Category Archives: Reflections

Man U duo for Wigan?

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

Two of Manchester United’s championship winning trio to Wigan Athletic?

 

The Manchester United duo of Mike Phelan and Rene Meulensteen are the bookmakers’ current favourites for the vacant manager’s job at Wigan Athletic.

What chance them both being appointed as a double act? Presumably with Phelan as manager and Meulensteen as assistant/coach?

The bookmakers still consider experienced managers, Owen Coyle and Steve McClaren,  being in contention, together with Karl Robinson. Interestingly the odds on Gus Poyet have been steadily lowering.

A return for Steve Bruce has not been ruled out by the bookmakers, although he has just got his Hull City side back in the Premier League. On Tuesday the Daily Mail reported that Bruce has been contacted about a return to the DW Stadium, but Hull deny any official approach having been made.

Graeme Jones’ future at the club remains unclear. Given his four years as Martinez’s assistant at Wigan he surely deserves consideration for the manager’s position. However. we will have to wait and see if Roberto Martinez will lure him away to Everton. Less than a year ago Jones was a hot favourite for the manager’s job at his previous club, Swansea.

One recalls that Martinez’s unveiling as Latics new manager had to be delayed until a wrangle over compensation for Swansea ‘s loss of Graeme Jones and Kevin Reeves was resolved. Would Whelan request the same for Jones and/or Reeves to leave Wigan for Everton?

It is a nervy time for Latics supporters. All the candidates have their strong points and there is not one who stands head and shoulders above the rest. It will not be an easy decision.

It is understood that Whelan is due to start interviewing tomorrow, expecting to make up his mind by the end of next week.

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Let Martinez go with dignity

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

It’s amazing how the fickle lose faith. The exhileration of that epic cup victory has worn off and the grumblers have already started to stick their knives in the back of Roberto Martinez. What a transformation in a couple of weeks.

Martinez always had his critics. But then again his self belief and resilience made it hard for them to get on top. He stayed calm and dignified even in the darkest of hours. Like him or loathe him, for goodness sake wish him good luck in his next job.

There are Everton fans who wanted a more high profile manager. They will make Martinez’s life a misery if he does not have immediate success. David Moyes has been lauded for having his team punching above their weight, but the football during his tenure has not compared with that of the club’s past history. Moreover one could debate the value that Moyes added.

The Premier League is financially tiered. In simple language you usually get what you pay for. Everton are not going to win the Premier League under any manager if their financial situation remains the same. They are in the third tier, which is going to place them in a better part of the top ten. The top three – Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea – have wage bills way above anyone else. The quality of their squads is such that challengers on lower wage bills – like Arsenal and Tottenham – have to perform at near maximum potential to challenge the elite.

David Moyes’ teams at Everton might have punched a bit above their financial tier level, but not by much. Manchester United fans can expect less attractive football next year and will probably rebel.

When Roberto Martinez arrived at Wigan Athletic he was immediately surrounded by budget cuts. Players on bigger salaries were sent off, with more to come at the end of his first season. Steve Bruce had done a wonderful job of keeping them in the Premier League, but at a cost.

It amazes me that Martinez can be criticized for not keeping the club in the Premier League. In reality, with the budget he had, every year was a bonus.

Martinez kept Latics in the Premier League – on a low budget – for three consecutive seasons. In his fourth he couldn’t quite manage to do that, but he brought the FA Cup to Wigan. Moreover they played a quality of football never seen before by Latics supporters.

My message to all who love Wigan Athletic – give Martinez a graceful exit and do not pre-judge his successor.

Dave Whelan has a difficult appointment to make. I have already heard comments about top managers who are contenders for the manager position. Some of those are quite depressing.

Let’s be realistic. For Wigan Athletic to receive applications from such a strong field of applicants is way beyond what they have had before. Phelan, Meulensteen, McClaren, Coyle, Poyet – all have much to offer. Either one could do a great job, with the support of the owner, the players and the crowd.

I was so proud that Wigan Athletic won the FA Cup. Even my southern wife, who never liked football, was in tears when Ben Watson’s goal went in. It was one of the happiest times of my life.

I have watched Wigan Athletic through the Lancashire Combination, Cheshire League, Northern Premier League, then through the ranks of the Football League to the elite Premier League. A transition year is coming, but Latics will stay in good stead if Dave Whelan remains.

You have to believe to be a Latics supporter. Most supporters love the club and support whichever manager is appointed. One hopes that Whelan’s impending appointment will be supported.

Roberto Martinez has been not just a football manager, but a wonderful ambassador for the club and its supporters. Negative press about him at this stage is off the mark. Let him go with dignity and let him show what he can do with a bigger club with greater resources.

Invest in Youth!

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

In 1964 non-league Wigan Athletic did so well to reach the big round of the FA Youth Cup and were drawn away at Everton. It was a wonderful achievement for Latics’ youth team to get to that stage and it captured my interest.

My friend, Melvyn, knew Vic Gaskell, Latics youth team goalkeeper, and badgered me to go with him to Goodison Park to watch this mid-week match. Barnes Travel Agents on Market Street, near Queens Hall, must have been owned by a Latics fan because they always laid on coaches for Latics games, no matter where – Bacup, Congleton, Oswestry, Darwen – to name a few gems. But then again to put on a trip to Everton for a youth match – surely not. But they did.

I had never been to a First Division ground before and I was impressed with Goodison Park. It was built as one of the first football-specific grounds in 1892. In the early 1960’ s Everton were known as the ‘Mersey Millionaires’ through the money that chairman John Moores put into the club. Moores himself had been responsible in founding Littlewoods Pool Company, the forerunner of modern day football gambling.

In 1964 Everton were flying high in the First Division, well above their city neighbours. They were known for their good football. Wigan Athletic’s youth team, composed of amateurs was to play an Everton team of apprentice professionals.

Poor Gaskell in goal did not know what had hit him. Wingers Stuart Shaw and Aiden Maher, tore Latics apart with John Hurst being the complete centre forward. Hurst went on to play near on 400 matches for Everton, but as a defender. Shaw and Maher never made it at the top level. Latics were to concede 12 goals. Everton were to win the FA Youth Cup.

This memory came into my head after reflecting on Roberto Martinez’s decision to leave Wigan Athletic. We recall the meeting between Martinez and Dave Whelan, after which the chairman mentioned Martinez’s concern about investment in youth. Then on the second meeting we heard that Martinez was given permission to talk to Everton, but nothing about the youth programme.

Wigan have moved on from putting out a non-league youth side, getting predictably flattened by a First Division side full of apprentice professionals. However, the club continues to punch below its weight at youth level.

Martinez was right in his assistance in investment in facilities and staffing of a youth development programme. It continues to be the club’s weak point.

So what is going to happen to the youth programme? Will it get skuppered in the financial meltdown that represents bowing out of the Premier League?

Roberto Martinez will undoubtably want to improve Everton’s youth system. It is ironic that rumours suggest he wants to take Callum McManaman back to the club he played at as junior.

Norwich City deserve great credit for not only securing Premier League security, but winning the Youth Cup in style, beating giants Chelsea in the final. A terrific achievement.

Wigan Athletic face new long-term challenges after being relegated from the world’s most elite league. Most of the clubs in the Championship have bigger fan bases and Latics are going to have to punch above their weight to challenge for promotion. In the past Whelan’s financial support has made the difference. However, the time has come for the club to be self sufficient.

Conversely, it is going to take a major investment from the Latics owner to put in an infrastructure that will help the club produce home-grown players who can safeguard the survival of the club.

Dave Whelan is 76 years old. Wigan Athletic would be nowhere without him. The question is – how much more is he willing, or able, to do?

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Time to rebuild for beleaguered Wigan as icon Martinez bids farewell

Posted by Ned in Other, Reflections, Specials and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

roberto-martinez_2570061b

If a week is a long time in politics, this month has been an eternity in Wigan Athletic’s corner of football history. From that magical day at Wembley to the exhaustion and despair of relegation three days later, to the joy of the victory parade at which 30,000 Wiganers sang for Roberto Martinez to stay.

Ten or so days ago, it appeared the Wigan legend was making demands for further investment in the club’s training facilities and youth development — today, the club has announced that compensation has been officially agreed and he will leave to fill the managerial vacancy at Everton.

Well-deserved tributes to Martinez will follow in due course. He was far more than an employee during his managerial stint at Wigan Athletic — he represented the club as a true ambassador, with passion and pride, always portraying the club in the best possible light. He was a source of pride for most of the club’s supporters, a rarity in football who possesses a real love story with the club and town. He delivered footballing memories we shall never forget, including the club’s greatest achievement FA Cup victory but also the highest quality football the club has ever seen during last season’s great escape. He is and will remain an icon.

But he is gone, officially — and his departure leaves the club in a state of uncertainty. If the blow of relegation has been cushioned for many of us by the knowledge that his tireless work behind the scenes has left the club in strong shape for the long-term, his departure brings with it a wave of fresh concerns.

The immediate concern is a mass exodus. The loss of certain players was inevitable following relegation. But having already lost seven players to the expiration of the their contracts, either full-time or loan, the club now faces the challenge of keeping players who would have stayed loyal to Martinez but may now be tempted to follow his lead and jump ship. How many of the youngsters, especially the Spanish-speakers, will stick around for Championship football if a British manager takes over under a new playing philosophy? How many players — Alcaraz, Maloney and Kone spring to mind — will Martinez try to take with him? How many of the coaching staff will stay?

The longer-term concern is a potential loss of continuity. After four years of successfully revolutionizing the way the club played football from the youth teams upward, the club now faces the possibility of a new manager with a different footballing philosophy. The hope is that Dave Whelan will take a page out of Swansea’s book and prioritize continuity, bringing in a manager with a similar continental philosophy and an emphasis on youth development. Ideally, but impractically, Martinez would act in an advisory role to Whelan in the appointment of his successor to ensure his vision is continued.

The good news is that most of the candidates linked with the Wigan vacancy are promising from a footballing perspective. Gus Poyet is a personal favourite given his style of football, cultural and linguistic understanding, familiarity with the Championship, and relative youth. Rene Meulensteen represents a gamble, as Jakarta Jack recently wrote, but ticks many of the correct boxes with a continental approach, track record working with youth, and big-club pedigree. Karl Robinson is lesser known. Steve McLaren is experienced and did wonderful work at FC Twente and Middlesbrough, but has some blotches on his managerial record as well. Only Owen Coyle’s name sticks out as an unpopular candidacy. And finally, the Daily Mail couldn’t help but report that Whelan is after Steve Bruce for a third stint in the Premier League, this morning. Unlikely.

A swift appointment must be a priority. There will be much rebuilding over the summer. Poyet, Meulensteen and McLaren do inspire hope in the transfer market, something that should prove vital in the immediate future. But it remains to be seen what sort of budget Martinez’s successor is forced to operate within. There is a lingering sense of unfinished business for Martinez given the challenges posed by relegation. The biggest question is what led to the breakdown in talks between Whelan and Martinez, between that Friday when the Spaniard had asked for assurances about investments in the club, and the Monday when Whelan suggested he would be leaving. Did the manager ask the chairman for assurances about keeping certain players? About bringing new players in? Or strictly about investment in facilities and development?

The next few weeks promise to be unpleasant ones for the Wigan faithful. The ecstasy of the FA Cup win has been blunted by relegation and the slow and painful dismantling of the team that achieved it. The list of those to have left the club includes Antolin Alcaraz, Franco Di Santo, Maynor Figueroa, Ronnie Stam, Joel Robles, Angelo Henriquez, Paul Scharner, and now, most damningly, the captain of the ship, Roberto Martinez. Presumably his coaching staff will follow. Whelan’s swift action will be crucial. His managerial appointments in the past have largely been inspired, but this may be the greatest test yet.

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Go for two, Dave

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

clough+taylor_munich79

The classic double act was that of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor working in tandem. Together they won the First Division and two European Cups with an unfashionable club. What a duo!

As expected Roberto Martinez’s move to Everton grows closer and closer, despite the denials of the Liverpool club.

Rene Meulensteen and Karl Robinson are the bookmakers’ favourites. Either one would be a gamble, but an exciting one. It is refreshing to note that Dave Whelan is open to looking at alternative talent.

Experienced and very capable managers are available with the likes of Steve McClaren and Owen Coyle remaining in the running.

When Martinez goes he will almost certainly take Graeme Jones with him.

My message to Whelan is simple – appoint a duo from the applicants.

Agreed that this would be a burden on the wage bill, but compared with what players earn the salary of another senior manager is not so hard to afford.

The prospect of a Meulensteen/Mike Phelan or Meulensteen/Karl Robinson combination is mouth watering.

However, this columnist would ask Whelan to consider Gus Poyet. For me he is the natural successor to Roberto Martinez. The Uruguayan is not so skilled at public relations as the Spaniard, but his Brighton team have played champagne football this season. Moreover he has a fine pedigree as a top Premier League player.

In 1995 Dave Whelan signed the Three Amigos – Diaz, Martinez and Seba – to help Latics play more skillful football.

Now is the time for him to make another bold move.

The bonus is Whelan staying at the club – managers come and go, but his continuing presence is paramount to the club’s success.

Wigan Athletic would be languishing in the lower levels without Dave Whelan. He has made great appointments in the past and one hopes he can make another inspired appointment- or double appointment.

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