Category Archives: Specials

Short term loans or home grown talent?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Specials and tagged with , , , , ,
Francisco Junior's one month loan has been extended to January.

Francisco Junior’s one month loan has been extended to January.

The last match of the 2014-15 season at Brentford typified the kind of football we had been witnessing far too often.

Latics had dominated the game up to the 25th minute, at least in terms of possession. But once a wicked deflection had beaten Lee Nicholls a team with such brittle confidence was never going to be up to the task of getting back into the game. What was to follow was merely a replay of the football we had seen so often over those past months.

Toothless in attack, woeful in defence, passing awful. But there were some saving graces in that 3-0 whitewash.

Gary Caldwell had already sent Leon Clarke back to Wolves and he left out young loanees Josh Murphy, Sheyi  Ojo  and Jerome Sinclair for the visit to Griffin Park.  Moreover he had given Tim Chow the chance to show what he could do in the first team, the 21 year old rewarding his manager’s faith with a headed goal in his first start against Brighton. Caldwell was to give Lee Nicholls his first start of the season in goal. Then after 64 minutes he introduced the 19 year old Jordan Flores and 18 year old Louis Robles for their debuts.

Caldwell’s actions looked like a bold statement at the time, giving a chance to home grown players. Fans had been asking questions for months. Why had Malky Mackay continued to ignore the young talent already at Wigan, giving priority to those from the likes of Liverpool and Norwich?

Caldwell was to continue in a similar vein in the pre-season, bringing in a host of development squad players alongside the senior professionals for the games at Altrincham and Southport.  Then Flores, Robles and Ryan Jennings were to make the starting lineup against Partick Thistle, the latter scoring a well taken goal. Sadly Chow was injured in the next game at Dundee and has not yet reappeared. But Flores was to go a step further with an excellent performance in his first competitive game as a starter against  Bury in the League Cup, with Jennings making his debut off the bench.

Caldwell has sent a clear message to the youth ranks within the club – if you can show you are good enough we will give you the chance. Had he learned from the mistakes of his hapless predecessor?

Mackay’s first signing had been that of Liam Ridgewell on a six week loan. Fans immediately questioned the value of such a short term loan, some suggesting that Portland Timbers had sent him to get match fit for the upcoming MLS season.  Ridgewell certainly did not look fit in his first game, being taken off after 45 minutes at Birmingham. However, little by little he was to impose some stability into a rickety Wigan back line. Mackay was to replace Ridgewell with the loan of Harry Maguire from Hull.

With the departure of thirteen senior players over the January transfer window, Mackay had a mountain to climb. It could be argued that the loan of Ridgewell was  a qualified success and Maguire did even better. Mackay was unlucky in losing the experienced loanee Chris Herd to serious injury early on in his stay, but it was his signing of young, developing players from other clubs that was to mystify the fans.

However, Mackay was faced with the likelihood of a threadbare squad and had to find loan players to bring in. The mid-season loan market was never going to supply Mackay with the quantity of experienced players he needed to fend off relegation. Moreover the signing of young loanees would come with strings attached, their clubs wanting some kind of reassurances that their players would be given first team opportunities.

Despite the positive messages Caldwell has sent out to young players within the club, he has also involved himself in the recruitment of young loan players, with Francisco Junior (23) and Sean Murray (21) being signed on a one month basis, and Jonjoe Kenny (18) for two months.

Having created a positive impression, both on and off the field, Junior’s loan has since been extended until January.  Should he continue to progress there would be a likelihood of a permanent deal, given that the player’s contract at Everton terminates at the end of the season. In the case of Junior it can be argued that the club had given itself time to fully assess the player before committing itself to a more long term deal.

Murray’s  case has been less straightforward. Junior had been recruited in July, giving him time to settle in during the pre-season. Murray joined in early August, making his debut as a 72nd minute substitute  at Coventry. He was ineligible to play in the League Cup match against Bury, but came back as a substitute against Doncaster (54th minute), Scunthorpe (76th minute) and Gillingham (46th minute). Unlike Junior, Murray has a wealth of senior team experience with 75 appearances for Watford, despite being only 21 years old.

With the impending returns of Tim Chow and Emyr Huws from injury, Caldwell has a significant number of midfielders at his disposal. On Saturday he chose to bring on Murray ahead of Max Power who has impressed in his early games for the club. Time is running out on Murray’s loan and Caldwell may be faced with having to make a decision on the player’s future at the club without being able to give him a starting berth.

Kenny is clearly a different type of proposition to Junior and Kenny. Although only 18 years old he is already looking like a future Premier League player.  With the injury to Kevin McNaughton, Caldwell will be leaning heavily on the youngster in the coming weeks. Although there may be possibilities for permanent signings in the cases of Murray and Junior, it is a matter of time before Kenny goes back to Everton. Should Caldwell be able to lengthen Kenny’s loan beyond that initial two months period he will surely do it.

Caldwell has already brought in 15 new players to the club and there will surely be more to come in the next couple of weeks. Some will be permanent signings, others loanees. There will also be more outgoings.

The long saga of Billy Mckay and Dundee United will surely be resolved soon. Caldwell had given Mckay his first start in that Brentford game and it will probably be the Northern Ireland international’s last at the club. With Mckay off the books and Shaq Coulthirst back at Tottenham, Caldwell will be anxious to bring in another striker, even if Grant Holt regains full fitness and is back by October.

Rumours are circulating regarding interest in Wycombe’s 22 year old central defender Aaron Pierre. The futures of both Leon Barnett and Chris McCann remain uncertain.

Caldwell will surely continue to keep the door open for home grown talent. Sending the 18 year old Sam Cosgrove out to Barrow on a short term loan looks like a good move. One wonders if Caldwell will look at similar opportunities for the likes of Flores, Jennings and Robles, or whether he will be able to offer them ample first team opportunities with the club.

In the meantime Caldwell will continue to scour the transfer market. His squad is close to being complete but there are still pieces missing in his jigsaw puzzle. Moreover it will be interesting to see if he will continue to look at short term loans as a means of assessing players with a view to signing them in the future or uses them as temporary to provide replacements to cover for injuries.

The “new era” has begun with one outstanding performance and four indifferent ones. However, the changes in the squad are still not complete and it is going to take some time before everything comes together. Despite the young chairman’s unfortunate “smashing League 1 ” statement it is clear that there are going to be some difficult times ahead for Caldwell and his squad.

A mid-table place by Christmas might be the best that we can expect. It is in the second half of the season that we are most likely to see Caldwell’s plans move towards fruition.

 

 

The Jettisoning to continue

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

jettison

The term “jettison” dates back to the early days of aviation, when goods were cast overboard to lighten the load and make an aeroplane more stable.

Jettisoning goods comes at a cost, but stability is necessary for survival.

The imminent departure of both James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn from Wigan Athletic will be no surprise. They will be following in the paths of former teammates Scott Carson, Andy Delort, Rob Kiernan, James McClean, and Oriol Riera. All jettisoned in the quest to bring the wage bill down to a level more appropriate to a club that is to play in League 1.

Of the seven mentioned above only McClean fetched a transfer fee of note. The combined sales of Delort and Riera probably brought in around 20% of the revenues used to initially sign them. The rumours that Tavernier and Waghorn are to be sold for a joint fee of only £300,000 have come as a bit if a shock to fans, but could well be based on the truth.

Wigan Athletic had 18 senior squad players under contract to 2016 or beyond when last season concluded. Assuming the sale of Tavernier and Waghorn will go ahead they will have jettisoned seven of the eighteen. In return eight new players have been recruited – Donervon Daniels, Craig Davies, Will Grigg, Craig Morgan, Sanmi Odelusi, Richard O’Donnell, David Perkins and Max Power.

Certainly the departure of the seven has provided a means of making way for new players coming in. But it is not the number of players under contract that is the crucial issue at the moment, but more the need to get the highest wage earners off the books. Eleven players remain from last season, some are younger players on more manageable salaries, but the majority will be receiving Championship-level wages.

Over the coming weeks we can expect the departures of the likes of Leon Barnett, Chris McCann, James Perch and Andrew Taylor. All are marketable, being experienced Championship players who have Premier League experience. Significantly neither Barnett not McCann has enjoyed much playing time so far in the pre-season.

Don Cowie and Emyr Huws are injured. It looks like Grant Holt’s return to competitive football will be no earlier than October, as he recovers from a serious ACL injury. The three can be expected to stay, at least until January.

Billy Mckay’s spectacular strike against Altrincham brought positive comments from Gary Caldwell which implied that the Northern Ireland international might stay after all. It looked like David Ball was going to sign, but the player has now gone off for a trial at Barnsley. Maybe it is not only Mckay’s superbly taken goal, but also the situation with Ball, that has swayed Caldwell. However, Caldwell’s talk might well be window dressing, with Dundee United keen to acquire Mckay’s services. Given the woeful lack of opportunity the player has been given since his arrival from Inverness in January, who could blame him for wanting to return to the rich pastures of the SPL where he previously thrived?

What we are witnessing at the moment is a major reengineering of a playing staff and a wage structure. Many fans will argue that Latics have let go players of genuine quality who can do a good job at Championship level or higher. Moreover they have let them go for a pittance in terms of potential transfer value.

There remained a possibility of retaining some of those players, taking the risk in absorbing their “high” salaries, in a bid to get promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt. It was indeed a viable option, but fate has decreed that other higher earners will remain because of injuries. In the case of Huws it could be a blessing in disguise providing the player can rid himself of a possibly career-threatening ankle problem. Given Holt’s age, his serious injury and the abuse he has taken from fans, one wonders if he can make any impact on the season. However, Holt is a resilient character and can never be counted out.

Although the restructuring is largely based on financial parameters there also remains an element of “clearing out the dead wood” from a squad that hugely underachieved last season.  Moreover a wholesale clear-out gives the new manager the opportunity to largely work with his own men.

Caldwell has already imposed his stamp on the style of football the team is playing, which could already be described as “Martinez-esque”. However, Caldwell has already used different formations in pre-season, 4-3-3, 3-4-3 and 3-5-2. It provides the kind of flexibility that was not the norm under Martinez, although Uwe Rosler used it to effect. By varying his tactical approach from game to game, Caldwell will make it difficult for the opposition to stifle a Latics side that will not have the pure style of the Martinez era, but will seek a blend between style and effectiveness. Like Rosler the Scot will also employ the option of changing the formation as the game progresses.

Up to this point Caldwell and his recruitment team have scoured the market for bargains, making a major financial outlay in the reported £1m paid for Will Grigg. That is likely to largely remain the pattern for the acquisition of further players, although there probably remains another £2m in the coffers from outgoing transfers that can be used to make a couple more big signings.

Reports suggest that Sam Clucas of Chesterfield remains on Caldwell’s radar and he is likely to cost in excess of £1m. Moreover Caldwell will almost certainly need a new right back and Swindon’s Nathan Byrne, 23,  could fit the bill, at a price. In the meantime he will look at signing more free agents, such as the 32 year old Kevin McNaughton, ex-Cardiff City, and a full back who can also play in midfield. Rumours have also linked Latics with the ex-Everton 21 year old holding midfielder John Lundstram and 26 year old winger Paul Anderson from Ipswich.

The jettisoning will continue, with at least three more of last year’s squad likely to leave.  In the meantime Caldwell will continue to meld together his much changed squad, liberally sprinkled with bargain basement signings. With less than three weeks to go before the start of the season he faces a considerable challenge in inculcating his style of football into players who will be largely unfamiliar to it.

 

Sharpe’s honeymoon period is over

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

The honeymoon period for the new chairman is coming to an end as a storm rages over Emmerson Boyce’s contract.

 

“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.”

David Sharpe should take heed of Machiavelli’s words.

A club that was tipped to win the Championship by the highly rated FourFourTwo magazine ended up being relegated. The mistakes of the past two seasons have dragged the club down and there is real danger of the slide continuing.

Is the youthful Sharpe capable of steadying things up and leading the club back to the Promised Land? What clues is Sharpe giving when one reads between the lines of his comments? Where are Latics really heading?

The young chairman is working on the creation of a new order at Wigan Athletic. The upheaval continues amid a climate of uncertainty. What kind of club will Latics be a year from now? What kinds of realistic expectations can fans have of the future?

Sharpe has certainly stepped into a difficult situation, but he continues to put on a brave face in his dealings with the media. Sharpe invariably paints an optimistic picture, whilst acknowledging that mistakes have been made in the past.

However, the initial gloss is now starting to wear off and fans are starting to read between the lines of what Sharpe has said. The sceptics will say that his comments are no more than window-dressing, that the Whelan family is no longer willing to put money into the club and that without it the club will languish in its “natural” position in the lower tiers of English football.

Fans who have been shell-shocked by the events of the past season were dealt a further jolt yesterday with the news of Emmerson Boyce’s impending departure.

 “Our ambition is to regain our Championship status as quickly as possible and we would like Emmerson to be a part of the team this coming season because we feel he could continue to help us . However, the reality of our current situation is that we are in League One and we have to maintain a wage structure in line with our status.”

The Boyce issue was always going to be a tricky one for Sharpe. After nine years at the club the player had become a legend, with massive fan support. According to Boyce the deal he was offered was “laughable”. Sharpe acknowledges that he would like Boyce to continue but clearly his view of a suitable deal differs greatly with the aspirations of the player.

However, by taking a tough stand in the case of out of contract players, Sharpe has set a precedent for the future. The deals he offered to Gaetan Bong and Kim Bo-Kyung were also not acceptable to the players, who will be moving on.

The Boyce scenario is not going down well with the majority of fans who hold the player in such high esteem, but the figures involved in the offer are unlikely to be publicly revealed. Without them it is difficult to take the side of either club or player. However, even if Boyce were to be offered a regular contract it would be on a salary commensurate with League 1, not with one of the Championship or the Premier League to which he had been accustomed. Moreover Boyce will be 36 in September, probably the reason why the club was offering a pay-as-you-play deal. The player made only 26 league starts compared with 50 the previous season.

We await the news regarding a contract renewal for Jermaine Pennant. The winger made an impression through three spectacular goals from free kicks, although he never managed to complete in full 90 minutes in a match since joining in January. Moreover he does not have the pace to pass his full back. However, Pennant does have experience, class and technique. But given the salaries he has earned in the past will he be tempted by an offer commensurate to that of a League 1 club?

Last Friday Sharpe talked about the return of Andy Delort, Rob Kiernan, Oriol Riera and James Tavernier from loan spells:

“They’ll all be in for the start of pre-season on June 25, and they’ll all be big players for us next season.”

The sceptics were quick to dismiss Sharpe’s statement as mere posturing, that most of the four would be gone by the end of August. They were backed up by the Daily Mail reporting on that same day that Cardiff City and Reading were in a battle to sign Kiernan for £100,000.

The retained list published on Monday confirmed that:

“ …..the four remain contracted to Wigan Athletic beyond June 2015, and unless that situation changes, will be returning to pre-season training with the rest of the squad on June 25.”

It was quite a turnaround within the space of three days. Dreams of a Delort-Riera partnership are now appearing less than realistic.

It was also confirmed that Latics have 18 players contracted beyond June 2015, excepting the seriously ill Juan Carlos Garcia. However, as in the case of the four players sent out on loan, the club communique once again includes that proviso “and unless that situation changes” . Contracts will also be offered to the young players Jordan Flores (19 years old), Tim Chow (21), Matty Hamilton (19) and Ryan Jennings (19).

In April Sharpe had stated that Latics were going to need at least ten new players for next season. But a couple of days ago he raised that figure:

“There could be, in the end, up to 15 players we bring in, and that means every day is a challenge.”

Clearly he is expecting more players to leave than he was a month ago.

Should Latics have a squad of 24 senior players, with 15 players of them new, only 9 will remain from last season. Whatever the mathematics it is clear that Sharpe expects at least half of the players with contracts beyond June 2015 to depart.

Sharpe continues to reiterate that the recruitment team of himself, Gary Caldwell, Jonathan Jackson, Graham Barrow and Matt Jackson are meeting on close to a daily basis to look at future acquisitions. He states that:

“There’s probably a list of five or six players in each position who we’re looking at. But the deal’s got to be right for the player and the football club.”

He refers to the wage structure. For the deal to be right for the player and the club, the recruitment team is clearly focusing on players whose salary aspirations would fall within the new wage structure. Typically they would be from clubs in the lower reaches of the Championship, from League 1 or League 2 clubs, or Scotland.

Sharpe also expresses his preference for “young, hungry players between the ages of 24-27, ones who have done it before, who know what it’s like to win promotion, who are willing to learn and put in the hours, and buy into Gary’s brand of football.”

Bringing in 15 new players is a mountain of a task, but media reports suggest that deals are already in motion. They include midfielders John McGinn, 20 years old, from St Mirren and the 21 year old Max Power from Tranmere. It is also rumoured that they have made a £500,000 bid for 24 year old Chesterfield left winger Sam Clucas. The media also reports interest in the rugged 30 year old Rangers central midfield player Ian Black, the 25 year old Bristol City striker Jay Emmanuel Thomas, the 31 year old Australian striker/attacking midfield player Scott McDonald from Celtic and the 31 year old goalkeeper Andy Lonergan from Bolton.

The honeymoon period for David Sharpe has come to its end. Should Boyce depart from the club, as it seems he will, Sharpe will be unpopular with supporters who will feel he could have done more to keep the player at the club. Some have mentioned a possibility of a player/coach position, as was offered to Caldwell. However, at least one media report last summer suggested that Caldwell’s new contract had been on a salary 50% lower than before.

However, Sharpe is already showing the kind of toughness that is going to be required to get the club back on track. Moreover, up to this point, he has shielded rookie manager Caldwell from the brunt of criticism and backed him in reversing the decision regarding Tim Chow’s contract.

The club faces a further period of upheaval, but the hope is that Sharpe and his team can put together an infrastructure that will serve the club for years to come.

Given the current focus on the comings and goings of the playing staff it is not surprising that the matter of the Charnock Richard facility has taken the back burner. Will the club be going ahead with the original plans, even if it is in League 1?

Sharpe’s honeymoon period is over, but he is taking charge of introducing a new order of things at Wigan Athletic. It will be a rough ride for the young chairman.

The question remains whether his new order will be sufficient to elevate Latics back into the higher divisions or whether it will merely provide the sustainability for the club to exist in the lower divisions of the Football League.

 

A visit to Brentford and a look at a disastrous season

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

With the final game of the season coming up at Brentford on Saturday, Billy Grant  (@billythebee99) of beesotted.co.uk asked us to respond to some topical questions. The article is also posted on the Beesotted site.

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When we touched base for the first time this season around the time of the Forshaw saga, we had no idea our season would end up like this. We (and the world) thought we would be battling against relegation and you thought we would be battling for promotion with Uwe Rosler making his much awaited return to Griffin Park. Where did it all go topsy turvey?

Things had already started to go awry by the time that Brentford visited in mid-October. Just over a week later, with only three victories in seventeen league games, Rosler was shown the door. It was a sad end to an era in which the German had enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame. The previous season he had taken over a team in 14th place and got them into the playoffs, only to be narrowly beaten by QPR. Moreover the stunning win at the Etihad against the to-be Premier League champions in the FA Cup sixth round would stick in the memory for years to come. So would the semifinal, taking Arsenal to a penalty shootout.

Sadly things had gone pear-shaped for Rosler in the second half of his reign. The rot had set in towards the end of the 2013-14 season. The confidence that had been generated through a long string of good results had started to wane. Then over summer Rosler was to lose class performers in Jean Beausejour and Jordi Gomez, but the biggest blow was the departure of James McArthur on the transfer deadline day.

The new season had seen the team coming back from pre-season training in Germany in poor physical shape, with second half collapses being the order of the day. Moreover Rosler had made nine new signings since the summer, all in need of a settling-in period. But their arrival had swelled the first team squad to over thirty, the end result being Rosler having to deal with disgruntled players not getting a regular game.

Sadly Rosler could not inculcate his vision into his players. As time wore on it appeared that he and the players had become  more and more out of tune in terms of what should be delivered on the pitch. As the new season wore on we were to see less and less of the commitment required for the high tempo, high pressing football he sought.

By November the dream of getting back into the Premier League had become almost unreal. It looked like it was not going to happen this season with Rosler. Dave Whelan stepped in, relieving the German of his job, bringing in Malky Mackay, stating his belief that the Scot was the right man to take the club back to the Premier League.

Little did we know what depths the team would plumage towards under Mackay. His appointment did great damage to the club’s image as portrayed by the national media. Moreover the team did not rise on the bounce effect of a new manager, as is so often the case. In fact they got worse. They did not win a single home game during his tenure and he will go into Wigan Athletic history as their least successful manager.

When Mackay had taken over he had stuck by an “old guard” who had been underperforming under Rosler. Neither did they perform well under him. The result was no less than thirteen players dispatched out of the club in the January window. Given the departure of so many players who had proved themselves in the Premier League it was no surprise that the standard of football was to plummet close to rock bottom. The hoofball that had become evident under Coyle, which Rosler could not eradicate, soon became the order of the day under Mackay.

The conspiracy theorists say that Mackay was brought in as a short-term alternative, with his main task being to cull the dead wood within the playing staff. It could be said that he did that. Perhaps some of the players from the Martinez era had become complacent and were causing divisions within the camp.But the cull, together with a reluctance to provide Mackay with sufficient cash to find adequate replacements, left the club so short of quality players that relegation was always going to be a possibility. Mackay was to replace the departed players with those on short term contracts or young loanees green behind the ears. It was a recipe for disaster.

So many fans are relieved that Mackay will not be at the club next year, even if it is in League 1. But it should not hide the lack of foresight and decisiveness by new chairman, Sharpe, who left it too late in dismissing him.

Give us your thoughts on Brentford’s season

Many of us were shocked by the decision to not continue with Mark Warburton. I wonder if he had come to Wigan with Rosler we might have been promoted by now, rather than relegated.

Warburton deserves commendation for what he has done since he took over as manager. He has stuck to his guns by insisting that the team play good football and their quality has surprised others in the division. To be within reach of a playoff spot on the last day of the season is some achievement.

Whoever follows Warburton is on a hiding to nothing. You have to hope that Benham will make the right appointment. Whelan made a major blunder at Wigan by appointing the “long ball” Coyle following the departure of “tiki taka” Martinez. You need to appoint a manager who will build on what is established, rather than one who will destroy it.

There was an enormous who-ha over Wigan’s poaching of Adam Forshaw at the start of the season. He gave his reason for leaving being he wanted to move to a ‘bigger club’ and to one that was ‘challenging for promotion’. A bit cheeky. Would you admit, looking at how the season has panned out, Forshaw made the wrong move? He was a key player for us and has become a bit player since his move.

Rosler was building for the future by signing a handful of younger players. Andy Delort, Adam Forshaw, Emyr Huws, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair and James Tavernier were brought in. All were stars at their clubs last season and they are still good players. Sadly they were dragged into a situation where even experienced and capable pros, such as Ivan Ramis, Shaun Maloney and Leon Barnett, had been struggling to impose themselves on the field of play. Sadly those young players were mismanaged, first by Rosler then by Mackay.

Forshaw’s transfer had hit the headlines because of the bad feeling it created between the clubs. From the player’s point of view he was rejoining the manager who had nurtured him to the point of becoming League 1 Player of the Year. He was also joining a club that had a squad good enough to challenge for promotion, which would offer him a more lucrative contract.

Like those other young players Forshaw was never able to truly establish himself. He made 13 starts, with three appearances off the bench, scoring one goal.

Talking of Forshaw, his agent played him a big BIG get-out-of-jail card. Out of the blue he got him a move to promotion-chasing Middlesbrough after staring relegation in the face. At one stage, he looked destined for the Premier League with them but now has to settle for the playoffs. Assuming we don’t make the playoffs, do you think Forshaw will be a Premier League player next season?

Ben Watson’s agent did even better. Since leaving for Watford in January he has been a regular in a side that is already promoted. Forshaw has been largely used as a substitute by Middlesbrough, making only five starts.

Forshaw had been part of the January cull, with the club cutting their potential losses for the season by selling players off for whatever transfer money they could get and freeing others on lucrative contracts. So many fans had been disenchanted by the lack of performance by the squad that Mackay did not meet the opposition one would have expected when selling off the family silver. But there were fans who thought the departures of young players with potential was worrying.

Aitor Karanka has done a good job at Middlesbrough. They can play attractive football and will have as much chance as any other team in the playoffs. We learned last year what a lottery the playoffs can be. Should Boro get promoted they are going to have to bring in a lot of new players as their squad is not anywhere near Premier League standard.

Forshaw still has not established as a regular starter in the Championship, but he does have potential and maybe the Premier League environment would suit him?

For a while Latics fans were a bit disenchanted with Brentford over the Forshaw saga, but most of us will wish the Bees well in the quest for promotion. You have an outside chance of getting into the playoff zone, then a one in four chance of winning the playoffs. But the likelihood is that Derby will win at home to Reading on Saturday. If they do then I will fancy their playoff chances. Despite poor recent form their squad is probably the best outside the top two.

The Rotherham result in midweek has consigned you to Division 1. Despite our little ding dong earlier this season, most Brentford fans would actually prefer you stayed up. We had a good day out at Wigan much preferring it to our trips to places like Bolton and Millwall to be quite honest. How do you think you will get on next season???

Wigan is a friendly town and away fans seem to enjoy their visits. I went to Millwall for the first time a couple of weeks ago and can understand why your fans are not keen.

Dave Whelan is now 78 and after 20 years of guiding the club he has stepped back. He made a mistake with the Malky Mackay appointment and his inappropriate comments were gobbled up by the national media. It has sadly tarnished the image of a man who has done more for Wigan Athletic than anyone before.

When all this was going on the club seemed to have no direction and leadership. But now Latics have a new chairman and a new manager, both young and hungry for success. The 23 year old David Sharpe wisely opted for a manager who believes in playing football the “Wigan way”. Moreover his expectation is that Gary Caldwell – only 32 years old – will stay in the position long-term.

Next season is a great unknown for us. There will be another mass exodus over summer as the club sheds its highest wage earners and rebuilds. Sharpe has already stated his goal of promotion next season, but most of us realise that this might not happen so quickly. A large number of new players will be coming in and it is going to take time for them to gel and learn to play football with the style that Caldwell expects.

With the youngest manager and youngest chairman in the four divisions at the helm there is renewed optimism at Wigan. The era of Whelan has gone, but an exciting new one is about to commence.

Do you think you players will turn up at the weekend?

More than half of the players who made the starting lineup against Wolves last weekend are on short-term contracts which finish next month. Many of the remainder are likely to be leaving in summer. Will this motley crew give their commitment on Saturday?

Nevertheless Caldwell will expect them to give their all and many might want to impress possible future employers. Moreover there is no pressure on them to get a result.

Given such a scenario who knows what will happen? It could be a surprise victory for Latics or a hammering.

My guess is that it will be a 1-1 draw.

 

 

Gary Caldwell – the right man for the job

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

 

In February 2007 the 33 year old Roberto Martinez gave up his playing career to take over from Kenny Jackett as manager of Swansea City. Despite his lack of experience Martinez’ appointment was viewed favourably by the majority of the fans. He had left Swansea for Chester the previous summer after falling out of favour with Jackett. Martinez had spent three years with the Swans as a player, captaining them to League Two promotion 2005, also lifting the LDV Vans Trophy and the FAW Premier Cup twice.

David Sharpe’s bold move in appointing the 32 year old Gary Caldwell as manager bears a strong parallel to those events at Swansea. Caldwell was an outstanding captain and the club’s Player of the Season in 2011-12 when Latics miraculously escaped relegation by winning seven of their last nine Premier League games, beating Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United in the process. His play always epitomized one hundred percent effort, with a never say die attitude. Moreover Caldwell was the general on the field of play who cajoled his teammates into following the manager’s game plan.

Sadly Caldwell’s career at Latics was dogged by a serious hip problem. Despite signing a new contract as a player-coach this season Caldwell has not been able to play. According to an article in the Scotsman last month Caldwell admitted that he had been struggling for years with the hip problem and that even training had become painful. There is little doubt that Caldwell had been putting his body on the line on numerous occasions for Latics when not fully fit. At times he made calamitous errors, incurring the wrath of the fans, but few could doubt his commitment on the field of play and the way he marshalled his teammates into playing out of their skins against some of the world’s top footballers.

For so many months the club seemed to have no direction and leadership. But within a short amount of time Latics have a new chairman and a new manager, both young and hungry for success. Sharpe has wisely opted for a manager who believes in playing football the “Wigan way”. Moreover his expectation is that Caldwell will stay in the position long-term.

Caldwell’s first task will be to get a good result at Fulham on Friday. It will be interesting to see if he opts for the 3-4-3 formation that Roberto Martinez used to great effect. Moreover will some players be brought back who were out of favour with Mackay?

The doom and gloom at Wigan Athletic has suddenly been lifted. Even if relegation happens there is now light at the end of the tunnel. Who knows what a dynamic young duo of Sharpe and Caldwell might achieve?

The period of drifting is over. Wigan Athletic are now heading down a firm track.