Barnsley v Wigan Athletic Preview – the Coyle revolution put to the test

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

How times have changed.

Less than a year ago Wigan Athletic were entertaining Chelsea in the opening match of last season’s Premier League campaign. On Saturday they travel to Barnsley to open their Championship season.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that encounter with the London giants. Wigan’s eighth Premier League season was constantly punctuated by injuries to key players and the impact was a very tospy-turvy season. The finale came in a bizarre last week of the season with them  winning the FA Cup, but getting relegated just three days later.

Maybe winning the FA Cup was the defining factor in Roberto Martinez’s decision to seek new pastures. It was the highest of highs in Wigan Athletic’s  history and has left an indelible mark on the club. But the reality is that now Latics face the challenge of getting back into the Premier League.

The visit to Oakwell is the first of many challenges that Owen Coyle’s new side will face this year. Coyle has done a wonderful job in bringing in nine new players to complement the strong backbone of a squad left behind by Martinez. His challenge will be to keep what was good from Martinez’s legacy, but to motivate a competitive squad of players to combine flair with the ability to slug it out over a really long season.

Barnsley finished one point above the relegation zone last year, having stayed up the previous year due to Portsmouth being docked points through having to go into administration. However, they will be keen to start the new season on a positive note and Latics can expect a stern physical tussle at Oakwell, which has been Barnsley’s home since 1888.

Wigan’s lineup is likely to be close to that which started the Dundee United game last weekend.  The main questions will be who will line up next to James Perch in the centre of defence and whether Callum McManaman will be fit enough to start.

If Thomas Royne  recovers from the back injury sustained in the match with the Tangerines he will most likely partner Perch. If not then Coyle has the option of throwing his brand-new signing Leon Barnett into the fray.

McManaman  did not feature prominently in the pre-season and there are doubts as to whether he has fully overcome the ankle injury received at the end of last season. If he is unavailable then Coyle has the option of bringing in Jean Beausejour on the left or fielding twin strikers in Grant Holt and Marc-Antoine Fortune.

Latics will be hoping for a good start to the season. Providing they can match Barnsley physically,  their technical superiority should be sufficient to get a result. Owen Coyle’s revolution is in progress and we will see its fruits over these coming months.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Wigan Athletic v Dundee United Preview

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

On Saturday,  Wigan Athletic play host to Dundee United at the DW Stadium. It will be their final warm-up fixture before the Championship season starts for the at Barnsley on August 3rd.

By the time it gets to the final pre-season game a manager tends to have a good idea of what his first choice lineup will be.

Owen Coyle has skillfully shuffled his pack in the previous four pre-season games, giving game time plus an opportunity to all his available squad players to show their mettle. However, we can expect the starting lineup for the United match to be pretty similar to the side which lines up at Oakwell.

Dundee United had a disappointing  season last year,  finishing sixth in the SPL  – but important to them  – they were six places above Dundee, who were relegated. The bitter rivalry between the two clubs – whose grounds are just 150 yards apart – continues after already spanning a century.

Dundee – the “True Blues” of the city – were formed in 1893 and have won the Scottish League once, in 1962-63.

Dundee United – originally known as Dundee Hibernian – were formed by the Irish Catholic community in the city in 1909. They changed their original green colours to tangerine in the 1960s. Like their close neighbours they have won the Scottish League once, that being in 1982-83. However, the Blues have had hard times over recent years and it is the Tangerines who have maintained their status in the highest level of Scottish football, as well as reaching the European Cup semi final in 1984 and the UEFA Cup final in 1987.

The last encounter between Wigan and United  was at Tannadice Park three years ago when Latics won 3-1 in a pre-season match, when Mauro Boselli scored two and set up a cracker for Victor Moses from 25 yards.

Owen Coyle will have fond memories of his time at Tannadice, playing for United from 1993-1995, having  joined them from Bolton. He was to return there briefly in 2003-2004.

A team which has finished in mid-table in the SPL is clearly going to offer Coyle’s side some degree of challenge. Results have gone well for Wigan in pre-season up to this point, although the opposition has been weak at times. Latics did well to beat Atromitos, only a day after returning from their US journey, with the associated jet lag. The Greeks have been their strongest opponents so far.

Coyle is still lacking mainline defenders and it looks like big Norwegian centre back Thomas Rogne is still not fit enough to play. If he is  not available the Coyle will have to choose between rookie Adam Buxton at right back or midfielder Chris McCann at centre back, the versatile Emmerson Boyce being able to switch as needed. James Perch, who has had an excellent pre-season at centre back, and the experienced and solid Stephen Crainey will make up the rest of the back four. If fully fit, Scott Carson wil start in goal.

Latics are blessed with a fine squad of midfield players. Coyle has lots of options available. However, Ben Watson is likely to start in the midfield holding role, just in front of the back four. James McCarthy  and James McArthur are favourites to take the other central midfield roles. Callum McManaman and Jean Beausejour are the natural wide players and Marc-Antoine Fortune has done enough to justify selection at centre forward ahead of Grant Holt, with fine displays capped by well taken goals so far.

Shaun Maloney has not appeared as much as he might have liked in the pre-season up to this point, due to a niggling injury. One wonders if Coyle will use him in the playmaker role – where he is most effective – or push him out wide. Maloney could play a key role in the promotion push.

Jordi Gomez and Roger Espinoza have looked lively in pre-season and will also be knocking on the door. Nouha Dicko is at hand to provide the unpredictable element if brought on.

It promises to be a fascinating encounter. It will certainly provide us with an insight into Owen Coyle’s thoughts about the formation of his team, with the new season coming up the following week.

In the meantime Coyle will continue to pursue his transfer targets – at least four more according to his own words – some of which will be on loan. The saga with the transfer of winger Albert Adomah from Bristol City continues to muddle on, but it is going to be defenders that will be the main priority.

Coyle has achieved so much up to this point, but he still has a lot of work to do in getting his squad ready to challenge for a return to the Premier League.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

Wigan Athletic 2 Atromitos 1 – a game of two halves

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

Leigh Sports Village

Wigan Athletic continued their run of pre-season victories with a win over  Atromitos at Leigh Sports Village. The Athens-based team, also competing in Europe, promised to give Wigan a  stern test and so it was to prove. Despite standing on a 2-0 lead at half time, Wigan must have been glad to hear the final whistle as the Greek team continued to press in the second half.

Wigan started the game with a patched-up defence, with midfield players Chris McCann and Jean Beausejour playing at left centre back and left full back. Adam Buxton started at right back, with James Perch in the middle. There was a packed midfield with Ben Watson anchored in front of the back four with Fraser Fyvie, Roger Espinoza and Jordi Gomez further forward. Callum McManaman and Marc-Antoine Fortune provided the threat upfront.

In an open and entertaining first half Wigan had their excellent young goalkeeper, Lee Nicholls, to thank for maintaining a clean sheet. Wigan had opened the scoring with a Gomez penalty after 6 minutes, after Fortune had been fouled. The big centre forward was to make it two in the 34th minute , when he turned and hit a rocket left foot shot into the right hand corner of the net. The Greeks had their fair share of chances, but Nicholls’ positioning and agility was to deny them.

Atromitos made a raft of changes at half time and the fresh legs of their substitutes challenged a Wigan side that had begun to look lethargic after that bright first half. The Greek team’s approach in the second half was over-physical for a friendly game, with McCarthy being the main recipient. Three yellow cards were handed out as a result, although more serious consequences would surely have resulted had this been a  match with more at stake.

Owen Coyle had tried to bring back some spark to Wigan by bringing on James McCarthy, James McArthur and Stephen Crainey after 54 minutes, but the midfield continued to be dominated by the Greek team. Bringing on two new front players – Nouha Dicko and Grant Holt – after 60 minutes also failed to wrest  the initiative from Atromitos.

Given their constant pressing, it was no surprise when Karamanous scored a well taken goal for Atromitos after 76 minutes.

In the end a tired Wigan held on to seal a 2-1 win.

The Good

Marc-Antoine Fortune is clearly enjoying playing in the lone centre forward role at Wigan. It suits him much more than the supporting striker role he has had to play at previous clubs. He is strong and has good technique, which he demonstrated through the 54 minutes he was on the pitch. Fortune is not a striker who has a good goalscoring record throughout his career, but he has scored in each of the last three games for Latics. Moreover each goal he has scored has been well taken.

It was revealing to see Lee Nicholls get the nod once more ahead of Scott Carson and Mike Pollitt in goal. Nicholls is a very accomplished young  keeper and has a bright future ahead. With Ali Al Habsi due to return in the near future, Wigan will have a surfeit of goalkeepers. There remains the possibility of Nicholls once again being sent off on loan, but the departure of Al Habsi would not be a surprise.

In the absence of experienced defenders,  James Perch once more stepped up to the plate and delivered. He has been an ever-present in the starting lineup and looks like he is going to be a real force in the centre of the defence this season.

The Bad

The starting lineup revealed the need for experienced, specialist defenders. Coyle might be able to get away with playing midfield players in defensive positions in friendly games but they are likely to get found out in the harsh reality of the Championship division.

This is surely something that Coyle is working on.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.

From Wigan with Style

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

coyle2

The spectacular fireworks that followed Latics 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Riverhounds provided a fitting finale for the first phase of Owen Coyle’s  revolution  at Wigan. It is only around five weeks since the effervescent Scotsman took over at the club, but a lot has happened in that time.

To be honest, Coyle’s appointment to the Wigan Athletic job did not initially go down well with the majority of supporters. It seemed that Dave Whelan was doing things on the cheap, bringing in a manager whose team had got relegated from the Premier League. To make things worse he had worked with the auld enemy up the road at the Reebok Stadium.

It is remarkable what Coyle has already done in such a short space of time. He must have been working 24/7.  His dealings in the transfer market up to this point have been very astute.

Coyle paid  a reputed £700,000 to Bursaspor for an ex-England goalkeeper –  who is only 27 –  in Scott Carson.  James Perch – 26, who promises to be a key central defender – was acquired from Newcastle for only £750,000. The biggest sum went to Norwich for 32 year old  Grant Holt – £2m  – but the big centre forward has a fantastic goalscoring record throughout his career and it could prove to be money very well spent.

Coyle has also picked up a swath of good quality players on free transfers – Stephen Crainey, Thomas Rogne, Chris McCann, Marc-Antoine Fortune.

Pre-season tours don’t usually end in fireworks and in reality only one of the three teams that Latics faced was capable of challenging them. Both the Riverhounds  and the Dayton Dutch Lions play in the newly formed USL Professional Division – the third tier of American football – and the gulf between them and Latics was clear to see.

The more difficult game was at Columbus. The Columbus Crew have competed in the MLS since it started in 1996 and their Crew Stadium was the first “soccer specific” ground built by an MLS club. Crew typically average around 14,500 for MLS matches and the greater metropolitan area of Columbus has a population of over 2 million. The team are currently in midtable in the Eastern Conference of the MLS. Latics’ performance to come away with a win against a team of that level in the full swing of their season was gratifying.

There is still a long road ahead for the Coyle revolution. The trip to the USA was little more than  a training exercise, although it did provide good PR for a club that now has a global branding. Wigan had arrived in the US as not only the team that won the FA Cup, but the one that won it in style. Although playing at half pace in the three matches one could see that the general pattern of Latics’ play has stayed intact. From time to time we saw a few hoofs upfield from new additions to the squad, but by and large we saw that silky approach that was the hallmark of the Martinez era.

Coyle is wise not to make major changes to the team’s playing style at this stage. As the season progresses Coyle will adapt it, in the same way that Michael Laudrup did at Swansea last season. The Swans stuck to their fundamentals of possession football, but became more flexible and pragmatic.

The next phase of Coyle’s revolution will be to bring in more quality players to boost the defence and attack.  The sooner he can do that, the better. The newcomers will not have had the same opportunity to bond with the squad as did those who went to the USA. However, the starting lineup for that first league game at Barnsley is probably already in Coyle’s head, give or take a right back or central defender.

The video coverage of the matches in the US made good viewing. Wiganers will get the chance to see the new squad with their own eyes tomorrow night when Latics play Atromitos at Leigh Sports Village. Last year the team from Athens faced Newcastle in the Europa League, drawing 1-1 at home and losing 1-0 away. The match will help provide an indication of what to expect in the Europa League this season.

Like us on Facebook, or follow us on twitter here.
Owen Coyle has already won over many doubters by his astute moves in the transfer market, his positive approach and his commitment to his work. He has made a really good start to his Wigan Athletic career.

Stateside Latics fanatics savo(u)r US tour

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

2013-latics-tourphoto
Wigan Athletic’s first ever USA tour is not just proving a success in terms of conditioning and team bonding — it has set the perfect stage for the beginnings of a US-based supporters club, as fans from all over the country communicated on Twitter and Facebook to meet up, get to know one another, and support the team.

Jon Sicotte, known on Twitter as @spikechiquet, is one of them. A sports copy editor at the Toledo Blade in Ohio and a freelance writer for TheCup.us, he started following the Latics three years ago after some web and FIFA-gaming based research, and hasn’t looked back since. He traveled to both Columbus Crew and Dayton Dutch Lions matches, and was kind enough to contribute a write-up and photos of each experience for the Amigos. Thanks Jon!

2013-latics-tourIMG_0701

Columbus Crew 1 Wigan Athletic 2

Although this Wigan trip was about the new squad limbering up for the Football Championship campaign, it really was a chance for Latics fans to find out that they are not alone. Through Twitter and Facebook, fans from all over the United States connected and got together to share stories, laughs (a few ales) and talk of their love of WAFC. Last Saturday, a group of us decided to go to the 4th St. Grill in Columbus, about a mile from Crew Stadium. It’s a Crew bar, but we were welcomed and had a great time (the bar’s Two-Hearted Ale/Chipotle sauce on boneless wings is fantastic).

The backgrounds of the fans were all over the board: a retiree from Illinois who has lived in the States for 35 years; a Texan who has been in the U.S. since 2005; a Canadian; an American with Wiganers in his family; and even some born-and-bred Americans that just happened to pick the Latics. A few of us tailgated right before the game and met a girl who lived in the area and was wearing a Liverpool kit, although she was from Wigan originally and was happy to see her town’s team playing in Columbus. She was waving a Union Jack proudly out of her car.

Crew fans and staff welcomed us with open arms and event security looked the other way as our group sat together despite having tickets all over the stadium. We may have been small, but we were mighty and we let the Crew know we were there! The array of kits was fun to watch. We met QPR fans, a few Manchester United, Man City and England National team fans in our journey. Michael, one of the guys I met while there, grew up playing youth games under Graham Barrow and the two got to catch up on old times before the match as well.

After the match, Ben Watson and Emmerson Boyce stopped by to chat with fans along with Roger Espinoza. Some of the other guys were down by the bench. A Wigan assistant coach handed up Wigan FA Cup posters as well. It was nice to meet Ben, I remarked I was happy to get to take a picture of the forehead that won Wigan the cup.

2013-latics-tourIMG_20130713_210703_615

Dayton Dutch Lions 1 Wigan Athletic 6

A few days later, I ventured to Piqua High School’s soccer field and assumed I would be alone since many of my “Twitter Crew” couldn’t make the second game. I was happily wrong. I was tapped on the shoulder by a teen named Chole. She, her mum, brother and boyfriend had been in Columbus, but also made it to Piqua for the Dayton vs. Wigan match…a three-hour trip from Louisville. They introduced me to Joe, who believe it or not, lives just down the road from me here in Perrysburg, Ohio. I also met a few more fans around us (I believe our crew stood eight strong or so) and we all braved the 90+ degree heat and humidity.

The players felt the heat as well. In fact, they stopped to take a water break at the 30th minute. The pitch’s grass seemed long and dry and dead, making it slow playing. Wigan was sloppy as well and tried to fool around at times instead of trying to be technically sound. Still, the second half was full of exciting goals and a few good shows of sportsmanship. Late in the match, after scoring a goal already, newcomer Grant Holt collided with Dayton’s keeper nearly outside the box. The goalie fell and was in pain near his knee. Instead of driving to the net, Grant kicked the ball out of bound and let the team tend to their keeper. A minute later, after a penalty kick was awarded, Wigan offered the services of Lee Nicholls to play the penalty instead of the injured keeper. (Dayton only had one keeper at the match). After Holt scored against his teammate, Nicholls stayed and finished the match for Dayton (I wonder if Mr. Whelan will get a few bucks for the transfer fee).

After the match, the players came up to our little group to take pictures and sign autographs. We caught a few more guys before they got on the bus to head back to Columbus. The team even brought out a few boxes of pizza to share with us and many young kids hanging around to meet some true professionals of the beautiful game.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.