It won’t be long until the jokes about the lack of atmosphere at DW Stadium, that there are no crowds at Wigan etc. etc. Sure it would be great if there weren’t the empty seats, but after they moved from Springfield Park. Whether it was because the DW Stadium was better for Diamond Dave Whelan the owner or that they built a smaller football purpose venue is a moot point now.
What the ignorant majority don’t understand about Wigan’s crowds are that they aren’t that bad compared to the size of the town which is just over 80 000 people.
Wigan has traditionally been a rugby league town and one of the best ones, but they and their fans haven’t been able to share the spotlight with Wigan Athletic. This in addition to the location of the town not far from Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn and Preston. Before the rise of Wigan Athletic these people had the choice of seven teams to follow within a small radius, they aren’t going to give up their allegiances. The article from Stuart Alker sums up Wigan’s rise to the EPL and their crowds The Meteoric Rise of Wigan
Finally Charles N’ Zogbia has left the club for Aston Villa. Not sure what to make of this move, yes Villa are a bigger club than Wigan this can’t be disputed. Financially it’s a good move for N’Zogbia at the same time it’s almost offensive that Downing cost Liverpool almost twice the amount of money. Just because he’s English doesn’t mean he is that much a better player.
Footballing reasons this move has come too late for N’Zogbia as Villa especially under McLeish will play a dour, long ball game and their fans will get on his case if he isn’t producing straight away. While thankful for his efforts in helping Wigan survive in the Premier League it’s time to move forward.
The club have been quiet on signings so far this season but they have to August 31 to get some more players. Wigan has already made their two most important signings already holding onto Roberto Martinez as manager after Aston Villa were sniffing around. It was very unlikely that he would be leaving Wigan, so soon as he still has a lot of things he wants to achieve at the club, helping build some more infrastructures. As a young manager he is keen on developing young players and playing an aesthetic style of football with good passing which is the antithesis of the rubbish and overt physical drivel played by teams like Stoke, Blackburn, Wolves and Villa more than likely under McLeish.
Al Habsi coming back permanently after a brilliant loan spell from Bolton was very important. Al Habsi is loved by the fans and was the Wigan Player of the Year last season. He was very busy as the defenders were under pressure a lot of the time, apart from the odd mistake which happens he is a much better option between the sticks than Chris Kirkland.
This season will be a big one for Victor “Holy” Moses who has a lot of potential but has been used most of the time as a sub at his time with the Latics. He has plenty of speed which is always beneficial, but his decision making needs improvement during the season. This is something that comes with time knowing when to slip the pass or when you take on the defenders, don’t think he’ll be in the N’ Zogbia class of hogging the ball but he’ll need to step up. The friendly against Villarreal showed some good signs from him, though the Yellow Submarine were clearly in preseason mode.
How Martinez addresses the problems from last season will set the tone of how Wigan will perform this season. There were too many draws from winning positions last season and a lack of consistency it was only until the last two matches against West Ham and Stoke when they won two games in succession. The defensive unit of Der Kaiser Gary Caldwell, Alcatraz, Figueroa and Emerson Boyce is the best at the moment, but they were put under a lot of pressure last season due to the attacking players not converting chances from the excellent build up play which was a feature of many Wigan matches once they got used to the new passing style imposed by Martinez.
Whether this means Martinez has to play with Rodallega and Sammond up front together so they can improve the goal ratio so the defence isn’t under as much pressure. Or the midfielders have to get forward at a faster rate to support the front men. It’s the major problem that needs solving and it will be interesting to see what players Martinez looks to buy or can get on loan. There is a need for some defensive cover, another midfielder and too bad they can’t get rid of di Santo.
Their first 3 matches are against the promoted teams Norwich, Swansea and QPR. There are some thinking woo hoo there’s 9 points at the start of the season, which would be fantastic. At the same time it was only last season when Blackpool thumped Wigan 4-0 at DW in their first match, so that should keep some perspective.
Another season under Martinez the team is now used to the short passing game and making the ball do the work and with a couple more intelligent signings or loan deals, definitely not sure about Wright-Phillips as a solution. If they get that right then a position of around 13th-15th is possible, anything higher would be a bonus or having to fight on the last day would be stagnation.
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4 comments:
The fact that Wigan are still battling year after year in the Premier League when so called bigger clubs have gone down is a true testament to all the work carried out by all at the club. It is sad to see an empty ground though but the club have been working hard to get supporters in. Also the recession hasn't helped their cause but I think this year could see Wigan causing a few surprises.
Good article, people forget that Wigan is a small club and how well they've done in a short space of time. Other clubs could learn a thing or to about how to run a footballing administration from them.
"There were too many draws from winning positions last season and a lack of consistency it was only until the last two matches against West Ham and Stoke when they won two games in succession."
Latics dropped 12 points from winning positions last season
and
earned 21 points from losing positions.
On six occasions, the team was losing, only to come back and draw.
Wigan have done very well to stay in the EPL for a long time. All the time they are predicted to be relegated, same bullshit about their crowds.
Yes, they drew a lot of matches last season but agree that Martinez has some work to do and it was even more important that he stayed with the club. At the same time he was going nowhere.
All things considered they will retain their position in the Premier League, just hope it doesn't come down to the last day.
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