Wigan Athletic- The 12th man: ‘As Saturday's match went on you felt something special brewing’

Sean Livesey

There's some games that, even early on, you know they're going to be remembered fondly.

As Saturday's match went on you felt something special brewing.

Latics had struggled to get to grips with Birmingham in the opening ten minutes or so, when Joe Bennett was incorrectly sent off it felt like it was simply a case of damage limitation, but something happened after the indignation of that ridiculous red card that never was.

Wigan took control of the game.

Despite being a man down it was Latics who did all the running, all the pressing and for the last 20 minutes of the first half created all the chances.

They looked the stronger side and I'm sure everyone in the ground would have happily taken the draw and a point.

But Richardson and the coaching staff alongside those lads on the pitch had a different idea.

Leam probably unfairly has been labelled a cautious manager in his time with us, unwilling or unable to change it up or try different approaches.

All nonsense of course but these labels tend to stick.

Well good luck to anyone who tries to say he's too cautious now after the way his substitutions changed the game and the result on Saturday.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Charlie Wyke named among the substitutes, especially as many thought he would never play again after last November's cardiac arrest.

To see him come on and set up the winner was worth the ticket price alone.

Alongside Wyke we also saw Nathan Broadhead introduced and with both substitutes impacting the result it showed the positivity of Leam's decisions.

So much was good about Saturday - another sold out away end, the return of Charlie Wyke and the impact of Broadhead and his first goal.

It's back to home comforts on Saturday with the visit of Vincent Kompany's Burnley and probably our toughest test yet.

Burnley can clearly score for fun, but they also look like they may be vulnerable in defence.

Whatever happens on Saturday Latics have shown they can mix it with the big boys and indeed compete with the big boys too.

Seven points from four matches is a great return for our first season back in the Championship.

Let's hope we can keep that run going at the weekend.

Statto

Well what a win.

Backs against the wall fighting for each other, and big Charlie back off the bench to lay on the winner, that's some spirit this team has.

With the sending off you can see how the referee was conned. He was travelling at pace, being so close, byt unfortunately he didn't have the access to video replays to see there was no contact and it was a clear dive.

What now, with a few days left in the transfer window: goalkeeper cover, a centre back and central midfielder would be nice additions.

So, on to Burnley with only three surnames covering the whole of the North stand, let's show no fear and let's get about early.

Matt Auffrey

It was a foregone conclusion that our first season back in the Championship was going to challenge Latics in new ways.

After only receiving two (inconsequential) red cards during our most recent two-year stint in League One, less than 300 minutes of our new Championship campaign had passed before we had to play a man down in a meaningful match.

Joe Bennett’s 10th minute red card might not be looked back on as a ‘blessing in disguise’, but it forced our team to raise its game to a level that certainly exceeded the performances from our previous few matches.

At the centre of it all was Leam Richardson.

Subbing off striker Josh Magennis for defender Ryan Nyambe could’ve been an indicator that we were attempting to bunker down for the last 75 minutes of the match.

However, the personnel change and ensuing formation switch provided the perfect adjustment for settling back into the match and keeping a semi-balanced flow of play.

The 70th minute triple-substitution that saw Nathan Broadhead and Charlie Wyke enter the match set the stage for one of our most emphatic goals of the calendar year to play out 12 minutes later.

If there was ever a goal that defined ‘proving the doubters wrong,’ the match-winner at Birmingham has to be towards the top of the list.

“Latics won’t be competitive in the Championship unless they strengthen at every position.” Check.

“Latics can’t win a match in the Championship while down a man for 80-plus minutes.” Check.

“Charlie Wyke won’t ever return to form again after suffering cardiac arrest last November.” Check.

I’m sure that I could go on for a while.

It may be time for the naysayers to accept that the people making big decisions for this club know what they’re doing.

We are only four matches into the league campaign and there is a very long road ahead, but it seems safe to confirm that none of the club’s struggles ahead will come about due to a lack of cohesiveness and effort.

The special bond that carried this group to a League One title is still alive and well in the Championship.

Burnley will bring a big crowd to town on Saturday and will surely see Latics as the springboard they need to start their ascent up the league table from 16th position.

Their six-goal thriller against Blackpool last weekend showed that they can score goals in bunches but also illustrated that a two-goal lead is not too big for their opponents to overcome - even at Turf Moor.

With another full week of recovery under their belt, the Tics should be as rested and confident as necessary to secure their first home victory this season.

I would’ve loved to have seen the various computer models last weekend and to have taken note of what our chances of victory were immediately after Joe Bennett’s (since rescinded) red card.

I’m sure that many of those same computer models will have Burnley as favourites over us solely due to the fact that we played two divisions below them last season.

It goes without saying that tomorrow’s match is another massive opportunity to prove the doubters wrong.

With a healthy Charlie Wyke back in the mix, there’s no machine in the world that will be able to measure the strength of this team’s heart. Full pun intended. Up the ‘Tics.

Paul Middleton

If anybody had any doubts about the character of this team, they were surely put to bed on Saturday.

After a sending off that was every bit as ridiculous as when they changed the actor who played Scott in Neighbours hoping nobody would notice, instead of shutting up shop, Leam Richardson kept the pressure on the Birmingham defence.

It was a tactic that paid off handsomely, not just from the point of view of winning the game against the odds, but because it meant Charlie Wyke played his first minutes since his heart attack.

The fact he went on to set up the goal was just rubbing salt in the clearly open wounds of the Tommy Shelby wannabees in the stands.

There’s nothing that pleases me more than when a clear injustice is remedied not by the perpetrator, but by the victim.

It was a similar situation in 2006, when Phil Dowd refereed the Carling Cup semi at

Highbury.

I swear one of the Arsenal players would have had to pull a gun on a Latics player for Dowd to even think about giving us something.

Saturday wasn’t quite up there with that glorious instant when Jason Roberts scored with 30 seconds to go to send us to Cardiff, but it had some of the same feelings of justified revenge about it.

A big dollop of credit also has to go to Jamie Jones.

I’ve never been particularly sure that Jones is anything but back-up quality, at this level, but his performance on Saturday was simply heroic.

Aside from some very confident and accomplished actual goalkeeping, he seemed to have played most of the game on one leg after an early injury.

Every time he kicked the ball, which he never once shied away from, he winced and hobbled away.

It might just have put to bed the time when he was making a brew in the goal when a backpass came his way, once and for all.

I know if my auntie had wotsits she’d be my uncle, and all that, but if we’d played that game against Coventry and won, we’d be second now.

Think about that. The bookies had, and some still have, us down as relegation certainties.

I know four games in is no indicator of a 46 game season, but I genuinely see no reason why we should fear anybody in this league.

We’ve played a red hot promotion favourite, and another who you wouldn’t bet against for the playoffs, and taken points off them. Add a win playing with 10 men for 80 minutes, and you might want to stick a tenner on us making the playoffs ourselves.

I keep saying just one season of mid-table mediocrity will do, to set us up for next season after a mad couple of years, but I’m happy to surrender that wish if necessary.

And what happened to that lad who took over Scott’s role? Any ideas?