Tag Archives: Gary Caldwell

Looking for a Goalscoring Striker? Try Adam Moseley

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Player profiles and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,
Courtesy of therealefl.co.uk

It is Wigan Athletic’s worst start for 32 years. Latics lie at the bottom of League One after successive defeats in their first three games, and the alarm bells are already ringing. There is talk of relegation and, once again, the club is being criticised for not investing a significant sum to bring in a proven goalscorer over the summer. The question being asked by supporters is an obvious one: where are the goals going to come from?

The defeat at Wimbledon on Sunday was the most frustrating of the three. The losses at Cambridge and at home to Leyton Orient, goals were conceded through a combination of defensive errors and an inability to deal with pressure. Yet, despite conceding seven goals in three games, it is not the defence that seems to worry many supporters most. Latics would have won the Wimbledon game if they had not squandered so many scoring opportunities.

Up to this point there has been no settled defensive line-up. Individual mistakes in the back three have proved costly and, as a unit, they have not yet looked particularly comfortable. However, there is still a feeling that the defensive problems can be overcome as the new players settle in and the back three develop an understanding.

The arrival of centre-back Finley Burns from Manchester City has certainly been welcomed. At 23, he brings a sense of calm to the defence, is thoughtful in his passing and uses his 6ft 5in frame to good effect when dealing with the high balls that often rain into the penalty area in the third tier of English football. Having already made 69 League One appearances during spells with Stevenage and Reading, he looks, on paper at least, a very good signing at this level.

Despite his injury niggles, James Carragher remains a top defender at this level, while it appears that the experienced Morgan Fox could be moving on before the transfer window closes. Latics already have Llyton Chapman, who did well in the nine league games he played during the second half of last season, while Jeremiah Chilokoah-Mullen arrived as a free agent from Dunfermline after making 43 appearances for them last season. Jon Mellish has also returned following his year-long loan at Milton Keynes Dons, where he played 34 games. He has been used at left centre-back so far, although he is likely to become more of a utility player as the season progresses.

There are therefore reasons to believe that the defensive situation will improve. New players need time to settle, defenders need an understanding of each other’s game and, perhaps most importantly, there is plenty of the season still to play.

But where are the goals going to come from?

Gary Caldwell continues to insist that goals are not the sole responsibility of centre-forwards or central strikers and that everybody in the team needs to contribute. There is a rationale to that argument. Modern football is increasingly about goals coming from all areas of the pitch. But supporters will remember the dramatic turnaround last season when a player with a proven goalscoring record was brought in during January.

Ryan Lowe had brought in Dara Costelloe, Paul Mullin and Christian Saydee over the summer, while Maleace Asamoah was already at the club. Costelloe had scored regularly for Burnley’s academy before loan spells at Bradford City, St Johnstone and Dundee, although his record at those clubs was just one goal in 39 appearances. He then improved his return considerably at Accrington, scoring five in 17, and Mansfield, where he scored six in 15.

Unfortunately, his first season at Wigan produced only three goals from 25 starts and 16 substitute appearances. Asamoah, Mullin and Saydee contributed just seven goals between them. When Mullin’s loan from Wrexham was terminated in January, Wigan brought in Joe Taylor on loan, and his 11 goals helped lift Latics out of the relegation zone.

That is why the current situation is under some scrutiny.

Over the summer Caldwell signed Sonny Perkins, 22, for a small fee from Leyton Orient. Perkins had been a regular goalscorer for England’s junior teams during his time with Leyton Orient and West Ham, but those goals have become increasingly difficult to find as his senior career has progressed.

A look at the current forwards’ career EFL league records gives some cause for concern:

Player Appearances   Goals
Dara Costelloe      68     14
Sonny Perkins    48       5
Christian Saydee    161      14
Chris Sze    13       1

This is not to say they are bad players, and it is certainly not an argument for writing any of them off. Perkins, in particular, has a pedigree that suggests there could be considerably more to come. He came through the West Ham academy, moved to Leeds and represented England at U16, U18 and U19 level. You do not achieve that without having considerable ability.

But potential is one thing. At some point it has to translate into production, and for an attacking player the obvious currency is goals.

Which brings us to Adam Moseley.

Moseley came through at Runcorn Linnets, and football runs in the family. His father, Mike, was himself a striker who played for Runcorn AFC before going on to enjoy a productive spell at Witton Albion. Adam followed a similar route, coming through Runcorn’s youth system before progressing into senior football.

He had already developed a reputation for scoring goals before Latics came calling. During his time with the Education &  Semi Professional Football Academy he won the North Division Golden Boot twice, scoring 23 goals in his first season and 30 in his second, before progressing into Runcorn Linnets’ first team.

Wigan took notice when Moseley joined the U21s as a trialist early last season. He did not waste the opportunity, scoring 17 goals in his first 13 appearances. That was enough to persuade the club to sign him permanently in January.

The goals continued to come, and by the end of the season Moseley had scored 27 goals in 30 appearances for Latics’ U21s.

It would be wrong to suggest that 27 goals in 30 games automatically makes Moseley a future 20-goal League One striker. The step up is enormous. League One defenders are stronger, more experienced and far less likely to give a young striker the time and space he may have enjoyed at development level.

Moseley might not be ready. He might struggle with the physical demands. He might need another season to develop. All of those things are possible.But how are we going to know unless he is given the opportunity?

There was already an indication that Wigan saw something in him before Gary Caldwell took over. Ryan Lowe included Moseley in the first-team squad for the FA Cup third-round trip to Preston North End. Wearing the No. 46 shirt, he travelled with the senior side for the 1-0 victory at Deepdale.

He didn’t get on the pitch, but it was significant nonetheless. Lowe had decided that the young striker was worth bringing into the senior environment.

Then Caldwell took over.

Despite Moseley continuing to score heavily for the U21s, the first-team appearance never came. I am not suggesting Caldwell should have started him, nor that a young striker with no senior experience should suddenly have been expected to solve Wigan’s goalscoring problems. But surely there was an opportunity somewhere towards the end of last season to give him 15 or 20 minutes and see how he coped.

Moseley did get a start this season in the EFL Trophy against Aston Villa U21s, playing at centre-forward. It was not an especially eye-catching performance, although he was credited with a goal when a defender’s clearance rebounded off him. Interestingly, he made little attempt to celebrate the goal, which perhaps said more about the nature of it than anything else.

The important point is that Latics clearly see something in Moseley. They watched him as a trialist, saw him score 17 goals in 13 appearances, signed him permanently, watched him finish the season with 27 goals in 30 appearances and then decided he was worth keeping.

In June the club gave him a new contract, with the deal running until June 2027. Moseley was clearly pleased to stay and was quoted by the club as saying:

“I’m really pleased to have signed a new contract with the Club. It’s a place that I have enjoyed my football since joining last season, and now it’s time to develop further over the next year.

“Committing my future here was an easy decision for me – I’ve enjoyed every minute, and I’m grateful for the trust the Club has shown in me. I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”

Maybe Caldwell thinks he isn’t ready. That is perfectly reasonable. The manager sees him every day in training and knows far more about his physical development, his strengths and weaknesses than we do. There may be very good reasons why Moseley hasn’t yet been considered ready for League One.

One obvious question is whether he has fully made the transition from part-time football to the demands of full-time professional football. That alone could explain why Caldwell has been cautious. But it doesn’t change the fundamental point: the one thing we still don’t know is whether Moseley can score goals against League One defenders.

The club’s financial situation means that Latics have a limited budget. If you do not have the money for the finished article, you have to be prepared to develop your own. That doesn’t mean automatically promoting every youngster who scores goals at academy level. It means recognising when somebody is producing numbers that are difficult to ignore and being prepared to take a calculated gamble.

Moseley’s numbers are certainly difficult to ignore. Seventeen goals in 13 appearances as a Wigan trialist and 27 in 30 for the U21s is a remarkable record. Meanwhile, the established forwards have the senior experience, but their career EFL goalscoring figures hardly suggest that goals are guaranteed.

Nobody knows whether the 21 year-old Adam Moseley could be the answer. Perhaps Costelloe will finally click. Perhaps Perkins will fulfil the potential that took him into the England youth set-up. Perhaps Sze will prove that the faith shown in him with a new contract was justified.

Despite his indifferent performances Caldwell has shown faith in Perkins up to this point, starting each game in the centre forward position. He scored a goal from a rebound at Cambridge, but other than that has been unconvincing. Having given the player a two-year contract Caldwell has to give him the backing to succeed. However, if there is no improvement over the coming weeks and the team has not climbed up the table. Caldwell will need to take action.

Caldwell has also kept faith in Costelloe, despite his woeful scoring ratio last season. The player has looked better playing wide with Perkins in the middle. He works hard and shows glimpses of skill and vision. However, his finishing is well short of the level it should be.

If the goals don’t come, there will be a need to make changes in the strike force. Sze continues to show glimpses of quality, but struggles to impose himself on the game.

Adam Moseley has spent the last year doing the one thing Latics desperately need somebody to do: scoring goals. He has done it at every stage of his development, and they have clearly seen enough to keep him at the club.

Maybe he isn’t ready. Maybe he isn’t the answer. But after 27 goals in 30 games, he has surely earned the right to show whether he can make the step up.Give him some minutes. Let him experience the physicality of League One. Let him find out what he needs to improve, and let us find out whether those U21 goals were a sign of something more.

Because when you don’t have the money to buy the finished article, sometimes you have to take a chance on the unfinished one. With Wigan’s current strikers struggling to find the net and the club once again working within financial constraints, surely it is getting close to the time to find out what Adam Moseley can do.

After all, if you’re looking for a goalscoring striker and you don’t have the money to buy one, perhaps the first place to look is the one you’ve already got.

Regaining the feel-good factor

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

Relegation can dampen the spirits of even the keenest football supporter. But three such occurrences in just five years, combined with a profligate waste of some £74 million of parachute payments is a real downer.

Morale had not been particularly high for Wigan Athletic fans over these recent weeks. But then came the announcement  that local lad Jordan Flores had signed a new two year contract. It came as a bit of a surprise as there had been no news about the player for weeks.

“Always good to reward one of our own” were David Sharpe’s words as he announced the new contract on Twitter. In one instant it brought visions of a future where Wigan Athletic would at last have faith in home-grown talent, rather than incessantly bringing in loan players. It raised the feel-good factor, at least for a while.

But the warm feeling started to wither somewhat as the tweet above appeared on Twitter. The article went on to quote the chairman as saying:

“There’s going to be a couple of changes before the start of the season. There’ll be a couple of players hopefully coming in, and maybe a couple of players leaving.”

Those words of Sharpe caused the alarm bells to ring. Did he really mean just two of the likes of Dan Burn, Will Grigg, Sam Morsy, Max Power or Nick Powell will be going and the others staying?

A couple of years ago Latics had been relegated to League 1, but the chairman’s optimism over the summer of 2015 was uplifting. The famous quote about “smashing League 1 with 100 points” was a trifle overexuberant, but it set the tone over a summer of huge changes in the playing staff. Most of the high earners were sold off, paid off or loaned out, but the chairman played his trump card in paying up to £1 m for Will Grigg.

The end result was that the budget had been massively cut, but with the parachute money the club was still able to offer above-average salaries to attract players more than good enough for the third tier. Sharpe’s positivity continued into the season and at the midway point he paid somewhere approaching £1 m to sign Yanic Wildschut on a permanent contract. The Dutchman and Grigg proved to be crucial signings as Caldwell’s team won the division title.

Sharpe made efforts to keep the bouyant feeling obtained by winning League 1 by offering season tickets at levels well below the market rate. In the meantime Gary Caldwell started to bring in many more new players than he had previously predicted. The manager clearly did not believe the squad was good enough to survive in the Championship after all. There was no £1 m signing this time around, but ex-players Jordi Gomez and Nick Powell were brought in as marquee players on relatively high salaries.

Caldwell’s team had a poor pre-season and his tactics in the early league games were conservative. The manager had reportedly wanted Callum Patterson from Hearts to solve the problematic right back position, but Wigan’s bids had fallen far short of the Scottish club’s valuation. Midfield player Conor Hourihane of Barnsley was also apparently on Caldwell’s wanted list but nothing resulted. The woeful decision by Sharpe to replace Caldwell with Warren Joyce was to ultimately lead a demoralised squad to relegation. The possession football we had seen under Caldwell evolved into “fightball” under the ultra-defensive Joyce.

According to the Premier League website Wigan Athletic received £16,298,146 in parachute payments last season. Transfer fees paid out in summer 2016 were relatively modest. In January they jettisoned two of the highest wage earners in Jordi Gomez and Adam Le Fondre. Speedy winger Nathan Byrne was sent on loan to Charlton. The sale of Yanic Wildschut to Norwich was reputed to be in excess of £7 m including add-ons. It was rumoured that the wage bill at the start of the season was around £17 m. Joyce himself remarked on how he had reduced that wage bill by the January comings and goings. But the end-result on the field of play was the loss of a proven goal scoring centre forward, a creative midfielder who had previously proved himself to be a top Championship player and two wide players with searing pace. Some fans at the time had remarked that it looked like Latics were planning for relegation even in January.

After his disastrous appointment of Joyce, Sharpe wisely took his time in searching for the right man for the coming season. Paul Cook has a fine managerial record and his teams play the kind of good football that went out of the window under Joyce. However, after the initial hype of Cook’s appointment, including the angry reactions of Portsmouth fans, it has been surprising that we have not seen much of the new manager in the media since then. When Cook was appointed, Sharpe had said that “The squad is in very good shape; it doesn’t need major surgery but he may want to do a few bits if a couple of players leave but the core of it is very good and that was a big attraction to him.”

Since Cook’s appointment a couple of players have already left. Matt Gilks went to Scunthorpe who were able to offer him the kind of contract that Latics were unable or unwilling to provide. Jake Buxton was a rock in defence last season, but has already left the club by mutual consent.

The departures of Gilks and Buxton can be seen as indications of the club lowering its budget, which it clearly needs to do, given its huge potential loss in revenues. Despite what the chairman is saying it would be a surprise if only two more of the present squad leave before the season starts on August 5th.

The question is how Sharpe is going to use the remainder of the substantial revenues that came in last season? Will they be used to service the club’s debt? Or is he really planning to keep all of last season’s squad that remain, bar two?

At this stage there is not the level of optimism among the fans that one would expect with  a new manager coming in who has an impressive track record. The loss of parachute payments weighs heavily in our minds. Will Cook receive the level of financial and personal support from the chairman that is needed to get Latics back to the Championship?

Sharpe’s gesture in offering an extended contract to Jordan Flores is certainly good PR and we can only hope that it is a sign that home-grown talent will be given a better chance to succeed than we have seen in recent years. However, the chairman needs to enunciate his broader strategy.

What is his vision of what he wants for the current season and how he will achieve it? If he were to say that it was to be a period of austerity for the club, with any profits from last season used to pay off debts, few could argue with him if he is looking at the club’s long-term sustainability. If he were to say that he will have to make major cuts in the squad since the club needs to cut its cloth according to projected revenues, then once more it would be hard to argue against.

David Sharpe has a difficult task ahead of him. Like all of us he has made some good decisions and some bad ones. Perhaps his most redeeming quality as Wigan Athletic chairman is that he considers himself a fan, first and foremost. Moreover he is eloquent and very comfortable with the media.

The coming season will be the acid test for the young chairman. Should he take a gamble and back the new manager with a war chest to get the club back to the Championship? Or should he look at financial consolidation and future sustainability?

Without the parachute payments the feel-good factor has dropped alarmingly. How will the chairman deal with it?

 

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A look at the stats for Wigan Athletic manager candidates

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

Odds according to skybet.com

“Our immediate priority is to identify and appoint a first-team manager or head coach. That recruitment process is already well underway, and we will focus on ensuring that we appoint a manager who fulfils the criteria we have set in terms of the type of person we wish to employ and someone who has the ambition, drive and intelligence to enhance and help develop the structure we have created over the last few years. It’s important to appoint someone who will create a culture for success, which is something we have failed to do this season.”

The words of David Sharpe published in Wigan Today this Monday.

Sharpe is clearly following a different route than he or his grandfather, Dave Whelan, have taken over recent years. He has been looking at a host of potential employees, hoping that he will make the right decision. The stats show that Wigan Athletic have had seven managers in the last five seasons. Too many rash decisions have rocked the club back on its heels. The end result has been turmoil, with a massive turnover in players as new managers have come and gone.

But the process of selecting the “right” manager is a slow, deliberate process. In the meantime the club is without someone at the helm as players contracts come to an end. It seems inevitable in football that when a new manager comes in he wants to bring in his own backroom and coaching staff and his own new players.

However, according to Sharpe’s recent comments we will not be seeing the kind of turnover of players that we have seen in recent summers:

“Unlike in 2015, when we had to significantly rebuild the squad, the basis of a very strong group of players is already in place. We may see some movement in the transfer market, and we want players who are prepared to achieve success in League One next season. But compared to previous transfer windows, we will not have the same level of movement. Stability is important, and we will stress that to any new manager.”

Names of potential managers for Latics have been constantly bandied around the social media and message boards. Moreover supporters have claimed that some of those candidates have been spotted at the DW Stadium. But Sharpe is holding his cards close to his chest, possibly waiting for the playoffs to be completed before coming to any decision.

The bookmakers’ odds change rapidly. Previous favourites disappear down the list and new names appear. Moreover it depends on which bookmaker you choose to consult.

For the purposes of this article we will take a statistical look at the top seven candidates according to the current odds offered by SkyBet.

It was the American writer, Mark Twain, who attributed that famous comment on statistics to ex-British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli: “There are lies, damned lies and statistics”.

However, in this modern football age stats are enjoying an increasing use. Here, for better or worse,  are the WDL stats for the candidates (supplied by Wikipedia):

Paul Cook

Odds: 5/4

Age:  50

Born: Kirkby

Current club: Portsmouth

Managerial statistics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nathan Jones

Odds: 2/1

Age: 43

Born: Rhondda

Current club:  Luton Town

Managerial statistics:

 

 

 

Alan Stubbs

Odds: 7/1

Age: 45

Born: Kirkby

Previous club: Rotherham United

Managerial statistics:

 

 

 

 

Michael Appleton

 Odds: 8/1

Age: 41

Born: Salford

Current club: Oxford United

Managerial statistics:

 

 

 

 

 

Darrell Clarke

 Odds: 10/1

Age: 39

Born: Mansfield

Current club: Bristol Rovers

Managerial statistics:

 

 

 

 

Uwe Rosler

 Odds: 12/1

Age: 48

Born: Altenburg, East Germany

Current club: Fleetwood

Managerial statistics:

 

 

 

 

 

Gary Caldwell

 Odds: 14/1

Age: 35

Born: Stirling

Current club: Chesterfield

Managerial statistics:

 

 
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A murky future for Latics – a Chinese buyout or Mike Phelan?

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

A murky time for Wigan Athletic.

 

These are unsettled times at Wigan Athletic. A team that has relegation staring in its face unable or unwilling to show the urgency needed to stave it off. The departure of the Head of Football Operations with barely a murmur from the fans. A new contract for a player who has hardly made an impact this season. The Sun newspaper telling us that another of Alex Ferguson’s men could be taking over as manager. Then the blockbuster rumour that Dave Whelan is looking to sell up, with a Chinese consortium visiting the facilities at Christopher Park, Euxton and the DW Stadium.

The players are surely caught up in this too. It has been an awful season with so many of last year’s squad finding the step up to the Championship division tough.

Some will say that the squad just has not had enough quality to compete in the higher division, but there were players of flair and high technical quality there at the start of the season. Nick Powell was always going to be a risky signing, given his horrendous problems with injury in recent years, and so it has proved. Saturday’s cameo appearance shows what a difference he could have made if he could have stayed fit. Jordi Gomez was another flair player and he had a great record in the Championship division with Latics and Swansea.  Gary Caldwell used him sparingly, Warren Joyce too, being seemingly content to shunt him off to Spain in January. Joyce also lost Latics’ most dynamic player and potential match winner, Yanic Wildschut, to Norwich City’s over-generous offer in January. Alex Gilbey too had shown flair early in the season before receiving a serious injury from which it took him months to recover.

Having had to make the massive shift from the possession football of Gary Caldwell to the hoofball of Warren Joyce the players have lost much of their ability to pass and receive the ball. Moreover with the end of the season approaching and League 1 beckoning, so many will be unsettled. Until the last couple of games a willingness to fight for the cause has rarely been lacking in the players, who have suffered so many heart-breaking defeats by fine margins. The seeming lack of urgency is surely a manifestation of a feeling of insecurity for so many of them. They know that the last time Latics were relegated there was a huge exodus of players, with 22 new players coming in.  Indeed some may have already been told to start looking for another club.

Matt Jackson’s departure was labelled as “the end of a consultancy period” on the club web site. After rejoining Latics in 2011 the ex-team captain had taken over as Head of Football Operations. Interestingly the club communique tells us that Jackson had not been involved in player recruitment for the past 18 months, although he was part of the newly formed Player Recruitment Department from the summer of 2015. Jackson was heavily involved in the Latics Academy and the switch to Euxton.

The announcement of a new two year contract for another ex-captain came as a surprise to many of us. Craig Morgan was a rock upon which League 1 was won last season, but has not had an easy time this year. Injuries and an infection have limited his availability and the 31 year old has made just 12 starts and 5 substitute appearances this season.  The contracts of Jussi Jaaskelainen, David Perkins and Stephen Warnock are also due to expire in June.

Given the results it is appears more and more unlikely that Graham Barrow will continue as manager next season. Indeed there are even rumours that a new manager may be brought in before the season finishes. Doing so would give a new incumbent the opportunity to decide on contracts and the players he would like to keep.

For weeks now we have heard rumours that ex-Hibernian and Rotherham manager and Bolton and Everton player, Alan Stubbs was a frontrunner. The rumours may have been fuelled by the fact that John Doolan, who was Stubbs’ first team coach at Hibs, has already rejoined Wigan. Moreover Stubbs will have been visible watching his son, Sam, play for Latics’ youth team and development squad. However, the assertion that ex-Manchester United assistant manager, Mike Phelan, might be taking the reins has already been met with concern by fans.  It also appears that a return for Gary Caldwell is a possibility.

To add to all of this uncertainty the alleged visit of a Chinese consortium is of even more import. The visit might well be tentative, but is this an indication that the 22 year Whelan dynasty will soon come to an end?

Much has been said and written about DW’s incredible success at the club. If he had not taken over in February 1995 what would have happened? Would another buyer have come in and made the investments that Whelan made? Not likely. The club was not an attractive proposition at the time, languishing in the fourth tier with attendances so often below 2,000. Its only real asset was Springfield Park. Whelan invested  with a mission to propel his home town club into the Premier League. Estimates vary as to how much he put into Wigan Athletic, but the figure appears to be somewhere between £90 m and £100m.

The club is surely more sellable in 2017 than it was in 1995. It has a more tangible “brand” after its successes in recent years – winning the FA Cup, reaching the final of the League Cup, eight years in the Premier League. But other than its players what assets does it have? Both the DW Stadium and the Euxton facility are owned by companies linked with the Whelan family, not the club itself.

Should the Whelan legacy continue we can expect continued financial backing for the near future at least. The club will be expected to be as financially self-sufficient as possible, although achieving that whilst maintaining success on the field of play will be a challenge. Wigan Athletic’s fan base has grown to maybe five times what it was in 1995, but still does not match those of the majority of clubs in the Championship. It is more akin to those of clubs in League 1. Moreover to maintain attendance levels the club has had to resort to cut-price season tickets. Put simply, the club will not have the revenue to seriously compete, even in League 1, unless there is backing from the ownership.

However, although Dave Whelan will surely provide a buffer for the club in the near future there appears to be no way that he will be making the scale of investment he has in the past. Given the club’s current predicament it is highly unlikely that it will reach the top tier of English football again in the foreseeable future.

Eleven of the twenty four clubs in the Championship are now owned by overseas investors. Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Wolves are Chinese owned.

In the long term it is unlikely that the Whelan family will continue to inject funds into Wigan Athletic. There will surely come a point where they will say “enough is enough”, but would anyone be tempted to buy a club that does not own its own stadium or training ground?

It is a time of uncertainty at all levels within the club. Ownership and management issues further cloud a murky near future.

 

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Joyce has gone – time to BELIEVE again

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

Do we BELIEVE that Latics can get out of this predicament? Table thanks to Statto.com

David Sharpe did the right thing today by dismissing Warren Joyce and his close associate Andy Welsh. Some might say the chairman deserves praise for swallowing his pride and realising he did the wrong thing in November. But Sharpe is pragmatic enough to know that if he had kept Joyce in charge, Latics would surely have been doomed to relegation.

One of the fundamental building blocks in Wigan Athletic’s rise from the fourth tier to mingle for so long with the elite clubs of English football was sheer BELIEF. It was the belief of Dave Whelan in his managers – Paul Jewell, Steve Bruce and Roberto Martinez – that led to the club to an FA Cup, a League Cup Final and eight years in the Premier League. Whelan backed them, not only with his chequebook, but with his driving ambition to hold Wigan Athletic up there.

There were certainly sticky moments along the way, but there was always the hope that things would turn out alright in the end. They did apart from that fatal night at the Emirates, just three days after Ben Watson’s unforgettable goal had won them the Cup. But Whelan had chosen his managers wisely.

Jewell’s teams were built on solid defence, but always had flair players in attack. Whelan opted for continuity when Jewell left, giving the post to his assistant, Chris Hutchings. Sadly it did not work out and Hutchings was gone after barely three months in charge. Bruce came back to the club, Whelan backed him in the transfer market and he righted a foundering ship. His teams were based on a solid defence protected by a rugged midfield, but with a good smattering of flair players to provide balance.

Martinez was brought in to keep Latics in the Premier League on a much reduced budget. He went on to produce the best results in the club’s history, away wins at Arsenal and Liverpool, the club’s one and only victory at home to Manchester United, that epic victory on cup final day. Martinez was a great ambassador for the club, through his insistence that his teams compete against star-studded opposition by sticking to the principles of skilful possession football. The FA Cup victory against Manchester City was no fluke: Wigan had played the better football on the day, with not a hint of skulduggery.

Was Whelan just lucky with his appointments of Jewell, Bruce and Martinez or did he have a vision of what they would do? If he was lucky with those three, he certainly was not with his appointment of Owen Coyle. Neither was he in appointing Malky Mackay and his grandson made a similarly woeful appointment in Warren Joyce. None of those three names – Coyle, Mackay, Joyce – became synonymous with good football at Wigan Athletic. Indeed it was quite the reverse.

But Whelan did make a good appointment in Uwe Rosler, who picked up the mess left by Coyle and got Latics to the FA Cup Semi Final and the Championship playoffs. Sadly the going got rough in Rosler’s second season, but rather than showing faith in a manager who had achieved so much, Whelan showed him the door, bringing in the hapless Mackay. Sharpe did a similar thing with Gary Caldwell, who had only months before won the League 1 title. His replacement was the inept Joyce.

Sharpe has done the right thing for the moment. The odds are that Latics will not be able to avoid relegation, but without the shackles imposed by Joyce the players can make things happen. Few of us really and truly believed that Joyce was the right man for Wigan. To BELIEVE that Joyce could save the club from relegation was asking too much, given his obsession with the defensive side of the game and the hoofball we were witnessing.

Graham Barrow has been appointed caretaker manager again. Barrow is a survivor who has seen six managers come and go since rejoining the club in 2009. Barrow is not the kind of coach who will throw caution to the wind, but we can expect him to field line ups that are more balanced that we saw under Joyce. Due attention will be paid to the offence, as well as the defence.

With Barrow in charge we at least have a hope that we can BELIEVE our team can avoid the drop.

Courtesy of Statto.com

 

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