Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

CHELSEA -WIGAN ATHLETIC PREVIEW : ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN

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

Wigan Athletic travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday on a high after two excellent performances. However, relegation continues to firmly stare them in the face. There are seven matches left, including three consecutive against teams in the top five. A very difficult finish to the season.  Let’s be honest, 3 points out of the next 3 matches would be a great achievement, given past performances against those top teams. The pessimist might suggest that a single point from those games would be an accomplishment.

Chelsea are a team in transition, the icons who made them into giants now looking like mere mortals. On Wednesday night they reached the semi-final of the Champions League, the only English team left. However, they are not the power they were. That formidable fortress, Stamford Bridge, has been breached three times by wins from away teams  this season. A far cry from previous years. However, they remain in 5th place and can still get into that top four place for the Champions League. Chelsea retain fine players, including those who can win a match through one moment of individual brilliance. Not a team to be underrated.

Being at the DW Stadium last weekend was  an uplifting experience. After a famous win at Liverpool, Latics outplayed Stoke. Around the stadium there appeared a growing belief that Latics can maintain their Premier League status, although even Roberto Martinez tells us the survival battle will go down to the very last game.  The improved solidity of the back three has been a major factor and Alcaraz, Caldwell and Figueroa have been excellent in defence in recent matches. This will be put to the test at Chelsea, given their attacking potential.

We hear that Mohammed Diame is going to be back for selection and this is a welcome sign. Despite his often woeful finishing he has been one of Latics’ best outfield performers this season. Hugo Rodallega remains doubtful, so it looks like we will once again see Franco di Santo up front. He has the pace, physique and skill to trouble the Chelsea defence. One hopes he will have the poise to put away the one single chance he might get in this game. Who knows – perhaps it is time for him to do that?

Given Wigan Athletic’s performances record in the Martinez era anything could happen on Sunday. Chelsea had a demanding Champions League game against Benfica on Wednesday, so maybe this will act in our favour.  However, they have a very strong squad and can rotate their players effectively.  It could be a good result for us or we could get well and truly walloped. We need to be optimistic, but also realistic. Let’s not expect too much and hope for the best. After all, we need to KEEP THE FAITH!

LIVERPOOL v WIGAN ATHLETIC PREVIEW – A MEETING OF THE PROFLIGATES

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Wigan Athletic travel to Anfield today with relegation staring them in the face. Liverpool did Wigan no favours in midweek by losing at QPR. Despite their loss they remain in 7th place, whereas Wigan are in 19th place thanks to Wolves’ inferior goal difference. Liverpool have lost only one game at home in the Premier League this season, whereas Wigan have won only 3 of their 14 away games. However, Latics’ record against Liverpool over the past couple of seasons has not been bad, winning one and drawing 3 of the last 4 games with them. Liverpool have lost 4 of their last 5 Premier League matches, while Wigan have won one out of the last 14.

It has been a season of profligacy in front of goal for each of these two teams. Had they been more potent in front of goal each would surely have been higher up the league table. The conversion ratios for the two teams reflect their lack of finishing. Latics have a conversion ratio for goals/shots on target of 21% (25 goals, 116 shots on target). Liverpool are also at 21% (35 goals, 163 shots on target). Their ratios for goals/total shots on goal are remarkably similar – Wigan at 8% (from 297 shots), Liverpool at 9% (from 386 shots). As a basis for comparison the ratios for Manchester United are 39% (goals/shots on target) and 21% (goals/shots on goal). At Liverpool they talk about the ineffectiveness of Andy Carroll and the lack of finishing of Luis Suarez. At Wigan we look at three centre forwards – Rodallega, Di Santo and Sammon – and see they have scored only 6 goals between them all season.

So when will the profligacy in front of goal stop for these two teams? Will it be this afternoon? Let’s hope it is Wigan’s profligacy that ends, not Liverpool’s! Earlier in the season the main cause for Latics not scoring goals was because they did not commit enough players forward. Put simply you don’t score  if you don’t put players into goal scoring positions. The lone centre forward was indeed a very lonely man. However, things have improved in this respect and last weekend Latics created chance after chance, mainly through the beautiful left foot crossing from Jean Beausejour. But what a waste to come out of the West Bromwich match with only a point!

Team news is that Hugo Rodallega might not make it through injury. David Jones and Mike Pollitt remain out too. Liverpool away is never an easy match. Nobody expects Wigan to win this match or any of the others coming up against Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal. However, they need to pick up some points against the big boys if they are to stand a chance of staying up. So let’s hope that Liverpool will once again be wasteful in front of goal and Latics the opposite. With a bit of luck and fair refereeing (what chance a Wigan player getting sent off today?) Wigan could win this match. Without those two factors in their favour they could get a hiding.

Norwich City 1 Wigan Athletic 1 – Good, but not good enough?

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

Was this going to be the turning point in our season? It’s the 85th minute, all equal at 1-1, Wigan Athletic dominating and Norwich on the back foot. Mohamed Diame has just come on as a substitute. Shaun Maloney skillfully beats the right-back and plays a lovely ball across from the left, leaving an open goal for him. Diame somehow kicks it over the bar.

It was an all-too-familiar pattern. So many times this season Latics have been the better team but have not been able to kill off the opposition. The result — Latics remain in the mire, glued to the bottom, with very difficult fixtures against top teams fast approaching. Norwich continue to punch above their weight, 15 points ahead of Latics this season with a squad that is certainly no better than ours. They seem to be experts at getting goals out of the blue, as did Hoolahan in the 10th minute when he somehow got a poke of the ball ahead of Caldwell from a speculative cross. In the 68th minute, Victor Moses had leveled the score after latching on to a lovely through ball from Shaun Maloney, finishing with aplomb. A far cry from the wretched finishing we have seen from him in previous games. One of our two main strikers, he has now scored 3 goals in 28 appearances. The other striker on the day was Hugo Rodallaga, energetic and involved,  going close on several occasions. He has scored 2 in 22, although half of those appearances were made as a substitute. But goalscoring is not merely in the strikers’ domain. The midfield sadly lacked a goalscoring touch in this match, Diame the main culprit on more than one occasion, but he was not alone in his profligacy.

Match statistics show that Wigan enjoyed 55% of the possession and committed 8 fouls to Norwich’s 12. Although it was not a rough match, each team ended the match with four yellow cards. Wigan had 20 shots (7 on goal) to Norwich’s 14 (2 on goal). Ruddy made 6 saves, Al Habsi just one, thought it was a brilliant one, keeping out a goal-bound header from Morison in the last minute.

The Good

Latics did not lose and played with some degree of confidence. They were clearly trying to win, rather than not to lose. They showed commitment and played some good football in an entertaining match.

The substitution of an ineffective Gomez for Maloney brought forth a much more creative midfield. Maloney was a risky signing over the summer, given his previous injury record. In this match he looked classy and for once Wigan had a midfield player who could put forward a defence splitting pass. The question is whether he can stay fit long enough to make a real impact on the end of the season.

The Bad

This was a point gained, but in reality two points lost. You have to be able to beat lower mid table teams like Norwich if you want to maintain your Premier League status. Three points were needed. Perhaps if we had beaten Everton, Swansea or Blackburn at home, this result could have been viewed as a success. But our poor home form has meant we need maximum points from all fixtures against teams mid-table or lower.

The lack of finishing tarnished an otherwise good performance. Rodallega continues to struggle with his finishing and none of the big clubs is going to want him on current form, even as a free agent. If Diame was a better finisher a top tier club would have paid serious money for him several transfer windows ago. He has huge potential, but is out of contract at the end of the season. Much though I admire his skill and technique he has repeatedly wasted goalscoring opportunities in his stay at Wigan and rarely puts through the killer pass for his strikers. The irony is that he is only 24 and we will probably only see him at his best when he goes to another team and matures there.

Much of the Wigan fans’ frustration continues to be vented at Jordi Gomez. For several matches now he has been below par, but has still made the starting lineup. Roberto Martinez’s shows a lot of faith in players, Gomez in particular. However, there comes a point at which you need to make some changes. Given current form Gomez does not merit a place in the starting lineup.

Our best wing back, Ronnie Stam, has been noticeably absent from recent lineups. Playing Emmerson Boyce at right wing back gives us more defensive strength and this could be key in the matches coming up against the top teams. However, against mid range teams Stam’s attacking skills should be used to effect. Why was he not brought on against Norwich?

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 7 – An outstanding save in the last minute saved a point. Otherwise solid.

Emmerson Boyce: 7 – Solid in defence but limited going forward.

Antolin Alcaraz: 8 – Back to form, looks a good player again.

Gary Caldwell: 7 – Playing well at the moment, although shares some blame for Norwich’s goal.

Maynor Figueroa: 8 – A good performance. Seems to play better as a third centre back than as a left full back where his distribution can let him down.

Jean Beausejour: 5 – Not his usual self. Apparently he was carrying a slight injury, sustained during the warm-up.

James McCarthy: 7 – Worked hard in front of the defence, but still not showing the kind of attacking flair we need. It is time he got on the scoresheet. Taken off after 85 minutes.

James McArthur: 7 – Worked hard as usual in closing the opposition down and putting through passes.

Jordi Gomez: 4 – Poor, justifiably taken off after 56 minutes for Shaun Maloney.

Victor Moses: 8 –. Played well, taking his goal beautifully and causing headaches for the Norwich defence.

Hugo Rodallega: 6 – Energetic enough but let down once again by poor finishing.

Substitutes

Shaun Maloney: 9 – Provided the kind of midfield creativity that has been sadly lacking previously this season. His passes should have led to more goals.

Mohamed Diame: – Came on after 85 minutes for McCarthy and immediately involved. Went on a fantastic mazy run only to trickle his shot into the keeper’s hands. Then had an empty net to tap into, but put the ball over the bar. Should have won the match for Wigan.

NORWICH CITY VS WIGAN ATHLETIC PREVIEW – LET’S GET AT THEM !

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

Beam us back to mid August – the opening match of the season and the visit of newly promoted Norwich City. We finished the last season well, we have what looks like our best ever squad in the Premier League and we are quietly optimistic about having a good season. Norwich are going to be bristling with that energy and belief that comes from winning promotion, but look to be short on quality. Surely we can beat them.

The end result was to be a precursor for what has followed during the rest of the season. We gave Norwich a goal through an individual’s defensive error and missed various chances, the match ending in a 1-1 draw. Ned’s match report on this site quoted that “Though at times sloppy and indecisive, Latics were a league above Norwich in terms of quality and pace, but the newly promoted side gave it all and got their reward.”

This has been our most frustrating season in the Premier League. Right now Norwich sit in 13th place on 35 points, while Wigan Athletic are bottom with only 20. Do Norwich have better players than Wigan? I doubt it. But they certainly play with more spirit. The home defeat to Swansea last weekend was the final straw for many Wigan Athletic followers. Their mood has changed from frustration into anger and the majority call for the manager’s head. There are renewed complaints that we have too many overpaid prima donna players who do not represent the club with pride. Many call for a clear out at the end of the season and given that so many players are due to be out of contract this is likely to happen.

Yesterday Bolton once more rode their luck and got three points at the expense of QPR. Blackburn won at Wolves, who are sinking into the same kind of mire as Wigan. To get out of the mire we need to win some matches. What chance of Wigan Athletic gaining a desperately needed victory this afternoon in East Anglia? Norwich City have a league home record of W5 D4 L4. Their home defeats were against Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham and West Bromwich. Wigan Athletic’s away record is W3 D2 L8. The odds clearly favour a victory for Norwich.

Can you get any lower than rock bottom? Given the prevailing mood among supporters it seems that we at that point. If we are going to go down then let’s go down with a fight. We want to see players playing with a passion, taking a pride in their club. A draw at Norwich is achievable, but let’s not settle for that because it is not enough at this stage. We afforded Norwich too much respect at the DW Stadium. Let’s get at them from the start and try to win it.

From Congleton to Swansea – A history of despair and elation

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

It is the early sixties and Latics have returned to the Cheshire League, where they first started in 1932. The Cheshire League is a now a superior league to the one they left, the Lancashire Combination, which has a reputation for the ‘big boot’ and ‘kick and rush’. Wigan Athletic, aristocrats of the northern non-league, away at Congleton. My Dad books the tickets on Eavesway coaches and away we go to South Cheshire. Congleton Town are a small club, even by Cheshire League standards. They made their way up through the Mid Cheshire League and their team is mainly amateur — some of their better players had previously distinguished themselves in the Wigan Athletic reserve team. Their ground is rustic to say the least, with an awesome slope from goal to goal, the pitch rutted and churned up. Their crowds are usually less than 200, but with Latics being the visitors they have their season high attendance of over 1,000. Latics’ visiting support can usually be relied on to give the home teams their best crowds of the season. Latics are in the top four at the time, while Congleton are pretty close to the bottom.

Opportunity for a Latics goal fest? No. A lenient referee allows Congleton to get away with dubious tackles and Latics fall apart, losing 2-1. Bobby Murdoch must have missed at least five goalscoring opportunities. The traveling Latics supporters are incensed with their team. How can a team of well paid semi professionals lose to a team of amateurs? Where is the pride in playing for your club? “A bunch of overpaid prima donnas!” say the enlightened. A senior citizen in the type of cloth cap so traditional among the men of his time, is so upset and incensed that at the end of the match he goes on to the pitch and accosts the referee. Crowd violence in an earlier era.

The next season Wigan Athletic won the Cheshire League. Congleton finished bottom and were relegated to the Manchester League. These days, they compete in the North West Counties League and their average attendance is around 150. Their Booth Street stadium has a capacity of 1,300. Meanwhile, Wigan Athletic are in their seventh season in the Premier League with an average attendance this season of 17,898.

So what happened to professional pride and why do we put up with the prima donnas playing for Latics? Beam us back to modern day. Swansea City were a better team on the day than Latics last Saturday. Dave Whelan is quoted as saying it is their worst performance for 5 years. Much as though I love what he has done for Latics, I can’t agree. There have been far worse performances. Swansea are not world beaters but they are a pretty decent team and play good football.

So why are Latics’ supporters so emotional after this match? For me, both Aston Villa and Everton were beatable, but many of us seemed to be satisfied with draws against them. I suppose we expected – or at least hoped – to beat Swansea, but it was not to be due to two spectacular strikes from Sigurdsson, playing a similar role to Jordi Gomez, behind the central striker.

Roberto Martinez has reached an all time low in the Latics opinion polls. If he were a Republican Party candidate at this time he’d be out of the race. Were his tactics poor against Swansea? They were certainly confused. Martinez had seemingly bowed to public pressure and started with two big central strikers, but Di Santo in particular did not seem to know where he was playing and Sammon was out of touch. (Ed– it has since emerged that Victor Moses was rested, having arrived back from international duty at 7pm the night before the match). In theory, it could have worked with two wing backs supplying crosses for the central strikers. Unfortunately, neither Sammon nor Di Santo is a good header of the ball. Rodallega, who can head the ball, was on the bench. Beausejour put in a fantastic cross in the 37th minute that Di Santo should have finished. The Chilean had a good first half, but faded out. This is not the first game in which he has put over mesmerising crosses which have not been attacked by the central strikers. Boyce is a solid fullback, but not a wing back, and when he goes forward it shows. The switch back to a four man defence achieved nothing. The manager’s insistence on playing an extra central midfield player meant that Gomez played there, leaving nobody wide on the right. We saw that before against QPR, and it did not work then. Tottenham have used a similar tactic at times this season, but Kyle Walker’s energy and attacking skills get closer to compensating for the absence of a wide player on their right flank. It was frustrating to once again see Boyce put in that role. Solid defender he is, but let’s play to his strengths, not expect him to play like Walker.

Dave Whelan’s main complaint was that three quality players were left on the bench. Moses was the most surprising omission from the starting lineup. He had not long arrived back from a long trip to Rwanda. He looked lively for ten minutes or so when brought on in the second half, but faded out. Diame and Rodallega both looked promising when brought on as substitutes but once again did not deliver. However, despite his mediocre season and poor finishing Rodallega still looks more likely to score than either Di Santo or Sammon. Diame too can look good but tends not to deliver that final defence-splitting pass or fluffs his shots on goal. Like the poor, it seems like Gomez will always be with us. After going through a purple patch he has been mediocre as of late and has not justified the faith placed in him by Martinez. He is also once again becoming the butt of the crowd.

From my viewpoint, however, the Swansea match was no surprise. They scored two fine goals, one on the stroke of halftime, the worst time psychologically for a Latics team that was already struggling. Rather than simply look at the Swansea game as a “must win” we need to look at the previous two home matches against Everton and Aston Villa in the same category. There is little to choose between any of those three teams – Everton, Aston Villa or Swansea. All three are capable of beating Latics on their day but they are also ‘beatable’ away from home. Failing to win against Everton and Villa put added pressure on Latics to beat Swansea : drawing with each of them in bore draws was not the end result we needed.

So where do we go from here? Fortunately the other bottom five teams fared badly this weekend. Latics and Bolton remain glued on 20 points, with Blackburn, QPR and Wolves on 22. To be frank, none of the five deserve to stay up based on their performances so far this season, but two of them will. Wigan are no worse than the others. Watch the other four teams play and you see the kinds of defensive errors and lack of definition in finishing that has characterized Latics all season. All have difficult fixtures between now and the end of the season. It could well boil down to whichever team gets the luck – a scrappy goal, lucky deflection, controversial refereeing decision or playing against weakened opposition – choose from any one of these. Which of these teams has the mental toughness to hang in there and not panic when things are not going to plan and the pressure mounts?

A major factor in Latics staying up last season was the support they got from the fans when the going got rough at the season’s end. Blackburn fans turned against their manager months ago, but like Martinez he remains there. To hear the chanting against Steve Kean when Blackburn visited the DW was depressing and hardly helped their players. It is to be hoped that this is not going to happen to the same degree at Wigan — Roberto Martinez is with us for the long haul. Many of us are frustrated with his tactics and team selections at times, but things are coming to a head. Let’s hope we don’t stoop to the level of those Blackburn fans. To do so could be the final straw that sends Latics in a downward spiral to the Championship and below.

This is not the first time Wigan Athletic supporters have been frustrated by a seeming lack of effort from their players. We all want to see a player give his one hundred percent commitment whilst donning a Latics jersey. We want to see pride and commitment towards our club. Let’s not forget that the main people running the football side of our club are Latics icons. Graham Barrow was one of the most committed players you could ever see play for Wigan Athletic, a great servant of the club as ex-player and ex-manager. Graeme Jones was a totally committed centre forward who would run himself into the ground for his team. He retains our record of top scorer in a season in league football, scoring 33 league goals in 1996-97. Roberto Martinez spent six years as a player at Wigan, a real fan favourite. He turned down a lucrative offer over summer, showing his loyalty and love of Wigan Athletic football club. So can the love of Wigan Athletic and the commitment from these three people in pole positions at the club be transmitted to the players?

Are there players in the current squad who are just there for the money or are biding their time until their contracts run down to move on to something bigger and better? I read the other day that Latics have nine of their squad out of contract at the end of the season. If this is the case do they remain totally committed to Wigan Athletic for the rest of the season? The benching of both Diame and Rodallega poses questions whether Martinez believes they can show the level of commitment required. One could also argue that playing time should not be given to players who are not willing to sign on for another year. Maybe that playing time should be given to someone who has proved their loyalty and could do a job for the team? We live in a cynical and mercenary world where footballers earn tens of thousands of pounds per week for sitting on the bench, sometimes not even that. However, it would be unfair to tar Diame and Rodallega and the others who are due to be out of contract by that same brush. Who is to say that their own professional pride should not prevail and they do their utmost to keep their current club in the Premier League? The overriding concern is how we could have so many players who have not committed themselves to new contracts. Is it that Dave Whelan is unwilling to give in to unreasonable wage demands or is that the players themselves do not expect Latics to be in the Premier league next season?

The bottom line is that we need to avoid that trap door of relegation first. Then we can deal with issues of players out of contract. Roberto Martinez is a beleaguered young manager with his back against the wall. The majority of Wigan Athletic fans now want him out, but Dave Whelan is not going to comply with their wishes. Wigan Athletic football club is run by a loyal management team that loves the club and wants it to grow. They are prepared to look long term, with a view towards finding stability for the club. The necessary infrastructure has been gradually put into place. Martinez has worked wonders in keeping a club with such a low operating budget in the Premier League over the past two seasons. He needs a minimum of five years to judge him a success or failure.

So what has changed from Congleton to Swansea? Most of our fans would not be old enough to have seen the teams that played in the Cheshire League in the sixties. The younger fans will only remember constant struggles to stay in the Premier League. Our club’s history has been a mixture of despair and elation. Wigan Athletic have come a long way and we don’t want to put back the clock and be spiraling down the leagues. One can only hope that the love of Wigan Athletic shown by the senior managers of the club is instilled into our players as much as it possibly can be. Let’s stick together and support the club through thick and thin. Latics are far from dead and buried and can maintain their Premier League status next year. Let’s keep the faith!