Tag Archives: soccer

Wigan Athletic Under Ryan Lowe: From Grit to Something Greater?

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

Wigan Athletic’s time under Ryan Lowe has really been one built on grit. In football, “grinding out results” basically means doing whatever you need to get points, even if it’s a slog. It’s about being organised, disciplined, and prepared to battle for everything. In a league as tight and physical as League One, that kind of mentality often matters more than pretty football. Managers want players who stay switched on, stick to the plan, and don’t fall apart under pressure. It’s not always thrilling to watch, but it turns bad days into draws and half-chances into big wins.

When Lowe arrived in March 2025, Wigan were in a lower mid-table position and seriously struggling for goals — bottom of the league in that department. They weren’t heading straight for relegation, but the season had drifted. Lowe’s arrival felt like a reset — new ideas, fresh energy, and a chance to stabilise things.

Before long, the team leaned fully into that scrappy, hard-working identity. They finished the season in 15th, mostly because they became tougher mentally and harder to beat. They clawed back deficits, held onto narrow leads, and looked like a side willing to dig in. Not glamorous, but effective.

Over the summer, Lowe shaped the squad to fit his preferred 3-1-4-2. That system relies heavily on wing-backs, and the opening game of the new season showed exactly why. Joe Hungbo and Fraser Murray were excellent in the 3-1 win over Northampton — a scoreline that honestly could’ve been bigger. The first 20 minutes were messy and disjointed, but Murray’s goal around the half-hour settled everyone down and suddenly the team looked much more like a unit.

Of course, settling into a new shape and integrating new signings takes time. The early weeks were a mix of positives and frustrations: solid performances, some good results, but also draws where Wigan should’ve taken more. Opposition managers quickly figured out how dangerous the wing-backs were, so Hungbo and Murray started getting much more attention defensively. That’s League One — once you show a threat, everyone finds a way to make life difficult.

After eight league games, Wigan were sitting at W3 D3 L2 with 13 goals scored and 9 conceded — decent, but clearly still a work in progress. Then came Bolton. Wigan had enjoyed a strong record against them recently, and fans saw it as a genuine benchmark of their progress.

But Bolton, led by Steven Schumacher, were flying. They went with two natural wingers and caused Wigan’s wing-backs all sorts of problems. Latics were second best throughout, losing 4-1, and the fans were furious. They felt the team didn’t show enough fight and that Lowe hadn’t treated the derby with the importance it deserved. They even pointed out the lack of cards — Wigan picked up one yellow, Bolton none — which raised questions about the passion and intensity on display.

It did feel like Lowe misjudged the moment. Derbies aren’t just about points; they’re about pride and emotion. If that wasn’t fully communicated to the players, it could explain the flat performance. And once fans start questioning desire, the pressure ramps right up.

The Bolton defeat hit confidence hard. The football tightened up, became more cautious, and the spark in the final third faded. Lowe leaned further into defence-first thinking, which made sense in the moment but dulled the attacking edge even more. The injury to Ryan Trevitt made things worse — without their most creative midfielder, Wigan lacked imagination. The wing-backs also had to focus more on defending, meaning they weren’t getting forward as freely.

All of this made Wigan more solid, but not exactly entertaining. The challenge now is finding the right balance — keeping that grit without switching off the creativity.

As it stands, Latics sit 11th with a record of W6 D7 L5. They’re definitely harder to beat, and while fans still daydream about a run toward the Championship, Lowe has sensibly played that down, treating promotion as a long-term aim rather than something immediate. His popularity has dipped during the rough spells — some fans have even called for him to be sacked, others are simply bored by the football. But given how many managers Wigan have chewed through over the past decade, stability is badly needed. Lowe deserves the time to build something properly.

His spell at Preston is a useful comparison. In his first full Championship season there, they started with a 0-0 at the DW — one of FIVE goalless draws in their first six games. They had one of the smallest budgets in the league, yet still finished 12th. Not spectacular, but quietly impressive.

This season, Wigan reportedly have a top-ten League One budget. So can Lowe get them punching above their weight and pushing into the play-off conversation? A lot will hinge on the January transfer window.

With his commitment to 3-1-4-2, he needs proper wing-backs. He couldn’t sign any specialists in the summer and ended up using Hungbo and Murray — talented players, but natural wingers. Two real wing-backs surely top the shopping list, unless K’Marni Miller returns ready to step up. He also needs more creativity in midfield and better service for the strikers, who simply haven’t scored enough.

And that’s the big question hanging over everything: if the supply improves, will the forwards finally deliver the goals Latics need?

What a difference a win makes

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

It had been doom and gloom among so many Wigan Athletic fans for too long. The team was lying below mid-table in League 1 and the last time Latics had last won an away game under Ryan Lowe was on Good Friday.

The game at Wimbledon looked like it was following on from what we had seen before. The home side were a goal up, despite Wigan having the better chances in a first half when they could have gone ahead. They had not played badly but just did not look like they were going to show killer instinct in front of goal.

Enter the 18-year-old Harrison Bettoni in the 77th minute. With his first touch of the ball, he scored from a sublime free kick curling in to the top corner. Ten minutes later he latched on to a clever flick from Paul Mullin to race through and slot home. The away support went wild with excitement.

After talking about avoiding relegation and sacking Lowe the less tolerant and less patient core among the fan base have started to perk up. One fan even suggested promotion was even a possibility with Latics just 8 points behind the leaders, Cardiff City, after 16 games played.

Although Bettoni’s league debut was spectacular some fans had not heard of him. However, he has been at Wigan since his early teens and was a key player in the youth team. Lowe trusted him with the free kick because he had been taking them in the junior ranks for some time. Bettoni had showed his mettle in a much-improved U21 team and it was to Lowe’s credit that he was given that chance.

Wigan’s U21 team had a tough start to the season, losing their first four games. Their transformation was helped on its way by the arrival of 20-year-old Adam Moseley on trial from Runcorn Linnets. Moseley’s record of 17 goals in 11 games for the U21 team speaks for itself. Although he had been appearing under the name of “Trialist”, posts on social media a week ago told us his name and that he had agreed to a two-and-a-half-year contract at Latics. Although this has now been revealed in the local press, nothing yet has appeared on the club website.

The main news on the U21 side recently has been in sending players away on loan. Tom Watson has gone to South Shields, Leo Graham to Bury, Jack Rogers to Macclesfield, Christy Edwards to Witton Albion and K’Marni Miller to Radcliffe FC. Kai Payne went to Oldham Athletic at the start of the season, but injury has limited his appearances to 10 games so far. Some fans have been critical that the club has not secured them loan spells at clubs in higher tiers of English football. However, the majority are short term loans which expire before January.

The U21 team’s last three results have been spectacular. A 9-0 win at Coventry was followed by a 2-1 home win over top of the table Sheffield United, then by a 7-2 win at Barnsley. In the absence of U21 match reports on the club’s website one has had to rely on picking up information from opposing clubs’ sites. In previous years there were pockets of information on players in both the U21 and U18 squads to go with their photographs but there is scant coverage now.

Bettoni’s spectacular debut and Moseley’s acquisition have certainly helped to lift the spirits of supporters. At the beginning of the season, it had looked like Lowe had lots of options with four strikers in his senior squad. However, optimism has faded over the past months as none of the four have convinced. Lowe’s preference, particularly in home games, has been to play with twin strikers. Dara Costelloe and Christian Saydee were his choice for the opening game against Northampton, but both have had three game suspensions after receiving red cards, disrupting their settling into their roles. Paul Mullin and Maleace Asamoah have been largely used as substitutes in League 1 games. Between the four of them they have scored 7 goals.

Moseley will only be available for EFL games from the start of the January transfer window. It will be interesting to see how Lowe handles Bettoni. Will he start against Stevenage on Saturday or be used as an impact sub in the latter stages?

Although Lowe clearly likes the twin striker approach he has also resorted to packing the midfield with two number 6s, two number 10s and a single central striker. The latter system looked viable while Ryan Trevitt was available to provide some goal threat as a #10, but the other midfielders who have played there have rarely looked incisive.

Callum Wright scored a well taken goal against Barnsley and has got into good positions, but lacks the composure of a midfield goalscorer. Lowe might have to continue to persevere with Wright in the hope that the composure will come, even if his career goalscoring record does not suggest that.

In a similar way he has been relying on Christian Saydee to score goals as a central striker. Saydee has scored 2 goals so far at Wigan and his career record is 14 goals in 137 appearances. Although he is unlikely to score many goals as a striker, he is nevertheless a useful player to have on the pitch. He is a powerful and skilful forward able to hold the ball, with an eye for a killer pass through a defence. Some would say his style is reminiscent of Emile Heskey. Others might cite Marc-Antoine Fortune who scored 5 goals in 71 appearances at Wigan, but was nevertheless a regular starter in the Championship.

Following the opening game against Northampton I commented here that “Looking at the current squad there is certainly enough quality to finish in the top half of the table, barring major injuries.”

Since then, Lowe lost Isaac Mabaya early on and Ryan Trevitt since the end of September. However, my comment still holds. If they can be in a mid-table position by the New Year, they will have something to build on and it is by no means impossible that they will reach a playoff position.

If Lowe had money to spend, he would invest in specialist wing backs and creative midfielders. Good, proven strikers don’t come cheap and it is unlikely that Latics will ever splash out the kind of money needed.

In the meantime, he will look at getting the best of the strikers he has at his disposal. Finding the right blend will be key.

Matt Smith’s Return: Boosting Wigan Athletic’s Midfield Options

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

Photo courtesy of Wigan Athletic

Matt Smith was a key player in Shaun Maloney’s tenure as Wigan Athletic manager. If any player was almost irreplaceable in the Latics legend’s system, it was he. Maloney favoured a brand of possession football where moves are patiently built up from the back. Smith played the role of pivot in front of the central defenders, providing both extra defensive stability and creativity going forward. His serious hamstring injury near the end of December was a hammer blow to a manager who was struggling to impose his style of play on a young squad.

The Maloney era was one which helped stabilise a club that had come so close to going out of existence. The Scot had to operate on a much-reduced budget than his predecessors and aim towards making the club sustainable though the development of young players. Sadly, he is largely remembered for lacklustre home displays last season that provided scant entertainment for the fans. However, there were moments in his two-year spell where it looked like the manager’s vision might eventually come to fruition. Matt Smith was the catalyst who enabled those glimpses of skilful, flowing football.

Smith is still only 24 years old. An ex-Arsenal youth and under-21 team captain, he spent loan spells at Charlton, Swindon and Doncaster before Maloney signed him on a free transfer in July 2023. Although Maloney used him solely in the pivot role, he had shown himself to be an all-round midfielder in his Gunners days where he notched 7 goals and 22 assists in 94 appearances for the Gunners age group teams  His attacking skills were also prominent in his stay at Doncaster.

In last night’s League Cup victory over Stockport County, he was employed in the #6 role in front of the defence, Baba Adeeko and Tobias Brenan playing further forward as #8s. However, Tyrese Francois has looked comfortable this season in the #6 role, which is also Adeeko’s best position. It leaves Ryan Lowe with options on how to utilise his midfielders. Both Smith and Francois have the skills necessary to play the #8 position. Adeeko’s strength lies in his ability to close down the opposition and protect the defence. Creativity is not his forte.

The return of Matt Smith was a welcome sight last night. Latics fans have not seen enough of him in his two years at the club.  A groin injury in his first season and hamstring injury in his second meant that he has was available for selection for only half the time he has been at the club. Providing he can stay fit he can play a major role in Ryan Lowe’s plans.  

Leyton Orient 2 Wigan Athletic 0: low-energy Latics fall to defeat

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

“We didn’t compete enough – we’ll address it on Monday morning, but the fact of the matter is, if you don’t compete, you’re not going to win.”

So said Ryan Lowe following an abject performance by his team.

Wigan’s performance was predictably dire. Predictable because Orient were wounded after losing their opening game, and Latics were probably made to look a bit better than they are against Northampton. The Carragher injury probem didn’t help. It was a bit if a nightmare for Sessegnon too.

Orient were far superior on the day. Lots of professional fouls to interrupt Latics, but with a fluid and dangerous front four. The Lowe version of hoofball – pass it back to Tickle so he can punt it as long as he can – will be frustrating against decent teams that can cope with it. But it’s percentage football and it could be enough to get Latics in contention for playoffs.

In January 2007 Denny Landzaat made a memorable comment reported by the Dutch press about Latics’ style of football under Steve Bruce:

 “Some matches the long ball is the only kind we play… It quickly turns into lottery football… I often think that as I’m not getting the ball played to me, I might as well run to get on the end of it when it drops from the sky.”

The ball went over the heads of Wigan’s central midfielders yesterday too. The 19-year-old Tobias Brenan had made a promising debut against Northampton, but looked a passenger in the first half. It would be fascinating to see him in a more possession-based team because he looks skilful. Moreover, most of the balls that had reached Dara Costelloe and Christian Saydee up front could be described as “hoofballs”, as opposed to accurately aimed long balls.

Jamie Carragher’s knee injury after four minutes of play was a bitter blow for Lowe. Already deprived of the combative Will Aimson through suspension the manager had to resort to a back three that had not previously played together as a unit. Jon Melliish was moved to left centre back, with the hapless Sessegnon moved to the right. Mellish did not perform at all badly and he showed an energy that many of his teammates were devoid of on the day. New signing Morgan Fox was not on the bench yesterday but will stake a strong claim to the left central defensive possession when fully fit.

Lowe has an opportunity to give other members of his squad a try in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup game at home to Notts County. He will be looking to re-energise his team for Saturday’s League 1 home tie against Peterborough.

Stats courtesy of WhoScored.com