Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

Can Latics hold their nerve for automatic promotion?

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

In March 2014 Uwe Rosler’s Wigan Athletic team were challenging for a playoff place in the Championship division. During that month they went on to amass 14 points from their 7 games, losing only one by a 1-0 margin at QPR. They looked odds-on to reach that playoff place, which they did finally achieve, but not without a stutter as they picked up just 11 points from their last 9 matches.

Rosler’s team had peaked too early and just could not maintain their form over the final six weeks of the season. They put up spirited displays in the semi-final of the playoffs against QPR, but just could not show the kind of intensity they had shown a couple of months earlier.

Gary Caldwell’s team too has been peaking, going on a 14 game unbeaten run. Their last defeat was against Blackpool on December 12th. Have they peaked too early? Can they hold their nerve and get an automatic promotion place?

Burton Albion’s defeat at Bradford on Tuesday evening could well prove to be a turning point for what remains of the season. They still stand four points ahead of Wigan Athletic, but significantly they no longer have games in hand. After being so consistent for so long is there a chink in Burton’s armour? They have now only won one out of their last five matches.

The most optimistic of Wigan Athletic fans are now seriously talking about their team winning the division. Burton have some tricky fixtures coming up in the final 11 games of the season. Four of those are against teams currently in the top six promotion zone – Millwall (A), Latics (H), Barnsley (H) and Gillingham (H).

Other than having to play at Burton, Latics have to play just one other team from the current top six – Barnsley (H) on the last day of the season.

This current Wigan Athletic team is capable of beating any other team in team in League 1, Burton included. They are have the capability to go the remainder of the season unbeaten. But they are also capable of producing poor results against teams they would be expected to beat. In recent home games they have failed to beat struggling Oldham and Peterborough and a 1-1 draw at Crewe in late January was disappointing.  But it was the shock 1-0 home defeat to Blackpool in mid-December that sparked the surging run they are on at the moment.

In their last 6 league games Latics have won 3 and drawn 3, an average of 2 points per game. Of the other teams in the top six only Barnsley have done better with 13 points, followed by Millwall on 11 points, Burton on 8, Gillingham on 5 and Walsall on 3.

Looking at stats for games played up to this point  it looks like the teams gaining automatic promotion this season will need less points than has been the norm over the past decade. It has been the kind of season where teams are closer in level, where they can quickly climb up or abruptly slide down the table within half a dozen games. However, for Latics to gain automatic promotion they are likely to need at least 86 points. That would require an average of 2 points in each of the remaining eleven matches.

Tomorrow’s game at Colchester is another of those potential banana skins upon which Latics have slipped several times this season. In their last six games Colchester’s record is LDLDWL. They lie in bottom place ten points from safety and have won just three home games this season.

All teams tend to have injury problems at this time of year and Wigan Athletic are no exception. Michael Jacobs and Reece James have been out long term and are still recuperating. Jussi Jaaskelainen is likely to return following concussion received against Peterborough, but both Conor McAleny and Jason Pearce are doubtful for tomorrow.

Caldwell commented this week that  “Whilst it’s a big disappointment to have players out, it’s an opportunity for other players to come in and show what they can do. It’s up to those players who haven’t been playing but have been asking to play and wanting to play to be ready for the opportunities.”

One of those players the manager could be referring to is Kevin McNaughton, who completed a full 90 minutes for the development squad on Tuesday. The Scot may not start at Colchester but could come on later in the game. Haris Vuckic is also due to reappear at some stage.

In addition to potential injuries Caldwell is likely to lose Will Grigg to the Northern Ireland squad for their friendly matches on March 24 and 28. Craig Davies is the obvious replacement, although he has not completed a full game for a long time.

Now is the time for Latics to hold their nerve and let the other teams cut each other’s throats. A late season dip in form like that which happened to Rosler’s team is what they must guard against.

 

 

 

Warnock – a great signing for Latics

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

Warnock

The “New Era” recruitment team at Wigan Athletic already had an impressive record, but the announcement of the signing of Stephen Warnock is really the icing on the cake. Warnock turned 34 in December and his loan signing might be short term, but with over 200 career appearances at Premier League level he will surely have much to offer in League 1.

The long term injury to Reece James and a two game suspension  for Chris McCann left Gary Caldwell short of options at left back/left wing back. Against Peterborough on Saturday he moved Reece Wabara across from the right to play there, while McCann was rested on the bench.  The 22 year old Andy Kellett had been signed as the back-up left sided defender, but in most of his appearances he has been played further forward. Moreover Kellett has been dogged by injury. His last first team appearance was against Gillingham in early January.

Warnock was born in Ormskirk and has two caps for England. He came through the Liverpool youth system, going through loan spells at Bradford City and Coventry City when in his early twenties. He went on to make 40 Premier League appearances for Liverpool before moving on to Blackburn and Aston Villa, subsequently dropping down to the Championship in 2012 with a loan move to Bolton. He was then to move on to Leeds United before signing for Derby County in January 2015.

Warnock has made 30 appearances in the Championship for the Rams, but the arrival of a new manager in January has seen his first team opportunities become limited.

With James still injured and McCann serving a two match suspension we can expect Warnock to go straight in the team for the visit to Colchester on Saturday. Moreover his arrival gives Caldwell more flexibility in being able to use McCann in the centre of defence or midfield.

The performance on Saturday was surely affected by losing three players to injury by half time. Jussi Jaaskelainen and Jason Pearce are key players in the promotion push and Caldwell will be hoping they will be back for Saturday. He will also hope that Conor McAleny will be back soon, although he has an obvious replacement in Haris Vuckic. Kevin McNaughton is getting closer to full fitness and will surely challenge Reece Wabara and Donervon Daniels for the right back position over the coming weeks. A back four of McNaughton, Craig Morgan, Pearce and Warnock would rank among the most experienced and accomplished in the division.

When Michael Jacobs was in injured at Crewe at the end of January it looked like Latics would be short on creativity, although the signing of Ryan Colclough has certainly helped. However, Jacobs was one of the main driving forces in the new era side until his injury, one of the best attacking midfielders in the division.

The return of Jacobs, apparently still a couple of weeks away in terms of fitness, together with the advent of Warnock could be crucial in the bid for promotion.

Warnock is a terrific addition to the squad, albeit with just 11 league games to go.

A tough approach needed for Bury and Millwall

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

 

 

“They are the best team in the league. I know we have done well against them but they have recruited fantastically well. They are a very, very good team. Their subs’ bench is absolutely incredible. They are a top team and it’s one we can look forward too. I’m really looking forward to this week to get a game plan together to compete with them.”

It is the final sentence in David Flitcroft’s comments that is the important one. The Bury manager will surely have more tricks under his sleeve when his side visit the DW Stadium tomorrow. With two wins and a draw under his belt against Latics already this season, can he do it again? What tactics will he employ?

The likelihood is that Flitcroft’s main tactic will be to adopt a physical approach in an attempt to put Latics off their game.

The same can be expected from Millwall on Tuesday. Latics were mauled by the opposition players and their crowd at the New Den in a key relegation match in mid-April last season. It was early days in Gary Caldwell’s new managerial position and Millwall manager Keith Harris’ intimidatory tactics worked. The 2-0 victory to the Lions proved to make no difference in the long run, with both clubs being relegated.

Neither Bury at home, nor Millwall away, is a particularly comfortable fixture for Latics. The Lancashire derbies have their own special feel and the competition can be fierce. Playing away at Millwall is never going to be easy, given the fiercely partisan crowd. Bury have only won one of their past ten, but Millwall have won four out of the last six and are serious challengers for a playoff place.

Latics have not played at all well against Bury this season. The League Cup tie in mid-August was decided by a controversial penalty given against Craig Morgan, the Shakers winning 2-1. But Morgan was to have his revenge by getting a last minute equaliser at Gigg Lane in early October in a 2-2 draw. Wigan’s performance in the 4-0 FA Cup defeat at Gigg Lane in early November was woeful, although it did leave one wondering how interested they were in progressing further in the competition.

But the Wigan team that faced Bury in the first half of the season, during the gelling process with so many new players, is a different kettle of fish than the current one. Latics are second in the table, on an 11 game unbeaten run, scared of nobody.

The win at fellow promotion hopefuls, Walsall, pushed them above the midland team for the first time. Wigan were much the better team on the day, but only won the game in the closing minutes. Will Grigg missed a handful of clear opportunities. Had he scored at least one of them he could have out the game out of reach for the home side.  However, it must have been a bittersweet return to the Bescot Stadium for him with the home fans jeering his every touch. Grigg is a fine centre forward at League 1 level, but such profligacy cannot continue if Latics are to attain that automatic promotion spot.

A home win for Latics tomorrow is most likely, but they must be careful to avoid complacency. But then again they have good reason to make a big effort in retaliation for the bad results against Bury so far. Flitcroft claims a long injury list, but it remains to be seen what side he will put out tomorrow. One thing is for certain – Latics can expect a rough reception from the visitors.

The Millwall game is another against a promotion hopeful and will not be easy. The Lions are now in fifth place, but surprisingly their home record has been poor, having a record of W7 D2 L7, whereas away they have the second best stats in the division behind Walsall. But Neil Harris will surely once again rile up his players and his crowd to give Wigan a hard time.

Gary Caldwell has used 33 players this season, six of whom were on loan and have gone back to their parent clubs. Two players – Grant Holt and Richard O’Donnell – departed over the January transfer window. Four players are injured or in recuperation – Michael Jacobs, Reece James, Kevin McNaughton and Sanmi Odelusi.

But Caldwell has a squad that is the envy of the other League 1 managers. The ability to bring players off the bench of the quality of Craig Davies and Yanic Wildschut gives Caldwell that added factor that the other managers do not have.

Wigan Athletic have the quality to win the division. But much will depend on avoiding complacency and being willing to slug it out with teams like Bury and Millwall.

Neither match is easy. Both are winnable at a physical cost. It would be no surprise if Caldwell once more rotates his team or changes its shape in the next two games. A return of four points from the two would keep Latics on track. More would be even better.

Sam Morsy – a crucial acquisition in the quest for promotion

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , , ,
Photo courtesy of the Express and Star.

Photo courtesy of the Express and Star.

To the more discerning viewer the work of Sergio Busquets for Barcelona is crucial to the smooth running of the team. Granted their MSN forward line would take any defence apart, given decent ammunition. But that ammunition is dependent upon someone playing a seemingly simple role much deeper. Busquets plays the same kind of role that Pep Guardiola did when playing under Johan Cruyff. He is strong in the tackle, makes key interceptions and rarely wastes the ball.

On Saturday Sam Morsy played the Busquets role in an excellent Wigan Athletic performance at Walsall. He sat in front of the back four, nullifying Walsall’s attacks, making sure possession was retained. Moreover he put through pinpoint long passes towards the flanks. Had Will Grigg not been so profligate, with a handful of goal scoring opportunities, Latics would have been out of sight long before Yanic Wildschut’s stunning winner. But Morsy’s contribution in that Busquets role was crucial in stopping opposition attacks and launching his team forwards.

Morsy was signed at a knock-down price from Chesterfield, being in the final year of his contract. He was the captain and the driving force behind the midfield in a team that challenged for promotion last season. The Busquets role is not one he was used to at Chesterfield, where he operated in the holding midfield role where David Perkins and Max Power have excelled for Latics this season. But at Sheffield and Walsall, Caldwell opted to put Morsy in front of the back four, pushing the duo further forward.

Morsy is only 24, with his best years ahead of him. He gave an excellent account of himself at both of his previous clubs, Port Vale and Chesterfield. He is a player who has come through the lower divisions of the English football pyramid, but shows the capability of playing at a higher level.

Gary Caldwell and his recruitment team have done a wonderful job in building up a squad capable of gaining automatic promotion back to the Championship. They have signed a number of players in their early to mid-twenties. Should Latics get the promotion they seek, most of those players can be expected to make a mark on the Championship. Morsy ranks among them.

Sam Morsy has made an immediate impression on Wigan Athletic fans. He could be a key player for not only promotion, but for years to come.

Sharpe ushers in the new era at Wigan Athletic

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

 

Sharpetweet

Being able to communicate on the social media is not a prerequisite for being a chairman of a Football League club. If it were one would wonder how many of them would have a clue about where to start. They could do worse than take some lessons from David Sharpe.

Since taking over a Wigan Athletic at a low ebb in early March it has not been an easy ride for the young Latics chairman. He kept faith in manager Malky Mackay for a month before sacking him and bringing in Gary Caldwell. Could the youngest chairman and youngest manager in the Football League keep Latics in the Championship?

Sadly it was not to be. With hindsight we can maybe say that it was a month too long. If Mackay had gone earlier? Relegation was to take a heavy toll and meant that the club had to drastically downsize its operations. Within a space of three years the club was to reduce its budget from around £50m to around £10m. It was an uphill task for the young duo.

However, Sharpe has stayed buoyant and positive throughout. The club had lost its way. An era of unprecedented success had led to a freefall where the brakes just did not seem to work. Sharpe went through some tough times, but his capable use of the media was to provide fans with hope for the future. Sharpe is typical of his generation in being comfortable with the social media, but he has also shown himself to be adept at dealing with television and the press. He comes across as being bright, positive and eloquent.

In his first media interview following the announcement that he was to be taking over from his grandfather, Sharpe managed to achieve a balance between recognising Dave Whelan’s fabulous achievements and letting us know that he was first and foremost a fan, but that he had not only ambitions to get the club back to where it had been, but had plans on how to do it.

“The ultimate goal is to return to the Barclays Premier League. We will also continue to prioritise plans to build a first class academy and training ground, where the club can start developing its own players to feature at first team level more regularly. We also need to create a modern and robust player recruitment process, where every targeted player is researched, statistically measured, and watched in different conditions to ensure we have a complete picture of the player and the person we are planning to sign. But we need to do all of this this in a structured way, inside a sustainable long-term financial framework. It won’t be easy and there may be some difficult times ahead before we are back on the right track but my grandfather’s legacy over the past 20 years is to show that anything is possible in football. Over that time, the club has created a platform for itself, and now the challenge is to move into the next era with confidence and ambition.”

The academy plans are currently on hold due to the cost of developing the Charnock Richard facility given current revenues. However, Sharpe recently showed business acumen by purchasing Bolton Wanderers’ training ground at Euxton for a knock-down price.

Sharpe’s efforts at reforming the recruiting process has led to Latics making bargain signings of players who were out of contract or getting close to it. They have formed the basis of a squad that is challenging for automatic promotion. He has also been willing to splash up big money, paying up towards £1m for Will Grigg, Reece James and Yanic Wildschut, all of whom are young with the potential to be key players for the future or could be sold off at a good profit. On the reverse side, there was a major outflux of players in summer who were on Championship salaries, plus a couple more in January. The bottom line is that Latics now have players who are willing to give their best for the club, a far cry from the seeming apathy of last season.

Whether Latics get promoted this season remains to be seen. But Sharpe stuck his neck out in making an inspirational appointment of a rookie manager in Gary Caldwell and it has been a success up to this point. Good football has returned after a period in the wilderness. Should Caldwell continue in his present vein Sharpe will be hard-pressed to beat away offers from other clubs.

Sharpe will be the first to admit that the positive changes at the club are the work of a team approach. Caldwell, Jonathan Jackson, Matt Jackson, the recruitment team, the coaches plus all around have changed the direction of the club. But as chairman, Sharpe sets the direction and the tone. He also takes the flak when things don’t go according to plan.

Just three weeks ago the DW pitch was wrecked after a televised rugby match ruined what remained of a pitch suffering from climatic conditions and regular football use over recent months. Sharpe immediately acted upon it, getting a new pitch installed within a week, at considerable cost.He knew that a failure to do so would have been a serious threat to Latics’ promotion hopes, give their possession style of play.

David Sharpe continues to give Wigan Athletic supporters hope for a bright future. Moreover his bond with the supporters is way beyond that of most club chairmen. In his most recent Tweet he said:

As a thank you for your unbelievable away support this season, we will be putting on free coaches for the Swindon game! Be loud!!! #wafc 🔵⚪️

It has been a gesture well received by the fans.

When Dave Whelan stepped down we were not sure about what would happen next. How could anyone step into his formidable shoes? Sharpe was very much an unknown quantity at the time.

David Sharpe certainly deserves credit for the direction he has already given the club during his brief tenure which is approaching a year. One can only hope that the Football League’s youngest chairman can come close to equalling the achievements of his grandfather over the coming years.