Amigo and Social Media Reaction to a last-gasp win against Shrewsbury

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Social Media and tagged with Tendayi Darikwa, Thelo Aasgaard, Wigan 2 Shrewsbury 1 December 9, 2021

December 8, 2021: Wigan Athletic 2 Shrewsbury 1

Why are these midweek home games so difficult? Latics were playing a team in the lower reaches of the table, with no away victories in League 1 this season.

But after getting off to a flying start with an opportunist goal on two minutes from Tendayi Darikwa they struggled and the visitors were playing the better football, their equaliser in the 39^th minute being no great surprise. Wigan improved in the second half but had to wait until the 93^rd minute for Thelo Aasgaard’s long range winner.

Leam Richardson had left Stephen Humphrys on the bench with Callum Lang playing at centre forward. The manager once again gave a vote of confidence to Gavin Massey, playing him on the right wing in preference to Gwion Edwards and Jordan Jones. Joe Bennett came in for his League 1 debut.

Latics have now gone 10 games without defeat and are level on points with Rotherham at the top of the table, but with a game in hand. Capable of really incisive finishing and dogged defending this Wigan team is not always pretty to watch, being more pragmatic in their approach than aesthetically pleasing.

In the absence of Charlie Wyke and with Humphrys being out of favour we saw Lang being used in a role that does not suit him. Too often he was left to chase wayward long balls from the centre backs that were easily gobbled up by the Shrews defence. It was a like a throwback to the darker days of the Championship when central strikers like Josh Windass had such awful service from the defence.

There was always a strong element of long ball in the Cook/Richardson era. It was at its best when the balls were well targeted with a big target man there to hold off the defenders, as it had been this season with Wyke playing that role. We saw it close to its worst last night with defenders taking the easy option of “playing it long” rather than work the ball through midfield. Lang is not Wyke: he needs the ball at his feet, not hooved above his head.

No matter what the style of football is on display it is results that football managers are judged on. Richardson’s team is resilient, and they wear the opposition down so that as the second half progresses there is always a chance of a late goal. Shrewsbury looked tired in the closing minutes, with stoppages that might have given weary legs some respite. Latics have a solid goalkeeper, tenacious defenders and capable midfielders who protect the defence. In Callum Lang and Will Keane, they have players who can both score and create goals, with James McClean looking a class above League 1 level on the left.

After the match Leam Richardson commented: “It was a great finish to the game and a great start to the game. I didn’t think we were great in the first half; we weren’t able to force Shrewsbury into a negative shape because we kept turning the ball over. I thought we came out for the second half and controlled large parts of it and with good habits you will get them moments where your flair players need to produce and thankfully tonight young Thelo Aasgaard has produced. We want to be expressive and expansive and score those types of goals but then we don’t want to be disrespectful with the ball and with ourselves and have a first half like tonight, because we have set good standards and it certainly won’t happen again.”

Let’s take a look at how fans reacted to the match through the message boards and social media. Our thanks go to the Vital Wigan – Latics Speyk Forum and Twitter for providing the media for the posts below to happen. Thanks go to all whose contributions are identified below:

Jocklatic commented:

Great start to the game, crisp, sharp & quick passing got us a well worked lead within 2 mins of the start, just a shame we didn’t keep it up but I’ll take an injury time winner all day…..we weren’t at our best but managed to secure the 3 points which they say is the sign of a good team. Was impressed by Joe Bennett but less than impressed with JM’s & his misplaced passes, hopefully just a bad day at the office…..there were a few Latics players guilty of misplaced passes but perhaps that’s down to the terrible conditions & it was nice to get the ‘winless midweek at home’ monkey off our back.

FrancosLoveChild added:

Not gonna lie, we are one of the worst sides in this league passing the ball, Shrewsbury look like Barcelona compared to us, it’s quite incredible how Leam gets results out of this squad. No disrespect to them but there are 4/5 better squads in this league, just hope we can keep up those results till the end.

Zakky stated:

Sometimes it looks like the pitch is to big for us.
Joe Bennett has been outstanding so far.

C_Latic opined:

Good point this. I respect that Tilt is very good in the air, but it feels like he’s a got a big mistake in him at some point and it also feels like he’s far too easy to wind up which will lead to him getting sent off one day.

As a matter of fact, I hate the chopping and changing of our centre backs in general. It’s never healthy doing that in my opinion as it makes it impossible for the full-backs and keeper to build a solid understanding and rapport with them, especially at set pieces. It’s no coincidence that we’ve stopped keeping clean sheets since Leam started tinkering with the CBs every game.

The crowd was poor, but expected. It’s a UCL night before Christmas payday and has been absolutely p..ing down non stop for two days straight. That rain will have knocked hundreds off the gate tonight I bet.

Oscarbon wrote:

Agree. I thought Massey worked hard and showed some nice touches. He was our most attacking player tonight. I think McLean can be forgiven one bad game after the blood, sweat and tears he has put into the rest of the season so far.

I am getting a bit concerned about Will Keane’s prolonged drop in form. He was class up to the last 5 games but seems too easily marked out of the game recently. Aasgaard had another cracker although there were times when he looked like he was in the back four he had to come so deep for the ball.

Can someone explain why our back four, when presented with 20yards of open field in front of them still feel the need to pass either sideways or back to Amos. Bl..dy infuriating.

OnLoanFromEnfield added:

Short Pass sideways, short pass backwards, repeat and hoof (straight to the opposition) … simple !
Just like watching Dunkley playing in the Championship albeit the current crop keep the ball in the stadium.

Shrewsbury were effective at filling the spaces and did have 11 players behind the ball for long periods of time. Tricky to break down and the players that you would expect to assist there not stepping up.

Naylor’s passing was poor in the first half too.

Amigo and Social Media reaction to an entertaining draw against Wycombe

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Other, Social Media and tagged with Callum Lang, Gavin Massey, Jordan Jones, Tendayi Darikwa, Wigan 1 Wycombe 1 August 18, 2021

August 17, 2021: Wigan Athletic 1 Wycombe Wanderers 1

“Results don’t always match performances” is an old adage in football, but it could certainly be used in the context of this match. Wigan Athletic played some scintillating football and would have won the game with a canter had they put their chances away. But they did not and tired legs in the last quarter invited Wycombe pressure, resulting in a 91^st minute equaliser as Kell Watts was outjumped at the far post from a corner kick.

The game was so different to that we saw on Saturday against Rotherham. That dour encounter was won by a late, late header from Will Keane. This was an entertaining affair.

Leam Richardson had retained the back four that completed the previous game, with Tendayi Darikwa at left back and two specialists for that position on the bench. It proved to be a successful move as Darikwa had one of his better games. Jordan Jones was brought in on the left wing and his running and accurate crossing promised much for the future. Latics had gone ahead after 47 minutes from a thunderbolt finish from Callum Lang. The goal rattled the visitors and Latics were looking dangerous but were unable to add to their lead.

Keane’s header had hit the crossbar in the 69^th minute with Jones taken off soon after, being replaced by Gavin Massey. Massey had looked more like his old self coming off the bench against Rotherham, playing on the right. However, this time he was placed on the left where, time after time, he has failed to deliver. Richardson is a wonderful motivator of his players, but his substitutions can be unimaginative and ill-timed. Gareth Ainsworth had made two substitutions for Wycombe in the 59^th minute, the third being the huge Akinfenwa after 73 minutes. It signalled an aerial bombardment from the visitors who looked full of running at that stage compared with Latics.

After the game Richardson commented:

“I thought in the first-half we were excellent, and we were worthy of going in at half-time in-front. With the quality and the energy levels that we show, and the entries into their final third, we’ve got to be pleased.

Wycombe are a fantastic, well-drilled football team, and they are a threat from any dead-ball and set-piece, as well as from open play. If you do not put the game to bed, you obviously succumb to what we did.

I thought we were worthy to go in front and we started the second half where we left off. If we were going to be disappointed, it would be for the result, and possibly the last 15-20 minutes where we came off the page a little bit and started trading blows with Wycombe which is what they want.”

Zeb2 commented:

Football eh ?…..probably got two more points than we deserved on Saturday ….and got two less than we deserved tonight.
not conceded from open play in 3 matches but two direct from corners.

Went way too deep last few minutes (a long standing trait with us) and invited waves of attack which caused us to crack in the end, but we should have been out of sight by HT….maybe we ran out of gas in that last ten/fifteen minutes ….unfortunately they didn’t.

C_Latic stated:

The positive is that we’ll play a hell of a lot worse than that this season and win. That Wycombe side are a very good team who like Rotherham will be right in the top six equation and we’ve absolutely pummelled them.

I’d say if we can get one more win from our next two, we’ll be a good spot heading into the international break. Then the fixtures will ease up and we can look at putting together a run.

JockLatic added:

Best I’ve seen us play in some time….shuda been 2/3 nil up at half time & thoroughly deserved our goal, such a shame we couldn’t have got a second as that would have seen out the game. Unfortunately we sat back & had little possession the last 10 mins or so n it just seemed like they were gonna equalise….didn’t think it was a corner n possibly a free kick to us beforehand. If we play like that for a good chunk of the season we won’t be far off so long as we convert the chances. Disappointed coming away from the ground tonight but only because we should have been out of sight in 1st half…..

Made in Wigan opined:

Disappointing ending but will look at the bigger picture. It’s a brand new team and we have some decent players. We can only improve as the season progresses if McLean doesn’t upset the apple cart.

We really do need to start taking our chances. Miss of the season contenders in consecutive games and today its cost us two points. Whilst Wycombe were okay I thought Rotherham looked a tougher opponent. That said I don’t think we’ve much to fear in this league though the time it will take the team to gel and for LR to find his best team and tactics means we’ll have to come from behind to make any impact of the league table.

Amigo and Social Media Reaction to a difficult contest at Sunderland

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Social Media and tagged with Gwion Edwards, Leam Richardson, Sunderland 2 Wigan 1, Tendayi Darikwa August 8, 2021

August 7, 2021: Sunderland 2 Wigan Athletic 1

It has been an uplifting summer with Wigan Athletic putting together a squad that might compete with any in the division. That rebuild is not yet complete, with more players due to arrive shortly.

But despite the upbeat mood it was always going to be difficult facing a crowd of more than 30,000 at the Stadium of Light. Moreover Bobby Madley had been assigned the match: a referee hardly known for giving favourable decisions to Latics.

Latics had opened the game in style, pushing players forward, causing headaches to the Sunderland defence. Their football was a revelation and it came as no surprise when Gwion Edwards opened the scoring following a flowing move in the 15^th minute. But the clock seemed to be turned back a couple of minutes later when the home team launched a rapid counterattack, with centre forward Ross Stewart going down from a challenge by Tendayi Darikwa. The large crowd bayed and Madley obliged with a penalty decision in their favour. Aidan McGeady scored with ease.

The penalty knocked the stuffing out of an away team that had been buoyant up to that point. Sunderland went from strength to strength and the gangly Stewart scored the winner after 52 minutes, outjumping the Latics defence. Wigan’s football transformed into pumping long balls, a tactic that could raise its ugly head in the Cook/Richardson era when the team was under pressure. A disappointing end to a game that started with so much promise.

Darikwa made reference to the style of play in a post-match interview saying “It’s a new squad, we’re still working on new relationships and building on that. There is a lot more to come from us; I think we could have probably got the ball down a bit more today but we will look at it as a squad with the manager and come back next week.”

Let’s hope the captain and coaching staff can work on that with effect.

Leam Richardson commented:

“I thought we battled well. I thought we started the game good. I thought we imposed ourselves quite quickly. We were worthy in front and then I think the penalty turns the game. I don’t think really we recovered.

Whether it’s a penalty or not, I’ve been told it’s not but I’ve not seen it, so it’s disappointing again. But it gave them momentum. I thought they built on that momentum so I thought the were worthy winners in the end. It was eight or nine debutants and I think it showed in some parts but you can see they come together quickly.

In other parts as well, they’ve been in a matter of weeks. Everybody knows that we’re a football club we’re building slowly and I think you could see that little bit today.”

FrancosLoveChild commented:

Problem with Cook and Leam we always end up playing hoofball to suit the striker. We have always been better actually playing football and we have the players for it.

True Believer opined:

First game of the season for players brought together in the last 6 weeks and people expect them to play like they have been together for a couple of seasons.

Whatever happened to “give them time to gel”.

We have just lost by one goal in three to a side that have played together for the past two seasons and made the play offs in both those seasons. Get real.

Definitely need to see some action in the transfer market though as this is a reality check.

Jocklatic replied:

So no criticism allowed then TB, posters will def be driven off if not allowed to have their say be it against your point of view or a certain moan of a player. Went today & imo for first 10 min we seemed like a side that knew each other & how to go down field….cue the certainly unnecessary penalty by Darikwa n we seem to fall apart not helped through the game with some bizarre refereeing decisions in favour of Sunderland. Think we …well me anyway had expectations of a decent game against Sunderland but we seemed to lose our way after the penalty n made a very mediocre Sunderland side look good, again not helped by dire ref decisions. Coming away from the ground it was easy to hear that Darikwa is already a possible whipping boy….imo shouldn’t be captain as he certainly didn’t seem to command anything on the field today…..upwards and onwards to our first home game.
On a side note didn’t rate Amos, thot Power / Lang were our best players with motm….the ref

Power was the only player that performed.

Victor Moses 🙂 added:

Darikwa cost us the game, might of went that way anyway. But you cannot foul a player that is near the byline going nowhere, at best he gets a shot off at worse a cross. We we’re getting shredded down our right all game.

Wasn’t expecting an optimal performance, but thought we would have had better composure. Lots of players bottled it, Naylor was shocking on the ball. Played great against Preston, but I wouldn’t trust him to take care of the ball after today he was panicking. Cousins looked much calmer.

Edwards did nothing apart from scoring an open goal, doesn’t deserve to start next game. Jones was very wasteful when he came on.

Long ball, after long ball from the back. Too much time and space for them when they had the ball wide.

Lots of work to do, much further away then I was hoping we would be. But we do have an excellent team that will get better game by game.

Amigo and Social Media reaction to a limp display at Accrington

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Social Media and tagged with Accrington 3 Wigan 1, Callum Lang, Jamie Jones, Lee Evans, Tendayi Darikwa March 21, 2021

Accrington Stanley 3 Wigan Athletic 1

It was always going to be a challenge playing on a small and bumpy pitch against a physically imposing Accrington side. With the absence of wingers Viv Solomon-Otabor and Gavin Massey through injury and the expectation of an aerial barrage from the home side, Leam Richardson employed a back line of three central defenders and two wing backs.

Callum Lang’s opportunist goal in the first minute gave Latics genuine hope, but it was nullified when the 6ft 4in central defender Cameron Burgess was left unmarked to equalise two minutes later. Then after 15 minutes awful defending allowed another 6ft 4in central defender, Callum Nottingham, to bundle the ball home.

With an uncoordinated rearguard and a goalkeeper rooted on his line Latics continued to be vulnerable to the crosses the home side would put in. It came as no surprise when Accrington got a third through a soft penalty against Tendayi Darikwa in the 61^st minute. Striker Dion Charles’ spot kick was practically straight at Jamie Jones, who did not react. Was it the sheer pace of the shot that beat him?

After the game Leam Richardson commented:

“It’s very disappointing and I’m disappointed in the fact you knew what was coming, you prepare for what’s coming and then you succumb to that. I’ve been fortunate to work [at Accrington] as a player and manager and I’ve worked with John [Coleman]’s teams and if you don’t match the fight against his teams then you lose the game and that’s exactly what happened here this afternoon.

They’re built off a solid base and physicality and they want to run through you and around you and you can’t allow that or give possession away and give free kicks away.We got beat today by two balls into our box with no contact, no endeavour and we lost nine or ten battles on the pitch and that’s why we lost.”

FormbyLatic wrote:

That was truly one of our worst performances of the season by some margin. Really, really disappointing.

Moonay opined:

It doesn’t take much, does it.

7 points from the last 3 games, just the one goal conceded, all forgotten, cos too many players have had a poor afternoon, and the manager has maybe got his selection (and tactics?) wrong.

Plenty of criticism of the defence for the goals, (and rightly so) but the the goals (all avoidable) were from 2 set pieces and a pike with full twist of a penalty.

Some had OK games, but even those players had black marks against them: Lang, but should have had a second early on, Darikwa, but shouldn’t have allowed the opportunity for the dive, …to be fair, I’m struggling to class anyone else as OK.

As Oscar said, poor decisions let us down at times. It wasn’t a great pitch, but that can’t be an excuse.

Richardson and Rioch watch the players in training, and know far more about football and footballers than all us keyboard critics, but I struggle to see what Dodoo offers that Proctor doesn’t. Also, if you’re going to play a back 3, then the wing backs have to get forward, but young Robinson struggled to do that.

A bad day at the office, with a few toys strewn around the cot, but still plenty to play for in the coming games. Cookie up next. Let’s hope he does us a favour.

True Believer stated:

We changed our game plan to nullify theirs, in my book that is a negative attitude.

I like to see teams play three at the back, as Accy do.

However in order to play that your wing backs have to assist in midfield, today Robinson wasn’t able to do that. Darikwa had some success on the right but cost us with a poor decision. We effectively played five at the back for most of the game and the two errors came from misunderstandings from players adjusting to playing a different formation. We lost the runners and it cost us.

Hopefully we learn from this and move on but we really must play to our strengths and not negate our play by trying to counter opposition set ups. We need to play our own game and not be intimidated by other teams, let them worry about us and not the other way around. Sure we will lose some games but at least we will go down playing our own game.

Kendal Blue summarised:

Very poor day at the office today. Bad decisions, lack of clinical touch and also a lack of positive risk taking. Our defence has improved tenfold since the dark days of winter, but took a step back today and was particularly disappointed with how easily we were bullied when the ball was in the air. Have always thought that Evans needs to push on and have a few more shots and at this level he should be taking a risk. Our chance conversation ratio is supposedly one of the best in the league but I don’t think that stat is quite as positive as it sounds.

Putting it down to an awful day, but not a complete catastrophe. Certainly not a complete undoing of the last 3 games. Nothing a good old fashioned b.llocking and extra days training can’t put right.

Victor Moses commented:

Evans has been poor for me this season, at the beginning of the season he was giving the ball away cheaply and since his return from injury he has continued to do so. He plays emotional, one mistake affects the rest of the match for him. Used to be my favourite player, the 1st spell here on loan he was outstanding. Has gone backwards, probably needs to play as the central midfielder in a 3 like Wilder used him, can’t see him being effective anywhere else anymore.

Aasgaard to be out of the team for Dodoo or Gardner is something I cannot understand, neither bring anything to the team currently.

Amigo and social media reaction to a hard-earned point at home to Fleetwood

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match reactions, Social Media and tagged with Corey Whelan, George Johnston, Tendayi Darikwa, Wigan 0 Fleetwood 0, Zach Clough January 23, 2021

Wigan Athletic 0 Fleetwood Town 0

It is a testament to the work of Leam Richardson and Gregor Rioch that Wigan Athletic continue to show resilience on the field of play. This game was by no means memorable on a sticky pitch, but another point was gained in the battle against relegation.

In the past Latics might have had the upper hand against Fleetwood, having a stronger squad with better quality players. Those days have gone at least for the moment. With the restrictions placed on the squad size during administration and the financial constraints Latics are currently under it is to the great credit of the management that they can compete with clubs with bigger and more experienced squads.

We learned yesterday that three new players had been brought in, even if none of whom had been playing much first team football for some time. The two ex-Liverpool academy players, George Johnston and Corey Whelan, were paired together in the centre of defence. Zach Clough took Will Keane’s place in the number 10 position. Clough was sensational some four years ago for Bolton, but since then his career has gone downhill. In fact, his last senior appearance was as a late substitute for Rochdale in April 2019. His last goal was for the ‘Dale in September 2018.

The centre of defence has been the most problematic position over the course of this season. However, Johnston slotted in perfectly and was the game’s outstanding player. Whelan has played centre back before, although normally a full back. He was solid in defence today. Clough had a chance in the first half that a few years ago he might have put away easily, but he showed flashes of skill and passing vision that might suggest that he can resurrect his career. Tendayi Darikwa was making his second Latics appearance and looked a class act at right back.

A draw was a fair result for both teams. Latics had defensive solidity but were wasteful in their finishing. The visitors had a lot of the ball in the second half, but the home defence held firm.

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

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

Moonay commented:

2 points lost maybe, but a clean sheet with 2 new centre halves (and a back 4 that looked fairly solid) isn’t the end of the world.

That definitely showed promise, and hopefully, we’ll build on it. I’m not sure if it’s preferable to winning by the odd goal in seven, but it’s certainly easier on the nerves. Very well done Leam Richardson and Gregor Rioch.

Kenny Morris summarised:

I know it’s the same for both teams but that pitch really hampered our style going forward today. Ball kept sticking and getting under players feet, no chance of many slide rule passes or running with the ball. Must have been energy sapping too.

Team not played well today but we got a point, and we are one point from safety now, so improvement on the day. I did feel the pitch was largely to blame and considering we had a new defence (yet again) we didn’t do badly.

Oscarbon said:

Two mom’s today for me were Johnston and Darikwa. Says a lot when our most stylish attacker is our right fullback.

A point gained but I cant help but feel if we can put a performance in against a team like Fleetwood we can get 4 or 5 goals.

As others have said I think away games are going to yield more points as that pitch is a distinct disadvantage to us. Daft question but where are they training these days as the pitch looks like it has had a dozen games played on it in a week.

True Believer stated:

Frustrating afternoon, we were by far the better side in the first half but lost a little momentum in the second.

The miss by Clough is indicative of a player that has struggled for games in the last two seasons, however his overall play wasn’t bad. On on or two occasions he put some very inciteful balls into the box for both Lang and Joseph. I think with a little bit of time he could be a decent addition.

Talking of additions both Whelan and Johnston had impressive debuts and with Darikwa and Pearce at full back we look quite solid. Hopefully we won’t be leaking late goals in the future to lose the points. Pearce looked a little off his game in the second half and wasn’t getting forward as much as usual, whether this was due to the opposition sussing us out, who knows. One thing I would criticise Pearce for is the time he takes on throw ins. He seems to just amble over for the ball allowing the opposition to get their markers in place and close us down.

Jamie Jones was secure and looked more confident behind the back four, however I do wish he would look to play the short ball more often to stop the ball coming straight back at us. Didn’t have much to do but what he did he did well.

Kyle Joseph and Lang both worked their socks off but struggled against Mulgrew and Connolly. Personally, I think we missed the control and guile of Will Keane to open the door. Lang had a decent chance after the far post cross from Gardiner, but the keeper made a decent block, he also made a good save from Callum in the first half from a good near post strike.

Merrie continues to impress me and Alex Perry is looking more composed alongside him.

All in all some positives to take into the Blackpool game, least of all the clean sheet.

Hopefully Will Keane is available soon (and I wish him a speedy recovery) to push for the forward positions and with a little luck we can get back on the goalscoring trail again whilst keeping the back door firmly shut.