Tag Archives: EFL

Wigan Athletic 1 Exeter City 2: deflected goals stun Latics

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

Wigan Athletic’s wins away at Exeter in League 1 and the FA Cup had a certain amount of fortune about them. Put simply, a mixture of ill fortune and lack of penetration in the penalty box by Gary Caldwell’s team gifted both games to an opportunist Wigan. The reverse happened today with two deflected goals proving the difference between the two teams.

Latics started brightly but were undone in the 11th minute when Mo Eisa’s shot took a wicked deflection off Charlie Goode to put the visitors ahead.

With Matt Smith suspended and Liam Shaw out through injury there was going to be lack of creativity in Latics’ midfield. Scott Smith and Baba Adeeko struggled in the first half to link the defence and attack. Exeter pressed high up the field and Wigan’s defence and midfield found it hard to cope with. Far too often the centre backs, Hughes and Goode, waving their arms about, would play the ball between each other or to full backs who were hard pressed to go forward. It was tedious, slow and repetitive, frustrating for a paying spectator to watch.

Being a goal behind at half time Shaun Maloney made attacking changes in the second half with Jonny Smith coming on for Sean Clare at right back, Chris Sze for Adeeko and Charlie Kelman for a totally ineffective Josh Magennis. The changes brought energy into Wigan’s play and players started to run with the ball. However, in the 66th minute another deflected goal, this time off Scott Smith, once again rocked Wigan. However, they continued to mount attacks.

 Kelman’s mobility had proved useful in the second half and he scored an opportunist goal after 71 minutes after the keeper had palmed way a shot by Steven Humphrys. However, no more goals came for Wigan and Exeter walked away with a perhaps fortunate, perhaps deserved 3 points.

It has been a season of highs and lows for Latics. At their best they can match the top teams in the division and play delightful football. At their worst they can be ponderously slow moving the ball forward, seemingly devoid of energy, reluctant to run with the ball, prone to constant back passing. T

The ups and downs are typical of a mid-table team, something Latics fans have not seen for years. If this team were to finish around mid-table it would be an achievement for a manager who has dealt with so many difficult situations at the club with grace and dedication. The goal for the season was always to avoid relegation and make progress to balancing the books.

Maloney and owner Mike Danson have together helped stabilise a club on the verge of extinction. The “massive” overspending of the Richardson era ultimately left the club in poor shape, with so many players on long term contracts on salaries that were disproportional to the club’s revenues. Latics will make a considerable loss this season and it is highly unlikely that any of Richardson’s “senior pro” signings will be here at Wigan next season.

Only three of Richardson’s signings were in the starting lineup today.  Steven Humphrys and Jordan Jones has been sent away on loan by Richardson, but Josh Magennis had been signed to be a first team regular after taking over from Charlie Wyke as “target man”.

Earlier in the season we had seen an exciting attacking trio of Thelo Aasgaard, Martial Godo and Humphrys. Since then, Aasgaard, who has been dogged by injuries, has started to realise some of his huge potential. Godo was electric until his injury in the FA Cup game at York. Since his return he has been a shadow of his former self. Humphrys was so good to watch earlier in the season, his pace, flair and two-footedness, able to open up defences. But his form has dipped drastically and he too looks a shadow of what he was.

Latics will almost certainly avoid relegation this season despite the 8-point deduction imposed by the EFL. They are on their way to becoming a sustainable club, but that path will be painful for a fan-base accustomed to the support of a benefactor. Expectations remain among too many fans that Latics will continue to be run the way they have over the past decade. Times have changed and the long-term survival of the club is paramount. That involves the club living within its means.

Stats courtesy of WhoScored.com

Our thoughts, and those from social media, after another tough day for Wigan Athletic

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

Supporting Wigan Athletic has been such a rollercoaster ride. The highs have been marvellous: the lows have tested the resilience in us all.

Until the closing matches of the restarted season I had resigned myself to not worrying about what division Latics would be in next season. My main concern was for the survival of the club.

But I got hooked by the wonderful reaction of Paul Cook’s squad. Despite not having received their normal pay for months they played so well, making a wonderful effort to nullify that horrible 12-point penalty. Not having the fortune to get that second goal against Fulham was heart-breaking for players and fans alike.

Today’s decision by an appeal court regarding the 12-point deduction rubbed salt into the open wound.

Like many fans of “smaller” clubs I have become disillusioned with the way football in England has been going. Put simply, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. There was always a “feeling” in the Premier League days that they really didn’t want a club like Wigan mingling with the elite and bloated. Since Latics have returned to the jurisdiction of the EFL that feeling has never gone away. Feelings are what they are: hard to substantiate, but one remains sceptical about the people in power in English, and indeed world, football.

Sometimes the heart can speak more loudly than the mind. The bottom line is that Latics still exist and long may that continue. It is heart-breaking to see staff laid off and players being sold for meagre prices, but other clubs have been through administration and come out of it stronger.

Paul Cook has gone and we can expect almost all of the senior squad to be on their way. The wage bill over summer must be drastically reduced so some players who would normally command a significant transfer fee will be freed from their contracts to get them off the wage bill.

Let’s take a brief look at how fans reacted to today’s news through the message boards and social media.

Our thanks go to the Cockney Latic Forum, the Vital Wigan – Latics Speyk Forum and Twitter for providing the media for the posts below to happen. Thanks go to all whose contributions are identified below.

Th10 on the Latics Speyk Forum commented:

It’s what we all expected, an absolute joke.

I really fear for the future of the club now. Only a few weeks till the start of the new season. We don’t have owners or a manager and won’t have many players left. What will the EFL do next when we’re not in a position to start the season? They’re going to destroy the club.

FrancosLoveChild on the Latics Speyk Forum said:

I wont stop loving Wigan, but I have fallen out with the sport, football was/is a big part of me, but as the years go on, you see how the sport is becoming more and more about keeping the big clubs happy for revenue than the integrity of the sport.

Cupwinners on the Cockney LaticForum said

I’m afraid this could be the final nail in the coffin for Wigan Athletic.

We need to find a new owner yesterday with mega deep bottomless pockets. We have no money, no crowd, no match day money, no manager, players leaving daily, TV funding slashed, players fire saled and clauses to allow them to leave cheap or free. Players been sold for nothing.

A new owner? J—s !! , as a business you would have to have your head seeing to take us on. I fear for our future truly fear. We need someone in asap or we will for sure be the new Bury.

Zeb2 on the Latics Speyk Forum said:

I don’t hate the DW/JJB but it will never feel the same to me as Springfield Park did.

All your childhood/teenage experiences are more intensely felt and burned into your memory than what comes afterwards.

The prospect of returning to L1 or L2 if we were at Springfield wouldn’t faze me one bit but is far more concern8ng rattling round a largely soulless stadium …..though to be absolutely fair we have had some cracking matches/atmospheres there as well, it’s just that you generally need 15k plus to generate that at the DW.

Of course we deserve a club, absolutely, it’s just profoundly more difficult for us as a 40 odd year ’League club’ to be located in this area which is a cauldron of English football.

It isn’t the Rugby that’s a problem for me it’s the born and bred Wiganers strutting around in their Utd/Liverpool/Everton/etc shirts (most of whom have never been)….I know Wiganers who are season ticket holders at Bolton, Burnley (fkn Burnley ?) and Blackpool , what’s that about ?

Clubs like Burnley, Stoke, Norwich, even Leicester enjoy the distinct advantage of being substantial towns/cities that are slap bang in the centre of “nowhereinparticularshire” ….draw a 20 mile radius round their grounds and who are they competing with ?….maybe one rival of a similar or bigger size or more likely none at all. Draw a 20 mile radius round Wigan and ….well !

Ideally we should be in a 12/15,000 stadium but we Can’t make that happen unfortunately.

Lets get past this current crisis and press on from there ….Onwards (but maybe not upwards for a bit just yet !)