Fan Views – Part 2 – Martyn Waghorn and Thomas Rogne

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

The first posting on our Amigos site was made by Ned on August 11, 2011. It received less than 10 views that first day. But by the end of the month the site had received over 700 views.

Our readership has continued to steadily grow. In this current month of April the site has already received more than ten times the number of views than in that inaugural month, from viewers in more than fifty countries. The growth has been particularly significant in recent months.

Given that we now have a wider readership we plan to occasionally republish articles from our archives, that many may not have seen. We ask our long-established readers will bear with us on this. We will continue to put out our stream of current articles.

Our site stats have shown that our readership has been particularly interested in perspectives of Latics players from fans of their previous clubs. Thanks to contributions made by bloggers on the fan sites of those clubs for these articles from our archives.

Click here for our previous fan views on Roger Espinoza and James McClean.

A Leicester fan’s view of Martyn Waghorn

Martyn Waghorn celebrated his permanent contract with his fourth goal in Latics colours.

 

 

Written by: Mark_w.James fan’s forum on the Leicester City fansite http://www.foxestalk.co.uk/.

Published: February 3, 2014

 

For the benefit of lurking Wigan fans (I ventured over to their forum and some have decided he’s rubbish based on posts in here and his goal scoring record so) I’m going to repeat what I’ve been saying for the last few years. Feel free to skip it.

Martyn Waghorn did a very good job during his loan spell at the club, in the Championship. Injury and misuse (being played on the wing when he isn’t a winger) has prevented him from performing to the level we saw during his loan spell. However his performances in the run of around ten games he had for us last year and the reception from the Millwall fans on their forum after his loan spell would suggest that he is very capable of recapturing that form.

It’s not going to be for us because this season Jamie Vardy has proven that he offers as much as in terms of work rate with a superior goal scoring record and with Nugent and Wood as well, it’s pretty clear that  Waghorn isn’t going to get a look in and it would be a very silly decision on his part to sign a new contract with the club.

His commitment and passion for football rather than his ability are the reason he’s revered by a surprisingly large number of Leicester fans, myself included. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of becoming a very good footballer.  If he is given a prolonged run as a striker by a team in the Championship, for the first time since his loan spell, then there’s every chance that he can perform to level he did during his loan spell and at the age of 24 there’s still plenty of time for him to develop and improve.

Unfairly written off by some of our fans, I imagine because of impatience, an inability to recognize that he simply hasn’t started enough games to make the same impact he did while on loan (fewer starts since signing permanently than he made during his loan spell and those have been in short bursts rather than one prolonged run) and increased expectation because we pretty clearly paid way too much for him.

Will be an incredible free signing for anyone who takes him on in the summer and gives him game time, if he gets that I’m sure we will see the Waggy of old, I think we’ll be at a level where we won’t need to kick ourselves about it, but if he does succeed elsewhere then I’m sure that many people will be saddened that circumstances have conspired against him time and time again since he signed permanently.

I really hope he gets his career back on track and is given the opportunity to show to those who have written him off that he is capable of once again reaching the level he was at three years ago and there’s no reason he can’t surpass it in the future. Good luck to him, clearly cares about playing football and gave me a lot of great memories during what was probably my favourite season supporting Leicester City until this year (I’m young).

If Pearson hadn’t left and we had still been able to sign him then I’m sure things would have been very different, I’m delighted that we’ve got Pearson back and are on the up again. Hope that the same can happen for Waggy on loan at Wigan and in the future, hopefully at a club that isn’t Millwall.

Not the greatest player to play for Leicester City during my life time but easily one of the most likeable.

 

A Celtic fan’s view of Thomas Rogne

2013-rogne

 

Written by: Liam Power, aka Brummie Bhoy of Celtic  blog, Lost Bhoys

Published: July 1, 2013

 

 

I think it is reasonable to say that Wigan were not one of the more glamorous Premiership clubs during their spell in the top league so they would generally slip under the radar of most Celtic fans. However, this changed in recent years as we have seen a number of ex Celts and SPL players move to the club under the tenure of Roberto Martinez.

My former boss is a Wigan season ticket holder so we have had many amusing conversations over the last few seasons when discussing the contribution of Gary Caldwell and more serious chats about the continued development of Maloney, McArthur and McCarthy as they become integral to the Wigan team in the last season, culminating in your magnificent FA Cup victory.

Wigan now also has lifelong Celtic supporter Owen Coyle in charge and have just acquired the services of Celtic’s out of contract defender Thomas Rogne.  As a season ticket holder for most of the last 9 seasons and as a weekly blogger for the LostBhoys on www.hailhailmedia.com I can provide an insight into Rogne’s time at Celtic, what sort of player he is and what you can expect from him in the seasons ahead.

Rogne turned 23 last week but still features regularly for the Norway under-21 team despite being capped at full International level. He joined Celtic as a 19 year old on the 20th January 2010 and was described by former Celtic favourite Vidar Riseth as the hottest young talent in Norway.

Rogne was signed by Tony Mowbray whose single season in charge at Parkhead can most politely be described as a disaster, culminating in a 4-0 defeat to St Mirren that signalled the end of his reign. Rogne only managed 4 appearances during the second half of season 2009/10 but would have been encouraged by the appointment of Neil Lennon who has always been happy to give young players opportunities within the team.

Rogne didn’t start a game in the following season until 30th October 2010 as an injury interrupted pre-season prevented him from establishing himself in the manager’s plans. However, he then featured 15 times in the following three months, including an outstanding performance at Ibrox in a 2-0 win over our former rivals.

Further injuries took him out of the team and he only featured intermittently during the rest of the season. This was to become the story of his time at Celtic as he could rarely muster a run of games in the team without picking up knocks that would require spells on the sidelines. As an 18 year old Rogne damaged his cruciate ligaments and missed the entire 2008/09 season, which may explain his continual injury problems.

The following season 2011/12 saw a depressingly similar pattern as injury disrupted his pre-season and he didn’t make his first start until 26th October 2011. He played 3 times before injury sidelined him again but once back in the team in December Rogne managed to establish himself and struck up a good partnership with Scottish Player of the season Charlie Mulgrew.

He featured in 17 league games during the remainder of the season and was considered as a first choice pick for the first time in his Celtic career, keeping out new signing Kelvin Wilson who had experienced a difficult start to his Celtic career.

This should have signalled better times for Rogne at Celtic but the signing of Efe Ambrose and the re-birth of Kelvin Wilson produced a solid partnership that was not going to be split up. This partnership, added to more niggling injuries for the player meant that he had drifted out of the first team picture.

He only made 8 league starts last season, a situation that was not helped with his ongoing contract dispute with the club. Rogne was looking for a deal that would put him in with the high earners at the club but he had done nothing during his 4 seasons to justify such a position.

The club expressed their desire to keep him but no compromise could be reached so the player allowed his contract to expire and today he becomes a free agent meaning that Wigan will not have to pay any compensation to Celtic.

There is no doubting the ability of Rogne as a footballer. He is a tall player who enjoys doing the basics of good defending.   He is good in the air and reads the game well which enables him to win a fair amount of challenges staying on his feet without over committing himself.

He has reasonable pace and his positional sense is good although he can suffer from lapses in concentration. He is not a ball playing defender and is happy winning possession and giving the ball to his more talented colleagues.

What he desperately needs is a run of 20-30 games in a side without injury so that he can establish himself as a first choice. He is easily good enough to play in the Championship but needs to contribute much more in terms of appearances. As a free transfer on relatively modest wages he fits the bill for Wigan’s transfer policy and would be deemed as a low risk signing.

Wigan have the best chance of promotion from all the three clubs who were relegated as they should manage to retain a decent nucleus of last seasons squad, unlike QPR who have huge financial implications to deal with.

Providing he can stay fit then Rogne will be a good addition to the squad and should be a success at Wigan. He is familiar with British football and knows Caldwell and Maloney well from his time at Celtic, so his transition to Wigan should be relatively straight forward.

Good luck to you for the forthcoming season and I will definitely continue to keep an eye on our former bhoys

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From the Archives: Fan views of Latics players – Part 1 – Roger Espinoza and James McClean

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

The first posting on our Amigos site was made by Ned on August 11, 2011. It received less than 10 views that first day. But by the end of the month the site had received over 700 views.

Our readership has continued to steadily grow. In this current month of April the site has already received more than ten times the number of views than in that inaugural month, from viewers in more than fifty countries. The growth has been particularly significant in recent months.

Given that we now have a wider readership we plan to occasionally republish articles from our archives, that many may not have seen. We ask our long-established readers will bear with us on this. We will continue to put out our stream of current articles.

Our site stats have shown that our readership has been particularly interested in perspectives of Latics players from fans of their previous clubs. Thanks to contributions made by bloggers on the fan sites of those clubs for these articles from our archives.

Let’s start with fan views on Roger Espinoza and James McClean.

 

A Sporting Kansas City fan’s view of Roger Espinoza.

Espinoza

Written by: James Starritt, who writes and speaks about Sporting on the web and local radio, on sportingtimes.net and kicktheball.us

Published: December 6, 2012

 

 

A frenzy of crunching tackling and combative running

“Roger is a fantastic player who has shown enormous capacity to grow over the last few years. As is typical for MLS he was played out of position for a while — on the flanks early — before being converted to full-back. He didn’t do well, and was a fairly average presence until Honduras popped him into central midfield, and he immediately carved out some fantastic performances. An injury crisis in the middle in 2011 forced a similar move shortly afterwards from Sporting Kansas City, and in his first game he simply dominated the entire midfield, scoring a goal, and breaking up opposition possession in what I can only describe as a frenzy of crunching tackling and combative running. He has never looked back.

If you watched Paul Ince, David Batty or Roy Keane back the days, he is cut from that mold. He is passionate and dominant when he is on his game, and he leaves everything he has on the field. He thrives on the competition, and seems to get stronger as games go onwards. He is very, very consistent. If he can play … he is on.

He is very dangerous around either area, breaking up possession in front of his defense and winning it back around the top of the opponents box. He is ideal sitting right between a defensive midfielder and an attacking/creative one — at least at this level. He can drop back into defensive midfield comfortably, however. He is not terribly dynamic going forward but he does create chances for other players to play around him simply by winning the ball and pressuring people into mistakes, he won’t make goals, you’ll still need players to capitalize on the possession he wins for that. If he can raise his game to BPL levels, Wigan should see more of the ball just having him out there. He is a decent passer, he won’t score many goals, but I think he will only improve with better players around him.

The transfer will go through, goodbyes have been said – I see no reason that he will not pass the medical. He may be a little beaten up after a long season but nothing stands out as problematic long-term that should prevent this going through. Pay will not be an issue either as he is on less than £80,000 currently … annually. The only question is whether he can handle the step up in level … what you get with Roger is a guy who will die trying. He is 26 now but players start later in MLS (they go to college/university and then play…) he is still learning and growing and doesn’t have 8 years of time on his legs. He’ll earn his share of yellows and reds… it is just the nature of his play, he isn’t malicious or dirty but if he dives in, he is going all in. You’ll get no histrionics, no diving – he goes down and bounces right up and gets right back into the game, not much complaining, no drama off the field, and he is a nice guy to talk to – he won’t have problems fitting in with the squad unless he struggles to feel at home within Wigan itself.

If he can handle the BPL I think he has the capacity to be a bit of a fan favorite, maybe not a huge star but a good solid pro who you’ll miss when he isn’t out there. We certainly will.”

A Sunderland fan’s view of James McClean

mcclean

 

Written by: Matthew Wear of Sunderland fan site “A Love Supreme”.

Published: August 19, 2013

In his time with Sunderland, there was a lot of side-taking for the Irish International. He was a little like marmite, either you love him or you hate him. He signed for us for a mere £300,000 from League of Ireland side Derry City, and under Steve Bruce it was seemingly a signing for the future.

However, due to his impressive performances in the reserve side he was placed on the bench but didn’t appear till Martin O’Neill’s first game in charge, which wasn’t until December, and many credited McClean for changing the game around in our favour.

For the rest of the 2011-12 season, McClean was in fantastic form as it seemed he had no fear taking on defenders from the top teams in the land and not being put off by them. Many SAFC fans believed we had unearthed a gem in McClean who would shine for us for years to come.

 In his first half-season he played 29 games, scoring 6 goals and putting in some fantastic displays. With a great season behind him McClean was called up to the Republic of Ireland squad for Euro 2012 but only making a substitute appearance against champions Spain. Many fans criticised Giovanni Trapattoni as they felt McClean warranted more game time than what he actually got during the tournament.

As the 2012-13 season rolled about fans were expecting as good as, if not better performances from McClean. But throughout the season, his off-field antics overshadowed his time on the pitch. The controversy surrounding the poppy situation lead to death threats from many fans across the country as he refused to wear the Sunderland shirt with a poppy sewn into the kit and instead chose not to. A lot of our fans then turned their backs on the Irishman, which subsequently lead to a loss of confidence on the pitch.

However it was later revealed that 6 people from the estate he grew up on, were shot by the British Military in 1972. But despite this he was unable to shrug off the booing, which despite what he has done, wasn’t warranted in my opinion.

This all culminated with a very, very poor season by the whole of the SAFC  team, but the majority of the blame fell onto McClean as he was in the middle of the controversy with the poppy. However, his form did drop dramatically in comparison to his debut season as he was labelled a ‘one trick pony’ by many fans and in 41 games he scored 5 goals. Lots of SAFC fans believed he had been found out and his success in the previous season was only because no one knew who he was or how to defend against him.

But despite all this, personally I wish all the best to the lad as I feel that in a new club like Wigan, who themselves still have some quality players who have played in the Premiership, he will thrive and possibly help them push for a place back in the top flight.

 

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Latics could give Blackpool a hiding

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

 

Ex-Blackpool player Stephen Crainey thinks the game is massive for both sides.

The word “massive” has become an integral part of the modern day footballers’ vocabulary. In everyday English it roughly translates to “important”, but it can also signify “crucial”.

Ex-Blackpool player Stephen Crainey used it this week when he described Saturday’s clash with his old club as “a massive game for both sides”.

In reality the game is more “massive” for Blackpool than Latics. The Tangerines are in the drop zone, being in 22nd place, with only two games left. Failure to get at least a point at the DW Stadium on Saturday would put them in severe danger of relegation. On the other hand Wigan have three games left in which they need to amass the three points needed to secure a playoff spot.

Six months have passed since the Seasiders beat Owen Coyle’s Wigan Athletic in a bad tempered match at Bloomfield Road. It seems like an eternity. Latics have since been transformed by Uwe Rosler and their presence in the playoff zone is giving the other teams up there lots of food for thought.

On the other hand Blackpool have been in a downward spiral since then. Manager Paul Ince was sacked in January and his son Tom, their star player, went to Crystal Palace. Experienced Scottish international midfielder, Barry Ferguson, took over as player-manager on a temporary basis. At the time Blackpool were in 14th place, nine points outside the top six, eight points above the relegation zone.

Despite a run of poor results the 36 year-old Ferguson remains popular with their fans, whose anger and frustration is being vented more towards Chairman Karl Oyston. In a recent home defeat to Burnley fans threw tennis balls and tangerines on to the pitch, twice holding up play, in protest against the Chairman. The anger is down to a perceived unwillingness of Oyston to invest in the club the profit made from their time in the Premier League a couple of years ago, together with not appointing a manager on a permanent basis.

Blackpool come into the match following an invaluable point gained in a 1-1 draw at promotion hopefuls Brighton, after having lost 12 of their previous 15 away games. They will have ample support at the DW Stadium on Saturday through Oyston providing 3,000 free tickets for season ticket holders which were quickly snapped up. Moreover the Blackpool Supporters Association are providing them with free transport.

However, it looks like the Tangerines may be without talisman Ricardo Fuller through injury. They have not won a game without him since he made his debut in August. Blackpool have scored just 36 goals in 44 league matches this season, only Charlton having scored less.

Wigan Athletic go into this match with a far superior squad to that of their opponents. Moreover manager Uwe Rosler is likely to put forward his strongest lineup, in order to secure the playoff spot. Latics have had some poor results against teams in the lower reaches of the division, but they see this game as important and they will be up for it.

With a solid defence, a midfield trio of McArthur, Espinoza and Gomez and the likes of Maloney, McManaman, Powell and Waghorn up front Latics look far too good for their Lancashire neighbours.

If Latics play at the level they displayed a week ago against Reading, Blackpool will be in for a hiding.

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Rosler getting ready for QPR in the playoffs

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other, Specials and tagged with , , , ,
QPR Manager Harry Redknapp will be expecting a difficult encounter

QPR manager Harry Redknapp can expect a difficult encounter with Wigan Athletic in the playoffs.

Barring major surprises, Wigan Athletic will host Queens Park Rangers on Friday, May 9th in the Championship playoffs. The return match at Loftus Road will take place the following Monday, May 12th. Both games will start at 7:45 pm.

Latics need only one win from their final three leagues matches to make certain of their playoff place. QPR are six points ahead of Wigan and are likely to finish in fourth place. Reading are three points behind, but Latics have a game in hand over the Royals and a superior goal difference. Derby are five points ahead of QPR with a far superior goal difference. They will surely pick up one point from their last two games to guarantee a third place position where they will be up against the sixth placed team, which could be one of a handful of clubs.

The past months have been a rollercoaster ride for Wigan Athletic. Since Uwe Rosler’s first game in charge away to Maribor on December 12th until the last one at Burnley, Latics played 31 matches in 129 days. During that time they lost a Europa League game and won four and drew two in the FA Cup, losing to a penalty shoot-out. In the league their record has been W13 D6 L5, giving them 45 points from 24 played, very close to Rosler’s often stated target of an average of two points per game.

Latics had suffered five consecutive defeats before Rosler’s arrival and his team has played more games since then than any other team in the four divisions. To get so close to another FA Cup Final and to be sitting in a healthy position in the playoff zone of the Championship is a testament to the remarkable effect Rosler has had on the club.

With so many matches coming up Rosler acted shrewdly in the January transfer window, offloading the misfiring Grant Holt to Aston Villa and Nouha Dicko to Wolves. In their place he brought in a handful of loan players plus another on a short term contract. He tried to transfer out the highly salaried Ivan Ramis, but neither Cardiff nor Crystal Palace were satisfied with his medical condition. Ramis has since been excellent in the centre of defence and a key player in Latics’ push for promotion. He has had further injury problems – currently out through a hamstring strain – but no recurrence of the knee injury that prevented his transfer.

The loanees have clearly played a major role since their arrival, some more than others. At this stage it looks like only one will be staying – Martyn Waghorn who has since signed a long term contract. However, the loanees will continue to have a part to play as the regular season moves into the playoffs.

Rosler will be keen to secure that playoff place on Saturday with a victory over a Blackpool side struggling against relegation. He would then be in a position to rest his key players before the playoffs start. The key triumvirate of Emmerson Boyce, James McArthur and James Perch looked jaded on Monday and Rosler needs them to be at their sharpest in the playoffs.

Wigan’s recent form has been inconsistent over recent weeks, with the highs of beating such as Manchester City contrasting with the lows of losing at home to relegation candidates like Millwall. However, it is in the playoffs that they need to peak. Were Wigan to beat Blackpool this weekend and lose their remaining two league matches it would be of little consequence. Indeed we would probably see more than a little “rotation” for those games.

Rosler will be keen to have all his key players firing on all cylinders during the playoffs.

Nick Powell has been disappointing since his return from injury, but Rosler will surely continue to keep the Manchester United player in his plans. One moment of individual brilliance from him could be sufficient to win a vital playoff game. Media hype about the young man’s future cannot be helping, let alone the uncertainty of who will be in charge at Old Trafford next season. Powell remains young and his game lacks maturity, but he could play a key role in the playoffs.

The promising return of Shaun Maloney from long-term injury and the improved form of Callum McManaman give Latics much room for optimism. Moreover Jordi Gomez has been playing the best football in his five years at the club. Latics might lack a regular goalscorer but they are strong in terms of having players with creative and attacking flair.

James McClean has had a disappointing time over recent weeks, but could still make an impact in the playoffs. When he scored two opportunist goals at Ipswich he looked sharp and confident, but since then his finishing has so often disappointed. The Irishman is clearly a confidence player who needs a run of games before the end of the regular season. His pace can threaten any defence and he can never be faulted for effort. He is a rough diamond who Rosler needs to continue to work with. It could well be that playing on the wing is not ultimately his best position. With his pace, energy and tackling ability he could well develop into a holding midfield player or full back.

The return of Roger Espinoza from a hernia operation is good news for Rosler. The German will have to ease the Honduran back in gradually, but he is the obvious partner for the admirable James McArthur in central midfield. Josh McEachran is a fine player, but has lacked fitness since his arrival and has not even been on the bench in the last two games. Rosler needs him fit for the playoffs.

Rosler will be hoping that Ramis will be back to fitness for the playoffs. He has played particularly well alongside Boyce in the centre of defence. With the two together there is not only defensive solidity, but cultured passing from the back. The German might well go for a back line of three central defenders with Leon Barnett joining them. He also has Rob Kiernan available, who has done a good job so far, but lacks the experience of playing in the high pressure atmosphere the playoffs will generate.

James Perch has become an automatic choice in Rosler’s lineups and deservedly so. Too often in his career he has had to play in a variety of positions, but under Rosler he has established himself as a right back or right wing back. Perch’s defensive work is excellent and his attacking has improved considerably over these months.

Jean Beausejour is best employed as a wing back, but has also been employed as a full back and a winger under Rosler. He remains the best alternative on the left of defence.

Rosler is blessed in the goalkeeping department with Ali Al-Habsi and Scott Carson competing for a place. Exciting young prospect Lee Nicholls will have to bide his time for the moment with those two capable and experienced ‘keepers ahead of him.

The first step towards potential success in the playoffs is to beat Blackpool on Saturday. Rosler will surely field his strongest lineup. With the playoff place secured he can then rest his key players and focus on what promise to be two tricky games against a strong QPR side.

Rosler has done so well up to this point. He has the players capable of taking Latics back to the Premier League and he has shown himself to be tactically astute.

QPR will not relish the prospect of facing Wigan Athletic in a little over two weeks’ time.

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Burnley 2 Wigan Athletic 0 – Rosler gets it wrong

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Reports, Other and tagged with , ,
Uwe Rosler could not get his tactics right this time.

Uwe Rosler could not get his tactics right this time.

“We’ve all got to take lessons from the performance, myself included” said Uwe Rosler post-match.

So often since his arrival Rosler has got his tactics just right. This time he got them totally wrong. Playing hoofball was never going to be the way to get a result at Burnley. It played into the home team’s hands.

Rosler made his usual rotations with Stephen Crainey, Jack Collison, James McClean and Marc-Antoine Fortune coming into the starting lineup, The German adopted a 4-3-3 formation, with McClean playing wide on the right and Beausejour on the left.

The Urban Dictionary describes hoofball as involving the ‘hoof”, a long punt up the pitch by either the goalkeeper or defenders, making sure that the ball travels at least 40 yards in the air. Wigan Athletic’s tactics in the first half at Turf Moor were precisely that.

The result was the ball pinging back and putting pressure on a shaky Latics defence. The left hand side of defence had looked particularly vulnerable and it came as no surprise when Burnley went ahead after 22 minutes. They broke through at pace on Wigan’s left, Dean Marney evading Leon Barnett and putting over a fine cross converted by Ashley Barnes as he timed his run perfectly, ahead of Emmerson Boyce. Soon after Burnley almost got another one through the same players linking up, but Barnes’ effort was saved by Al-Habsi.

Burnley were playing that brand of direct football that Bolton used to employ under Sam Allardyce. Their two strikers Danny Ings and Ashley Barnes were causing Latics’ central defenders problems as Burnley constantly sought them out. Wigan’s sole central striker, Fortune, was having a torrid time out there given the horrendous service he was receiving. However, from Wigan’s first meaningful attack he had a fine header hit the crossbar from a Jordi Gomez free kick, Boyce putting the rebound wide.

Soon after an elbow from Barnes gave Boyce a gash on his forehead. The Burnley player received a yellow card, but Boyce was clearly incensed. The home team continued to dominate and went 2-0 up in the 42nd minute with a superb inswinging free kick from Michael Kightley from the left, which evaded Al-Habsi and the Latics defence. It appeared that the ball had glanced Crainey’s head on the way into the far corner of the net.

With Latics looking set for a hiding, Rosler had to do something at half time. He brought on Callum McManaman for Gomez and Rob Kiernan for the hapless Crainey, reverting to 3-4-3. McManaman looked lively from the start, but Burnley had clearly done their homework and singled him out for physical treatment.

Kightly once again looked dangerous and had a powerful shot go narrowly wide of the post in the 49th minute after he had run through from the half way line. McClean had switched to the left flank, after a torrid first half on the right, and was beginning to find some space. However, his final ball once again left much to be desired. Sheer persistence on the part of Fortune enabled him to get between the defence and the goalkeeper, but his effort was saved.  Ings had a fine effort hit the post. Soon after Boyce had a header go wide.

In the 67th minute Al-Habsi made a fine save from a David Jones free kick. Burnley continued to look dangerous and in the 80th minute Barnes hit a rasping volley that was parried away by Al-Habsi.

The final whistle led to Burnley celebrating their promotion back to the Premier League – a remarkable achievement on a relatively low budget.

The Good

Following the tactical switch at half time Latics had a more balanced look, but in all truth Burnley could still have added more to the score.

The Bad

Wigan’s football in the first half was reminiscent of the darkest of days under Owen Coyle. Burnley’s high pressing put pressure on Wigan defenders and they responded by hoofing the ball. The midfield was largely by-passed but when they did get the ball they were unable to do much with it. Even Jordi Gomez ended up putting through long punts, which were hopeful at best.

At times in that first half it appeared that Latics players were actually following instructions by playing those long, hopeful passes. Wigan have done this under Rosler before, but this time they were made to pay the price.

Wigan were unrecognizable from the side that had played such stylish football against Arsenal and Reading. One longed for the cultured touch of Shaun Maloney, but Rosler resisted the opportunity to bring him on. Roger Espinoza and Martyn Waghorn did not even make the bench. However, Waghorn appeared to have an injury after going off against Reading. Like Maloney, Espinoza has had a lay-off due to injury and in the long-run Rosler’s decision not to use either might well prove to be right.

So often over the past weeks Latics have had dips in their form that could be attributed to sheer tiredness, given the number of games they have had to play. Fatigue may have played a part in this performance too, but it was the approach that was more of a concern in this game.

Player Ratings

Ali Al-Habsi: 5.5 – made some good saves, but looked nervy. Poor distribution.

James Perch: 5 – way below his best.

Emmerson Boyce: 5 – rattled by the injury he received from Barnes’ elbow. Below his best.

Leon Barnett: 5 – lacked composure. Poor distribution.

Stephen Crainey: 4.5 – ineffective. Taken off at half time.

James McArthur: 5 – could not impose himself in midfield. Looked jaded.

Jack Collison: 4.5 – very disappointing.

Jordi Gomez: 5 – marked out of the game. Taken off at half time.

James McClean: 4.5 – anonymous in the first half. Distribution poor. Substituted after 77 minutes.

Marc-Antoine Fortune: 5.5 – toiled unsupported against the robust Burnley central defenders. Unlucky with his header that hit the bar.

Jean Beausejour : 5 – below his best.

Substitutes:

Callum McManaman: – heavily marked, but tried to breathe life into the attack after being brought on after half time.

Rob Kiernan: -looked Latics most composed defender after coming on at half time.

Nicky Maynard: – came on for McClean after 77 minutes.