'My worst defeat as a manager', admits Wigan Athletic boss

John Sheridan admitted Wigan Athletic's 3-2 home defeat to non-league Chorley was his lowest point as a manager.
John SheridanJohn Sheridan
John Sheridan

Latics were cruising at the 40-minute mark, with goals from Joe Garner and Tom James opening up a two-goal advantage.

But centre-half Adam Long was shown a red card four minutes before the interval for a last-man foul on Harry Cardwell.

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And the second half was all Chorley, as Elliot Newby and Cardwell brought the scores level.

The winning goal came less than a minute into extra-time, from Connor Hall, which left Sheridan struggling to comprehend what he'd just witnessed.

“Firstly, congratulations to Chorley and full credit to them," he said.

“But at home, against a non-league team, you expect to win the game and go through to the next round - especially after you go 2-0 up.

“And we should have seen the game through.

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"The sending off changed the game a little bit but I still think, with what we have out on the pitch, we should see the game through and win."

Latics extended their winless sequence to nine matches, and it was a familiar tale as the manager tried to explained it.

“Good players make the game look simple by doing things simple.

"And sometimes we make the simplest things look very difficult, which is probably our downfall.

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“The goals we have conceded all season have been absolutely comical.

"And again, the goals we conceded today were comical.

"I am down at the moment and I have to be careful after the game.

"But it is probably the worst result of my managerial career, if I'm going to be truthful.

“We can make excuses with injuries but this isn’t necessarily a young team.

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"They’re 20 and 21, and they need to take responsibility out on the pitch.

"They need to get a grip of each other out there on the pitch.

"Whether that makes me old school or not, there's nothing wrong with getting a grip of each other, being vocal, and being organised.

"That is a big, big downfall in our team at the moment."

Sheridan also had no issue with the sending-off of Long, and pulled no punches in his assessment.

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"It was silly, he shouldn't be getting sent off," added the Latics boss.

"It's a comical bit of defending, it was a red card, he was the last man and he deserved to be sent off.

"He should stay on his feet, and he should have seen the danger before he was sent off, and it wouldn't have happened."

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