Tag Archives: Phoenix 2021

Maloney’s summer recruitment nears completion- but what can we expect?

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

I’m really happy with what people in the background have done, we’ve all worked extremely hard to get the squad to where it is now. I don’t see too many more coming in, maybe one or two.”

It has been a difficult summer recruitment exercise for Shaun Maloney and his staff. The previous recruitment team were shed in the upheavals over the previous months. Moreover, the Guardian newspaper reported that the EFL had decreed that the club would not be allowed to pay transfer fees until the summer of 2024.

Having rescued Latics from impending liquidation Mike Danson has kept faith in the manager, but has made it clear that he expects the club to be run in a more sustainable manner. That presents a considerable challenge to Maloney and will induce a major shift in expectations from the fan base.

Since Dave Whelan bought the club in 1995 it has never been run in a sustainable manner.

Whelan invested a large sum of money to help the club climb up to the Premier League in 2005. The first season was a great success, but Latics came so close to relegation in the second, an away win at Sheffield United on the last day of the season saving them. Steve Bruce took over from Paul Jewell in 2007 and stabilised things, albeit at a financial cost. Roberto Martinez was presented with a reduced budget when he took charge in 2009 and did incredibly well to keep the club in the division for four more years, winning the FA Cup in the relegation year of 2013.

Despite the huge increase in revenues Latics had continued to struggle financially in the top tier, with Whelan subsidising considerable losses. With large sums coming into the club from parachute payments and some £20m incoming transfer fees the return to the Championship could have been profitable. However, poor decisions were made in the hiring and firing of managers and recruitment of players. David Sharpe had replaced his grandfather as chairman in March 2015, but the net result was the frittering away of two years of parachute payments and relegation to League 1 The following season saw Latics winning League 1 but the heavy wage bill to do so largely wiped away the parachute payments coming in.

After more years of financial losses, the Whelan family sold the club to IEC in November 2018. The mysterious happenings under IEC saw the club go into administration in July 2020, before being bought by Phoenix 2021 in March 2021. Like IEC, the Bahraini ownership had poured funds into the club, but their overspending in the 2021-22 season was to become a millstone around their necks. Somewhere between £40-50m had been put into the club over those years by IEC and the Bahrainis.

Football clubs below the elite levels of the Premier League are rarely going to be good investments, as IEC and Phoenix 2021 discovered. Dave Whelan was a massive benefactor to Wigan Athletic, allowing the club to live beyond it means. He never required it to be run in a sustainable manner, constantly bankrolling it: some would say it was a series “gifts” from the local-born millionaire.

However, Mike Danson, another local-born owner, is not prepared to support the club in the Whelan way.

Most fans realise that without Danson the club could have ceased to exist. They are both relieved and appreciative, currently accepting his plans on running the club sustainably. However, with the billionaire due to take over full control of Wigan Warriors in November there are concerns of what will happen with the same person owning both the football club and the rugby league club. There are questions about whether the DW Stadium, currently under football club ownership, will be regarded as a separate entity, owned by neither club, but by Danson himself.

Given the number of players remaining at the club on bloated salaries given them by Phoenix 2021 it is unlikely that Latics will break-even financially this season. Reports suggested the budget will be set at around a third of that of least season, bringing to a figure around £6m, well over the average for the division.

Given the situation Maloney has been facing, with little wiggle room in the budget and a transfer embargo from the EFL, he has had to look for free agents add loan players. His main squad currently comprises:

Goalkeepers: Ben Amos (32), Sam Tickle (20).

Full backs/wing backs: Sean Clare (26), James McClean (34), Tom Pearce (25), Luke Robinson (21).

Central defenders: Charlie Hughes (19), Jason Kerr (26), Sean Morrison (20), Jack Whatmough (26).

Midfielders: Thelo Aasgaard (21), James Balagizi (19), Jamie McGrath (26), Liam Shaw (22), Matt Smith (22), Scott Smith (22),

Wide players: Jordan Jones (28), Callum Lang (24), Callum McManaman (32), Jonny Smith (25).

Strikers: Stephen Humphrys (25), Josh Magennis (32), Josh Stones (19), Charlie Wyke (30)

Several of those players can play in various positions in addition to the ascribed above. I have included Josh Stones in the senior squad because he appears there on the club website. The situation regarding Jamie McGrath remains uncertain, with him not having taken part in pre-season games. Reports suggest the return of central defender Kell Watts on loan, with rumours suggesting that Jack Whatmough will soon be leaving for a fee. With only one specialist right back/wing back in the squad, Sean Clare, Maloney will be looking for backup. Rumours link Latics with the experienced Josh Emmanuel (25) a free agent, ex-Grimsby Town.

Against Everton Latics played a fluid 4-4-2 system, with Callum Lang and Charlie Wyke up front and Stephen Humphrys and Callum McManaman playing wide. One expects that Maloney’s preferred formation will be 3-4-3 with Clare and McClean as wing backs and a mobile, interchanging front line of three. However, he will switch to the likes of 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 when a tactical change is needed.

Maloney’s squad is close to being complete. On paper it is not a strong as previous squads that have won the division. However, the manager will continue to work on a style of play that will help his players develop professionally. The latter is so important for the long-term survival of the club with Latics grooming young players to have significant sell-on value, unlike so many in last season’s squad.  

Morale among the fan base is fairly high at the moment, but we need to expect some hiccups along the way. The Whelan years spoilt us to a large degree, but now we are getting closer to what the economics of the club will be like without him. Some fans, weaned on that era, have particularly high expectations, but will need to temper those with the reality of the present.  

Leam’s summer shopping list

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

The dust has finally settled for Wigan Athletic after such a long period of uncertainty and tension.

It seems like an eternity since the club went into administration in early July 2020. But, unlike so many of its rivals the club is now practically debt-free, and it has new ownership that has been so positive and supportive over these difficult weeks. Moreover, Latics have defied the odds by holding on to their place in the third tier of English football.

Phoenix 2021 have set the goal of Latics becoming a stable Championship club, although they have set no timeline. The current priority is to build a stable platform from which the club can flourish and become more self-sustainable. Building that platform will necessarily involve a reengineering of the management and administration structures within the club.

Following a close escape from relegation Latics will be looking at strengthening their coaching and backroom as well as the first team squad. The coaching and backroom staffing was depleted during administration. It remains to be seen how many of those positions will be reinstated. We can assume that the structure and quantity of such staffing will be commensurate with the norms of League 1.

Leam Richardson will hope that an assistant manager and first team coach will be appointed to help lighten his load. The current first team squad has five players who have contracts beyond the end of this season. They are Thelo Aasgaard, Callum Lang, Adam Long, Luke Robinson and Tom Pearce. Given the momentum of the end of season revival Richardson will look at retaining the services of several of the players whose contracts expire in June. Lee Evans, Jamie Jones and Gavin Massey are the most long-serving of those.

There is lots of speculation from fans on the message boards and social media about who should be offered new contracts for the coming season. Is Richardson going to try to keep the bulk of those players who have given their all in the relegation struggle, retaining a core who could provide the backbone of the new squad?

A couple of weeks ago the club announced that Scott Smith and Sam Tickle of the U23 squad have been offered extended contracts. The U23 team had performed creditably in the first half of the season but were depleted by players leaving in the January window. Latics’ U18 continue to excel, winning the Professional Development League North and giving Everton a real scare in the FA Youth Cup. It was no surprise to hear that seven of them have been offered professional teams. They are Baba Adeeko, James Carragher, Tom Costello, Kieran Lloyd, Harry McGee, Harry McHugh and Sean McGurk.

The circumstances faced by management this season led to younger players being brought into the senior squad. However, in January some of those youngsters were shed in order to bring in more senior professionals. The arrival of eight new senior pros plus the return of Curtis Tilt on loan meant that fewer opportunities were afforded to the youngsters who remained. When Latics played Crewe recently they had two “homegrown” players in their starting eleven: Lang and Robinson. Crewe had six.

It took a considerable time for those new players to gel, but in the end Richardson’s move was justified as the team pulled away out of the bottom four. Richardson richly deserves his new three-year contract as manager through his efforts in keeping things together in a most difficult season. However, Phoenix 2021 have made it clear that they see the Academy as a key factor in the future of the club. Crewe have relied on their Academy for so long to constantly provide players for their first team squad. Although Latics have given youth a chance this season what can we expect for the coming one? Ideally the squad will have a backbone of senior pros but will continue to nurture homegrown talent.

Now that Latics know which division they are playing in next season they can begin the work of negotiating contracts with players they wish to retain. High on the list will be the 19-year-old Kyle Joseph who made a big impression before suffering a long-term injury.