Perchinho arrival heralds in a new style

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , , , , ,

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Yesterday, a player known in some circles as Perchinho became the latest of  Wigan Athletic’s new signings. He could well become a key piece in the jigsaw puzzle that Owen Coyle is putting together to get Latics back into the Premier League.

Despite the nickname, Perchinho is not a flamboyant Brazilian who will help Latics maintain the style of champagne football that Roberto Martinez’s teams could produce on big occasions. Quite the opposite. He is James Perch, a fairly ordinary-looking footballer, given the nickname affectionately, though ultimately ironically, by Newcastle fans. His critics would say he cannot accurately pass the ball more than 10 yards.  So how  can such a player  play a key role  in a promotion-challenging team?

Born in Mansfield, Perch came up through the youth ranks at Nottingham Forest, making his league debut against Wigan in 2004 and amassing 190 appearances in six years before earning a move to Newcastle United. During this time, he had been used as a utility player, appearing in the right, left and centre of defence and as  a ball winner in midfield, and was eventually trusted with the captain’s armband.perchinho

Perch was to create an unenviable Premier League record on joining Newcastle after receiving consecutive yellow cards in his first five games at that level. Despite the rocky start, the ex-Forest captain went on to make 65 appearances for the north east club over the past three years, including promotion from the Championship and a Europa League campaign.

The signing of a player like Perch is something that Roberto Martinez would have been unlikely to contemplate. He just would not have fitted into the style of flowing football the Spaniard sought. But then again, this is a new era. Owen Coyle has a more pragmatic approach and we are not going to be seeing that mixture of champagne football, interspersed between periods of innefectiveness and defensive mediocrity, that we witnessed  in the Martinez era. So what kind of football will we see during Coyle’s tenure at the club? perch1

James Perch may not be the most skillful player around, but he is a great tackler and a consummate team player and professional. A recent posting on Squawka News offers an interesting insight into Perch’s capabilities, describing him as a “Toon cult hero”, with stats to back up their argument. Another interesting article on Newcastle fan site  Blog on the Tyne lauds Perch’s professionalism.

Wiganers have always appreciated players who are willing to battle for the club and Perch looks destined to become a fan favourite, as he was at Forest and Newcastle. Perch’s career has probably been held back by his ability to slot into different positions. Coyle might get the best out of the player by using him in one specific role.

With so many new players coming into the squad it is important that Latics begin the season with a backbone of last year’s players in the starting lineup. The mutual  understanding between players who have played together for a period of time should not be undervalued. The newcomers can be gradually weaned into the team. However, I would not be surprised to see James Perch’s name on the teamsheet for the season opener at Barnsley.

Owen Coyle’s team will not provide the silky approach we have got used to, but we can expect them to be attacking and entertaining. Professionals  like James Perch can be a really positive force in the club, as well as on the pitch. It will be the hard work of players like him that will enable team mates to get the ball and challenge the opposition.

The Martinez era is over , but Coyle’s squad is quickly taking shape and we can continue to look forward to watching good football, albeit in a different style.

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Celtic supporter sheds light on Thomas Rogne, Wigan’s new signing

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

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In light of the much-needed flurry of transfer activity Owen Coyle has orchestrated in recent days, we thought we’d re-visit a special feature approach and ask more informed writers about who exactly the club is signing.

Twenty-three year-old Norweigan centre-back Thomas Rogne became the third free transfer in less than a week to join the club after some promising, but injury-strewn years at Celtic. He joins former teammates Shaun Maloney and Gary Caldwell in the Wigan locker room and has hopefully spent enough time in Scotland to understand what James McArthur, Stephen Crainey are on about as well.

In an effort to learn more about his Celtic years and the circumstances under which he is joining our club, we reached out to the writers of Celtic  blog, Lost Bhoys, who helped us with a similar request when Shaun Maloney signed for us two years ago. Their take on the little Scot has proven thoroughly accurate — if he could regain fitness and sharpness, they wrote, he would go on to be a hit. After a six to eight month period of adaptation and fitness work in his first season, Maloney’s impact has been spectacular. Lets hope the arrival of another ex-Celtic player can help keep him at the club.

Without further ado, here is Liam Power, aka Brummie Bhoy of Lost Bhoys, dishing on our new centre-back Thomas Rogne:

Hail Hail to Ned and all the Wigan supporters who Los Three Amigos website. Ned had asked David Harper to produce a piece on Thomas Rogne after he did something similar when Shaun Maloney joined Wigan back in August 2011. Unfortunately, Harper was unavailable so he asked me if I would pick this up which I was more than happy to do.

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

Hail Hail

Brummie Bhoy

A breath of fresh air from Coyle

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other, Reflections and tagged with , , , , , ,
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Owen Coyle – a breath of fresh air

What a breath of fresh air Owen Coyle has brought to Wigan. Like him or loathe him he cannot be criticized for sitting on his backside and waiting for things to happen. Within the place of week he has signed two new players who look like a really good fit for the club. At a time of doom and gloom, when it looked like the heart was being ripped out if the club, he has come in and his positive outlook has already started to lift our spirits.

Wigan Athletic were stuck in limbo during the ”Will he stay or will he go “ saga with Roberto Martinez. Worse was to follow -even before the charismatic Spaniard had been unveiled as Everton manager – there were stories about him raiding his old club for playing and backroom staff. It seemed like he was going to be the main destroyer of the infrastructure he himself had painstakenly built in his four years at Wigan.

Reports suggest that Martinez is coming back from vacation and is ready to start forming his backroom staff at Everton. Graeme Jones is a probable departure to Goodison, but we will have to wait and see if Graham Barrow and other coaches and backroom staff will go too. Once again we seem to be waiting for Martinez and it is not an ideal situation for Coyle to come into as new manager.

At this stage it looks like each of James McCarthy and Arouna Kone already has a foot out of the door. However, there have been reports saying that Callum McManaman wants to stay and that could be of huge importance for a promotion push. Championship defences will not relish the prospect of dealing with McManaman’s speed, trickery and directness on one flank and the dangerous, curving crosses coming in from Jean Beausejour on the other.

There has been much said about Latics allowing players to run down their contracts over the past couple of years. Maynor Figueroa has already gone to Hull, Roman Golobart to Cologne and it looks odds-on that Antolin Alcaraz will go to Everton.

Figueroa was a real stalwart for Latics and will be missed. He has been reunited with Steve Bruce, the manager who brought him to Wigan.

Golobart was being carefully nurtured by Martinez and it looked like he might be a key player for the coming season. However, there were question marks whether he had the pace needed in the Premier League.

Alcaraz had three topsy turvy years at Wigan. In his first season he started in 34 Premier League games, but injuries hampered him after that. He made 25 league starts in his second season, but only 8 last year. Ironically his best performances came near the end of his time at Wigan, when he looked a class act.

However, freedom of contract is a double-edged sword and Latics are using it to their own advantage. Both Chris McCann and Stephen Crainey are highly experienced and capable Championship level players, who have also played in the Premier League. The signing of the 22 year old Thomas Rogne is being processed  – he would be one for the future and the 6’4” Norwegian would provide height and power that the Latics centre of defence has been lacking.

Coyle recently stated that he needed at least six new signings, but that looks like a conservative figure. It could be that he is looking at youngsters like Lee Nicholls, Jordan Mustoe, Eduard Campabadal, Daniel Redmond and Nouha Dicko stepping up to the plate, although we await confirmation on those who were at the end of previous contracts.

If Coyle can avoid a firesale and only McCarthy and Kone depart he will have a strong squad. However, he is going to have to get out the cheque book to sign those kinds of quality players who can add something special. Signing some of the best of the Championship’s younger players would appear to be the way to go forward. Latics have already been linked with two 25 year olds –  Derby County full back John Brayford and Bristol City winger Albert Adomah. However, if Kone were to go he would be hard to replace and it would be Coyle’s greatest challenge.

Coyne has inherited the backbone of a team that – with a few key additions and a minimum of departures – would be quite capable of pushing for promotion. His critical signings may be yet to come.

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McCann arrival kicks off Coyle revolution at Wigan

Posted by Ned in News and tagged with , , , , ,

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The first signing of the Owen Coyle era has been confirmed in the shape of 25-year-old Irish midfielder Chris McCann, who will join Wigan Athletic upon the expiration of his contract at Burnley, where he spent the past nine years.

The transfer virtually confirms Wigan’s intentions to cash in on their prize asset and fellow Irish midfielder, James McCarthy.

Though not a household name, McCann looks an astute signing. At 25 years of age (26 in July), his best years are in front of him yet he boasts an impressive seven seasons of Championship football. He is the type of player Wigan were never able to afford in the top flight: someone established who knows the division well, entering his prime years as a footballer. Today’s three-year deal should see him turn 26, 27 and 28 in a Latics shirt — peak years.

And while Coyle has a technically gifted midfield with players like James McArthur, Ben Watson, Jordi Gomez, Roger Espinoza, Fraser Fyvie, it is the athleticism of the likely-departing McCarthy that he would have struggled to replace internally. At six-foot-one and described as a powerful box-to-box player, it appears McCann is the man to do it.

Interestingly, the year McCann made the most appearances for Burnley was the year they achieved promotion to the Premier League. He then suffered a bad injury and was limited to seven appearances in the Premier League campaign. He has worn the captain armband for Burnley and having spent nine seasons with them, appears to be a loyal and committed player. His comments upon arrival at the club make for encouraging reading.

The hope now is that a McCarthy transfer will bring in at least 12 million pounds. Those who have watched his development over the last few years would likely value him at closer to double that amount, but realistically, 12 million would still be very good business. Potentially, Coyle could buy five good Championship players and still have money left over.

In a related note, news sources had suggested that McCann’s former teammate and striker, Martin Paterson, could be ready to follow. But earlier today, it was confirmed that Paterson had opted instead to join Huddersfield Town.

The other rumour doing the rounds at the moment involves a move for goalkeeper Scott Carson, who has made more than sixty appearances for Bursaspor in Turkey over the past two years but may fancy a move back to England. He seems to have been around forever but is only 27 and would be an excellent signing for the 400,000 pounds that are being mooted. With Ali Al-Habsi apparently set to miss the beginning of the season to injury (along with Gary Caldwell and Ivan Ramis) — Latics supporters will be hoping there is some truth to that nugget.

Too much change in the wind

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

It is time for change at Wigan Athletic with a new manager having come in, with a huge quantity of new players to recruit. It is exactly the situation Latics supporters would have wanted to avoid.

There are too many change parameters to cope with at the moment. What is going to happen to Roberto Martinez’s backroom staff? How can Owen Coyle bring in nothing but quality players when the number needed to make up the squad reaches outrageous proportions?

We have heard nothing about the likes of Graeme Jones and Graham Barrow going off to Everton with Martinez. In terms of stability it would be much better if they stayed at Wigan. Then again what is going to happen to Kevin Reeves, Inaki Bergara and those ex-Latics players who are scattered around the club, especially at youth level?

Owen Coyle recently said Latics had 14 senior squad members left. Soon after that he was talking about James McCarthy and Arouna Kone going if the price was right. Add to them Shaun Maloney and Callum McManaman and the squad decimates to 10.

Of the end of contract players Maynor Figueroa has already signed for Hull and Roman Golobart for Cologne. There is talk about Antolin Alcaraz going to Everton or into Europe. Latics have lost too many good quality players at the ends of their contracts over recent years.

Dave Whelan’s philosophy of giving players the chance to move to bigger clubs, if the price is right, is admirable in many ways. However, there comes a point when you have to stem the flow and require players to meet their contractual agreements.

The more players Whelan lets go – even at good prices – the more difficult for Owen Coyle to find adequate replacements, even with money to spend.  

It is a matter of sheer numbers. The club stands the risk of its heart being ripped apart in both backroom and playing staff. Coyle is going to be faced with employing journeymen to make up the numbers, rather than build on a strong base that was there before.

Whatever happens I ask Wigan Athletic supporters to bear these things in mind and not make instant assessments of Owen Coyle’s worth. He has come in and is already speaking about having to sell prized assets.

Let’s hope he does not make the Martinez mistake of bringing players from his former club. Thank goodness he has already insinuated that he will not be pursuing the 36 year old  Kevin Davies. However, he is already being linked with Burnley veterans Martin Paterson and Chris McCann.

Latics need to avoid a mass exodus. All that Roberto Martinez built could be gone within a matter of weeks.  It would be crippling for the club.

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