Gregor Rioch opens up on a wide range range of Wigan Athletic topics - 'I've been here 12 years...a quarter of my entire life...'
Sporting director Gregor Rioch sat down with the local media to address a number of Wigan Athletic topics – on and off the pitch – to give the fans a greater understanding of the overall picture.
How would you assess the season as a whole so far?
We would certainly have been expecting to have been higher up the table. Let's have a look at some of the good things first...we scraped through the first couple of rounds of the FA Cup and have now got a massive fourth-round draw coming up against Arsenal, which everybody is looking forward to. So it's not all doom and gloom, there is some positivity there. From a league perspective, we know we are underperforming, we are all aware of that - Ryan, his staff, the players - we're all aware we should be further up the table. Without making excuses, I would suggest we could have had six or seven more points on the board comfortably, because we've had some major decisions go against us early in the season, which has been highlighted. We're not hiding behind that at all, we don't feel it's an excuse that we want to dwell on. But you only have to look at the other night at Wycombe, when a major decision went against the lads in the first minute of the game, when the spirits are high, having come back from three goals down at Doncaster three days earlier. It just makes it a tall order, and I think that's sometimes what happens when you're missing a few results...back-to-back wins, which we haven't seemed to be able to manage this season...elements do go against you. But we're all working very hard.
Going back to 12 months ago, when Shaun Maloney was replaced by Ryan Lowe...have you seen enough progress in that last year to warrant the change that was made?
Decisions are made, and you can't look back. What you have to do is look forward. The decision was made to bring Ryan to the football club because of his pedigree. He knew what it took to get out of this division, and to consolidate in the division above. We'd seen him have a few good seasons at Preston in the Championship, with resources that might not have been towards the middle of the table. The goal for us was to have a successful club, to get out of this division, and to stay in the division above. At this moment in time, we are underperforming. We've talked a lot about short-term, mid-term and long-term goals - and we're still in the short term at the moment. But there's no doubt about it, we do need to improve. We're all very aware of that. Nobody is under any illusions as to the fact we need to move up the league table.
We've spoken about pressure on managers, do you feel a similar pressure in your role as sporting director?
Every day. Every day. I have the pressure of not only the first team, but also the Women's team, the Academy, recruitment, sports science, medical, the fanbase...everybody. And it's every single day. I've been here 12 years - which is just short of one quarter of my entire life - at this football club. I'm ingrained at this football club, I've got so much affiliation and affection for this football club. When we win, it's great. When we don't, I bleed like everybody else.
On the subject of the manager, does he still retain the full backing of everybody at the club?
Absolutely. 100%. He has the backing of everybody. You can see with the reaction of the players, when they were 3-0 down at Doncaster last week. When we scored the first goal, I thought the supporters were incredible. They were right behind the team, you could feel the togetherness and the connection, and that made such a big difference. When you're in the position we are, sometimes the team can feel a bit fragile. And I thought that was the case until we scored the first goal. But they showed in the last half an hour just how good they can be.We showed when we went to Preston how good it can be when everybody comes together. Some people I've spoken to told me it was the best away end they had been in for years. I know sometimes they are looking for the players to start things off, to get them going, and at times the players are waiting for the fans to start things off, to get them going.
Should the unthinkable happen, and the club was to get relegated this season, is there a contingency plan in place which would fit in with the short-term, mid-term and long-term goals?
We won't get relegated. Simple as that.
Looking further ahead, just how big is the FA Cup fourth round tie against Arsenal in a fortnight?
We're a few games away from that yet, and we've not really had time to properly think about it, with the transfer window and the current situation in the league...that's clouded my excitement for now. But we're obviously looking forward to that in the future. The fans really deserve a big day out, against one of the big Premier League sides, and I'm sure there'll be a few smiles on the day from everyone connected to the club. On a personal note, my dad has obviously spent time at both clubs...unfortunately he won't be there on the day, because he's recovering from a knee replacement, he's struggling a little bit. But he's very much forward to watching it, and of course he'll be following the Tics! It's funny, when I was at my previous club, Coventry City, whenever the FA Cup came round, Steve Ogrizovic was wheeled out for all the interviews...here it's the same with Graham Barrow...and it's just great. It just brings about the fabric of the football club, the town, the people, and also the competition. I'm just hoping we can go into the game with a bit of good form. We all remain so determined to make supporters proud, and at the moment we're falling a little bit short. We're fully aware of that, but things will improve. Stick with us, get behind the lads in the meantime, and let's see what we can achieve together.