Wigan Athletic have announced the signing of 28 year old midfielder Shaun McDonald from Bournemouth on a two year contract.
McDonald is a player little known to Latics supporters, but on recruiting him Gary Caldwell said:
“He is a quality addition to the squad. A terrific pro who understands the way we want to play, a skillful midfielder capable of fitting into our system. He is a a great person too, with a great attitude who has gone through a similar experience at Bournemouth to where we are now, a team coming up from League One to the Championship and playing a certain brand of football.
The 6 ft 1 in McDonald was born in Swansea and joined his home town club, making his debut as a 17 year old in August 2005. From 2009 to 2011 he spent no less than 5 loan spells with Yeovil Town, making 61 league starts and scoring 9 goals.
McDonald signed for Bournemouth in August 2011 for a fee of around £125,000. He since made 70 starts, with 31 appearances off the bench, scoring 7 goals. McDonald has four full international caps for Wales.
In order to learn more about McDonald we contacted Steve J, Supreme Overlord at Tales From the South End @tftse www.thesouthend.co.uk
Here’s over to Steve:
Shaun MacDonald signed back in 2011 when AFC Bournemouth were still in League One. Nicknamed the Welsh Zidane Bournemouth fans didn’t know what to expect, but he proved to be a hard-tackling midfielder with a touch of flair. As a defensive midfielder he rarely ventured too far up field so scoring a goal was a rare treat. He got two in first season.
He was an integral part of the Cherries team that got promoted to the Championship, which cemented his place amongst the fans affections. His future was looking bright, he made 25 appearances in 2013/14, but the emergence of Harry Arter and the signing of Andrew Surman saw his chances restricted. He struggled to get in the side but never let down the team when called upon.
At 28, he is coming into his prime and deserves a chance to prove himself with regular first-team football. It’s catch 22 for MacDonald, when he’s not in the first team he is not getting the minutes needed to improve and prove himself.
We at TFTSE thinks if he gets regular football he will prove to be an invaluable part of the Wigan team. Maybe even good enough to play in the Premier League.
Wigan boss denies defender set for Charlton switch said a headline yesterday. Headlines are meant to draw attention to an article. This one certainly drew mine. But did Gary Caldwell really deny that Jason Pearce might be heading for Charlton?
The Latics manager had said that he had not yet received any offers for the central defender and quoted that that “The arrival of Jake [Buxton] has given me options that I need going forwards. If anything changes, we’ll let you know.”
It could be argued that the headline was misleading, but it has got fans debating as to whether a defender who was pivotal in the League 1 title winning triumph should be allowed to leave. Would Caldwell be willing to lose Pearce? It appears that the door has already been opened, given the absence of a comment from Caldwell saying that the player is staying at the club.
The 28 year old Jason Pearce was signed by Malky Mackay in January 2015. Impressing in a struggling team was never going to be easy, but Pearce held his own and formed a solid partnership with Harry Maguire in the centre of defence. He went on to make 15 appearances from February until the end of the season on May 2.
Then came a massive summer clear out by Caldwell, but Pearce was to become a rock upon which a League 1 title winning team was built. Pearce was to miss the start of the 2015-16 through injury, appearing in his first game in a home match against Crewe at the end of August. He partnered Donervon Daniels and Craig Morgan in a backline of three. Given Caldwell’s predilection to switch between three at the back and an orthodox back four, Pearce had to be flexible in his positioning, but was to be inevitably found on the left side of the central defence.
His wealth of experience in the lower divisions made him invaluable defensively in Caldwell’s set up, particularly when playing in tandem with Morgan. Moreover Pearce had worked on his passing skills out of defence, rarely wasting the ball. Given the player’s willingness to totally commit him to the cause, putting his body on the line so often, it was perhaps inevitable that injuries would result. In fact he went on to make 33 appearances. It was a reflection on the effectiveness of the Pearce-Morgan combination that Latics did not lose a single game when the two appeared together in the starting lineup until the final match of the season against Barnsley.
It could be that injury has once again intervened, preventing Pearce playing in the final two pre-season matches at Oldham and Fleetwood. If that is the case he will be among more than half a dozen of the squad currently suffering from pre-season injuries. However, rumours persist that the player wants to move back down south; moreover that Caldwell has already signed Buxton as his replacement. Could it be that Caldwell does not see him as effective a player in the Championship as he was in League 1?
Jake Buxton’s arrival appears to be an indicator that Pearce is on his way out of the club. Buxton is a physical, combative player in the mould of Pearce and will fans are hoping he can reproduce the same kind of form at Wigan as he did during his prime at Derby, where he spent seven years, an idol of the fans. It can be seen as an indication of Caldwell’s regard for Buxton that he gave the player a three year contract at the age of 31. Pearce remains only 28. Is there not room in the defence for the two?
Should Pearce move on Caldwell will be left with just one player in his senior squad recruited prior to his appointment as manager. That is Lee Nicholls, who faces competition from Adam Bogdan, Jussi Jaaskelainen and Dan Lavercombe for the goalkeeping position.
Jason Pearce has earned the respect of Wigan Athletic supporters due to his commitment and willingness to put his body on the line for his team. Whether he will be at Wigan at the start of the 2016-17 season next weekend remains uncertain.
The 19 year old Kyle Knoyle has joined Wigan Athletic on loan from West Ham United for the whole of the coming season.Knoyle is a right back, a position which was problematic for Latics last season.
Last summer Caldwell signed Kevin McNaughton on a one year contract and Jonjoe Kenny on a two month loan. Unfortunately things did not work out with McNaughton making only three appearances before picking up an injury that effectively kept him out for the rest of the season. Moreover Kenny was recalled by Everton when his loan spell expired. Donervon Daniels was moved across from the centre of defence and showed promise in the right back position, if not being entirely convincing. Donald Love was brought in from Manchester United for a short term loan, with Reece Wabara being signed as a replacement in January. Wabara’s short term contract terminated in summer and it appears that Latics were not willing to meet his wage expectations for staying.
With Knoyle and Daniels available it could be that Gary Caldwell will not be seeking another right back. The signing of Knoyle could therefore prove crucial.
On signing the Newham-born youngster Caldwell said “Kyle is a young player with potential, one who has been identified as having the qualities we are looking for and was watched last season. We are optimistic he can develop here with us and make a positive contribution to the squad and we’re happy to have him on board.”
The 5 ft 9 in Kyle Knoyle is a product of the West Ham academy with three caps for the England under 18 team. He has made just one appearance for the Hammers’ senior team, playing the full 90 minutes against Astra Girgiu in Romania in the Europa League last August. He was an unused substitute on three occasions last season.
In January Knoyle went on loan to Dundee United, where he was to play alongside Billy Mckay. He made his debut for the Tangerines as an 82nd minute substitute in a 3-0 win at Ross County in late February. He repeated this with a 66th minute substitution against the same side a week later in the Scottish Cup, which United won 3-2. Knoyle had to wait until early April to make his first start in a 1-0 victory over St Johnstone. Despite poor team results in the rest of April and May he was a regular starter. Knoyle made a total of 9 starts for United.
In order to get more information on Knoyle’s time at Tannadice we reached out to the Dundee United fan forum on www.arableague.co.uk.
I hasten to add that United have been referred to as “the Arabs” since the 1962-63 season when the harsh winter led to the cancellation of many matches. However, on one occasion they were due to play at home to Albion Rovers and the club hired a tar burner to melt the snow and ice on the pitch, which they covered with tons and tons of sand. The team played so well on the sandy surface, virtually devoid of grass, that they became known as the Arabs.
The feedback we received through the forum:
Setenza commented that:
He only really started getting a game towards the end of his loan period for us. Once he did, most people wondered why he didn’t start before.
We were a pretty dreadful team last season, playing mostly long ball football, but he did show plenty of willingness to get forward from full back and attack, and in my view was one of our better performers. Worked hard and usually tried the right thing in possession. Defensively, maybe a few more slip ups, but was playing in an awful defence.
Certainly wouldn’t have been unhappy if we’d signed him for another loan spell. Seemed to have the right attitude to be a decent player in time.
Micky added that:
Can’t add anything more than what Set said, seems a good attacking option from full back..
Naebody responded:
For a couple of games, he looked the best player in the worst United team for 50 years. Everything Set says is fair. But it’s impossible to know whether the awful quality of players around him were making him look better or worse.
We also got feedback from the Dundee United Mad forum:
TerryTheTerror commented:
Signed on loan in January then never given a chance in the team. Once he did get that chance he was a fixture and ended up probably being our best and most consistent performer. Fast, athletic, hard in the tackle, and good with the ball. Everything a full back should be.
Weedude83 supported Terry’s comments:
Once our idiotic manager decided to play him, was regularly our best player.
Quick, strong and likes to get forward and help the attack.
Defensively, strong in the tackle, very tenacious and won his share of headers – sometimes caught out of position but that’s to be expected at his age/experience.
Genuinely wish we had him for next season.
Smirky4 was less positive:
I thought he was very average, I think people hyped him up on here and everyone looked at him with rose tinted glasses, often caught out of position, not a flying wing back bombing forward getting crosses in or indeed playing that killer pass…..
Last Sunday we published of a compilation of views on Dan Burn obtained through a Fulham fan site.
Since then we received a detailed and informative article on the player on our Facebook site. The fan view is written by Peter Grinham.
Here’s over to Peter:
Your fanzine editor asked on a Fulham Supporters website about Dan Burn and a view on him. I am a Fulham supporter of many years going back to the days of our legend Johnny Haynes (Fulham and England captain) and been part of the roller coaster ride during those years, so no Johnny Come Lately! I watch every Fulham 1st team home game, a few aways and every home U21 and U18 game, so I have seen a lot of Dan Burn.
Dan is a product of the North East and came to us from Darlington. He is about 6’ 6” tall and has always played centre back for us. He is left footed and, unsurprisingly, prefers to play left centre back. He had 2 loan spells at Birmingham and Yeovil respectively. I don’t know about his Yeovil experience but the Birmingham management thought well of him and were interested in extending his loan at the time with a view to signing him.
Dan is full of enthusiasm and has admirable leadership qualities but only in respect of drive and determination. He is said to train hard. He takes the game seriously and nobody could ever accuse him of not giving 100% in every game. This alone made him popular with many Fulham supporters. He is physically strong which is what you expect in a centre back. However, some of his decision making is questionable and if players run at him his legs buckle with fast jinky players, as his reading of those situations is poor and he is often left floundering on his backside.
His aerial ability is somewhat mixed. From a defensive point of view he is strong in the air at defending crosses but often he does not get good purchase on the ball and in some situations the ball seems to loop of the top of his forehead when it needs to be powered away. This rather poor technique can be attributed to the fact that, like some tall players, he does not jump highly and has probably never had to at junior levels because of his height. This puts him at a disadvantage if a forward builds up a head of steam on the run and can either rise above him or equal his height. He should have scored more goals from set pieces but the same heading restrictions impede that part of his game too.
I always thought that Dan would benefit from better coaching because unless he is a slow learner – and I have no reason to believe that – he could improve a lot on his technique and decision making. However, Fulham have not been blessed with decent coaching since the destructive Magath arrived and decimated our club, Kit Symons followed but was not allowed experienced coaching staff, having to make do with U21 coaches (NB: A big step up without a mix of 1st team experienced coaches). We now have some decent 1st team coaches but they obviously don’t fancy Dan.
Whilst I have never met Dan, everyone Fulham fan that has likes him immensely. One thing that I do know is that when he signed the Wigan contract he will be genuinely devoted to the cause and not be false in the usual footballers speak of ‘great to be here’. If he sad that he would mean it and give all for the cause. I genuinely wish him all the best in his career and I hope that he is a late developer who will prove some people wrong.
Hope this insight helps. Good luck with the new season.
Wigan Athletic have announced the signing of 21 year old midfielder Alex Gilbey from Colchester United. Although the player was at the end of his contract the U’s will be due to receive compensation due to the player’s age. Gilbey has signed a three year contract for Latics.
On signing Gilbey, Gary Caldwell commented on the club’s official site that: “Alex was one of the outstanding young talents in League One last season, and we believe the next stage of his career can be fulfilled here. He’s exactly the sort of player and person who suits this club and we’re delighted to add him to the group for pre-season. He scored an excellent goal against us at Colchester last season and he was a standout player on the day, making him an excellent addition.”
The 6 ft tall Gilbey is a product of the Colchester academy where he became youth team captain. He made his first team debut as a 17 year old in October 2012 in a Football League Trophy game against Northampton. In March 2013 he went on a short term loan to Newport County, which ended in them getting promoted back into the Football League. Gilbey was named Man of the Match in the second leg of the playoff semi-final against Grimsby. He went on to play the full ninety minutes in Conference playoff final at Wembley when Newport went on to beat Wrexham 2-0.
Following that successful loan spell as a young player at Newport, Gilbey went on to establish himself in the senior team at Colchester. Although only 21 years old he made 101 appearances for Colchester, scoring 8 goals. He was the U’s Player of the Season for 2015-16, making 42 appearances and scoring five goals, two of which were against Latics.
In order to learn more about Gilbey we contacted U’s fan Martyn Bell through Twitter (@MartynBell10).
Here’s over to Martyn:
Alex Gilbey is a talented player and deservedly has earned a move to championship Wigan. Alex is a box to box player with tremendous energy levels and an eye for goal.
Just look at the quality of goals he has scored most from outside the box, he is a level headed player and gives 100 percent which fans love.
A player with premiership potential and he is from Colchester United’s academy, good luck from all Col U fans.
LOS THREE AMIGOS 