Tag Archives: Uwe Rösler

Wednesday will receive a Wigan Athletic in transition

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

It has not been a smooth transition for Wigan Athletic since Roberto Martinez, his coaching staff and swathes of players left over the summer.

But supporters are at least more optimistic about the future, given the arrival of Uwe Rösler and other appointments that might well prove key to the club’s continued development.

Only a few weeks ago the club seemed to be taking one step forward and two steps back. Losing to Brighton, Zulte Waregem and Derby in the space of eight days was hard to swallow. The team just was not going anywhere. The lack of ambition in their play was a sad sight, let alone the long ball tactics that were reminiscent of Bolton under Allardyce and Megson. Surely that was not the real Wigan Athletic?

Supporters know the club is going through another transition, but there is a lot more optimism now. Like Martinez – but unlike Coyle – Rösler has come in with a clear game plan, even if it could take time for the players to consistently put it into effect.

A lot has been happening this week. Brentford have announced the departure of assistant manager Alan Kernaghan and first team coach Peter Farrell. Nothing yet from Wigan side, but their arrival must be imminent.

One wonders what will happen with current first team coach Graham Barrow, who has a terrific record of service at the club. Barrow’s son James was brought in by Coyle as conditioning coach and he is taking a lot of flak from supporters about the lack of physical fitness of the squad, although to be fair he might have been overruled by Coyle.

Gregor Rioch’s arrival coincided with that of Rösler, so he did not come in as heralded as he might have been otherwise. Rioch has been appointed to run the Latics Academy, following an outstanding record in developing young players at Coventry City. His father Bruce was manager of Latics for a brief spell in the 2000-2001 season.

The simultaneous arrival of both Rösler and Rioch might well prove a landmark in the history of Wigan Athletic. Supporters can already see that long-term vision back at the club that was obscured by the mistake of hiring Coyle on a one year contract.

Latics even signed a player this week.

Patrick Antelmi was a teenage prodigy in Australia, well documented on YouTube. He has been playing for Latics’ development squad this season after spells at several English clubs over the past five years, the main ones being Portsmouth and Leeds. He is still only 19 and given the difficulty of finding quality strikers he appears to be well worth giving a chance.

Click here to see a YouTube video interview through ‘Aussies Abroad’ during his time at Leeds last year. So often kids can look outstanding in their early teens but don’t make it. However, Antelmi clearly has a wonderful technique, a great left foot and has already scored goals for the development squad.

The outcome of tomorrow’s match at Hillsborough is difficult to predict. Sheffield Wednesday are in the bottom three and Latics have won away games against the teams below them, Barnsley and Yeovil.

However, not only will it be Latics’ third match in a week, but they are also adjusting to a new style of play. The high pressing that Rösler expects is physically demanding for players who have not managed to keep up such a pace up till now. The question is whether the lineup Rosler puts out will be able to do what he wants most of the time.

Jordi Gomez, excellent in the Maribor game, is due for a recall. So too is Roger Espinoza, whose style appears right for the football Rösler is looking for. Other than that it is hard to predict the lineup the German will put out.

Rösler will hope to come out with a good result tomorrow, given a difficult trip to Reading at the weekend.

However, were the good result not to materialize the fans would not be overly upset.

There is now optimism for the future that had severely dissipated under the Coyle regime.

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Uwe Rösler – a fan’s view from Norway

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

Viking_Stavanger

Uwe Rösler’s longest stay in football management up to this point was at Stavanger in Norway.

He coached local club Viking for three seasons, starting in November 2006, following  a short spell as coach at Lillestrøm.

Stavanger is a beautiful port town in the south west of Norway, where the climate is moderated  the Gulf Stream.  Although much less snowy compared with other parts of the country, its average annual rainfall exceeds that of Manchester by around 50%.

Viking is Norway’s most established club, having been formed in 1899.

We reached out to a Viking Stavanger fanatic, Wim Keeremen, to get a view on Rösler’s time  there.  Thanks to Wim for the interesting article that follows.

In his first season  Uwe Rösler  built on the foundations laid by Tom Nordlie. In the previous season  Nordlie had come in late and he and striker Ijeh saved the team from  relegation in the final games of the season, coming down to the last game.

Under Rösler  Viking ended third, their best position in the previous twelve seasons.

 People  liked Rösler both as a coach and person. They liked his direct approach, delivered in a mixture of Norwegian, English and German.

 Norwegian football fans are lovers of English football, and anyone having played over there, is likely to get a lot of credit here. But people were questioning  whether the third   place finish was down  to  Rösler, or from Nordlie’s legacy

 In the next two seasons  Viking finished sixth and tenth . In the press, Rösler was often called ‘very German’, the implication being that he was very direct and methodic, always to the point, if a little abrupt.

 A friend commented that: ‘The last year showed his lack of experience. He had issues with the reporters and went rather grumpy. He was clearly affected by the rainy days in Stavanger.’

 By the time Rösler left Stavanger, relations  with the press had turned rather sour. At the press conference he gave after resigning his  ob, he bitterly criticized the local media – the ‘Stavanger Aftenblad ‘and ‘Rogalands Avis’ – for having crossed a line. He said they had spread lies, gossip and downright bullied him and his family to the point where his kids felt uncomfortable in Stavanger.

 Strangely enough journalists were rather fond of him, as a character. He has an excellent sense of humour, and it became a sport to look for the ultimate ‘Rösler quote’ – in  English or Norwegian.

 These things having been said, it is clear that Rösler is an intelligent man, and he is building his career step by step.

 Today, he is a better coach than when he was here. He has much more experience now.

 He has been showing recently that he is a better coach than several of the Premier League managers.

 Rösler is a self-made man, who has been through adversity and dealt with it. He has learned from experience. He has gone through so much, starting his coaching career in Norway, then in the English League 1 , now on to the English Championship Division.

We in Stavanger will be watching Uwe  Rösler’s progress with great interest. 

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Another European manager for Latics?

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Other and tagged with , , ,
Uwe Rösler. Thanks to Beesotted Brentford for photo.

Uwe Rösler.
Thanks to Beesotted Brentford for photo.

Less than 24 hours ago the bookmakers had Mike Phelan the odds-on favourite to be the new Wigan Athletic manager. Uwe Rösler is now quoted between 1/6 and 1/8 for the job.

With Latics in a downward spiral, after losing again at Leeds on Wednesday, Whelan is keen to get the new appointment finalized quickly.

Rösler has just been awarded the Sky Bet League 1 Manager of the Month for November. Brentford went unbeaten through November, with four clean sheets in five matches.

Uwe Rösler and his assistant Alan Kernaghan played together for Manchester City, during the mid 1990s. Rösler was a stylish centre forward and Kernaghan a central defender.

Originating from East Germany, Rösler played for leading clubs Lokomotiv and Chemie of Leipzig, Magdeburg and Dynamo Dresden. In 1992, at the age of 24, he went to Nurnburg in West Germany, but found the transition from east to west difficult. Rösler was unable to score in 28 appearances. The following year he went back to Dresden on loan.

Rösler’s career was to take off in 1994 when he joined Manchester City, where he made 150 appearances scoring 50 goals. He left City to go back to Germany in 1998, where he had brief spells at Kaiserslautern and Borussia Tennis Berlin. A return to England with Southampton and West Bromwich  in 2000-2002 was to be followed by a brief stay at Munich’s third club, Unterhacching.

In 2002 Rösler first moved to Norway. He went to Lillestrøm, a small town north of Oslo. His stay as a player was cut short by chest cancer, which he successfully fought.  Rosler took over as manager of Lillestrøm in 2004 and was to stay there for a couple of years before moving to the oil city of Stavanger in the south west. He stayed with local club Viking for three years before joining Molde on the west coast on a short term contract, during which he saved them from relegation.

Rösler took over at Brentford in June 2011. Last year Brentford were in third place in League 1 on the last day of the season. They needed to beat Doncaster to get automatic promotion. With the scores at 0-0 and in the 90th minute Brentford got a penalty, which they missed as the ball hit the crossbar. Doncaster immediately went to the other end to score the winning goal. Brentford were beaten in the playoff final by Yeovil.

Uwe Rösler is a fascinating character who has been through adversity and triumphed. He is well loved at Brentford, where his teams have a reputation for playing good football.

One of the greatest challenges for supporters will be to pronounce his name correctly. Uwe is pronounced ‘oover’ . The ö of Rösler is pronounced like the ur in burn.

If Whelan does appoint Rosler it will be a bold move, as it was when he appointed Roberto Martinez.

His brief would be to get Latics into the playoffs this season. Maybe he could even get them promotion?

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