Author Archives: JJ (Tony)

Craig Davies – journeyman or saviour?

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

Davies

“He’s a big, strong boy who is also quick. He is different to what we’ve got and he’ll certainly cause defences some problems.”

The words of Mickey Adams, who certainly had some belief in Craig Davies as a footballer. He had signed the big man for Brighton in February 2009. Some 11 months later, after scoring just one goal in 10 league starts and 11 appearances off the bench, Davies was dispatched on loan to Port Vale, where once again he would be under the tutelage of Adams. Davies made an instant impression at Vale Park and ended his goal drought in his fourth game for his new club.

When Davies came on after 78 minutes against Bury on Tuesday night he did not receive an overwarm welcome from the crowd. Being an ex-Bolton player and the replacement for Grigg did not help his case. Moreover he had not impressed in the 35 minutes he was given as a substitute at Coventry. Some fans condemned him as being lazy. Another categorised him as a “journeyman” who has had as many clubs as Leon Clarke.

But on signing the big Welshman Gary Caldwell had said that “Craig’s a powerful striker who has a proven track record in this division. He’s an experienced player who will inspire those around him and we are absolutely delighted he has chosen to be with us.” Moreover he had later enthused about a Davies-Grigg striking partnership.

So who is the real Craig Davies – the inspirational central striker who can make a real difference to Wigan Athletic this season – or the journeyman who does not make enough effort on the pitch? Is he the 23 goal striker who was instrumental in helping Chesterfield win League 2 or the player who struggled for goals at Brighton?

Davies had begun his Wigan Athletic career as a 77th minute substitute in the pre-season match with Partick Thistle at Firhill. He immediately added a physical presence, although playing wide on the left. Gary Caldwell was being cautious in bringing Davies into play, given the constant injury problems he had last season.

It was therefore a surprise to see Davies start up front with Will Grigg in the match at Dundee just three days later. This time Davies played in the right hand twin striker role and was a real handful for the Dundee defence. He only played for the first 30 minutes, but during that time he had formed a positive impression, his interchange of passes with Grigg provoking a penalty.

So what kind of role will Davies play for Latics this season? When will he be fully fit and in contention for a place in the starting lineup?

Caldwell will continue to give Davies time to get himself in optimal physical condition. In the meantime he will use him as an impact substitute, either for a tiring Grigg or alongside him as a main striker. Up to this point Caldwell has tended to opt for a lone centre forward system, but he is nevertheless pragmatic enough to go for the twin striker scenario when needs arise. Grigg would surely benefit from the presence of Davies, who will ruffle the feathers of any defence, drawing defenders away.

However, there is more to Davies’ game than playing the target man and creating space for others in the penalty box. In his career he has scored 88 goals from 237 starts in league games. He had played for 12 clubs before joining Latics, hence the “journeyman” tag.

Davies will be keen to show that he is much more than just a journeyman. His signing was a gamble by Caldwell, given his career path and his injury issues at Bolton. But if Davies can get fully fit he will have the power and speed to cause a serious threat to opposition defences.

If nothing else Davies will provide Caldwell the option of going direct when the patient building up of play has failed to produce the desired results. Fit and at his best he is a force to be reckoned with.

Only time will tell if Caldwell’s signing of Davies was one of desperation, or of inspiration.

Latics’ legs go as Bury take advantage

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions and tagged with , , , , , ,
Jordan Flores showed glimpses of genuine class on his debut in the starting lineup.

Jordan Flores showed glimpses of genuine class in his debut in the starting lineup.

“In the first half and at the start of the second half I think we played with the intensity that I know we can, we kept the ball well and gave it to our attacking players in the right areas. We got in their faces and made it very competitive throughout the first half, and came out with even more intensity in the second. “

Gary Caldwell was right about that. Some two thirds of the way through the match the Latics had started to flag. The early intensity and running off the ball had dissipated and it came as no real surprise when Leon Clarke headed his first goal from a left wing cross in the 63rd minute. Neither was Clarke’s second goal in the 89th minute as Bury had continued to threaten.

Caldwell fielded a 4-3-3 formation, akin to those of the Uwe Rosler era. Kevin McNaughton started at right back, with Leon Barnett partnering Craig Morgan in the centre of defence and Reece James on the left. Max Power, David Perkins and Jordan Flores made up the midfield, with Will Grigg at centre forward, Sanmi Odelusi on the right wing and Michael Jacobs on the left.

Wigan looked lively in the first half, with Jacobs marauding inside from the left, willing to take on defenders. However, the most clear cut chance came in the 33rd minute when Flores went on a long run from the half way line, rounding goalkeeper Walton in the six yard box before the keeper recovered to parry his shot. There was lots of running off the ball, with the players full of effort and commitment, but not surprisingly the players appeared to lack that telepathy which guides the final pass.

One wonders if Caldwell had told his players to make a point of running at the Bury defence as Jacobs did that straight from the kick off in the second half. He was upended in the box and Grigg hit home the penalty. It will do the centre forward a world of good, getting off the mark. He had been lively throughout and was soon to pull the ball back for Odelusi who spooned over the bar with the goal gaping.

Bury had by no means played badly by that stage. They were well organised and had played some good football. As the game moved on they looked so much more physically stronger than Wigan. Following Clarke’s first goal Latics had a throw in on the left hand side, at the half way line. There were four players close to the ball but not one made a run to receive it. The result was a short throw being made and Latics losing the ball. So many players had seemed to run out of steam with one third of the game still left.

Caldwell brought on Ryan Jennings after 70 minutes to replace the ineffective Odelusi. Grigg went off 8 minutes later for Craig Davies to enter. But neither substitution was to breathe further life into Wigan’s play. The substitution of Billy Mckay for Flores in the second minute of time added on seemed pointless, but somehow reminiscent of the treatment the Northern Ireland international received from Malky Mackay.

But there were positives for Wigan. Perkins shone, once again being the standout player. At 33 years of age he seemed to have the legs that his younger teammates lacked, covering acres of ground, solid in defence and with good distribution. Jacobs looks a good signing, with his willingness to take defenders on and to shoot. He has pace and determination. There were signs that Grigg and Jacobs will make a formidable pairing up front as their understanding of each other’s games improves. Both have skill has commitment and have enjoyed previous successes in League 1. McNaughton looked like an accomplished player throughout and will surely stake a claim for a regular starting berth. James performed well on the other flank.

Flores had a starting debut to remember, showing silky touches of genuine class, including that superb run on goal in the first half. Like any young player still learning the game, there were times when he switched off and made mistakes and by the end of the game he looked exhausted. Caldwell will have to decide how to develop the 19 year old further, whether to carefully nurture him within the club or to send him out on loan where he will get more game time. At any rate, Latics have got a player for the future in the Wigan lad who has a Spanish father and English mother.

It will be interesting to see if Caldwell sticks with 4-3-3 for the Doncaster match on Sunday. The centre of defence looked vulnerable to high balls in the second half and it led to two goals. Against teams with big, physically imposing forwards he might well opt for a line of three central defenders, including the powerful Donervon Daniels, who was on the bench last night. Moreover the return of Jason Pearce will surely strengthen the centre of defence. If Caldwell opts for three at the back it is to be hoped that he will play a 3-5-2 formation, rather than a 3-5-1-1 which leaves the centre forward isolated.

A home defeat to a team just promoted from League 2 can hardly be looked upon as a success. But few fans will bemoan an exit from a League Cup competition that adds extra games to a season that is already long and arduous.

Fans can accept last night’s result to some degree, knowing that Caldwell’s new team is a work in progress and the players need more game time together to develop that mutual understanding which enables good team play.

What is hard to accept or understand is why Bury looked so much fitter than Latics. The conspiracy theorists might say that Caldwell was not really interested in the League Cup and the players’ performances in the final third of the game reflected that. But the more likely explanation is that the visitors were simply physically fitter than Wigan.

Last year’s start of the season was marred by a disastrous pre-season programme that left the players largely unfit. Changes were clearly made this year, but the players still do not look fully fit. At the final pre-season match at Blackburn, Caldwell surprisingly made eight substitutions. Of the starting eleven at Coventry only three – Morgan, Perkins and Power – played the full 90 minutes at Blackburn.

The fitness issue at the beginning of the season goes back to Owen Coyle’s days. One can only hope that the people in charge of the physical preparation of the players at the club are getting it right this time around.

The Doncaster game will provide not only a glimpse into whether the players are starting to meld together as a team, but also whether they can match their opponents physically.

 

 

 

A Sheffield Wednesday fan’s view of Chris Kirkland

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

kirkland

Reports suggest that Chris Kirkland is close to rejoining Wigan Athletic. The 34 year old goalkeeper joined Latics in 2006 and made 122 appearances before signing for Sheffield Wednesday in summer 2012.

Kirkland’s performances during his time at Wigan are well known to Latics fans, but how has he been doing since then?

In order to find out about Kirkland’s performances at Wednesday we reached out to Chris Morris, editor of the Owls-Mad fan site.

Here’s over to Chris:

Due to his injury problems there were a few doubts when Chris Kirkland signed for Wednesday in the summer of 2012 but any fears were found to be misplaced as the former England stopper was the standout performer in the Owls first season back in the Championship.

Last season saw Kirkland lose his place to Keiren Westwood – no disgrace in that given that Westwood was voted into the PFA team of the year last season.

Wednesday have been fortunate to have been blessed with top quality keepers over the past few years and although he may be past his best no-one would begrudge Kirkland the opportunity to be a number 1 again and he still has plenty to offer.

Getting the best out of the wing backs

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

3-5-2base_original

A bad start to the season is not uncommon for Wigan Athletic.

The beginning of the 2011-12 season was no exception. A  3-1 home loss to Wolves in early November was their eighth consecutive defeat and Roberto Martinez clearly had to look at changing something. The changes he made took some time to take effect, but in the end they were to underpin a remarkable turnaround in the team’s fortunes.

In the next match against Blackburn Rovers he brought in a back line of three central defenders, with Ronnie Stam and David Jones employed as wing backs. Stam had struggled as a conventional right back, but looked much more comfortable as a wing back where he had much more freedom to attack. Defending was not his forte. Jones was a central midfielder pushed into a new role, in which he never looked truly comfortable. Results improved a little, but by Christmas Latics were still locked in the bottom three.

By the time the January transfer window opened the fans were clamouring for new signings to reinvigorate a team that was heading for relegation. Martinez was to sign just one player, paying Birmingham City £2.5m for left winger, Jean Beausejour. It did not seem enough at the time.

However, Martinez knew that Beausejour had played as a wing back for Chile. He immediately replaced Jones in that position and made it his own. Stam’s defensive limitations, even as a right wing back, were to persuade Martinez to bring back Emmerson Boyce. If nothing else, Boyce could provide more stability to a defence that was hemorrhaging goals.

By mid-March and the introduction of Shaun Maloney the team was starting to play much better. The 3-4-3 system was working really well, not least because of the contributions of Boyce and Beausejour at wing back. When Latics were under pressure they would drop back to provide a back line of five, but still be available to link up with the central defenders to build up moves from the back. Their patient and skilful build up play was to prove a key feature in the amazing results the team was to achieve in avoiding relegation.

Boyce and Beausejour tucked in closely with the back three. If one advanced the other would stay put. Boyce was to show a range of skills that surprised so many of us – defensively solid and with a silky touch in attack. Beausejour rarely wasted a ball and his crossing could be reminiscent of David Beckham.

Sadly the era of Boyce and Beausejour is over, but the appointment of Gary Caldwell as manager has brought a return to a system involving wing backs.

On the tour of Scotland we saw the wing backs pushed well forward, much further than was typically the case under Martinez. The Scot has stated his preference for attacking football and deploying the wing backs in relatively advanced positions could be viewed as a consequence of that. But Martinez was facing high quality opposition and was rarely able to let his wing backs off a tight leash. Caldwell faces a different pressure – providing attacking football that delivers the goals that were so sadly lacking last season.

However, there were times in both matches where the wing backs were not dropping back sufficiently to receive the ball from the back three. The result was central defenders either looking for holding midfielders to receive the ball or playing it across their own back line, too often resulting into a back pass to the goalkeeper to punt forward. Moreover the central defenders were sometimes exposed to counterattacks as attacks had broken down with the wing backs stranded.

Yesterday Caldwell started with the youngsters Jonjoe Kenny and Reece James at wing back. Both have the ball skills, pace and energy to be effective wing backs, even if had not been their natural roles with Everton and Manchester United respectively. In the second half Kenny was replaced by the more conservative, but perhaps defensively stronger, Kevin McNaughton.

Thirteen out of the fourteen players who were involved in the action yesterday were new to the club. A certain degree of lack of cohesion was inevitable and so it proved with Coventry’s goals. Moreover Tony Mowbray had employed a Rosler-style high pressing game in the early stages that prevented the slow build up from the back.

Perhaps expectations of a good result at Coventry were unrealistically high. However, the sight of central defenders constantly passing the ball across the back line and to the goalkeeper suggests that they do not have sufficient passing options. In the days of Malky Mackay or Owen Coyle they would have often employed the hoof, so often resulting in the position gaining possession.

It is to Caldwell’s credit that he eschews that option. Despite the comments made on Latics Player/WISH FM, teams have achieved promotion out of League 1 playing the ball out of defence. Caldwell will resist the hoof and insist that good football is played. This is not to say that his defenders will not look to put forward a well measured long pass if a forward has moved into an appropriate receiving position.

Mowbray’s pressing tactics will surely be used by other teams to disrupt Latics’ game of building up from the back. It is to be hoped that Caldwell can develop a Plan B to deal with it.

History tells us that it takes time for players to adjust to playing in system that involves three central defenders and wing backs. Roberto Martinez learned that, but he persevered and it came good in the end. However, Martinez was not dealing with a practically brand new squad of players. His players knew each other’s games, even if the system they were playing under was tweaked.

It is going to take time for Caldwell’s new charges to effectively put his footballing ideas into practice. In the meantime it is to be hoped that he can look at providing more of a link between his central defenders and his wing backs. Perhaps a look at old videos from the “golden era” will show the wing backs what can be done against a calibre of opposition with which League 1 pales in comparison.

Yesterday’s team is the youngest Latics have fielded for some years, with six of the starting lineup being below 25 years of age. Young players make mistakes under the pressure of high expectations, as was learned last year under Uwe Rosler. It is to be hoped that the current crop are given time to settle, despite the expectations of the chairman and a significant number of fans.

With the fans clamouring for attacking football Caldwell is pushing his wing backs forward. The question to be posed is whether they are taking sufficient part in the build-up of moves from the back that will translate to goals up front.

Kevin McNaughton – a Bolton and Cardiff fan view

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

Soccer - Pre Season Friendly - Cardiff CIty v Celtic - Cardiff City Stadium

Kevin McNaughton signed for Wigan Athletic yesterday on a one year contract.

McNaughton was released by Cardiff City this summer, after spending the last season on loan at Bolton.

In order to learn more about McNaughton’s time at Bolton we reached out to Chris Mann  of the Burnden Aces fan site http://www.burndenaces.co.uk (Twitter @BurndenAces )

So here’s over to Chris:

After a summer of uncertainty, Kevin McNaughton today committed his future to Wigan Athletic.

Having fallen out-of-favour at Cardiff City, McNaughton joined Bolton on a three-month loan spell in September 2013 and impressed so much that he immediately returned to the Bluebirds defence upon his return to the Welsh capital.
His new-found lease of life at Cardiff didn’t last long, however, and he was back with Wanderers in July 2014 – this time on a season-long loan – as then-boss Dougie Freedman landed a target that had previously served him well.
McNaughton started the campaign as first-choice right-back, but a troublesome hamstring injury put him out of the side soon after Neil Lennon’s arrival at the club.
With Wanderers struggling for options at the back, fans questioned the manager’s decision to continually overlook McNaughton for a place in the squad. In response, Lennon revealed he wasn’t happy with the player’s efforts in training but then, surprisingly, threw him straight back into the side the following weekend.
After a four-month exile, McNaughton looked to have earned a second chance under Lennon but was cruelly struck down with a broken leg in the following game and ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
All things considered, the majority of Bolton fans took pretty well to McNaughton. He has his limitations, which are to be expected at 32 years of age, but you could never fault him for effort, something which many young players severely lack these days.
We wish him well at Wigan, even though I’m a little surprised he didn’t get snapped up by a Championship club. Had luck been on his side last season, he may well have earned himself a deal with Bolton. Unfortunately, for him, a new manager came in and didn’t have the same opinion as his predecessor.

 

We had previously learned about McNaughton’s time at Cardiff through Benjamin James of the View from the Ninian fan site.

What to say about Kevin McNaughton?

A player who most, if not all Cardiff fans, would have gladly kept. A player who came in unheralded and went on to become one of the most revered players of recent times. The very definition of a club legend.

The image of him on the pitch after our promotion to the Premier League is iconic – he, out of all those players in the squad, deserved it more than most. Near misses and play-off disappointments were felt most by him.

It looked as if for all the years he had given us, he was going to miss out on some Premier League action; a loan to Bolton looked to signal the end of his career at Cardiff City. But he returned and I was so happy that he got to play in the Prem for us.

Wigan have signed a player who will build an incredible rapport with the fans. You’ve signed a player who will leave it all on the pitch. You’ve signed a player who will be invaluable to the dressing room – if you want someone to dress up as Dangermouse, he will be the first to do it.

I’ve seen him knock himself out in consecutive games, take out lino’s in his quest to get to the ball and outpace the quickest of players.

I can’t think of a bad word to say about him and I know I’m not alone in this. In an ideal world, Kev would have seen out his career with us. He became a true fan favourite in his nine years with the club and he will be missed.

He’s played all across the back four and even in midfield at points. He’s seen the best of times and some of the worst yet he’s stayed as consistent as ever. I really hope he succeeds at Wigan and Wigan succeed with him – he deserves nothing less.