Tag Archives: Gary Caldwell

Regaining a winning mentality

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Reflections and tagged with , , ,
Can Caldwell instill a winning mentality into his squad?

Can Caldwell instill a winning mentality into his squad?

Those initial waves of optimism crashed ashore yesterday as Wigan Athletic were beaten 3-0 at Blackburn. Suddenly that trip to Coventry next week is not as appealing as it was a couple of days ago.

But did people really expect Latics to get a good result at Blackburn, which has so often been a graveyard for them? It was goalless up to the 73rd minute, with “expert commentator” Neill Rimmer getting constantly frustrated by the football he was watching. Rimmer has tried to be positive in the past, but it was depressing listening to him yesterday. He was clearly not happy with Latics’ slow build up from the back and Will Grigg being unsupported up front.

However, if Lee Nicholls had done better with a speculative long shot a minute later maybe the result would have stayed 0-0. But once Blackburn had scored the first goal they were to grow in confidence. Their second goal came after Latics had already substituted two of their three starting central defenders.

Perhaps Caldwell’s most difficult task in his early days as a manager is to help his team regain a winning mentality. The last time Latics had it was through February to mid-March in 2014 when they went on an unbeaten run of eight games in the league and knocked Manchester City out of the FA Cup. Even if they were not playing that well they were able to grind out results. Since then they have far more often lost than won.

It was perhaps predictable in that the pre-season was not going to help in regaining that winning mentality. A 1-1 draw at Altrincham was followed by a 2-0 win at Southport, a 1-1 draw at Partick Thistle and defeats at Dundee and Blackburn. Winning came secondary to using the games  to get the players fit for a long, grueling season ahead. Caldwell was able to induct his new players into playing football in the style he prefers. But with so many new players there was no way that any lineup that Caldwell put out would be able to effectively able to gel together. Yesterday’s starting lineup against Blackburn had only one player who was at the club last season.

The starting lineup at Blackburn will surely provide indicators for the side to face Coventry. A back three of Daniels, Morgan and McCann is highly probable, with James at left wing back. A decision will need to be made soon whether Kevin McNaughton will be offered a contract. If not, Caldwell will be looking towards acquiring an experienced right back/wing back to challenge Jonjoe Kenny for a place.

In the games in Scotland the wing backs were pushed well forward, proving support for the central midfield and the forwards. However, against strong opposition with good wide players Caldwell will employ his wing backs more conservatively. Interestingly yesterday Caldwell once more gave Andrew Taylor a role ahead of Leon Barnett. It was perhaps another indication that Barnett’s time at Wigan is drawing to a close.

Caldwell will also have to decide which formation to employ in central midfield. Both Francisco Junior and David Perkins can play the holding role just in front of the back three. Caldwell has the option of playing one of them in that position and the other pushed further forward with Max Power. The alternative is to play the two of them in front of the back three, with Power more advanced in a creative role. Midfield trialist John Lundstram was noticeably absent yesterday. Although he did not play badly in his two appearances in Scotland, he was unable to impose himself on the games. It remains to be seen if he will be offered a contract.

As expected Caldwell gave Michael Jacobs his debut yesterday alongside Will Grigg. Jacobs has pace and trickery but does not possess the physicality of someone like Craig Davies. Neither does Billy Mckay, who was noticeably the one substitute who did not get game time yesterday. Once again, an indication that a player is on his way out of the club? Sanmi Odelusi remains another option up front, physically strong and fast, but has his game evolved sufficiently for him to challenge for a starting place in the lineup?

Caldwell has already talked about the exciting possibility of a Grigg-Davies striking partnership, but the big Welshman has still not managed more than 30 minutes during a match so far. Getting him to peak fitness, free from the hamstring problems that dogged him last season, is the priority. Caldwell will be unlikely to risk him as a starter at Coventry.

Regaining a winning mentality is the key to Wigan Athletic’s promotion hopes. It is something that can happen, but if it does it will take time. Moreover younger players now dominate the squad. Seven of the starting lineup yesterday were under 25. Young players need time to progress – so often it can be two steps forward and one step back. They will make mistakes that will cost points.

Some of the more savvy fans are quietly saying that a mid-table position this season, giving the young players time to develop, would not be a bad thing. The team would not have gained a winning mentality, but it would have shed that losing mentality that was the hallmark of last season.  It could provide a strong base for a promotion push in 2016-17.

However, such a scenario is unlikely to satisfy the demands of a young chairman who wants to “smash” League 1. However, if Latics were to occupy a mid-table position around Christmas, the players would have better knowledge of each other’s games and would have learned to play the way that the manager seeks. A promotion push in the second half of the season might then be a more realistic expectation.

In the meantime Caldwell will continue to trade in the transfer market. There are likely to be several more departures and arrivals. At the same time he will identify the players who will form the core of his team, week in, week out. The type of rotation policy adopted by Uwe Rosler is unlikely under the Scot.

Shedding that losing mentality is the first step towards gaining a winning one. Despite criticism of leaving his centre forward isolated, Caldwell will look at building a solid defence first and foremost. That means his wing backs not being pushed permanently forward as they were in Scotland, leaving the back three exposed.

If Caldwell can build a strong, well organized defence that does not give away soft goals it will be a step forward. An emphasis on defence, as the new players continue to gel together into a working unit, might well be the way he starts off the season. To push men forward gung-ho without the advantage of mutual understanding between the players could be a recipe for disaster.

As fans we will need to be patient. Turning a disparate bunch of footballers into a team with a winning mentality is something that will take time.

Dreaming big

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

 

Ally MacLeod

Ally MacLeod

“You can mark down 25 June 1978 as the day Scottish football conquers the world.”

It was Ally MacLeod’s most famous quote. The date was that of the World Cup Final in Buenos Aires.

MacLeod was nothing if not optimistic. After successful stints at Ayr United and Aberdeen he was appointed Scotland manager in May 1977. He introduced himself to the squad by saying “My name is Ally MacLeod and I am a winner.” Within a few months he had beaten England at Wembley and he was to lead Scotland to qualification to the Argentina World Cup.

The more rational of Scotland supporters had their doubts whether MacLeod’s team could win the World Cup. But MacLeod had a kind of buoyant enthusiasm that lifted people along with him. He really believed his team could bring back the trophy. True it was the most gifted Scotland squad in living memory, which included the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen, Joe Jordan, Graeme Souness and Archie Gemmill.

Spirits were high before Scotland left for Argentina. Comedian Andy Cameron’s rendition of “Ally’s Tartan Army” reached number 6 in the UK singles chart and 25,000 people turned up at Hampden Park to see the squad parade around in an open-top  bus. Prestwick airport was packed with well-wishers as they went to catch their plane. When asked what MacLeod would do after the World Cup, his answer was “Retain it”.

Sadly MacLeod’s motivational powers were to prove not enough to help Scotland succeed. They lost their first match 3-1 to Peru, then drew 1-1 with Iran. Needing a victory by three clear goals against Holland they ahead 3-1 before the Dutch pulled a goal back. It finished 3-2 and Scotland were knocked out in the group stages on goal difference. Needless to say, MacLeod’s popularity rating immediately plummeted. He lasted one more game in charge before he resigned.

Despite the final outcome MacLeod certainly lifted the spirits of the Scottish public and is remembered with affection by many.

“When I get the key players in I believe we’ll have a side you will be proud of that will be champions in May.”

Gary Caldwell exudes positivity and a determination to succeed. He wisely qualified his ambitious statement at the recent Fan Forum with the proviso of “when I get the key players in”.

David Sharpe certainly set the parameters by saying things like:

“I don’t just want to win this league. I want to smash it and get 100 points.”

“I guarantee we will have a goalscorer who scores us 20 goals next season,”

Some fans are already saying that the young chairman is setting himself up to have egg on his face. But then again weren’t similar comments made about his grandfather when he said that Latics would be a Premier League club within ten years? Sharpe certainly cannot be accused of lacking ambition for the club, even if he can tend to stick his neck out too far at times.

Having a young rookie chairman and a young rookie manager can be viewed as both a recipe for disaster and as a new broom coming in to herald a new era.

Given two relegations in two years a more experienced chairman/manager partnership would be more likely to look for consolidation in that first season in League 1. A mid-table finish would halt the slide, with building a promotion side being viewed as something to be achieved over two seasons. Rather than talk about “Smashing League 1” it would be more like “There are good teams in League 1 and we aim to be amongst them.”

However brash Caldwell and Sharpe might have been so far in their public statements to there can be no doubting the uplifting effect they have had on the club’s support.

Wigan Athletic fans have had the most miserable past twelve months, during which there have been three managers and performances on the pitch that have beggared belief. The club seemed to be drifting, without clear direction. Perhaps the most shocking of all was in January when the club started to plan “just in case” relegation happened. The net result was thirteen players leaving and the resultant squad lacking in quality.

David Sharpe took over as chairman in March, but the hapless Malky Mackay continued as manager despite an horrendous record of results. While Mackay was manager relegation was getting closer and closer. When Sharpe finally removed Mackay there were only five matches left and Caldwell could not work miracles with a weak squad.

However, it was clear from Caldwell’s very first match in change that good football was returning to Wigan, if not the results, in what remained of the season.

Caldwell will play possession football, but looking at his signings so far, one can see a combative edge will be present. The players signed up to this point have been bargain basement. However, there is already a sense that Caldwell’s vision will come to fruition. Latics have a considerable advantage over their competitors in the division through the parachute payments, highlighted by Sharpe’s assertion that their budget will be will be “five times higher than anyone else’s”. They are therefore able to offer salaries well above par for the division, attracting end of contract players looking for a better deal.

The news that Latics have made a bid of £1m for Nadir Ciftci of Dundee United is no surprise in its magnitude. Sharpe had already stated that “I was brought up on Ellington and Roberts scoring every week. To have that you have to pay good money and I’m prepared to do that”.

Latics will face competition from Celtic in securing Ciftci. The fact that they are in League 1 and Celtic are champions of the Scottish League is going to make it difficult to persuade the young Turkish player to come to Wigan. Can Latics offer a salary well beyond that of Celtic to induce the player to come? One doubts that.

Transfer money will largely be spent on strikers, although there is a clear need for a creative midfielder who can provide the strike force with the right ammunition. Nicky Law of Rangers has been mentioned and he is a possibility.

When Paul Jewell was at Latics he made the famous comment to the effect of “I can’t get anyone to come here”. Latics were the new kids on the block at the time and nobody knew how long they would be able to stay in the top echelons. Players were cautious about joining the club in those days. But times have changed. Together with Sheffield United, Latics are the “big clubs “of League 1. They can more than compete with the other clubs in the division for players. However, competing against clubs like Celtic and those in the Championship is going to be difficult, a “big sell “for Caldwell and his recruitment team.

Both Sharpe and Caldwell are to be commended for their optimism and lifting the spirits of the fans. They have set themselves high targets. But there is a lesson to be learned from the past.

Owen Coyle was appointed in the summer of 2013 with the brief of getting Latics back into the Premier League in a year. It proved too big a challenge. Working under the pressure of such an expectation would not have been easy for either him or his players. Sharpe and Caldwell and the new Latics squad will face a similar risk.

Only time will tell if the young duo can deliver what they promise. Like the Scotland supporters in 1978, the Wigan Athletic fans’ spirits have been lifted. We can only hope that Sharpe and Caldwell will have more luck than MacLeod had in Argentina.

Ally MacLeod sadly passed away in 2004, but there are still Scots who remember him with affection as the man who really believed in his country and the ability of its footballers.

It takes courage to stick your neck out and you might well fail. But then again you can lift others through your belief and you can succeed.

Sharpe and Caldwell are certainly not afraid to stick their necks out. Let’s hope things go better for them than MacLeod.

 

Keeping your key asset

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

Emyr Huws

With less than a week to go to the first training session of the new season the summer sell off at Wigan Athletic is starting to gather momentum. Scott Carson has already gone to Derby and it looks like James McClean is off to West Bromwich and Rob Kiernan to Rangers. The latest rumour is that James Perch will be joining McClean and Callum McManaman at West Bromwich.

The demand for ex-Premier League players like Carson, McClean and Perch was always going to be there. They were to be the three most likely to attract transfer income  for the club, as meanwhile it will ease its wage bill by some £20,000 per week or more for each of them. Keeping the three of them would have entailed using up around £3 m of an anticipated wage bill of £8- £10 m.

Behind them in the domestic transfer pecking order come Leon Barnett (29 years old), Don Cowie (32), Chris McCann (27) and Andrew Taylor (28) who have played in the Premier League, but are also experienced Championship division campaigners. Although their potential transfer values may not be high, the club will try to move on most of them, given their Championship-level salaries. Transfer fees will be waived as necessary.

The pairing of Andy Delort and Oriol Riera cost a total of around £5m in transfer fees last year. Sadly Delort was not able to regain his old goalscoring form after rejoining Tours on loan in January. He hit the back of the net only twice in fourteen starts. Reports from the French press suggest that there are Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs interested in him, but it is doubtful whether they would be willing to pay the kind of transfer fee that Latics paid last September. Reports from Spain suggest that Deportivo La Coruna would like to keep Riera, but are unwilling to match the kind of transfer figure that Latics would like.

Latics face a dilemma with the two players. Sell them off for maybe a combined transfer input of  £1m, signifying a £4m loss, or bring them back and have to use up 20% or more of the total wage bill for a squad of around 24 players, on their salaries alone. The option remains of a further loan period for each, relieving wage bill costs, but leaving the door open for the future.

However, media reports suggest that Latics are actively seeking strikers from other English clubs. It therefore looks like they will take the first option and sell the two players off at a significant loss.

All of the players mentioned so far are those for whom salaries are an issue for a club facing a change from a £30m wage bill to one of around a third of that within a year. However, there are also the cases of the younger players such as James Tavernier (23), Martyn Waghorn (25), Aaron Taylor-Sinclair (23), whose salaries will also have to be taken into account, together with the Malky Mackay signings Billy Mckay (26) and Jason Pearce (27), whom one assumes will be staying.

David Sharpe talked some time ago about needing up to fifteen new players. The implication is that the majority of the players signed prior to 2015 will be encouraged to move on.

However, if players are to move on they need a club not only interested in their services, but willing to get close to matching the salaries they have been receiving. In Grant Holt’s case the options seem slim. Ostracised by Uwe Rosler, Holt faded out of the Latics’ scene.  He was sent off on loan to Aston Villa and Huddersfield, where he received an anterior cruciate knee injury that kept him out of action for the second half of last season. Holt is 34 years old and with that ACL injury he is unlikely to attract the interest of clubs who can afford to pay a salary probably well in excess of £20,000 per week.

Critics will say that Owen Coyle should not have been allowed to offer a three year contract with a lucrative salary to a 32 year old. At the time it appeared to be not such a bad bet, getting a player with proven goalscoring pedigree for a relatively low transfer fee. Little did we know that just two years later the club would be in League 1 and the player’s salary would be like a millstone around their necks.

Injuries certainly affect the marketability of a footballer. Holt’s injury while playing on loan at Huddersfield will most likely prove to be the factor that will mean him staying at the club. At 34 and past his best, recovering from injury, but playing in a lower division can he be a key player? Can he win back the fan support that he lost before he was dispatched to Villa Park?  The likely scenario is that Gary Caldwell will have to find ways of motivating a player who has had a difficult time at the club, into being part of a successful set-up.

The injury to Holt did Latics no favours, but the ankle problem that prevented Emyr Huws playing in the second half of last season might well prove to be a blessing in disguise.  The 21 year old Huws was initially signed on loan from Manchester City, but Rosler signed him for a fee in excess of £2m last September. Not long after Huws injured his ankle while playing for Wales and suffered a series of niggles with it that prevented him reaching top form.

However, it was an incident in training in early February that caused Malky Mackay to report that “Emyr’s rolled his ankle badly, we’ve had it looked at and he’s going to need operating on. He’s going to be out for three or four months, and that’s a real disappointment. He came back in for a couple of games, he grabbed his chance and did really well, and it’s a real blow for us and him.”

Mackay clearly rated Huws and the young Welshman was one who avoided the huge January sell-off. Midfield was to prove a problematic area under Mackay and one can only speculate what might have happened had Huws been fit.

Because of his injury Huws might well avoid the cull that will happen in the coming weeks. Big clubs will bide their time and see if he can overcome his injury and realise his full potential. Moreover Caldwell might consider him a key player, well worth paying a salary above the League 1 norm.

Huws showed what a quality player he can be when on loan at Birmingham in 2013-14. He has shown flashes of his quality at Wigan, but niggling injury has held him back. However, he has all the attributes needed to become a top midfield player. He is combative in the tackle, has a cultured left foot, good dribbling skills and the technique to score spectacular goals from distance.

In League 1 Huws is capable of being the kind of imposing midfield player that Latics have lacked since the departures of the Jimmy Macs, McCarthy and McArthur. Moreover in shedding players who have played at higher levels there is a danger of a lack of class in the team. Huws can provide that.

Who knows how many of the players from Coyle and Rosler’s days will be at Wigan come August? So many will be shed because of economic necessity.

But Emyr Huws could prove to be the asset most worth keeping from that 2014 squad.

Only time will tell if Gary Caldwell thinks the same.

Judicious use of the loan system

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

Nick Powell had a big initial impact as a loan player for Latics.

“As much as I like Patrick Bamford – I think he is a terrific player – Murph has scored more goals and he has scored more in a squad that was pretty unfancied at the start of the season. He is the one that has the dragged us with his boot laces [into the play-offs] with all the goals he has scored. He has been brilliant. Patrick Bamford is a Chelsea player. He is a Premier League footballer on loan. Daryl Murphy is a Championship football player at a Championship club. Congratulations to Patrick, because he is a terrific player, but I think Murph deserved it.”

The words of Mick McCarthy on Patrick Bamford winning the Championship Player of the Year award ahead of his own Daryl Murphy and Watford’s Troy Deeney.

The choice of the 21 year old Bamford for that award raised eyebrows among many fans of Championship clubs. Bamford is technically a Chelsea player, although he has never actually played for them. He was signed from Nottingham Forest for £1.5m, in January 2012, but loaned out to MK Dons, Derby County and Middlesbrough.

In fact this season Chelsea loaned out no fewer than thirty four players. Eighteen went overseas, two to Premier League clubs, the remainder to the Football League. Also among those loaned out was Josh McEachran, who looked like he was going to be a key loan signing for Wigan Athletic last year. McEachran had been a star at youth level, with a combination of vision and skill that made him look an England player of the future. Before joining Latics in January 2014 he had already been on loan at at Swansea City, Middlesbrough and Watford. This season he was dispatched to Vitesse Arnhem.

McEachran made five league starts and two in the FA Cup for Latics in a disappointing stay. It is now doubtful that the player, now 22 years old, will ever play for Chelsea again. Is McEachran’s failure to realise his potential due to a lack application or have all those loan spells undermined his self-belief?

Wigan Athletic had no less than 11 loan players at various times during the 2013-14 season under Owen Coyle and Uwe Rosler. The most notable of them was Nick Powell, who for a while gave the forward line a cutting edge and unpredictability that has not been since evident. Sadly injury and loss of form led to Powell fading away in the second half of the season. This season Manchester United loaned him to Leicester City, but the Foxes cut his loan prematurely in December, citing a lack of commitment to training.

Coyle had prided himself in being an adept user of the loan system during his spell at Bolton, where he had worked with young talents such as Daniel Sturridge and Jack Wilshere. Rosler had used the loan system at Brentford to bring in players with a view to future signings, Adam Forshaw being a prime example.

Only one of those loan players in 2013-14, Martyn Waghorn, was to stay at the club. Nine of the eleven had experience of first team football in the past, with Tyias Browning and Will Keane the exceptions.  Interestingly after returning to their clubs or joining new ones, none of the eleven were to become regular first team players this past season.

In return Latics sent eight players out on loan to other clubs, including Grant Holt to Aston Villa.

The loan system has become a big feature of modern day English football. The big clubs use it to effect in developing players and reducing their salary costs at the same time. Clubs taking players on loan not only usually pay their wages, but give players valuable first team experience. Cash-strapped Football League clubs use it as a means of recruiting players without having to deal with long-term contracts that can be a noose around their necks.

Chelsea have been exceptional in using the loan system to get better value out of their players. They recruited Romelu Lukaku from Anderlecht for £13m in 2011, then sent him on loan to West Bromwich Albion and Everton, until the latter club paid £28m for him last summer.  Also in 2011 they signed Thibaut Courtois from Genk for around £8m, but within weeks they sent him off on loan to Atlético Madrid. Courtois was to establish himself as one of Europe’s outstanding goalkeepers during three years in the Spanish capital.

Chelsea have also made a big investment in their academy and their teams won both the FA Youth Cup and the Premier League under-21 competition last season. The majority of their successful young players are sent out on loan to clubs in lower divisions, where they will meet a physicality and competitive edge way beyond that of the under-21 competitions.

Bamford himself says “I’d advise every young player to go out on loan rather than stay and play in the Under-21 development league. There’s a massive difference between playing Under-21 football and being on the bench at Chelsea, and playing every week in a league where you are playing for people’s livelihoods and helping to pay their mortgages. ….The tempo in the Under-21 league is a lot slower, it is very technical and there is none of that nastiness; that is something you have to learn from playing in league games.”

Bamford has certainly made the difference at Middlesbrough, who were in 12th place last year but are now challenging to promotion through the playoffs. It is no coincidence that Bamford went to Boro after a successful loan at Derby, given that Aitor Karanka, ex-assistant to Jose Mourinho, is their manager.

How Wigan Athletic could have used a talent like Bamford this past season.

Of the nine players signed on loan only one was a striker, Jerome Sinclair. Unfortunately the 18 year old, signed in March, was to make just one appearance, as a substitute.

Due to the mass exodus of players in the winter transfer window, Malky Mackay had to bring in a lot of new blood. He signed two players on permanent contracts for modest fees and three free agents. By the closing of the transfer window on February 2nd he had signed four players on loan. He later used the emergency loan option to sign up three more young players.

According to Football League rules a club can have a maximum of five loan players in a match day squad of eighteen. Standard loan rules allow clubs a maximum of four players who are under 23 and a further four over 23 per season.  It is the player’s age on June 30th prior to the start of the season that is taken into account.

Emergency loans exist to cover clubs for injuries and suspensions. But in reality clubs use them as a short term measure of bringing in fresh blood. The two emergency loan windows operate from August 31st to the fourth Thursday in November and from the beginning of March until the fourth Thursday of that month. Mackay brought in Sinclair and Josh Murphy during that latter period.

Mackay came under criticism for bringing in young players on loan from other clubs and giving them match time at the expense of the club’s homegrown talent. But Gary Caldwell was to give opportunities to Tim Chow, Jordan Flores, Lee Nicholls and Louis Robles from the development squad during the five games remaining. Interestingly, none of the young trio of loanees – Murphy, Ojo or Sinclair – taken on by Mackay even made the bench in the final two matches.

Given the pattern of the past couple of years we can expect Wigan Athletic to have some 5 or 6 loan players in their squad. However, Caldwell will most likely seek more experienced loan players while at the same time providing opportunities for homegrown talent.

Mackay’s signing of inexperienced youth loanees on short-term emergency loans smacked of desperation. It is something Caldwell will surely avoid, preferring to send a message out to young players within the club that it is possible to progress through the ranks to the first team.

One wonders if Caldwell can use the loan market to unearth another player with the skills of Nick Powell, but with the application of someone like Patrick Bamford. Good strikers cost a lot of money. Having been unsuccessful before Wigan Athletic will baulk at splashing out a large sum on a striker who might not come off.

The loan system has become an integral part of life for Football League clubs in an environment dominated by the financial might of Premier League clubs like Chelsea.

However, it is a tool that Wigan Athletic can use to their advantage if they are judicious in its use. Only time will tell if Caldwell and the club’s recruitment team can use it to transform the club’s season.

Throwing in the towel – Brentford 3 Wigan Athletic 0

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

Towel

When a boxer is too beaten up to continue, his coach throws a towel into the ring to signal that the fight is over.

Gary Caldwell might have wanted to throw in the towel at various times during an awful performance at promotion-chasing Brentford. The unfortunate deflection of a Pritchard free kick after 25 minutes was the precursor of the nothingness that followed. Latics had dominated the game up to that point, at least in terms of possession. But a team with such brittle confidence was unlikely to be up to the task of getting back into the game following such an unfortunate goal.

What was to follow was merely a replay of the football we have seen so often this season.  Toothless in attack, woeful in defence, passing awful

Gary Caldwell set up his stall with a 3-5-2 formation. It worked well for the first quarter of the game with the wing backs getting into advanced positions, particularly Gaetan Bong on the left.  The team pressed forward to harass Brentford’s passing game. Wigan’s passing was neat and their interplays led them into the Brentford box on various occasions. One had a feeling that something positive might happen, even of the incisive final pass was lacking. It looked like Caldwell had got the team playing the kind of football he was seeking.

But as the game progressed following that first goal one got the feeling that Latics could be in for a drubbing. The Latics back three looked like they had never played together before, fragile and vulnerable to the movement of the Brentford midfield and wide players. Wigan’s midfield was both pedestrian and predictable. The forwards found it hard to stay onside.

But then again, what did Latics have to play for in the last match of a catastrophic season? The majority of the players who made the starting lineup are unlikely to be at the club next season. But at least Caldwell had taken the opportunity to give Billy Mckay his first start, together with bringing the 18 year old Louis Robles and the 19 year old Jordan Flores off the bench for their first senior appearances after 64 minutes.

The breath of fresh air that Caldwell’s appointment has brought into the club was not enough today. The Scot has inherited a poor team that was never going to be good enough to beat promotion chasers like Wolves and Brentford in the last two games. But if that deflection had not beaten Lee Nicholls half way through the first half, perhaps a goalless draw might have been on the cards  today?

The social media and message boards have been packed with fans asking which of the players whose contracts are expiring next month should be offered new contracts. On the basis of today’s performances alone the answer would quite simply be “none” except the goalkeeper. The highlight of the afternoon for Wigan was Lee Nicholls’ late penalty save. With the impending departure of both Ali Al-Habsi and quite probably Scott Carson it is no surprise to hear strong rumours that the young keeper has been offered a contract extension.

It is a measure of how far Latics have fallen over the past months that Brentford could so easily carve holes into the defence as the game wore on. The kind of football they played today is something that Caldwell might well aspire to. The Scot has a mountain of a task ahead of him to get Latics back to that level of performance.

Meanwhile we will continue to play our guessing games as to who is to stay and who is to go.

It is going to be an interesting summer!