Category Archives: Other

What happened to the FA Cup? A post mortem

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

Wigan Athletic have enjoyed some unforgettable moments in the FA Cup. My fondest memory remains a trip to Maine Road to play European Cup Winners Cup holders Manchester City, in January 1971. A fine Man City footballing team full of household names like Bell, Summerbee, and Young, playing against non-league Wigan. There were more than 45,000 people there that day, estimates of 20,000 of them traveling from Wigan. Those were the days of Geoff Davies as Latics’ centre forward. Signed from Northwich for £800, Geoff scored five hat tricks in his first three months, ending up with 42 goals for the season. Latics were unlucky to be losing 1-0 to a Colin Bell goal after 83 minutes following a bad goal kick from their admirable goalkeeper, Dennis Reeves. He had split his boot but apparently did not want to lose his concentration by stopping the play. You can see it here. In the last minute, Geoff Davies had a superb header pawed onto the post by the excellent Joe Corrigan. An unlucky ending for Gordon Milne’s  Latics team whose performance brought great pride to its supporters.

I also recall watching Latics play Leeds United in the sixth round of the FA Cup in 1987. It was a scrappy affair played at a windswept Springfield Park. Sixth round remains the furthest Latics have reached in the FA Cup. When I was a little kid my Dad would talk about the epic cup ties with First Division Newcastle United in the 1953-54 season, with Latics drawing away 3-3 and being on the side of unfortunate refereeing decisions in the 2-3 reverse in the replay. That was the same season a crowd of 27,526 watched them beat non-league Hereford at Springfield Park. The figure remains a record home crowd for Wigan Athletic and also a record for two non-league teams playing at a non-league ground.

Then things changed. In the summer of 1999, Manchester United were given the opportunity to withdraw from the FA Cup for the 1999-2000 season. The reason was political: the FA wanted them to take part in the World Club Championship in Brazil. Alex Ferguson was later quoted “I regretted it because we got nothing but stick and terrible criticism for not being in the FA Cup when really, it wasn’t our fault. The FA and the government felt that playing in this tournament would help England’s bid to host the 2006 World Cup. There was a lot of undue criticism – but it was a great two-week break.” United crashed out in the first round in Brazil, England would fail in their World Cup bid, but Ferguson’s team would go on to win the Premier League by an unbelievable 18 points.

The world’s oldest competition has never recovered from that. United’s withdrawal sparked a downward spiral. How sad it is these days to see Premier League clubs fielding weak teams, citing the overriding importance of their league position. Wigan Athletic’s FA Cup record since joining the Premier League has been less than impressive. They have won 3, drawn 4 and lost 6 in the FA Cup. Last week’s debacle at Swindon is the second time they have lost to a League 2 side, having been defeated 2-0 by Notts County at the DW Stadium in 2009-2010. They have not progressed beyond the fourth round since arriving in the Premier League.

I have read some really good articles on Latics fan sites about last week’s performance against Swindon. I commend those Latics fanatics for the way they have tried to provide a factual kind of report, rather than lambast the players involved. Being Latics fans we need to have thick skins, having been through the real lows of 9-1 and 8-0 defeats to London sides in recent years. However, capitulation to big clubs like Tottenham and Chelsea is one thing, but losing so badly to teams from League 2 twice in three years is hard to take. Roberto Martinez has a great knack of stressing the positives and this time he singled out the performances of Callum McManaman and Jordan Mustoe in the Swindon game. McManaman was excellent during the first half, although he faded out in the second. Mustoe did not look out of place, but hardly excelled. Apart from the goalkeeper the rest were truly mediocre. In the second half it looked like Latics were going through a training exercise, there being so little dynamism and commitment. Supposedly the team was composed largely of fringe players bursting to prove themselves and get into the first team. That certainly did not look the case. Frankly it looked like many of them did not care. The stats show that Latics committed 4 fouls, a long way from their season’s Premier League average of 13 per game. Despite only committing so few fouls they received 3 yellow cards. Hard stats to digest! Moreover if either team played the classier football it was almost certainly Swindon. Hats off to Di Canio for his approach, but let’s not forget they were aided and abetted by a lack of commitment by their opponents.

So what is it with Latics and the FA Cup these days? Although there were two young players in the starting lineup the rest were seasoned Premier League squad players. Did those fringe players really believe that a good performance could edge them back into the first team? If so why did we not visibly see more effort from them? Was it already in their heads that the result did not matter? I simply cannot fathom this. Following the Tottenham drubbing a group of players got together to offer traveling fans their money back. Given how low those players must have felt at the time it was a magnificent gesture. I wonder if the players who underperformed at Swindon would think in a similar way?

Latics need to decide what they want from the FA Cup and give their fans due notice. I feel sorry for the dedicated fans who traveled to Swindon to watch that match. What alternatives do Latics have if they remain in the Premier League next year and the FA Cup comes up once again? One is to put their strongest team on the pitch and actually try to win. Another is to do what they have done in recent years and frustrate their fans to the point of losing their support. A third is to play the development squad and not worry about the result. A  fourth is to seek FA approval to withdraw from the competition. Whatever the decision it is my view that the FA needs to take a look at how it can revive the world’s oldest football competition, so that teams like Wigan Athletic will once again treat it seriously.

Wigan Athletic 1 Sunderland 4: Scoreline deceives as Black Cats punish Latics

Posted by Ned in Match Reports, News, Other and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We felt in our match preview that this was a tough time to play Sunderland, a revitalized side brimming with confidence after claiming Manchester City’s scalp on the weekend. Rarely will you see two strikes as sublime as those of Craig Gardner and James Vaughn in the same 90 minutes, and indeed it seemed everything went Sunderland’s way. But the scoreline, and headlines in most of today’s publications, paint a very false picture of a match Wigan had the better of, and should have put to bed before crucial decisions turned it upside down.

The first half was all Wigan — almost. Roberto turned a few heads with his stating lineup, resting the key duo of Victor Moses and Mohammed Diame; Albert Crusat and Ben Watson starting in their stead. The 3-4-2-1 formation that has yielded Latics best results this season was left intact. Steve Gohouri took Gary Caldwell’s position at the centre of the back three, while Dave Jones and Ronnie Stam continued as advanced wing-backs, protected by the mostly defensive central midfield pairing of James McCarthy and Ben Watson. Ahead of them, Crusat started inside left, Jordi inside right, and Rodallega up top — though such is the fluidity of this system that Jordi’s was more of a free-role, popping up left, right and center, with Ronnie Stam constantly overlapping him on the right wing.

It didn’t take long for Latics to carve out an opening, as Crusat sped down the left wing, crossing dangerously for Rodallega, narrowly beaten to the ball by John O’Shea. The passing and movement of the opening 20 minutes was hugely promising — possession at one point was 70% Wigan — although Antolin Alcaraz and Steve Gohouri foreshadowed the shambles of the second half with some risky misplaced passes around the penalty area.

Dave Jones was having his best game at left wing-back, and soon found himself in the box after fantastic interplay with Albert Crusat and Jordi Gomez. His left-footed shot beat Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet, cannoned back to Ronnie Stam, who laid it off with class for Ben Watson. The midfielder lunged with his right foot striking the other post before Sunderland defenders scrambled the ball clear.

The bad luck would continue, with Albert Crusat limping off two thirds of the way through the second half after a neat and effective display. It appeared he had taken a knee to the ribs, but reports say the injury was actually to his back. He was struggling to breathe before his substitution. Here’s for a speedy recovery as he has impressed on his displays thus far.

Victor Moses replaced him and minutes later, Jones again created space for himself in the box, this time shooting for the near post. It produced the save of the game from Mignolet, who not only blocked the shot with a steel hand but recovered in time to deny the lurking Maynor Figueroa.

It looked a matter of time until Latics opened the scoring amid the swirling rain and wind, but then came a series of unfortunate refereeing decisions. First, the fourth official signaled for five minutes of injury time — a bit excessive despite earlier knocks to Bendtner, Cattermole, in addition to Crusat. Mike Dean then failed to award Latics a corner after Antolin Alcaraz’ heavily deflected shot ran past the touchline. So obvious was the corner that Simon Mignolet sprinted off his line and dove to try and divert the ball for a throw-in. Moments later, at the other end, Nicklas Bendtner went down surrounded by Latics players — probably hoping to run the remaining minute of time down — and was awarded a free-kick. Replays would show there was no foul, but Craig Gardner would take full advantage to score the most beautiful free-kick you are likely to see this season. In the sixth minute of injury time.

To say it knocked the stuffing out of Wigan would be an understatement. Latics went in search of an equalizer in the second half but found Sunderland’s defense as resolute as Man City did days earlier. James McLean, a former Latics transfer target last season who had looked dangerous all match, popped up with a headed second before Martinez threw on Conor Sammon for Ronnie Stam. The shape changed to something of a 3-4-3-1, with Rodallega and Moses out on the wings, Jordi floating, and Sammon as target. And it was one of Rodallega’s energetic runs cutting in from the left that resulted in a deflected goal for the Colombian. At 2-1 down and the crowd back in the game, it looked like Latics had the momentum to go on and equalize, perhaps win.

But things would get worse. Maynor Figueroa appeared to be tugged by Bendtner and stopped playing as the Dane continued his run down the right wing, feeding Sessegnon for the goal that killed the game. If it was a foul, it was another awful refereeing decision just as Latics were regaining momentum. If it was not a foul, Figueroa made a terrible mistake as he might have blocked the ensuing cross had he not stopped in his tracks. Camera angles on the replay were not tight enough to draw conclusions.

By the time the fourth went in, Latics’ back three were a mess. Gary Caldwell’s presence and leadership was clearly missed, and many will be hoping Emmerson Boyce is restored to the starting lineup in Gohouri’s stead for the next two games. That said, they were isolated, playing in torrential conditions, and everything Sunderland seemed to attempt was working. When a shot was frantically blocked at the top of the box, James Vaughn unleashed a thunderbolt of a strike that none of us — Ali Al-Habsi included — saw until the replay slowed it down for us. Sunderland won’t score two goals like his or Gardner’s again this season.

It’s worth mentioning that Latics did have chances to equalize and reduce the deficit, but lacked a killer edge. The game swung on two passages of play — the Jones-Watson double-post, and the series of events leading to Sunderland’s first goal.

Opinion

It is hard to take yet another match in which unfavourable refereeing heavily influenced the outcome. Add this latest disappointment to the treatment at Old Trafford, the points lost to Blackburn as a result of Gamst Pedersen’s illegal corner, a fixture list featuring all three newly promoted sides in the first three matches of the season and the traditional big four in a row over the Christmas period — and it really does appear a concerted effort to make sure little Wigan finally get relegated to make way for a more profitable team. Phil Dowd and Mike Dean are two of the league’s most experienced referees. Andre Marriner is no longer a rookie. Why are they making these sort of mistakes? Sure, our defense eventually fell apart, but anyone watching the match up until the first goal — which should not have stood — would have told you that Latics looked destined to win this match until that free-kick was given.

Player Ratings

Al Al-Habsi: 6.5 —  Not to blame for any of the goals.

Steve Gohouri: 5.5 — Almost gave away a goal in the first half. Didn’t make any glaring mistakes but his nerves had a negative effect on the other two centre-backs, who had been playing very well in recent times.

Antolin Alcaraz: 6 — Put the defense under pressure repeatedly with misplaced passes.

Maynor Figueroa: 6 — Had a decent first half, but stopped playing altogether in the buildup to the third goal, which was really the nail in the coffin. Was he fouled?

Ronnie Stam: 7 — Had a very good first half, making overlapping runs down the right wing. His deliveries were top quality — we could use more attacking players who can head the ball. Also had the coolness to lay the ball off to Watson for what was almost Latics first goal.

David Jones: 7 — His best attacking display, particularly in the first half, where his intelligent passing and interplay with Crusat and Gomez led to Latics two best chances. Unlucky not to be on the scoresheet. Unfortunately, he got caught in possession in the buildup to the second goal.

James McCarthy: 7.5 — He is becoming a quality defensive midfielder. His energy levels are great, he rarely gives the ball away. I personally miss the quality of his attacking play, but it was his midfield for most of the match.

Ben Watson: 6.5 — Showed his class and technique with some lovely cross-field balls, very unlucky to hit the post.

Jordi Gomez: 6.5 — Was at the heart of Latics best attacking work, but grew frustrated — the conditions didn’t help.

Albert Crusat: 7 — Quick, neat passer of the ball, had a good first half before being substituted for injury.

Hugo Rodallega: 7 — No clear chances, but got a deflected goal and caused problems for the Sunderland defense. More likely to score than Conor Sammon or Franco Di Santo.

Subs:

Victor Moses: 7 — Called into action earlier than expected, started where Crusat left off proving a handful. But Sunderland had too many men behind the ball.

Conor Sammon: 6 — Again all effort but no end product.

O’Neill’s black cats on a high: Wigan Athletic – Sunderland preview

Posted by Ned in Other

This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about having to face a team at an unfortunate time.

But since our boys — with a little help from Wes Brown — got Steve Bruce sacked in late November, Martin O’Neill has predictably turned things around quite dramatically at Sunderland. In his first game in charge, the Black Cats scored a last minute winner to topple Blackburn. They fought bravely but lost 1-0 at Spurs, then beat Queen’s Park Rangers 3-2 In London, drew at home with in-form Everton, and most recently shocked everyone by not only beating but keeping a clean sheet against league leading Manchester City. Not a bad start.

The good news is that they must be quite exhausted after that effort. Even before that fixture, they were a bit banged up — more on that later. A trip to Wigan might just be the sort of occasion to bring them back down to earth. The bad news, of course, is that our lads are hardly fresh having just played the hardest set of winter fixtures in recent memory: Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Stoke away.

Still, there is plenty to feel optimistic about. The last two home fixtures saw some of our best football this season, matching Chelsea and Liverpool in every respect. The team looks confident, more of our players than not are performing close to the best, and there is both belief and momentum.

Although Roberto has largely stuck with the same lineup in recent times (minus the Hugo-Sammon swap vs. Stoke), I wouldn’t be surprised if he opted to make a change or two today to keep things fresh. Gary Caldwell is suspended for his deliberate handball and needs to be replaced by either Steve Gohouri or Emmerson Boyce. If fit, the latter would be most people’s choice, which would probably see Antolin Alcaraz move to the center of the back three, Boycey slotting in on the right. Ability-wise, it may actually be Latics strongest defense. But Wigan will miss Caldwell’s leadership and committed performances — he has been a big part of the resurrection and deserves praise.

Up front, Hugo Rodallega was instrumental in both Latics’ goals at Stoke and should retain his place along with the irreplaceable Victor Moses. James McCarthy, Momo Diame and Jordi Gomez have largely been very good, but Ben Watson is fresher and might be given a chance. Dave Jones has done a commendable job as a makeshift wing-back but his lack of pace and natural suitability for the position might tempt Roberto into giving Patrick Van Aanholt a game.

Sunderland, meanwhile, were a bit banged up before the Man City match — hopefully even more so after it. John O’Shea and fomer Latics target Matthew Kilgallon played in centre of defense after Wes Brown limped off with a groin injury. Midfielders Jack Colback and Craig Gardner played at left and right back respectively. Simon Mignolet played in goal with a protective mask because Craig Gordon had the flu. So it was a makeshift defense that recorded a clean sheet against the league’s top scorers. Which is all the more impressive, and surely points to an organized midfield in front of it — former Latic Lee Cattermole was hailed as man of the match by most sources in the City victory.

Predictions:

Heart says… Sunderland performed at their very best against Man City, which is hard to do twice in a row. Their squad is littered with injuries and it might actually be a decent time to play them. Going big with a 3-1 win for Latics.

Cynical mind says… Martin O’Neill has them playing disciplined, organized football. Morale must be sky high. They remain very dangerous from Seb Larsson set pieces. Our lads may be knackered and wouldn’t be surprised if we lost an important player to injury. 1-1 draw.

STOKE CITY 2 WIGAN ATHLETIC 2: A HARD EARNED POINT

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

Ben Watson made a welcome reappearance off the bench to salvage a well deserved point for Latics. A 10 man Latics team were trailing 2-1 when Hugo Rodallega was pulled down in the penalty box. The usual penalty taker, Jordi Gomez, had already been substituted so Martinez had a tough decision to make. It turned out to be an inspired decision, Watson hitting home the penalty with aplomb after being pulled off the bench to take it.

As expected Latics had to withstand the usual aerial bombardment from Stoke with multiple long throws form Rory Delap, although the wing backs did well in keeping in check the dangerous wingers, Pennant and Etherington. The stats tell us that Stoke only had two shots on target the whole game, whereas Wigan had six. Moreover Ali Al Habsi did not have a direct shot to save whereas Stoke’s Sorensen had four, although Wigan had a slice of luck in the 60th minute when a header from Huth hit the post and fell into al Habsi’s welcoming arms. In between the aerial bombardment we saw the usual ruthless tackling from Stoke, with Latics getting minimal protection from the referee. Victor Moses in particularly was heavily marked.

Latics had taken the lead in the 45th minute after Ronnie Stam fed Hugo Rodallega who put in a low cross from the right wing for Victor Moses to score with clinical precision. Stoke restarted in the second half in their usual style –or lack of it – with further aerial bombardment. The ineffective Etherington was taken off in the 73rd minute to be replaced by Cameron Jerome, who had an immediate effect. His 77th minute header was going towards goal to be blocked by a flayling hand by Gary Caldwell. Jonathan Walters scored the penalty and Caldwell was sent off. In Caldwell’s absence Jerome scored a beautifully taken second, running through from a flick-on to score. However, the 10 man Latics refused to give up and got their just rewards through Watson’s equalizing penalty in the 87th minute.

What a pity Stoke City want to play predominantly ‘route one’ football. Although most of the defenders who played for them yesterday are thuggish in their approach they nevertheless have a good squad of very capable footballers. Their squad is much more expensively put together than that of Latics – Kenwynne Jones, a high quality central striker was brought on only in the 90th minute, the kind of luxury Wigan Athletic cannot afford. In fact Stoke have at least five top class strikers – Crouch, Walters, Jerome, Jones and Fuller – to call on.

For some reason the referee played 5 minutes of additional time a t the end of the 90 minutes. I am not sure where this came from. Did he allow added tine to compensate for the accumulated time wasted by Rory Delap every time he took a long throw? Surely referees should take action against Delap who spends time drying the ball before he throws it? For the sake of argument let’s say it took Delap two minutes to deliver each throw and he put in 15 of them. The staggering total is 30 minutes in a 90 minute period. Referees should insist on him taking his throws quickly. Although it is Stoke’s main goalscoring weapon the sheer frequency of these throws and the time lost makes for a disjointed match for the neutral observer.

The Good

Sterling defensive work by Latics, withstanding the aerial bombardment for most of the game. Hats off to Latics for continuing to try to play good football against a team that takes no prisoners.

The Bad

The penalty and sending off of Gary Caldwell. The defence has been working well as a unit in recent games and Caldwell has been pivotal. One can never be sure but it looked like deliberate hand ball to me and if this is the case then Caldwell let his team down.

A Neutral Might Say

Two teams with different styles made for an entertaining game by and large. A draw was a fair result.

Player Ratings

Ali Al Habsi: 7 – Persevered when the balls were flying into his box. Not an easy game for him.

Ronnie Stam: 8 – Snuffed out the danger of Etherington, showing a determination in his tackling that we have rarely seen before. Got forward and supported the attack, setting up Rodallega for Moses’ goal and having a good shot turned away by Sorensen.

Antolin Alcaraz: 7 – A key member of a defence. Sometimes he can make the game look easy.

Gary Caldwell: 6 – Excellent until his sending off that could have lost Latics the game.

Maynor Figueroa: 7 – Quietly confident, did the simple things well.

David Jones: 7 – One of his better performances defensively, keeping Pennant on a tight leash.

James McCarthy: 7 – Worked tirelessly for the team, making decisive defensive interventions. Covered a huge amount of ground.

Mohammed Diame: 7 – Classy. Worked hard against a combative Stoke midfield.

Jordi Gomez: 7 – Once again played the role of midfield general. Worked hard for the benefit of his team.

Victor Moses: 7 – Stoke did their homework and marked him closely.Took his goal like a seasoned campaigner.

Hugo Rodallaga: 7 – One of his better performances this season. Worked hard with little support. Assisted in both goals.

Substitutes:

Steve Gohouri – Not on the field long enough to make an assessment of his performance.

Ben Watson – What a pleasure to see this fine player back on the pitch showing great coolness with his penalty.

STOKE CITY – WIGAN ATHLETIC PREVIEW: GOOD FOOTBALL OR ROUTE ONE?

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

Think of Stoke City and what comes to mind? The pulsating final game of last season when Hugo Rodallega’s goal sent us into raptures – safety assured? Let’s go further back in time. Historians might point out that Stoke City are the second oldest professional football club in the world, founded in 1863, after Notts County who started a year earlier. Stanley Matthews – one of the greatest English players of all time – played 259 times for Stoke City, being 49 years old in his last season. The most fantastically skilful winger you could see in an era when full backs could play with ultimate thuggery and get away with it most of the time. He played 54 games for England, despite World War II taking away his “peak” years between 24 and 30 years of age. The superb goalkeepers – Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton – also played for Stoke for long periods. I warmly recall the era of Tony Waddington, a manager who believed in entertainment and the sheer artistry and elegance of Alan Hudson in his mid 1970s Stoke team, that made them a joy to watch.

Stoke City has a history of high quality football. They dwarf Wigan Athletic in their longevity, although their only notable success in all those years was in winning the League Cup in 1972. As befitting a club with such a long history they have a loyal and passionate support and stats tell us that the noise level of the crowd in their stadium is second to none in the Premier League.

So what do Wigan Athletic face at Stoke tomorrow? Sadly the days of good football at Stoke are no longer with us. They play a kind of football that would not be tolerated in other parts of the world. They are a blight upon the landscape of the Premier League. The pragmatist will say that Stoke are playing to their strengths – this is a valid argument – but is it unlikely that they could get away with it in other European countries. Frankly speaking, their football is ugly – they resemble the hideous Bolton teams under Sam Allardyce or even the “Crazy Gang” Wimbledon team of the 1980s.

Stoke are a big team, in the true sense of the word. So many of their players are physically large, and they can be very ruthless in their tacking. They get most of their goals from centres or set-pieces. So far this season 61% of their goals have come from the latter. Their pitch measures 100 meters by 64 meters, the lowest permissible by UEFA. There is certainly going to be a contrast in footballing styles between the teams. So far this season Stoke have played 721 long balls – the highest in the division – and Latics only 244, the lowest.

So Latics will be facing a truly physical team tomorrow at Britannia Stadium. Rory Delap has been out injured over recent weeks, but even if he does not make it they have Ryan Shotton available for their long throw-ins. Let’s not forget the skill they have on the wings with players like Mathew Etherington and Jermaine Pennant who can put dangerous centres across for strikers of the quality of Peter Crouch, Kenwynne Jones, Jonathan Walters and Cameron Jerome. However, Latics have shown that they can match Stoke physically in the past. In the six matches they have played together in the Premier League, four have ended up in draws, with one win for each side.

For once the Premier League hierarchy have given Latics a favourable decision in rescinding Conor Sammon’s ridiculous red card at Old Trafford. Although Sammon is available he may not start, facing competition from Franco Di Santo and a Hugo Rodallega eager to end his goalscoring drought. The remainder of the team is likely to remain unchanged, although Martinez might be tempted to shore up his defence by playing Patrick Van Aanholt at left wing back. My hope is that good football can triumph over route one. Wigan Athletic can bear up to the physical pressures and head tennis that Stoke may throw at them and come back with a good result.