, Kvist, Riera and Taylor he has players with proven experience. However, as new players come in others can be expected to depart. Espinoza and Fyvie may well be sent out on loan. Latics could well be open to bids for Ali Al-Habsi in the January transfer window. In the meantime Nicholls could be sent out on short term loan.

Having a new midfield has hampered Latics’ possibilities of getting off to a good start this season. However, the overriding factor that has contributed to only two wins in eleven league games has been a lack of fitness. Latics have so often wilted in the second half, losing the initiative against teams that could not be able to compete with them in terms of quality. The run of bad results has led to a crisis of confidence among the squad that has affected all players, new and old.

On top of that Rosler’s team selections have been surprising to say the least. However. the overdue return of Leon Barnett will help provide more defensive solidity. Fitness levels have improved and both Adam Forshaw and Shaun Maloney will be available to provide the kind of service that Delort and Riera have so desperately lacked.

As fans we do not know what is going on behind the scenes at a football club. If we did maybe we could better understand the reasons for some of Uwe Rosler’s more puzzling decisions.

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Barnett and Ramis can control the rollercoaster – Wolves preview

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

The season has been like an uncomfortable rollercoaster ride for Wigan Athletic, with some ups but too many downs. The downs have been quite depressing, characterized by low tempo football with little creativity and defensive weaknesses. In terms of performances there have been two “ups”, with a resounding first half display in a 4-0 defeat of Birmingham City and remarkably a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest.

A few weeks ago when the season started Latics fans would have had higher expectations of the clash with Forest. Last year Owen Coyle’s team beat them 2-1 at the DW to be followed up by a 4-1 win at the City Ground by Uwe Rosler’s side. Was this performance against Forest really an ‘up’ or was it really a higher ‘down’ than Latics have had in recent weeks?

It has been a rollercoaster ride for the fans above all. The disappointment of a draw and three losses in the first four games was tempered by two successive victories and promising activity in the transfer market. There was genuine optimism before the visit to Blackburn, but that dissipated following three losses and a draw in the next four games. The level of frustration of the fans was high and it led to hyperactivity on the fans forums and social media from the new darksiders, the keyboard warriors who wanted Rosler’s head on a platter.

Rumours were rife that Rosler was on his way out, but a show of support from Dave Whelan provided the German and his squad with the tonic they needed. The display against Forest was laden with the kind of physical endeavour that propelled Latics into the playoffs and cup semifinal some six months ago. It had been sadly lacking in recent weeks. Rumours about a divided dressing room and unprofessional behaviour from certain players were blown away by the chanting of “Uwe, Uwe” by the crowd at the end of the game.

Rosler will certainly be buoyed by the commitment showed by his team on Tuesday and by the backing of both chairman and fans. But then again, a football manager is above all judged on results. Latics will clearly have to start climbing the table or the manager’s future will be finite. Whelan has shown himself to be ruthless if he believes a manager cannot hack it. Rosler will surely know that.

An away game at Molineux is never going to be easy. Moreover Wolves are smarting from a surprise 3-1 defeat that broke an unbeaten home record in the calendar year. That it should be lowly Huddersfield Town who inflicted the defeat was a bit of a shock. But that Huddersfield’s star man was Grant Holt was even more so.

James McClean took the limelight against Forest with an all action display, but there were other players who also raised their games. The midfield was particularly improved, but the centre of defence looked more solid than it has done for weeks. In the absence of the injured Rob Kiernan, Rosler opted for the experience of Emmerson Boyce and Ivan Ramis, who teamed up well before Boyce had to go off injured at the end of the first half. However, the introduction of Leon Barnett in the second half made it look even stronger.

Barnett is a player who is tailor-made for the Championship division. He is rugged and competitive and is more than a match physically for any opposition forward. He is a superb header of a ball. His absence this season has made the defence more vulnerable to the aerial bombardments employed by so many Championship teams. Moreover Barnett is also dangerous in the opposing penalty box, as evidenced by his five goals last season. Latics have not looked so threatening this year from set pieces, partly through mediocre delivery, but also through lack of aggression of the big men thrust forward. Barnett has his weaknesses, his passing in particular, but after playing for two clubs that got promoted out of the Championship he knows the league and what is expected.

On his day Ramis is probably the best central defender in the division. Since his return to fitness he has become an ever-present in Rosler’s starting lineup, although never hitting his top form until an excellent display against Forest. He is a totally different type of central defender to Barnett, often preferring to bide his time before making vital interceptions and tackles. Few defenders in the Premier League can match the quality of his distribution of the ball.

Barnett and Ramis have the complementary strengths that can make them an awesome pairing at Championship level. They can provide the backbone that Latics need to gain that defensive solidity they have so far lacked.

For tomorrow’s game Boyce is out of the reckoning, but Kiernan may well be available. Putting a young central defender in the team when the team is playing well is one thing, but putting him into a struggling team has probably not helped Kiernan’s confidence.

With Don Cowie likely to be ruled out through injury, Rosler is likely to bring the more attack-minded Adam Forshaw into midfield. However, away from home he will be looking for defensive solidity first and foremost.

Ex-Latics striker Nouha Dicko will be keen to give Wigan’s central defence a hard time. It remains to be seen who will make up the central defensive partnership for Latics and whether there will be two of them or three. Following a promising performance with a regular back four, Rosler might well want to stick with that same formula. He will also have to decide whether to continue with his two natural wingers, Callum McManaman and James McClean, away from home. He has the option of playing Martyn Waghorn wide. Andy Delort and Oriel Riera will compete for the centre forward spot.

So what is next for Latics in this rollercoaster season? Wolves have come up from League 1 full of confidence and will provide tough opposition. An adverse result would most likely put Latics into the drop zone.

No matter what the result tomorrow the season still has a long way to go. With a central defensive partnership of Leon Barnett and Ivan Ramis long term prospects would look brighter. They can help provide control for that rollercoaster.

 

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