Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

A view from the dark side — don’t show opponents too much respect

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

It must be my upbringing in a staunch Wigan Athletic household- I still have a problem with the naming of the East Stand of the DW Stadium. The Boston Stand. My son could pretend that the name is derived from the city where he lives, but the reality is it is a rugby thing. I never had anything against Billy Boston – he was a fantastic rugby league player and a fine host in his pub in Standishgate – but it still rankles.

So here was I packed in like a sardine in the central section of the Boston Stand. Great view though. Wigan Athletic were losing 2-0 to Chelsea after 7 minutes. Both mistakes down to a new defender, in his first game for the club. Hats off to the crowd – nobody got on Ivan Ramis’ back and jeered him. There were comments about the referee, giving the penalty, since Mike Jones was the same arbiter who let Chelsea get two offside goals to beat Latics last year. To be honest, from where we were sat it was hard to see if Ramis deserved the penalty award given against him.

We were a bit numbed by those opening goals, so early in the game. In previous years our teams would have collapsed. Not this team though. They got back into the game playing controlled football, having more possession than their more illustrious and disproportionately more expensive opponents, giving as good as they got. However, as half time approached the dark side reared its ugly head. In this case the dark side was represented by two very friendly, warm Wiganers who complained that Latics weren’t really going at Chelsea. There was some truth in their argument. When Latics were attacking the midfield players were not getting into the box sufficiently. One or two forwards against six or seven defenders makes it unlikely that you will score. But then again Chelsea had players with lightning pace who could break away and kill the game completely if you totally committed yourself forward.

In the second half the Darksiders got more and more frustrated. I had one of two intellectually stimulating verbal exchanges with them, until it came to the point where the more eloquent of the two made a thought- provoking comment: “We show these teams too much respect”. Given the counter-attacking threat of the opponents I thought Latics were using the right approach and I told him that. But, on reflection, I have to agree with him that in some matches in the past Martinez’s teams have been over cautious and let the other team take the initiative. Let’s not talk up the other team and say how capable they are. There is a lot of psychology in Premier League football and we need to get this right. We need to shed the little, humble Wigan tag and get a bit of swagger. However, at the same time let’s have the tactical nous not to shoot ourselves in the foot and not commit ten men forward against a team likely to destroy us if we do.

All football clubs live with darkside supporters – those who don’t like the manager and victimize certain players. However, I thought the Latics’ fans were generally very supportive on Sunday. So many fans have now become appreciative of the good football that Roberto Martinez demands of his team. At one stage the more plain spoken, if less eloquent, of the two Darksiders said that he wanted Martinez gone. I replied that it was not the opinion of the majority of Wigan Athletic supporters. He then suggested I was a rugby man. That ultimate insult made my blood boil, but I managed to keep my head and reply politely that I was not.

Last season we saw something very special – Wigan Athletic beating the elite, not through luck but on merit. Which previous manager prior to Martinez could have had a team playing such great football with such aplomb?

Let’s hang in there with Bob and Dave. Latics are way ahead of where they were. Their plan to take the club forward is unraveling, but it will take time and patience. Apart from the opening minutes it was a fine performance against Chelsea. Let’s look forward to a good performance at Southampton. Believe and keep the faith!

Koné and change? Tactical formations at Wigan Athletic

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

Trawling the internet for news on upcoming football transfers can certainly be entertaining, if often misleading. I quite enjoy it, but have learned to take it with a pinch of salt. This is not to denigrate the work of the internet journalists who give us these revelations: quite often they may have received a tip off from a player’s agent, family member or a club. Sometimes even the player himself. What is clear is that only a small proportion of the transfers reported by our sources, actually happen.

Over these weeks I have read  that Wigan Athletic have been interested in quite a few central strikers. The names of Victor Anichebe and DJ Campbell have been banded about more than others. But why would Latics want a fourth central striker, with Di Santo, Boselli and Sammon already on the books? If they played 4-4-2 it would be perfectly understandable, but our knowledge of Roberto Martinez and his tactical preferences precludes that possibility.

Arouna Kone has now arrived.  Although Kone has not played in the Premier League before he has all the attributes to be successful. He is strong and agile and to score 15 La Liga goals for Levante (the “other” team in Valencia) last season means he is sharp.  No league in the world plays the same kind of fast and physical football that we see in England, but La Liga is a highly competitive league, one of the world’s best. None of Latics’ previous acquisitions from Spanish clubs had established themselves as mainline players to the same degree  as Kone and the other acquisition from Mallorca, Ivan Ramis. I view both as potentially excellent signings.

Let’s get back to those internet transfer gossip sites. Today’s digest suggested Conor Sammon was headed for Derby County. The link between Sammon and Derby has come up repeatedly  but now there is talk of a permanent transfer rather than a loan deal. We may well be back to to three centre forwards again. However, is there going to be sufficient playing time for three central strikers, who are going to be on the same par, despite contrasting styles? Di Santo was developing into a fine centre forward last year, with his brilliant hold-up play and superb technique. Boselli is a natural goalscorer who has come back to Wigan motivated to show us his best. He has a fine pedigree. Kone is maybe a cross between the two in the way he plays.

So how do you fit in three quality central strikers, given the manager’s preference for the lone centre forward? Last year Victor Moses was given licence to roam, cutting in from the wings, getting into central positions. If and when Moses goes there will be wealth of players to compete for his role. Crusat,  Dicko, McManaman and the exciting new loan signing Miyaichi are the natural winger-types, who could slot in there. However, given the quality of the three central strikers now at his disposal, Martinez might choose to play one of them in the Moses  position. This would require some tactical adjustments, with a shift towards a more conventional twin striker system. Let’s hope Martinez has this in mind.

The change in tactical formation midway through last year proved to be the catalyst that helped Latics stay up, defying the odds. It helped to get the best out of the players at Martinez’s disposal. Assuming the Moses transfer, he will soon be faced with a similar challenge – how to get the best out of three quality central strikers, while not leaving out the winger-types. An exciting prospect.

Blind optimism and Latics’ new season

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

One of the lads in my class at school was called Brian. He claimed to be an Horwich RMI supporter.  I thought I was remarkable enough at the time, being a Latics fan, in a town dominated by the cherry and white. There were few of us Latic fanatics at school and if we dared to utter words of blind optimism about our club, our classmates were quick to shoot us down.  The message was – how can you support a measly little non-league football club? Don’t even dream of reaching the heights of our wonderful local rugby team or the football giants in neighbouring cities. However, I considered myself an optimist as far as Wigan Athletic were concerned. It was in my blood – and still is. I trust that those classmates are eating their words now.

To be honest, Brian was even more of an optimist than me. Horwich Railway Mechanics  Institute was in fact a much older football club than Wigan Athletic, having been formed in 1896. Their only major  success over those years was in winning the Lancashire Combination championship in 1957-58.  Coming up on Saturday afternoon at Springfield Park was a Lancashire Junior Cup tie between our two teams. It was akin to David and Goliath. Brian saw it differently — an epic tussle between two of Lancashire’s outstanding non-league clubs. He reeled off the names of RMI’s starting eleven, declaring each player a “good-un”, although it was clear from the intonations of his voice that some were more good than others. He had faith – I thought foolishly so – that RMI would get a good result.

Brian was right that day, the match ended in a draw. My Dad was so furious he said he wouldn’t go and watch the replay in the coming week. Their ground was a freezing, a God-forsaken place on the top if a big hill where the wind ruled the roost, he said. Their pitch was going to be rutted and would make good football impossible.

Fortunately, he relented and we took the short bus ride, and walked up to RMI’s ground at Grundy Hill.  Latics won 5-0, and Brian avoided me at school the next week, although I did quietly admire the genuine faith and optimism he seemed to have in his little club. Later, I became disillusioned to find out that he went to see Bolton more than Horwich.  But then again —  why would he announce himself a  fan of Horwich RMI rather than First Division Bolton? Strange how it turned out that Bolton now play home games  in Horwich, whereas the latest incarnation of RMI plays in Leigh.

So what would an optimist make of Wigan Athletic’s chances this season? That Bob and Dave are still here and therefore the club is continuing to move forward.  The appointment of the admirable Matt Jackson to spearhead the much needed youth system upgrade is to be commended. Boselli  is back and so far has averaged a goal a game in pre-season, having only played a half in each. He remains our potentially most clinical finisher, if not the silky skilled player that Di Santo has become. Both Fyvie and Ramis look like excellent signings. Roberto has also brought in two 19 year olds from elite Spanish clubs, each with good credentials. Assuming no major injuries or loss of form, a place in the top half of the table is a distinct possibility.

So what of Victor Moses? Why are Chelsea putting in such derisory bids for him? The odds are that he will go. He is far from the finished article, mainly with his decision-making in goal-scoring opportunities. He wasted a lot of chances last season. However,  there is a need for  a flair player like Moses, or N’Zogbia before him, to do the unpredictable and unsettle defences. Providing he can avoid injuries I expect Albert Crusat will make more of an impact this year. He is pacy, intelligent and David Silva has shown that slightly built players can flourish in the physical Premier League. It would be a mistake, however, to view Crusat as the replacement for Moses  — they are different types of player – and Dicko and McManaman will also compete for that spot.

Latics’ superb end of season performances, however, were built from the back. The three central defenders — Alcaraz, Caldwell and Figueroa – were outstanding, but one lived in fear of any injury to any of them. There was always the possibility of slotting Boyce into the centre but he was playing possibly the best football of his career at wing back. The signing of the experienced and highly capable Ivan Ramis is therefore welcomed. In fact, Figueroa might miss the first part of the season after being on Olympic duty for Honduras. Expect Ramis to slot in for him – if not it will be Lopez or Golobart.

In goal we have the outstanding Ali Al Habsi. The promising  young goalkeeper, Lee Nicholls, is clearly one for the future, but needs to get more experience before stepping in for the Omani. The 40 year old stalwart, Mike Pollitt, will be the first choice backup ‘keeper. There is newspaper talk about a promising young Australian coming on trial.

Latics are well served for wing backs. Ronnie Stam was in excellent form last season before being left out for Emmerson Boyce, who did spectacularly well. Jean Beausejour was the piece in the jigsaw puzzle that made a big difference in the latter part of last season. Wing back is not a position most clubs use, but Beausejour played in that position for Chile under Marcelo Bielsa. Both he and Stam are specialist wing backs. Ramis’ arrival allows Figueroa to serve as emergency wing-back in the event of injury to Beausejour.

Despite losing Diame and Thomas the midfield looks strong. The classy Ben Watson will fight to get his place back from James MacArthur, although he will face competition from Fraser Fyvie. The excellent James McCarthy is potentially as good as most midfield players in the Premier League and is likely to be our sought after by the big clubs before the end of the season. It may be that Fyvie is seen as his long-term replacement. He is a complete player and the goals that have been missing over the past season are likely to return. All he lacks is a little self belief.  David Jones remains a useful squad player able to play in a variety of positions. He has a great left foot and is an intelligent footballer. Hopefully he will steer clear of injuries this year.

Shaun Maloney was a revelation in the latter games of the season as the playmaker.  He has that kind of quality that can make a difference. His experience in a Celtic team that dominated the SPL has given him the level of self-confidence that most of his teammates lack. His career has been blighted by injury and one doubts his ability to make it through a full season unscathed. Jordi Gomez, the butt of some fans, remains a good footballer, able to play that role. Jordi has learned that he has to work hard off the ball and now covers a lot of ground. He is not a natural tackler, but does a lot of harassing of opponents to complement his considerable skills on the ball. Both Maloney and Gomez are likely to score goals, be it from open play or the penalty spot.

There has been talk of Conor Sammon going out on loan, although he does not seem to know anything about it. Sammon needs regular first team football if he is going to develop further. He is not likely to get it with Di Santo and Boselli ahead of him in the pecking order for the centre forward position. Speaking of loans, Lee Nicholls is already fixed up for a spell at Northampton.  One wonders how many more of last season’s loanees –  Golobart, Kiernan, Mustoe and Redmond – will be sent off again for more first team experience.

Perhaps I am being a blind optimist like my friend Brian, but with Bob and Dave still at the helm this club is going to be steered towards a bright future.  They are a great double act and deserve to succeed at the club. Whether Wigan Athletic have a good season in 2012-13 depends on the players. Shaun Maloney summed things up at the end of the season by suggesting that the great revival was brought about by hard work. We have a pretty good squad this year and with the full commitment of the players a mid-table position is a distinct possibility. Forget about the friendly loss to Real Mallorca. We are in for  a good season. Believe and keep the faith!!

BOB, DAVE AND YOUTH

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

The break-up of the Beatles, possibly the most successful and innovative group in pop history, probably received as much attention as the music they were creating. It was not so much a single event, but a long transition which had taken place over the years. It seemed inevitable – the question was not if it was going to happen, more when. It took a press release in April 1970 from Paul McCartney to provide final confirmation that it had happened. They had been formed in 1960.

So the Beatles spanned a decade, which will not be forgotten. Bob and Dave have been together running Wigan Athletic for 3 years. Whatever happens from now on Latics followers will retain unforgettable memories of the champagne football we have seen over these past  months. To see Wigan Athletic outplaying the rich and famous and beating them on merit is something we could not have dreamed of in the past. However, like the Beatles, it is inevitable that there is going to be a break up some time, even if we don’t know when.

Dave Whelan says Roberto Martinez is staying – for the foreseeable future at least. There has been nothing from Martinez at this point, but one hopes that the Chairman and he are in agreement. If Martinez is staying – then for how long? It would certainly calm our nerves if he were to make a statement indicating that he will be with us for at least a couple more years. He has done a wonderful job providing infrastructure and his long term vision for the club is to be admired. However, there is one area in which we really need to improve – youth.

According to the Daily Mail, Whelan told ESPN: ‘Roberto is staying with us and I’ve agreed to his request to up our spending on youth development and training facilities.” A full size indoor training ground makes good sense, but there is an acknowledgement that the club needs to spend more on youth development. So why does more money need to be spent on youth and where will it go?

The Wigan Athletic youth team lost 9-1 at Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup. That our team lost is not a surprise, even if the scale of defeat was quite shocking. They played away to a team that plays in the Premier Academy League. There are 40 teams in that league, which consists of Premier League and Championship clubs. Latics’ youth team plays in the North West Division of the inferior Football League Youth Alliance. Among the champions of that league over the past five years appear clubs such as Rochdale and Wrexham. No other Premier League team has their youth team in Youth Alliance, only Wigan. I have been scanning the internet for tables and up to date information about the Youth Alliance, but to little or no avail. The Wigan Athletic official site gives the youth team results up to the end of March. There is a match report from the first game of the season – a 2-0 home loss to Port Vale on August 6th – but there is a gap until the next one, the Forest debacle on January 19th . Neither the Latics official site nor that of the Football League give end of season standings.

It was good to listen to interviews with Daniel Redmond and Jordan Mustoe on Latics Player. They have been offered further one year contracts. Redmond started at Everton and Mustoe at Liverpool, both Merseyside clubs having provided so many of our youth players over the years. The Liverpool area remains a breeding ground for footballers. Both players have benefitted from being sent out on-loan and getting regular first team football, albeit at levels well below that of the Premier League. The Premier Reserve League simply does not provide enough matches and there are periods without any game for weeks. Latics second string had just two matches in the whole of December and January. The move to send young players out to lower division clubs on loan is to be commended. In addition to Redmond and Mustoe add the names of Dicko, Golobart, Kiernan, and Nicholls who have also been out on loan. Callum McManaman had a successful period on loan at Blackpool until he recalled to Wigan in January, since then making only one brief appearance as a substitute. One wonders if he might have been better off staying at Blackpool?

Look at the profiles of youth players at the top Premier League clubs and you will see they come not so much from all over the country, but all over the world. Although Latics have some young professionals from abroad – Jeshua Angoy and Roman Golobart from Spain and Nouah Dicko from France – looking at the names in the youth team line-ups foreign names are few. Out of the 18 first and second year professionals we have Sheego from Somalia and Thompson from Florida. Waters comes from Neath, Bingham from Newham. The remainder come from the greater Liverpool, Manchester and Wigan areas.

Let’s hope that Bob and Dave will stay at Wigan Athletic for years to come. Expecting them to stay together as long as the Beatles might be asking too much, but every year we will see the club progressing under their leadership. They are a great double act. It is going to take money to attract higher quality youth players to the club. You simply cannot dump a 17 year old from overseas in a new cultural environment without providing the necessary support systems. Doing so costs money. Let’s get our youth team into the Premier Academy League, where they will be competing at a much better level, making a smoother transition to the Premier Reserve League. Roberto Martinez clearly recognises our shortcomings at youth level and the chairman is now giving his backing to increased spending on youth development. It looks like another step in the right direction!

CONTEMPLATING LIFE WITHOUT BOB

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

After the joy and euphoria of recent weeks we are now rocked  by Liverpool’s approach to Roberto Martinez. How can we  contemplate a Wigan Athletic without Bob? What is going to happen if he leaves us for  Liverpool in the next 7 days?

Roberto Martinez came back as club manager in 2008, having been an old favourite of those fans who saw him play 188 matches for Latics from 1995-2001. His assistant was to be  Graeme Jones, who scored 44 goals in 96 appearances for Latics from 1996-1999. Another ex-Latics icon – Graham Barrow – was brought in as  coach. Barrow scored 35 goals in 179 appearances for Wigan Athletic from 1981-1986, not bad for a defensive midfield player. He later came back as manager in 1994-95, saving Latics from relegation to the Football Conference.  If you look at the backroom staff at the club you will find the names of other familiar names from yesteryear. Alex Cribley –  club physiotherapist – made 268 appearances for us in the 1980s and has been at the club for 30 years . We even have an executive manager, Jonathan Jackson, whose father was a great servant for the club at board level.

That all these people with strong previous associations  with the club are on the payroll is no coincidence. It is part of a concerted effort to recruit people who love the club. Roberto Martinez has been the orchestrator, melding together his staff to provide an infrastructure for the future. The model is not unlike that of Liverpool in the 1980’s when Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan moved up from the “bootroom” staff to take over the club after the departure of Bill Shankly. It was an incredibly successful model. Paisley won 6 league titles and 3 European Cups during his 9 years as manager.

Roberto Martinez might be offered the Liverpool job this week. If he does he might well take it. No Latics fan would begrudge him such an opportunity. Liverpool FC is not the club it was in the 1980s but its fans still often have unrealistically high expectations. Not an easy place to work, especially if John W. Henry wants instant success. Henry took over as principal owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team in 2002. They won the coveted World Series in 2004. It is unlikely that Roberto Martinez – or any other manager – could perform a parallel feat at Liverpool FC in two years, given the squad of players currently at the club. What Martinez would do is build for the future and have the team play aesthetically pleasing football, something Liverpool have not been able to do for some time.

If the Liverpool thing does not work out – and we Latics fans have to admit we hope it doesn’t – we will probably have Martinez for another year. The problem is that the more success Wigan Athletic have under his direction, the more likely it is that he will be poached away by another club. We therefore need to think ahead. Are there people on the “bootroom” staff who are capable of replacing him? The obvious candidate is Graeme Jones, but we seldom get a glimpse of him through the media. Does he lack eloquence or is it that Martinez is a control freak and likes to deal with the media? Eric Black was a very well-spoken assistant to Steve Bruce and we saw more of him. If Martinez did move would he take Jones with him? Graham Barrow remains a capable force within the club and might even be a candidate. After the Heysel disaster in 1985 Kenny Dalglish took over as Liverpool player-manager, going on to win three league titles. Would it be within the realms of possibility that Gary Caldwell could perform that same dual role for Latics?

So let’s think ahead. Roberto Martinez will leave sometime, whether it be during the next week or the next year. He has built an infrastructure that we need to keep. If he were to leave he should not be allowed to take away key members of our coaching and backroom staff. The players he has recruited now know how to play the kind of champagne football we could not have dreamed about three years ago when he took over. We also have a tactical formation that really suits the players we have. We do not want a new manager to come in and put us back to square one. Let’s not revert to the physical, long-ball stuff that characterized Steve Bruce’s teams. Very few managers in England could step into this situation and build on what we already have. Only Swansea and Brighton come to mind as teams that play our style of football. Brendan Rodgers has done a great job at Swansea because he has built on the structure that Martinez provided during his time in Wales. Like Martinez he is now in the shop window, with the big clubs admiring the kind of football his team are playing. Gus Poyet has done a fantastic job in bringing Brighton to midway up the Championship playing our kind of football. He might well be a possibility for Latics.

Let’s hope that Roberto Martinez does not go to Liverpool and stays with us at least one more year. It is an exciting prospect! If he does go then we need to make the right appointment. Let’s not bring in somebody who tears apart the coaching and backroom staff to bring in his own men. We don’t need upheaval, we need continuity. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to keep it rolling. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.