Tag Archives: Dave Whelan

Let Martinez go with dignity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Robinson for Latics?

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

Karl Robinson

What a frustrating time it is for Wigan Athletic and their supporters – stuck in limbo.

Roberto Martinez has not gone yet, but it looks like he is going whether it be to Everton or somewhere else. But until he does go his replacement cannot be named and the process of rebuilding cannot commence.

Whoever the new manager is he is going to have a busy summer.

According to transfermarkt Latics have 10 players leaving at the end of their contracts . They are – in order of deemed “market value” – Maynor Figueroa  (£4 million), Antolin Alcaraz (£2.2 m), Ronnie Stam (£1.8), Joel Robles (£1.8 m, on loan from Atletico Madrid), Paul Scharner (£1.3 m, on loan from Hamburg), David Jones (£1.3 m), Albert Crusat (£1.3m), Emmerson Boyce (£875,000), Adrian Lopez (£475,000), Mike Pollitt (£200,000). They do not include Ryo Miyaichi who has been on loan from Arsenal.

One continues to hope that Dave Whelan will avoid a fire sale of  star players remaining under contract. However, the sale of James McCarthy seems inevitable and Arouna Kone’s name is already being linked to various clubs.

When Martinez left Swansea he brought with him assistant manager Graeme Jones , chief scout Kevin Reeves, coach Dennis Lawrence, and goalkeeping coach Inaki Bergara. It would be no surprise if they followed him to his next move too.

Given the situation Dave Whelan will be hoping for a resolution of Martinez’s future as soon as possible. In the meantime he tells us that over fifty people have expressed interest in the position, including “some very high profile names”. Included in those will be ex-England manager, Steve McClaren, who is a front runner together with Rene Meulensteen. There have even been rumours of  an ex- Manchester United tandem of Meulensteen and Mike Phelan taking over.

Every time I look at the Oddschecker site I find the odds for Latics’ new manager have changed. The latest up and coming name is that of Karl Robinson. The 32 year old MK Dons manager played non-league football for teams that would be familiar to the more  senior of Latics fans, including  Oswestry, Rhyl and Prescot Cables.  He was a bustling centre forward. However, at the age of 29 he was the youngest ever to get the UEFA Pro coaching licence. His Dons teams are known for their good football.

In the past Dave Whelan has made inspired recruitments in managers who have taken Latics so far. Paul Jewell did an amazing job in getting them in to the Premier League and the League Cup final, Steve Bruce saved a sinking situation and kept them afloat, Roberto Martinez did a great job against the odds.

The short-lived appointment of the unfortunate Chris Hutchings, assistant to Paul Jewell, might well have put Whelan off promoting from within. Graeme Jones certainly deserves due consideration and one hopes that previous history will not count against him.

There are experienced managers up for the job – Steve McClaren and Owen Coyle topping the list. But then again Whelan took a gamble with the young Roberto Martinez and it significantly extended the club’s time in the Premier League and won them the FA Cup.

Tony Pulis is also a candidate according to the bookmakers. There are Darksiders among the Wigan Athletic faithful who would not be averse to his appointment. However, the majority of Wigan fans are unlikely to want to see his kind of football at the DW. Wigan have built up a reputation for good football and it is something that people would want to continue.

The next manager will have a hard act to follow. Let’s see if Whelan will play the wild card again and appoint somebody like Meulensteen or Robinson. However, it is still early days and the likes of Roberto Di Matteo and Gus Poyet still remain possibilities.

One thing for sure is that Wigan Athletic have never before had such a strong field of managerial candidates.  We might all have our preferences, but Dave Whelan will make the final decision. Let’s hope he can keep us his record of good appointments and put in someone who can lead the club to even greater glories.

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No need for a fire sale, Dave

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

firesale

Just over four years ago a Wigan Athletic team that was to finish in 11th place in the Premier League was gradually dismantled. The books were not being balanced, so the prized assets were cashed in and the wage bill slashed.

In the January transfer window Wilson Palacios left for Tottenham and Emile Heskey for Aston Villa for good money.  At the end of the season Antonio Valencia was sold to Manchester United for serious cash, but then Lee Cattermole followed Steve Bruce to Sunderland at a discount fee. Michael Brown was to start a couple of league games under the new manager before being released to join Portsmouth.

Roberto Martinez started his reign at Wigan under a blanket of austerity. It was to continue for his four year tenure at the club.

Will the same happen again? Are we going to see another fire sale and the selling of prized assets?

We are told that the club is in a good state financially and does not need to sell off its assets. Players had it written in their contracts that were the club to be relegated their salaries would be adjusted accordingly. Given the considerable  parachute payments due to be received would it be possible for Latics to keep all their players who remain under contract and challenge for an immediate  return to the Premier League?

Dave Whelan has consistently said that he will not stand in the way of a player who wants to go to a big club, providing the price is right. The joint sales of Palacios and Valencia in 2009 realised somewhere in the region of £30 million. Do Latics have assets of that kind of stature in the current squad?

James McCarthy stands out as Wigan’s most prized asset. Although only 22 years old he has made over 100 Premier League appearances and is a complete player, with a good temperament. There is already a lot of big club interest in him and Latics might well benefit from a bidding war between them. A fee in excess of £15 million is realistic.

Callum McManaman caught the eyes of the big clubs near the end of the season with some dynamic displays. However, he remains unproven over a Premier League season and has suffered a serious injury. Latics would be wise to hang on to him for the moment. He will be a handful for Championship defenders and could develop into a top player over the coming season. If he continues to progress he is going to be worth big money a year from now. However, if a ridiculous offer were to come in over the next couple of months he might well be released.

Arouna Kone is an excellent centre forward who scored 11 goals and made 5 assists in his first Premier League season. It is rumoured that Swansea are willing to pay £5 million for him. It is not big money for a player of his quality, but he is 29 years old and that is a factor. Kone has a release clause in his contract that sets a £6.5 million maximum fee. Kone could terrorise teams in the Championship and one hopes that Latics will be loath to let him go for a relatively small financial gain.

The press continues to buzz about Latics players who want to stay in the Premier League, with its inflated salaries. However, those same players signed contracts with the relegation clause included.

This columnist urges Dave Whelan to send an unequivocal message to those players that they are expected to stay and get the club back into the Premier League. Only if a ridiculously high offer comes in should it be considered.

Players like Ali Al Habsi, Shaun Maloney, Ben Watson and James McArthur will not fetch the same level of transfer fee of those players aforementioned. To let them go for a few million would be a backwards step. They are the kinds of players who could form the backbone of a promotion-winning team.

Let’s have no fire sale at Wigan!

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What happened to Latics this season? An analysis.

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

Who is the hero and who is the villain of the season?

Managers come and go. Roberto Martinez has done a wonderful job against the odds. So did Steve Bruce and Paul Jewell before him.

The common thread is the backing they have had from Dave Whelan. The owner is a rarity in English football – a chairman who played in the top flight. We Wiganers can be direct and blunt times – Whelan is no exception. But then  again, some of the things he has said needed saying.

Dave Whelan is the hero. Despite relegation he is already saying that the aim he has left in  life is to get Wigan Athletic back in the Premier League. He is the inspiration behind the club.

The villain is pure bad luck. Wigan Athletic have played some terrific football this year, but have had no luck. The injuries they have had would have put any club under threat. They prevented Martinez putting out any kind of settled side all season. They say luck averages out, but it didn’t for Wigan this season.

The defining moment/turning point of the season

The home loss to Swansea was a devastating blow. Once again injuries forced Martinez to put in a stop-gap defence and it resulted in giving three goals away. It was sandwiched between a hard fought win at West Bromwich and the FA Cup Final.

Having to play at Arsenal three days after an FA Cup Final would be too much for most teams. That a stretched Wigan squad put up a great show for 60 minutes or so against a rested Arsenal team was remarkable, but the odds were loaded against them. The result put them out of the elite league.

Was the club’s potential fulfilled this term?

The season started with optimism, following a wonderful run at the end of the previous season. After all, when you can beat Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool in a short space of time, then you should surely be looking at more than survival in the coming season.

It was not to be. The season was punctuated with horrendous defensive errors, which so often gave Wigan defeat from the jaws of victory. The lack of mutual understanding in the forever-changing defensive line was certainly a factor, but some of the errors were fundamental and led the club to be relegated.

Managerial masterstroke/failing

Roberto Martinez continued to be positive throughout  a season in which the results were just not coming. That was his greatest strength –  enough to inspire his club into an FA Cup Final victory.

It is easy to criticise a manager whose club have been relegated. Critics will cite awful defending and a lack of penetration in attack. Too many passes that went sideways or backwards. Martinez fans – the majority – would admit that was the case, but would point to the classy football the team produced, even in the darkest moments. The quality of their football in the cup final matched that of Manchester City, a remarkable achievement that raised global awareness of a small club.

Goal of the season

The importance of Ben Watson’s last minute cup final winner dwarfs anything that preceded it.

My son and fellow writer, Ned Brown, described it in graphic detail:

“When you watch it again on television, it is hard to tell that Ben Watson’s FA Cup winning header actually happened in slow motion. But from my bright red Wembley seat about 15 yards away, I can assure you that the world stopped for a magical 10 seconds as the ball sat up, suspended in mid-air, spinning. Then the world moved forward again, in freeze-frame snapshots. Joe Hart’s acrobatic leap and disbelieving eyes. Arouna Koné’s realization.”

What needs to change?

Dave Whelan announced today that Roberto Martinez has been given  permission to discuss a vacant managerial position.  Strangely enough, winning the FA Cup might well have been influential in him making the decision. What more of note could he ever achieve at the club?

There will be a mass exodus of players. However, there is no need to panic. Martinez has put in infrastructure and the club has started to look long-term. The development of a  strong youth academy remains paramount to the club’s continuity in top level football.

Wigan Athletic have spent eight years in the Premier League, have reached the League Cup final, have won the FA Cup. They  are a club to be reckoned with.

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“There’s only one Bob Martinez.”

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

Martinez

“There’s only one Bob Martinez.”

So sang a  group of Wigan Athletic supporters on Saturday, after their team had gained a massive three points from the trip to the Hawthorns. Once again they were starting to believe that what the charismatic Spaniard had been saying had been right all along.

Who else but Martinez could put a positive spin on a 6-1 win by relegation rivals, Aston Villa? He had been saying for weeks that other teams would get dragged into the relegation mire, although at the time most of us were looking no further than overtaking the Villans.

Martinez was quoted as saying: “We wanted Aston Villa to have a very strong ending to the season. The reason for that is I don’t think it would be healthy for any of the teams go into the final game of the season as a final, a showdown, where one of the teams has to get relegated. I think that would be very dangerous.”

There certainly is only one Roberto Martinez.  He is the man who turned down lucrative offers at much bigger clubs to continue to work miracles on a low budget at Wigan. Martinez  is the most positive and optimistic of football managers. He is the one who maintains his calm in the fiercest of storms.

His critics will say he is a spin doctor of the highest order. His fans will say that his positivity shines through and he is passionate about the club. Together with chairman, Dave Whelan, they are the ultimate “believers”, dedicated to steering their unfashionable club towards permanency in the higher levels of football.

An article in the Daily Mail  on Thursday drew derision from neutrals when it quoted Martinez as saying that Paul Scharner was one of the best centre halves in Europe.

Looking into the article more closely one found that Martinez’ original quote had been qualified with the proviso of “when he is fully focused”. When referring to the Austrian’s likely return to Hamburg at the end of the season, Martinez suggested that Scharner would return a better footballer  “because he’s a very mature player who has a strong desire to help the team keep a clean sheet rather than helping in an attacking sense like he used to.’

It was a clear example of “Martinez-speak” – publicly backing Scharner – but also letting him know that defence is what he is there for. Unfortunately the big Austrian didn’t seem to have been listening. After 29 minutes of the West Bromwich game he lost the ball when out of position in the opponents’ half, the subsequent breakaway leading to a goal for the home team.

Roberto Martinez thinks Scharner’s best position is at centre half and most Wigan fans would agree with him. But then again – will the eccentric Scharner ever learn from his mistakes?

Despite the wonderful result at West Bromwich there is still a mountain to climb if Wigan are to avoid relegation. The Swansea game coming up on Tuesday is huge and only four days before the FA Cup final.

Jean Beausejour’s injury is another bitter pill for Latics to swallow. Can Martinez continue to fire-up his players, given the demanding schedule that is coming up and  injuries continuing to weaken his squad?

One thing is for certain – Roberto Martinez will continue to believe.

Being a Wigan Athletic supporter can be a stressful experience and sometimes we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. The win at West Bromwich has helped us to see that light.

The dream of Premier League survival and winning the FA Cup remains alive. Like Martinez, Latics supporters can continue to believe.

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