Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

Team selection and shape, loan players and discipline – A Brentford View of Uwe’s Tactics: Part 2

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

 

Billy down the pub with Rosler signings Brentford captain Tony Craig and Alan McCormack (and the rest of the team) the night Brentford won promotion.

Billy down the pub with Rosler signings Brentford captain Tony Craig and Alan McCormack (and the rest of the team) the night Brentford won promotion.

Following Uwe Rosler’s appointment in December, Billy Grant gave us a fan’s view of the German’s time at Brentford (click here to see the previous article). Six months later we have come back to Billy to give us more of his insight.

Billy writes for the Brentford fanzine http://www.Beesotted.co.uk (Twitter – @beesotted). He will also be travelling to his sixth World Cup this year, video-blogging his way around the country for All Mouth No Action’s ‘World Cup FanCam’. You can follow Billy by RSS linking http://www.worldcupfancam.com. Also follow him on twitter @worldcupfancam and @billythebee99. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldcupfancam.

This is Part 2 of our look at Rosler’s footballing philosophy and tactical style through the eyes of this knowledgeable Brentford fan. Click here to see Part 1 on high pressing and squad rotation.

Fans here find it hard to predict Uwe’s lineups and substitutions can be even harder to predict. Granted that much of this might have been down to having to rotate his squad and save players for upcoming matches. Do have any insight into what his rationale might be?

Not really. One reason why Uwe used to rotate the team was he would try and adapt the Brentford team depending on the opposition. Many fans wanted him to stick to the same team and let the opposition worry about us. That obviously changed after the Stevenage game when he stuck with the same team week in and week out.

To be fair to Uwe, he would often change the team quite radically as well as the tactics if it was not working in the first half. More often than not, this has proven to have positive results with the changes turning the game around. His teams were also known for fighting till the very very end. Brentford were well known for scoring important goals very late in the game – this I believe was down to the team’s increased fitness levels that Uwe insisted on, an incredible team spirit within the side fostered by Uwe and an alteration in the team, formation and or tactics.

Uwe’s masterstrokes were becoming legendary.

At Loftus Road in the playoff semi final we saw the hoof once more rear its ugly head. That was what fans might have expected more from Coyle’s teams than Rosler’s. Over the past months it has become more and more prevalent. A measured long pass is one thing, but hoofing forward speculative high balls to the opposition defence is something else. It could have been a symptom of mental tiredness on the part of the players, but did Uwe manage to keep a lid on it when at Brentford?

We saw a bit of both at Brentford. There was the total passing game which was interspersed with a long ball game. In division one, Uwe learned that pretty football did not always get you the results you wanted. Long ball was sometimes effective for Brentford although after three seasons of seeing our style change, many fans would get p!ssed off if we resorted to a long ball game.

We had a striker, Farid El Alagui, who was a big fans’ favourite who used to attack aerial balls and chase everything down with a passion. Unfortunately, he got injured early on in the “Doncaster” season and when he came back a year later at the beginning of the promotion season, our football style had changed somewhat. Brentford were beginning to rely a lot less on playing the long ball game. Farid was reduced to an occasional substitute. Ironically, in quite a few games he came on in, he managed to switch the game up and score. Brentford fans wanted to keep Farid as an option so that we could switch to a “B” plan which involved playing a more direct style of football. But he was used less and less and eventually was loaned to Dundee Utd just after Uwe left.

I was actually at Loftus Road in the Wigan end for the QPR game with Laney the Beesotted founder. Uwe kindly sorted us out match tickets. We blame ourselves for Wigan losing. Brentford have a terrible record in the playoffs – losing every 7 of the playoffs we have been in – so I’m surprised he let us anywhere near the match with our dismal playoff record. Saying that, Uwe is totally practical when it comes to superstition not believing that past Brentford’s failures should have any impact on current games. I think he may take a different view after we lost to Yeovil in the final once again last year and our jonah appearance at Loftus Rd.

My personal opinion was with so much at stake, Uwe probably played it a little bit too cautious at QPhah. It reminded me of some games at Brentford back in the day. Lots of good skillful passing play. Getting the ball up to front men quickly who are unable to deliver. Giving the ball away in midfield needlesslessly at times. Quite frustrating as naturally, we wanted you guys to win. But his argument will be – Wigan were playing away from home so you keep it tight and hit the opposition with a sucker punch and all of a sudden they’re chasing you for the game. That’s when you switch it up in the last 20 minutes with substitutions to expose those gaps.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work that way.

How successfully did Uwe use the loan system at Brentford? Things did not work out well for him here with many of his loan players. Not one of them appeared in the starting lineups in the two playoff games. What proportion of loan players “made it” at Brentford. How many were later to sign permanent contracts?

Brentford have a wicked loan system. We have a sporting director who’s main role is dealing with the player side of things. Current manager Mark Warburton was sporting director when Uwe was manager. The two very much worked as a team. Who actually found specific players we signed I cannot say for sure. But as Warburton’s background and passion is developing youth team players, I can only assume that it was he who developed relationships with a number of premier league academies as he created the NextGen series (sort of the champions league for academy teams). As a result I can then assume that he  recommended the signing of young Everton academy players Luke Bidwell, Adam Forshaw (league one player of the year this season) and Conor McAleney, as well as players like Harlee Dean (Southampton), Kadeem Harris (Cardiff), Tom Adeyemi (Norwich) and Marcello Trotta (Fulham). I may be wrong though. Bidwell, Forshaw and Dean played a good season or so on loan for the Bees before becoming permanent signings.

Adeyemi was great for Brentford in the “Doncaster” season and we tried to buy him in the summer. We would have got him if we got promoted but Birmingham waded in and promised him Championship football so he left for them. We’re still trying to sign Trotta after he matured massively after “crossbar-gate” in the last league game of last season. He’ll probably end up at Wigan as will George Saville (Chelsea) who had a great debut season for us and Uwe tried to sign in the January window. We tried to sign him too but he’s going places and has already said his farewells to Brentford after the team’s promotion holiday in Vegas.

The policy Brentford has is to pick up players with great potential but still needing a lot of developing. Then give them match time and try and sign them from the parent club on a deal which gives the club a decent sell-on clause.

Matthew Benham the owner also keeps an eye on what is happening in the transfer market and, as he owns a company which analyses football data of players worldwide, he occasionally throws in suggestions of players Brentford should look at. But it is ultimately down to the manager and sporting director to see whether these players fit into the squad.

We did have a number of duff loan and permanent signings too. Paul Hayes comes to mind as a striker with potential that just didn’t work out. His fitness levels were apparently incredibly poor and his work rate wasnot up to Uwe’s standards. He was on decent money too. it’s no secret that him and Uwe fell out. He was banished to the development team, trained on his own at stages and was loaned out to Plymouth and Crawley. We ended up having to pay him off as no one would even take him on loan for any period of time.

Bradley Wright-Philips I feel was also a disappointment. Yes he scored a last minute equaliser up at Bramall Lane when we were down to 9 men which will always be remembers for years to come as one of the great Brentdord matches .. But the reality is if he had scored more goals in his loan spell at the end of “Doncaster” season we would not have had to rely on Marcello Trotta to score that 94th minute penalty to get automatic promotion to the Championship.

Czech striker Martin Fillo played for Uwe in Norway. We signed him on a season-long loan but he didn’t make the grade. Maybe this was a reflection of the standard of our division where players who looked great playing in the Norwegian league, couldn’t even make the bench in a Division One side. Lesson learned for Uwe there.

This last season, the decision was made that the manager, sporting director and owner had to agree on all signings. That I believe helped to ensure there we maximised the potential of all our signings and didn’t repeat the Paul Hayes mistake.

So to answer your question, Uwe played the loan system very well at Brentford. He had a great team of people to work with to make sure the right decisions were being made and to bounce off. Something he will need at Wigan I reckon.

What is Uwe’s transfer market style? Where does he like to shop? Is he willing to splash cash either on transfer fees or wages for the right players? Obviously Wigan has a bit more money than Brentford, what sort of signings should we expect?

This is a toughie. I can’t be sure who initiated the decision to bring in particular players. I do know for example Uwe was incredibly keen on Marcello Trotta. When we failed to get promoted, Uwe wanted to bring Marcello back but for various reasons, it was decided that was best if we looked elsewhere. When the season started, we we still short of a striker and to make matters worse, Conor McAleney got injured within the first month. We tried desperately hard to bring in a striker before the deadline but were turned down repeatedly. After the deadline closed, Uwe then requested he bring Trotta back from Fulham on loan and the wish was granted. The move was met with anger from a large section of the Brentford fanbase (I will be quick to point out that Beesotted was behind Trotta’s move back to Griffin Park from day one). Trotta went on to show what a great player he is by putting in a shift and scoring some crucial goals for the team this season including the one away to Orient in mid March which, in effect, sealed our promotion to The Championship.

That was an incredibly brave move by Uwe. But he believed in Trotta and wanted him to prove to people what he was capable of. Yes he’s still green and makes mistakes but he’s young and is developing. We’re currently trying to sign him but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up at Wigan if Fulham decide to cash in on him.

Uwe likes to give younger more enthusiastic players a chance to grow with him. Interesting that he pulled Rob Kiernan from Southend and put him in your team (Rob was at Brentford on loan last season and we were meant to be getting him on loan in January but it fell through much to our disappointment). I was very surprised he let Dicko go though. I seriously thought Uwe was going to send him to Brentford when he pulled him from Rotherham or keep him. He was just the type of player we needed. I was gutted when he went to Wolves. I believe his signing turned their season as they were third and we were top when they signed him. 13 goals in 16 starts says it all.

I feel Uwe would be prepared to splash cash if the player is right. But he won’t go overboard Harry Redknapp-stylee as he believes every player has a value and that should adhered to. He bought Northern Ireland striker Will Grigg for £350k plus which was big money for us. He scored 20 goals from Walsall the season before. So far he hasn’t quite worked out for us but it will be interesting to see how he fairs in the Championship.

Uwe has used a variety of tactical formations here at Wigan, using either a conventional back four or a line of three central defenders and wing backs. Did he have a preferred team shape at Brentford?

Uwe would often switch formation during the game. But we would normally go for four at the back, four or five in the midfield and one or two up front. normally 4-5-1 away from home. Or maybe 4-4-1-1 with a player in “the hole”. Then some time during the game we would switch to a traditional 4-4-2. But we have never played with three centre backs as far as I can remember. Sometimes a player would drop back from midfield and play deeper just in front of the centre backs.

Uwe also believed massively in wing backs with Jake Bidwell and Shaelum Logan (who was then replaced by Alan McCormack) careering down the wings. This season, we have been playing a lot of games 4-4-3. I have a feeling Uwe instigated the 4-3-3 switch post Stevenage when we brought in Kadeem Harris to bomb up and down that left wing. But then I can’t be sure. It’s been a long season trust me.

One last question – squad discipline. Did Uwe have to deal with anything such as players drink driving or causing trouble. Any public reprimanding?

There were a few incidents I know about but I would rather not repeat them in public. They were obviously kept under wraps for a reason. Some things are best held down in order to maintain the equilibrium within the team. But a job of a manager is to manage a team of individuals. And that will involve making some tough calls. There were dressing room politics and personal battles at Brentford for sure. That will be the same in any team. How the manager deals with it is the important thing. The Stevenage dressing room lock-in allowed a number of issues that were festering to come out. It obviously did the job as we went on a 19 match unbeaten run after that. That to me was good man-management.

From what I can gather, Uwe was an incredibly firm but fair manager. He wanted things done his way and he would be meticulous in ensuring that that happened. He was a big believer in team spirit and bonding. That’s why he took the team over to Germany two seasons running for a training and bonding exercise. The fans were invited over to stay in the team hotel the first season as Uwe felt that having the fans and team bonding together was an important exercise in the club moving forward together. Needless to say, this move went down incredibly well with the fans who felt that the team hadn’t got “too big” for them.

It was not Uwe’s style to publicly reprimand any player. Some of the stuff we have heard that has gone down behind closed doors would have definitely been made public by certain managers. But Uwe preferred to keep a lid on it. And even at times blame himself or himself and the team together for things when they didn’t go to plan. Which was a refreshing change to our previous manager Andy Scott who week in and week out used to blame the players for any failings without criticizing himself occasionally for poor tactics or team selection.

The final thing I would say about Uwe is he is still learning. He will make mistakes but he puts his hand up and readily admits that. But if the club allows him to grow with them, he will make a great manager. I personally don’t believe he has quite finalised his staffing issues. I reckon he will bring in a few more people around him so that he has his own team to work with – just like he had at Brentford. We were all surprised that Alan Kernaghan didn’t go with him at Christmas. Maybe he will be on the way in the summer. Lovely bloke is Alan. But I say Uwe really benefitted from Brentford’s Sporting Director system. It took a lot of pressure off him as a lot of the work for finding and delivering players was being done by a man who’s full time job it was to build relationships with key clubs and unearth and present players for possible additions to the squad. I wouldn’t be surprised if Uwe was talking to Whelan at this very moment about poaching one of the premiership academy coaches for this very role.

Best of luck for next season. But not too much luck. We’re in the same division now remember.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

High pressing and squad rotation – a Brentford View of Uwe’s tactics: Part 1

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

Billy with top scorer Clayton Donaldson.

Has there ever been a manager of Wigan Athletic who has achieved a popularity rating as high as that of Uwe Rosler within just six months of taking over? The ex-Manchester City centre forward has lifted the whole club, introducing a new dynamic. After the disastrous reign of Owen Coyle there is once again light at the end of the tunnel.

Latics fans have a lot of faith in Rosler. He has a huge amount of support.

However, even his most faithful fans would say that he has made tactical mistakes, been unsuccessful with many of his loan players, and that his team selection and use of substitutes can be baffling. He espouses open, attacking football, but so often the team’s play has been scrappy.

It is true that Rosler has made mistakes. But fans appreciate his willingness to be upfront, acknowledge his mistakes and his desire to learn from them. Despite a tightening of the club’s purse belts being anticipated, there is a mood of optimism for the coming season with Rosler at the helm.

Like his team, Rosler is not the finished article. He recently commented on Radio Manchester that “I’m a strong believer that first you have to fail before you become a winner. Next year, we will be winners.”

Following Rosler’s appointment in December Billy Grant gave us a fan’s view of the German’s time at Griffin Park (click here to see the previous article). Six months later we have come back to Billy to give us more of his insight. Rosler is clearly involved in a work in progress at Wigan – he has come a long way towards changing the way Latics play, but there is still some way to go.

Billy writes for the Brentford fanzine http://www.Beesotted.co.uk (Twitter – @beesotted). He will also be travelling to his sixth World Cup this year, video-blogging his way around the country for All Mouth No Action’s ‘World Cup FanCam’. You can follow Billy by RSS linking http://www.worldcupfancam.com. Also follow him on twitter @worldcupfancam and @billythebee99. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldcupfancam.

So here is over to Billy to respond to some questions we composed for him.

First of all I would like to say we at Beesotted have a lot of time for Uwe Rosler. A lot of Brentford fans do to be honest. He came to us at a time that we needed to instil a new mentality into the club. Uwe was very much part of that new mentality. I do believe his work was instrumental in getting us to the Championship. Mark Warburton did a great job in picking up where Uwe left off. It could have gone horribly wrong at that point and Brentford fans would have no doubt felt a little bit more bitter about Uwe’s departure. But it all worked out right in the end.

We also have to realise that Uwe was also a relatively rookie manager when he came to Brentford. Yes he had managed clubs in Norway but he was an unknown force in the UK and was still learning on the job so to speak when he started managing us. And he’s still learning now. Wigan fans should remember that. He has taken a step up in division and has so far over-performed so give him a little rope.

High pressing is clearly the centerpiece of Uwe’s main tactical ploys. The pressing has worked for Latics in patches but when they have run out of steam they have stopped pressing and also surrendered possession too easily, inviting teams upon them. This is probably fatigue more than instruction, but how did it work for Brentford? Were his teams able to sustain the high pressing for 90 minutes, or would they enjoy possession for periods to “rest” or the break the opposition’s rhythm?

Yes Uwe’s tactic was to play the pressing game when he came to Brentford. He introduced playing the ball out from the back and pressing high to a team that quite frankly wasn’t quite used to it. It worked in patches but when it broke down, we were often punished. It was quite amusing as fans used to the blood and thunder of third division football would often be heard shouting from the terraces “Just bloody get the ball up there. Kick it. Forget the fancy stuff”. The players struggled to cope with playing that style of football naturally on an ongoing basis. But they were learning.

A couple of seasons later with a few personnel changes and more experience of playing “Uwe’s way”, the team had things pretty much sorted. The season when we lost out on promotion with the 94th minute penalty against Doncaster (2012/13), we often had games where we had over 70% possession. When we played Doncaster at their ground earlier in the season, apparently we had 82% possession at one point. We went 1-0 up but were beaten 2-1 with a Doncaster smash-n-grab. Even their manager Dean Saunders said at the time he had no idea how they won that game. We had loads of possession and were were creating loads of chances but unfortunately our finishing was letting us down. Uwe admitted that was an issue and looked to address that in the close season.

Uwe was a stickler for fitness. Last summer he took the team away for a conditioning week in Germany where they undertook an iron man session involving all sorts of body straining and team bonding exercises. The team was infinitely fitter at the beginning of this season as opposed to when Uwe took over. Fitness is a real key to the way he wants the team to play. It’s no co-incidence that he poached the conditioning coach Chris Haslam from Brentford and no one else (as yet .. Let’s see if he goes for one or two of our players in the close season). Chris was instrumental in installing a programme to get the Brentford team in ship shape and Uwe would think him as an important part of the jigsaw in getting Wigan to play the way he wants.

Of course Wigan will have some better players than Brentford to an extent. But overall, the principle remains the same. Uwe will no doubt be looking to bring to Wigan what he brought to Brentford. Without a shadow of doubt he feels that he is missing a couple of certain types of player to complete the jigsaw.

For Brentford our jigsaw was completed by adding a no nonsense player into the mix in Alan McCormack. a central midfielder-come right back. His impact on the team was phenomenal with him winning him supporters player of the year and Beesotted player of the year awards. And an attacking/wide midfielder option. For us it started with Conor McAleney from Everton but he got injured. Then it was Kadeem Harris from Cardiff but he got injured. Then it was Alan Judge from Blackburn (who joined after Uwe left). The third piece of the jigsaw was a striker and Will Grigg was bought in. Unfortunately, Grigg has not as yet lived up to his potential but we got away with it as we started scoring more goals from midfield.

But it’s all about time. A person needs time to deliver results. That’s the problem with football nowadays. There is no long term plan for most clubs. They want everything yesterday. That means there is no real scope for proper development. I’m a person that really believes that the best employees are ones who make and learn from their mistakes. For someone to really develop he (or she) has to be given time to find the right path forward.

Give Uwe a bit of time and Im sure he will get your squad in ship shape.

Uwe has clearly stated that he believes in squad rotation. Although some just don’t like it, most fans have accepted that it has been necessary because of the exceedingly long season Latics faced. Or is he just a serial rotator?

This was one of the biggest issues a vocal section of the Brentford fans had with Uwe if I had to be honest. His player rotation policy. At Beesotted we obviously get a lot of the fan opinion channelled through the website and can gauge the feeling out there. Many people were saying “We don’t know if he knows what his best team is” even at the beginning of this last season. Uwe felt that player rotation was essential to enable to squad to last a whole season. People agreed with him in principal but the argument many had was .. Couldn’t some players have a run of games .. Then get rested as opposed to rotating players constantly?

Things really went a bit awry when Uwe decided to rest practically the whole first team away to Derby in the second round of the League Cup. Many Bees fans Had their “let’s concentrate on the league” head on and were a bit dubious of getting into another cup run like we did the season before when we lost eventually to Chelsea. But we took a fair few fans up to Derby on a Tuesday night because we wanted to see Brentford give them a fight at least with a few regulars and some up-and-coming kids in the side. As it was, we went down 5-0 and the fans were really p!ssed off. Meanwhile, the rested players all came back into the side the following Saturday and huffed and puffed to grind out a 0-0 draw with a hapless Carlisle team – one which was getting knocked for 4 and 5 goals every week by the opposition. We then lost 4-0 to Bradford, 1-0 to Rotherham and, worst of the worst, 2-1 to a useless Stevenage side within the next 6 weeks or so.

To be fair, Wigan fans should be thanking Stevenage as if they hadn’t beaten us, Uwe would never have be managing their team. After that game, Uwe embarked on an excellent piece of man management. He locked the team in the dressing room for 90 minutes and everyone had it out. It was apparently a no holds barred two-way feedback session. Players could say what they felt about other players. About the manager. About tactics. Anything they weren’t happy with. And vice versa.

Whatever was uttered in that dressing room has never been leaked … But the following match, Uwe dropped fans favourite right back Shaelum Logan and replaced him with hard man central midfielder Alan McCormack. Logan was great going forward but could sometimes find himself missing in defensive positions, giving the ball away in key areas. But we were short on right back options and he was deemed too good to drop. More interestingly though, from the following game onwards, Uwe picked a team and stuck with that same team until he left for Wigan two months later. He never lost another match after that in his time at Brentford. In fact, he won them all except a 0-0 draw away to eventual title winners Wolves. What’s more … After Uwe left, we continued the no rotation policy as much as we could bar injuries. As a result, we went on an incredible 19 match 4 month unbeaten run seeing us win 17 games and draw 3 before being beaten by eventual champions Wolves. I can only assume that the right back and team rotation points were discussed at length in the Stevenage dressing room and, fair play, Uwe took them on board.

 

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Where will Uwe do his summer shopping?

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

shopping“We will be investing in our playing and coaching staff, and I think it’s important to keep working on changing the culture at the football club.”

So said Uwe Rosler to the Wigan Evening Post this week.

When Roberto Martinez took over as manager of Wigan Athletic in June 2009, he quickly got to work on changing the culture of the club. He started by bringing in Graeme Jones as his assistant manager, to be followed by coaching and backroom staff from his previous club, Swansea. Within four days of his appointment Martinez signed Jordi Gomez, who had been on loan at Swansea, from Espanyol. He was to bring in Jason Scotland from his old club a month later.

Is Rosler set to follow the same pattern?

When the German was appointed in December, many 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. Alan Kernahan and Peter Farrell – assistant manager and first team coach – 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.

At the time the rationale among fans on social media was that Haslam had been brought in because of concerns in the fitness levels of Latics’ players. The non-arrival of Rosler’s trusted lieutenants was put down to either budget issues or Dave Whelan’s loyalty towards staff previously appointed.

Who would bet against either Kernahan or Farrell or both arriving over summer, given Rosler’s recent statement? Moreover will Rosler follow Martinez’s lead by signing players from his previous club?

When Martinez was appointed it was clear that he was going to employ the same playing style that had served him well during his time at Swansea. That was going to involve a paradigm shift for players who had played under the pragmatic Steve Bruce. However, Martinez had brought in playing and coaching staff to help catalyse the shift. Gomez had been the ‘player of the season’ for Swansea, making 44 starts and scoring 14 goals. Scotland had started in 48 matches, scoring 24 goals. Both fitted into the playing style that Martinez wanted and appeared to be good signings at the time.

Not long after the end of Martinez’s first season Scotland was gone. The Trinidadian just could not put the ball in the back of the net. Gomez struggled to establish himself and made more appearances off the bench than as a starter. The step up to the Premier League from the Championship appeared to have been too much for them.

However, Martinez continued to have faith in Gomez and the player persevered for three more years with his manager, despite hostility from elements of the crowd, but never establishing himself as a regular starter. But given his previous success in the Championship, Gomez appeared to be a key player for Owen Coyle at the beginning of the season. However, the Scot did not get the best out of Gomez, sometimes following Martinez’s habit of playing him wide on the right. However, the arrival of Rosler was to enable Gomez to play the football he was always capable of at Championship level, resulting in him being voted ‘player of the season’.

Following Rosler’s departure, Mark Warburton has done a great job at Brentford and they will be joining Latics in the Championship next season. Among the outstanding performers in their promotion season have been two 22 year olds – defender Harlee Dean and ex-Everton youth midfielder Adam Forshaw. Centre forward Clayton Donaldson is out of contract and could be subject to interest from Rosler. The 6’1” Bradford born player has scored 46 goals in 135 appearances for the Bees. However, he is 30 years old. Another fine performer for them has been George Saville, a 20 year old on loan from Chelsea, who can play in midfield and left back. The Italian Marcello Trotta, a 21 year old on loan from Fulham, has also been a key player in attack.

It remains to be seen whether Rosler will raid his former club for players. He told Wigan Today “I have a very good squad of players already available to me, but we have to tweak here and there.”

Rosler maintains that Latics do not need to sell any players but qualifies the position by stating that “Clearly every player at every football club has his price, but our players are under contract. I don’t think certain clubs would be able to afford them – unless we got the kind of offer we got for James McCarthy, which obviously any club would have to consider.”

Rosler’s statement echoes those made by Martinez during his time at Wigan, a reflection on Whelan’s willingness to let players leave if the price is right.

Despite the public statements it is likely that Rosler will sell some players over summer in order to raise funds to bring in new ones who would fit into his playing style. A left back and a couple of decent strikers will be foremost in Rosler’s shopping list. The latter are most likely to come at a cost, hence the need to raise funds.

As usual at this time of the year all kinds of speculation is floating around the social media. One day we get headlines telling us that Nick Powell is going to Leicester or Swansea, then later we hear that he will stay at Wigan. It’s crazy time.

Rosler has suggested he might have two signings lined up by the end of the week. Maybe those signings will give us inkling as to what is to follow?

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Finances, FFP and the long term future for Wigan Athletic

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

2012-moneyball

Leicester City were once again champions of the second tier of English football this year. No club has done that more than the Foxes, this being their seventh title.

Leicester were deserving winners of the 2013-2014 Skybet Championship. Manager Nigel Pearson had built up a squad that in terms of quality and depth was far superior to those of the majority of the other clubs in the division. His success was reflected in their tally of 102 points for the season, the joint highest since 2005-06 when Reading amassed an impressive 106 points.

But did Leicester buy their success?

Leicester lost £34 million in the 2012-13 season, beating what had been a record deficit of £29.7 million the previous year. However, the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules came into play at the start of the 2013-14 season. FFP was to allow Championship clubs to lose no more than £8 million this season or they would face a fine or a ban on player transfers. Leicester’s Thai owners had lent £75 million, but facing FFP they drastically reduced the club’s debt by conversion into equity, as Dave Whelan did at Wigan. The Leicester Mercury  reports that the club can “effectively make a £13 million loss and still comply with these rules. This is because the rules do not include costs relating to the youth academy and various one-off losses.”

The FFP rules clearly have some loopholes and Leicester’s accounting team, like those at many other clubs, will be keen to manipulate them and not pay the penalties. Leicester still expect to meet that £13 million loss target.

In contrast with Leicester’s total losses of almost £64 million over the two seasons from 2011-13, Wigan Athletic actually made a profit in each. Reversing a spiral of losses spanning decades, Latics made total net profits of £4.3 million in 2011-12 and £822,000 in 2012-13. That was accomplished while they were in the Premier League.  Can they continue to make a profit – or at least break even – in the totally different environment of the Skybet Championship?

When Wigan Athletic were relegated from the Premier League last season it was clear that both revenues and attendances were going to drop. The question was going to be – by how much?

Latics’ gate money in the Premier League days was always dwarfed by the TV revenues they were receiving and from a purely financial viewpoint attendances were not much of an issue. Last year match day revenues covered no more than 10% of total revenue of £56.4m. Without the television revenues, the club could never have seriously competed in the Premier League.

However, relegation entailed a huge loss in TV revenue – an average Premier League club now receives around £60 million, while the average Championship club receives around £2.5 million. It was clear that the club would need to look at maximizing its other sources of revenue. However, parachute payments (£59 million over four years, including £23 million in the first) would help cover the shortfall  and give Latics a competitive advantage over the majority of the clubs who receive only the £2.2 million Premier League Solidarity payment.

Financial accounts for the season just finished are not yet available, but the likelihood is that the majority of the clubs in the Championship once again lost money. In 2012-13 only five clubs made a profit: Blackpool, Crystal Palace, Huddersfield, Peterborough and Watford. Most of those clubs did so through their business in the transfer market.

The Championship clearly has a long way to go in terms of marketing itself. Its television revenues are paltry in comparison with the Premier League. This despite the fact that  average attendances for the Championship division place it in eighth place of leagues in the whole of Europe.

With an average of 43,497 the Bundesliga once again tops the attendance charts in Europe ahead of the top flight leagues in England, Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands. The second division of the Bundesliga had an average attendance of 17,888, with England’s second tier following with 16,605.

Wigan Athletic’s average league attendance of 15,177 this season was some 8% below the division  average. Brighton topped the attendance table with an average of 27,283. However, Latics ranked third in attendances away from home drawing an average crowd of 17,370, bettered only by Leeds and Burnley.

In the two years they had spent in the Championship division prior to promotion, Latics averaged 9,531 in 2003-04 and 11,563 in 2004-05 when they finished second. Latics now have a much bigger and younger fan base than they did then. That core of younger supporters will help attendances remain at least where they currently are at the moment unless the club is relegated.

On a local level their attendances remain above those of Wigan Warriors who averaged less than 14,000 in 2013.  Since Latics entered the Premier League in 2005 their attendances have been constantly superior. The challenge will be to hold them there whilst remaining in the Championship. Latics highest league attendance at home this year was 19,226 against Leeds United. The lowest was 12,970 when hosting Yeovil.

Latics’ Lancashire rivals in the Championship are old clubs with fan bases built up over more than a century. Wigan Athletic were formed in 1932, got into the Football League in 1978 and the Premier League in 2005. Their average attendance in the 1993-94 season just twenty years ago – not a long time span compared with the age of those clubs – was 1,897, which is an eighth of what they had in this 2013-14 season.

This season their average attendance was higher than those of Burnley (13,719 – founded in 1882), Blackpool (14,216 – founded in 1877) and Blackburn (14,961 – founded in 1875), being bettered only by Bolton (16,140 – founded in 1874).

During their stay in the Premier League Wigan Athletic wisely kept their ticket prices well below those of most other clubs. The ticket prices  remain competitive in the Championship. In the 2013-14 season the lowest price for a ticket at the DW Stadium was £15, equal to costs at Blackburn, Leicester and Nottingham Forest. Such tickets were cheaper only at  Derby and Huddersfield at £10. Moreover Latics’ cheapest season ticket price of £280 was below average, being bettered only by Yeovil £273, Bournemouth £250, Derby £230, Blackburn £225, Blackpool £195 and Huddersfield £199.

Through playing successes in recent years, keeping admission prices low and an increasing involvement in the local community the club has built up a fan base that now rivals those of their venerable neighbours and competitors. Through Whelan’s actions of converting debt into equity, Wigan Athletic are currently close to being debt free. They are being run along sound financial lines and are not living beyond their means, as is the norm with most Championship clubs.

However, the Championship is a difficult environment in which to operate. It is the parachute payments that are currently keeping Latics afloat. In order to hold a mid table position a club typically carries a wage bill in excess of £20 million. But the total of match day receipts, television revenue and commercial revenue is unlikely to reach £10 million next season and they will be without the financial benefits of the Europa League.

The long-term future for Latics in this division appears bleak. Parachute payments will decrease by £5 million next season, when Latics really need to put in a concerted effort to get back to the Premier League where they would have the huge financial buffer of media revenues. They will face stiff financial competition from the relegated clubs – Cardiff, Fulham and Norwich – with their first year parachute money and Premier League squads. Moreover  there are other clubs, not long departed from the top tier, receiving such subsidies. What will happen if Latics do not get promotion within the next three years?

Over recent years there have been a lot of clubs who have maintained high wage bills, without the playing success to match it. However, the clubs near the bottom of the table have almost invariably tended to be those with the lowest wage bills.

In an interesting study of Championship club finances made by Kevin Messere he quotes that: “Typically to finish in the top six a cost base of £30M is required.” Given the figures we have already looked at, Latics are unlikely to be able to reach such a figure without making a loss, unless they use financial reserves or make a healthy profit in the transfer market. However, given the significant outlay to be made at Charnock Richard they are unlikely to have much in reserve. The inference is that Uwe Rosler will have to sell off some of his prized assets or to cut his squad size drastically.

Given the inability of the Football League to attract big money from the media there will continue to be a large imbalance in income in the Championship division for years to come. Parachute payments give a huge financial advantage to clubs coming down from the Premier League, although many have been weighed down by the salaries of players remaining on long-term contracts. In 2012-13 relegated clubs Bolton and Blackburn had costs amounting to around £50M, leading to big financial losses over the season, despite the first year parachute payments they received.

Given the precarious financial future ahead of the club, Dave Whelan has made a bold move in purchasing what promises to be an excellent venue for a youth academy. Put simply, Wigan Athletic needs to be a “selling club”. Selling one prized asset each year might well be enough to keep the club afloat over the long term, no matter which division they are in.

It is going to take some years for the club to be able to develop its academy sufficiently to provide potential first team players. In the meantime it will be a matter of making astute signings, of young players in particular, who can be nurtured and eventually sold on.

We can expect a lot of changes over the summer. Rosler will have to look at offloading players with high salaries and will have to reduce his squad size significantly. Changes might also be made within the coaching and backroom staff, with him bringing in people who have worked with him previously who know his philosophy and the style of play he seeks. Ex-Brentford assistant manager Alan Kernahan and coach Peter Farrell will surely be under consideration.

Next season promises to be a fascinating one for Wigan Athletic. Rosler will lose a number of quality players over the summer. The question will be whether he will be able to find quality replacements, given the financial resources at his disposal.

In the meantime Latics will strive towards long-term sustainability as a higher echelon team in English football.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

QPR 2 Wigan Athletic 1 – a spirited end of an era

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

 

Hoilett goes down under Caldwell's challenge for a penalty.

Hoilett goes down under Caldwell’s challenge for a penalty.

Charlie Austin’s extra time goal heralded not only the end of the season, but the end of an era for Wigan Athletic.

The failure to beat the Londoners over two legs means another year in the Championship for Latics and a likely exodus of many of their most skilful players. This was a brave performance, full of spirit, against a strong QPR side.

Uwe Rosler kept the same lineup that played in the first leg except bringing in James McClean for Marc-Antoine Fortune. He was to use a tactic that had worked before in producing some of Latics’ best results of the season away from home – high pressing to disrupt the opponents’ play, followed by dogged defence. But defending a 9th minute goal for the remaining 81 minutes was always going to be a mountain to climb, let alone a team was playing its 62nd game of the season having to play extra time.

James Perch typifies the Rosler approach. He has been one of the mainstays of Wigan’s revival under the German, with his willingness to run himself into the ground for the cause. Just as he did at the Etihad, Perch got himself into the six yard box to convert an excellent 9th minute cross from the lively James McClean. QPR had been bamboozled by Rosler’s tactic of using McClean and Callum McManaman to high press their centre of defence. The result was the QPR defenders hoofing long balls, gobbled up by the Wigan defence.

McClean could have added a second as he ran on to O’Neil’s backpass, but instead of trying to round goalkeeper Rob Green he chose to make a theatrical dive. A good chance went begging and the Irishman got a yellow card from Mark Clattenberg for his actions. Not long after Shaun Maloney had a shot blocked by Green, but then QPR gradually got themselves back into the game. The high pressing had gradually disappeared from Wigan’s game and Harry Redknapp moved Kevin Doyle from right midfield to support Charlie Austin up front. Moreover James McArthur, who had been excellent in the midfield pressing, had to go off with an injury after 36 minutes, Roger Espinoza replacing him. It was a different contest now.

A shell-shocked QPR were gradually getting back into the game. Carson made a fine save from a fierce drive from Niko Kranjcar and McClean cleared Austin’s header off the line. But Latics went into the dressing room at half time with their lead intact.

McClean had another fine chance after the break, going through one on one with Green, but he did not have the control to convert it. Green blocked his first effort and McClean’s effort from the rebound hit the post and went wide. Although the home team’s attacks lacked coherence, Wigan became besieged. They could not hold on to the ball, the defenders hoofing it over the midfield to forwards who had little chance of retrieving it. Wigan’s three central defenders – Emmerson Boyce, Gary Caldwell and Rob Kiernan – had been superb in defence, repelling Rangers’ attacks.

Redknapp had brought on Korean left back Suk Yun-Young after 50 minutes for the combative Clint Hill, who had been lucky to survive the first leg after his deliberate elbowing of Kiernan. The pattern of play continued, with Latics unable to hold the ball and QPR applying pressure, but not convincingly. However, Redknapp’s substitution of big target man Bobby Zamora after 65 minutes for Doyle was to change the course of the game. Zamora’s striking rate is comparable with that of Fortune, but his physical presence and experience was to make the difference.

McManaman was replaced by Martyn Waghorn in the 71st minute. A couple of minutes later Zamora interchanged passes with Junior Hoilett who was brought down by a reckless challenge by Caldwell just inside the penalty box. Austin converted the penalty with ease. Moreover Caldwell had been injured in the challenge and had to be substituted by Leon Barnett. Zamora continued to cause problems and almost sealed it for QPR near the end of normal time, but his lob passed over Carson’s crossbar.

The game went into extra time with Latics playing with spirit, but the hoofing continued. The decisive goal came in the 96th minute when Zamora helped the ball through to Austin who got to it much quicker than Barnett to beat Carson. The final minutes of extra time saw Barnett pushed forward as Latics pumped in high balls. In the final minute a deflected shot from Kiernan passed narrowly wide of Green’s goal. It was not to be Wigan’s day.

The Good

The energy and passion shown by a Latics team playing its 62nd game of the season was truly exceptional. It was cruel that the game went into extra time, but those tired legs kept running to the bitter end.

The backline of Boyce, Caldwell and Kiernan had been immense in repelling the waves of QPR attacks until the penalty. It looked like Rosler’s gamble of starting Caldwell, who had played less than a handful of games in a year, was going to pay off until that fateful moment in the 73rd minute.

Rosler’s tactic of blitzing QPR from the start worked well. High pressing and a high level of physical fitness are key elements of the German’s approach to football and the players responded well, at least for the first quarter of the game. Starting without a centre forward was a brave ploy that almost came off.

It was sad to see Caldwell so visibly distraught on the sidelines after giving away the penalty and having to be substituted. It looks like his Wigan Athletic playing career is over. Up until that 73rd minute he had looked like the great defender and leader that he was in the closing part of the 2011-12 season when Latics ensured Premier League survival through beating the elite. He has also had some calamitous moments for Latics over the years, making rash tackles such as the one that turned this game. For some fans he has been a hero, for others a scapegoat.

Uwe Rosler deserves immense credit for the way he has lifted the club since the dark days of Owen Coyle. Reaching the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the Championship playoffs has been a great achievement.

The Bad

Roberto Martinez would have scratched his eyes out if he had seen his team throw away possession as Latics have done, not only in this match, but in many others over these past months. Rosler has cut out the excessive sideways and backwards passing that could be so frustrating during the Martinez era. He has also tightened up the centre of defence. But he has not cut out the hoofing that started to rear its ugly head under Owen Coyle.

When a team “parks its bus”, as Latics did after scoring, it is important to hold on to the ball as much as possible. QPR did it fairly effectively at the DW last week.

In this match the Wigan defenders were once again prone to the big hoof, none more so than the goalkeeper. Carson is a fine ‘keeper, with a very powerful kick. But during Coyle’s reign he was making those long, speculative clearances and under Rosler he continues to do so.

The hoof is a part of Wigan’s play that needs to be cut out if Rosler is to maintain the continued support of Latics fans who have an expectation of good football.

Player Ratings

Scott Carson: 8 – a terrific defensive display. He made some fine saves and inspired confidence in his defence. Distribution poor.

James Perch: 8 – an excellent display. Took his goal well.

Emmerson Boyce: 9 –superb in his reading of the game. The best player on the pitch.

Gary Caldwell: 8 – excellent until the rush of blood for the penalty.

Rob Kiernan: 8 – excellent in defence.

Jean Beausejour: 6 – has not been at his best in recent weeks. Has a long summer ahead with the World Cup.

James McArthur: – led the high pressing with expertise. Badly missed when he went off after 36 minutes.

Jordi Gomez: 7 – not at his best, but got through a lot of work.

Shaun Maloney: 6 – still not at his sharpest.

Callum McManaman: 7 – worked hard closing the opposition down, but never received the service to make him more of a threat. When he was taken off after 71 minutes it dulled the Latics attack.

James McClean: 7.5 – an enigma once again. Worked so hard closing down the opposition and his powerful running was a constant threat to the QPR defence. His fine cross led to Latics’ goal. With better finishing he could have won the game for Wigan. What a pity.

Substitutes

Roger Espinoza: 7 – came on after 36 minutes. He was his usual energetic self, always involved, playing at high tempo.

Leon Barnett: – came on after 73 minutes. Has not been able to regain his previously good form since his injury at Ipswich.

Martyn Waghorn: – came after 71 minutes. Retrieving high balls is not his forte.

 

 

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.