Tag Archives: wigan athletic

A Fulham fan’s view of Dan Burn

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Fan Views and tagged with , , , , ,

Dan_Burn

Wigan Athletic have announced the signing of 24 year old Dan Burn. The 6 ft 7 in central defender was out of contract with Fulham.

Gary Caldwell is clearly pleased to have signed Burn and the club’s web site reports him saying that “He fits our profile exactly, young, hungry and with experience at this level and the desire to progress with us. He is a powerful defender, but he likes to play as well and adds tremendous competition to the squad.”

Dan Burn was born in Blyth but came up through the youth ranks at Darlington, making his first team debut at the age of 17.  He went on to make 14 appearances for the north east club before moving to Fulham in the summer of 2011 for a fee of around £350,000.

In September 2012 Burn went on an initial short term loan to Yeovil, but the loan period was to be extended to the end of the season. He made 41 appearances for the League 1 side, scoring three goals. Burn was to be sent off on another loan in July 2013, this time to Championship club, Birmingham City. He made 28 appearances for the Blues, scoring one goal, before being recalled to Fulham in January 2014. He made his debut for the Londoners on January 4th 2014 in an FA Cup tie at Norwich.

Burn went on to make a total of 69 appearances for Fulham scoring two goals.

In order to learn more about Burn we reached out to Fulham fans on The Independent Fulham Forum.

Alanos commented that Burn was:

Hugely promising early in his career, especially on loan to Yeovil and for a little while Birmingham. Very disappointing in the last few years playing for us, though the same inexplicable loss of form seemed to come over many of our defenders. Who knows, could be a great acquisition (or not).

Biff added that:

Progress seems to have stalled the last few seasons but several players seemed to have been affected as our form and progress fell away.

BS recognises Burn’s top performance against Manchester United:

Probably had his best game against Man Utd when we got a draw at Old Trafford, season we were relegated. Headed so many clearances Sky asked if he had a headache in the post-match interview. Think he might have got MoM for that.

Mike H adds that:

He held Man Utd at bay for 90 mins a few years ago. If the opposition keep floating cross into the box, he’ll clear them. Not so reliable against nippy forwards though.

JamesS notes:

Some harsh comments. Still think he could have a very good Championship future. Wholehearted and good man to have in your squad.

NoHost comments that:

For his size, he doesn’t command the in and around the box as much as you’d think, although he has had his good days. He is prone to making simple mistakes which develop into bigger ones when he tries to rectify. Seems to trip over his own legs sometimes. He talks a lot on the pitch, but I’m not sure what he says is actually helpful. He is determined and genuine and perhaps can be coached into a more solid performer.

Barry@ENF recognises Burn’s determination:

….perhaps with the addendum that you will rarely, if at all, accuse him of lacking heart!

Harry adds:

Excellent attitude and good guy. Positives: Better coaching at a stable club could improve him. Negatives: prone to the odd howler and a liability with quick forwards running at him. Wish him well, though.

Lowe’s Pate sums up by adding:

Huge aerially & plays with his heart on his sleeve. Sometimes loses out positionally but personally would have been delighted if we’d have retained him.

 

How good is Michael Jacobs?

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

Jacobswigantoday

The statistics place him as the second leading goal scorer and the joint leader in assists for a side that won the divisional title. In this case the stats don’t lie – Michael Jacobs played a key role in the 2015-16 season for Wigan Athletic.

“Crackers” scored 10 league goals and made 8 assists, an impressive record, given that he missed a couple of months of the season through injury. He made 30 league starts, with 5 appearances off the bench.

Michael Jacobs was the main creative force for Latics over the course of the season. He was often employed wide, but looked particularly effective when operating in the hole behind the centre forward. Jacobs has genuine skill, with vision to match. He has the ability to take on defenders and make incisive passes.

Being a skilful player in League 1 can have its drawbacks, with ruthless defenders not being afraid to stick the boot in, aided by refereeing that can be over-tolerant. It is to Jacobs’ credit that he has not retaliated when singled out for rough treatment. A good temperament added to a strong work ethic makes him a key team player.

Jacobs is still only 24 and his best is surely yet to come. However, the  Championship is a very different prospect to League 1. Jacobs has prior experience there with Derby, Wolves and Blackpool, but was unable to make the kind of impression he would have liked. Can he make the transition back to the Championship and be the kind of key player that he was for Gary Caldwell this past season?

Jacobs has the pre-requisites to succeed in the Championship, possibly even in the division above. He has the skill, technique and temperament to become a top player. It is self-belief that will be the key, as it has been for Jamie Vardy at Leicester.

Jacobs is not the only Latics player returning to the Championship. All of them will need to step their play up a gear if they are to be a force in the higher division. Jacobs has as gòod a chance as anyone in doing so.

 

 

 

Blowing away Southend

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

When Wigan Athletic played at Southend in late November it was a cold and windy day in the seaside town. Latics had lost at home to Burton four days prior and they were to face one of the form teams in League 1 at the antediluvian Roots Hall ground. The portents were ominous.

Wigan had not played badly against Burton, but had got caught by a goal from a counterattack from a team with a well organised defence and a strong work ethic. A win over the Brewers would have seen them move into third place behind Coventry and Gillingham, but it was not to be. Following the disappointment of the 0-1 reverse they were keen to do better against Southend.

Getting a good result at Roots Hall was made difficult by the cold, blustery wind swirling around the tight pitch. It was not going to be a day for good football. Latics simply had to slug it out with the home team to come away with any points. In the end they came away with a well -earned point, thanks to the effort they put in.

Strangely enough Southend United are the visitors to the DW Stadium today following on from Wigan’s 1-1 draw at Burton on Tuesday. Gary Caldwell’s team have a pragmatic side to them which enables them to grind out results when they are not playing well. Although the Brewers were in a run of poor form they were going to be formidable opposition on the tight pitch at the Pirelli Stadium. Burton’s pitch is actually 72 yards wide, compared with Southend’s 74 yards, although both are 110 yards long. Once again Latics had put in a backs-to-the-wall performance on a small pitch to get a result.

Playing away on small pitches is a very different prospect to playing at the DW with a relatively expansive playing area measuring 115 yards by 74. Those extra few yards can make a difference to the style of football on display. The larger pitch surely suits Caldwell’s style of possession football and Latics have produced some sparkling displays over the season on their home ground.

However, it has not always been the norm. So often visiting teams will either “park the bus” or use pressing tactics to stop Wigan building up their moves methodically from the back. Moreover lenient and close to incompetent refereeing has too frequently allowed visiting teams the licence for tactical fouling of Wigan’s most skilful players. The end result has been sporadic flashes of the champagne football that Caldwell’s team is capable of producing. In fact the last three home matches have resulted in tight 1-0 wins for the Latics.

Wigan Athletic fans will be primarily looking at getting a positive result today, but a sparkling performance would be particularly welcome too. With adequate refereeing and a “get at them” approach from Latics from the onset a goal fest would be a distinct possibility. The alternative is a cagey approach, dominated by the promotion jitters that have hit so many of the League 1 promotion hopeful teams in recent weeks.

The swirling wind and the bumpy pitch made it difficult to play good football at Southend. But strong winds are not forecast for Wigan today and the DW pitch has performed well in recent weeks. Latics fans will be hoping their team will take the initiative from the get-go, blowing away Phil Brown’s Southend United in the process.

How good is Grigg?

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

This post was originally published a week ago. However, it did not reach our wider audience because it was not picked up by our main news aggregator. We are therefore republishing it. Apologies to those of you who might have previously received it.

Grigg

In the past 20 years just four players have scored 20 goals in a season for Wigan Athletic. Nathan Ellington scored 24 and Jason Roberts got 21 when Latics were promoted from the Championship in 2004-05. Graeme Jones scored 31 when they gained promotion by winning Division 3 in 1996-97.

Will Grigg has scored 23 goals already this season, 20 in league games and 3 in cup competitions. His team is already practically odds-on for promotion. The goals of Ellington, Roberts and Jones were key to their team’s promotion successes. It looks like those of Grigg could prove to be the same.

It is the third time that Grigg has exceeded the 20 goal per season mark with a League 1 club. He first did it for Walsall in 2012-13, leading him on to win their player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season awards. However, rather than build on his successes in the midlands Grigg moved on to Brentford, who at the time were then in League 1 under the management of Uwe Rosler.

The move from Walsall had been acrimonious. The player had been out of contract, but since he was under 24 a Football League tribunal required Brentford to pay a £325,000 fee plus add-ons. The Walsall manager Dean Smith said at the time that “If he were leaving to go to a better side I would have thought he would have done better than Brentford.” Ironically Smith now finds himself  manager at the West London club.

Given his success in League 1 it had seemed that Grigg would be moving up a level, to the Championship at least. His move to Brentford did not work out as he would have hoped and in the 2014-15 season he was sent off on loan to the MK Dons, an eventful move which put him in the limelight when he scored a brace to knock Manchester United out of the League Cup, scoring 20 goals in the league.

In June 2015 David Sharpe’s gave his guarantee that Wigan would have a 20 goal striker in their lineup this season.  In mid-July he got his man, paying Brentford  £900,000 for Grigg. It was a huge fee for a club in League 1 to splash out, particularly for a player who had never played at a level above League 1. Grigg was brought in to provide the firepower to get Latics out of League 1, but were Latics also looking beyond that? Were they expecting Grigg make it as a striker in the Championship?

At his best Grigg is a handful for any opposition defender. He has the ability to time his runs to create space when surrounded by the tightest of defences. His workrate cannot be faulted and he is a real team player. Grigg relies on his intelligent movement rather than sheer physical power to get past defenders. He is a genuine goal poacher, a dying breed in the modern game. Grigg also has a good temperament as evidenced by receiving just one yellow card in the season so far.  This is despite the rugged treatment he so often gets in a division where too much cynical and tactical fouling goes unpunished by referees.  Still only 24 years old his best is surely yet to come.

However, like any striker Grigg can have his off days. In the visit to Walsall in February he had at least five gilt-edged opportunities to score, but fluffed them all. Latics had to rely on a last minute winner from Yanic Wildschut to bring home the three points that their superior play had merited. But Grigg can opportunities with genuine aplomb, in the style of a “natural” goalscorer. There is finesse to Grigg’s game that suggests he can make it at a much higher level than the third tier of English football. As his confidence grows and he matures as a player he will put home an even higher proportion of the opportunities that come his way.

Grigg’s first season at Wigan did not start particularly well. In its first quarter Grigg had struggled to reach the goalscoring form that Caldwell would have hoped for. He had scored just three goals, two of which were penalties. After starting in the first six games he missed the match at Chesterfield through being on international duty for Northern Ireland. He came back as a 66th minute substitute at Port Vale, but was to pick up an elbow injury which kept him out of the next two games. He made his return as a 77th minute substitute, scoring the equalizer during added-on time against Millwall. Grigg returned to the starting lineup for the next game against Walsall, but was substituted after 70 minutes. However, international call up knocked on the door again and Grigg missed the last two matches at Crewe and Bury.

By Christmas Grigg had notched 8 goals for Latics. Since then he has scored 15 more. Grigg just does not seem to do so well in the earlier part of the season. In fact in his 20 goal season at Walsall he had only scored 5 by Christmas. At MK Dons he scored 9 by Christmas, followed by another 13 by time the season finished.

At Milton Keynes, Grigg had to play second fiddle to Benik Afobe until the latter’s 19 goals persuaded Wolves to pay serious money for him in January 2015. This and a loan move to Fleetwood of the Dons’ other main striker, Tom Hitchcock, opened up the door for Grigg to be the automatic choice as a lone centre forward. Grigg was to thrive on the consistency of having a regular first choice berth.

At 24 years of age, Will Grigg has a bright future ahead. His immediate target will be to score goals in the remaining five matches to help propel Latics back to the Championship. But the irony is that should that promotion come into effect and should Grigg continue to score goals, he will surely arouse the interests of the big clubs that dominate the English game.

Despite a slow start Will Grigg has become a key player in Wigan Athletic’s promotion push. Fans will be hoping he will continue to knock in the goals for the Latics for years to come.

How good is Will Grigg?

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

Grigg

In the past 20 years just four players have scored 20 goals in a season for Wigan Athletic. Nathan Ellington scored 24 and Jason Roberts got 21 when Latics were promoted from the Championship in 2004-05. Graeme Jones scored 31 when they gained promotion by winning Division 3 in 1996-97.

Will Grigg has scored 23 goals already this season, 20 in league games and 3 in cup competitions. His team is already practically odds-on for promotion. The goals of Ellington, Roberts and and Jones were key to their team’s promotion successes. It looks like those of Grigg could prove to be the same.

It is the third time that Grigg has exceeded the 20 goal per season mark with a League 1 club. He first did it for Walsall in 2012-13, leading him on to win their player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season awards. However, rather than build on his successes in the midlands Grigg moved on to Brentford, who at the time were then in League 1 under the management of Uwe Rosler.

The move from Walsall had been acrimonious. The player had been out of contract, but since he was under 24 a Football League tribunal required Brentford to pay a £325,000 fee plus add-ons. The Walsall manager Dean Smith said at the time that “If he were leaving to go to a better side I would have thought he would have done better than Brentford.” Ironically Smith now finds himself  manager at the West London club.

Given his success in League 1 it had seemed that Grigg would be moving up a level, to the Championship at least. His move to Brentford did not work out as he would have hoped and in the 2014-15 season he was sent off on loan to the MK Dons, an eventful move which put him in the limelight when he scored a brace to knock Manchester United out of the League Cup, scoring 20 goals in the league.

In June 2015 David Sharpe’s gave his guarantee that Wigan would have a 20 goal striker in their lineup this season.  In mid-July he got his man, paying Brentford  £900,000 for Grigg. It was a huge fee for a club in League 1 to splash out, particularly for a player who had never played at a level above League 1. Grigg was brought in to provide the firepower to get Latics out of League 1, but were Latics also looking beyond that? Were they expecting Grigg make it as a striker in the Championship?

At his best Grigg is a handful for any opposition defender. He has the ability to time his runs to create space when surrounded by the tightest of defences. His workrate cannot be faulted and he is a real team player. Grigg relies on his intelligent movement rather than sheer physical power to get past defenders. He is a genuine goal poacher, a dying breed in the modern game. Grigg also has a good temperament as evidenced by receiving just one yellow card in the season so far.  This is despite the rugged treatment he so often gets in a division where too much cynical and tactical fouling goes unpunished by referees.  Still only 24 years old his best is surely yet to come.

However, like any striker Grigg can have his off days. In the visit to Walsall in February he had at least five gilt-edged opportunities to score, but fluffed them all. Latics had to rely on a last minute winner from Yanic Wildschut to bring home the three points that their superior play had merited. But Grigg can opportunities with genuine aplomb, in the style of a “natural” goalscorer. There is finesse to Grigg’s game that suggests he can make it at a much higher level than the third tier of English football. As his confidence grows and he matures as a player he will put home an even higher proportion of the opportunities that come his way.

Grigg’s first season at Wigan did not start particularly well. In its first quarter Grigg had struggled to reach the goalscoring form that Caldwell would have hoped for. He had scored just three goals, two of which were penalties. After starting in the first six games he missed the match at Chesterfield through being on international duty for Northern Ireland. He came back as a 66th minute substitute at Port Vale, but was to pick up an elbow injury which kept him out of the next two games. He made his return as a 77th minute substitute, scoring the equalizer during added-on time against Millwall. Grigg returned to the starting lineup for the next game against Walsall, but was substituted after 70 minutes. However, international call up knocked on the door again and Grigg missed the last two matches at Crewe and Bury.

By Christmas Grigg had notched 8 goals for Latics. Since then he has scored 15 more. Grigg just does not seem to do so well in the earlier part of the season. In fact in his 20 goal season at Walsall he had only scored 5 by Christmas. At MK Dons he scored 9 by Christmas, followed by another 13 by time the season finished.

At Milton Keynes, Grigg had to play second fiddle to Benik Afobe until the latter’s 19 goals persuaded Wolves to pay serious money for him in January 2015. This and a loan move to Fleetwood of the Dons’ other main striker, Tom Hitchcock, opened up the door for Grigg to be the automatic choice as a lone centre forward. Grigg was to thrive on the consistency of having a regular first choice berth.

At 24 years of age, Will Grigg has a bright future ahead. His immediate target will be to score goals in the remaining five matches to help propel Latics back to the Championship. But the irony is that should that promotion come into effect and should Grigg continue to score goals, he will surely arouse the interests of the big clubs that dominate the English game.

Despite a slow start Will Grigg has become a key player in Wigan Athletic’s promotion push. Fans will be hoping he will continue to knock in the goals for the Latics for years to come.