Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'Everyone involved in this sorry tale needs to learn from the experience...'

Alan Rogers:

Where do we start? Late on Saturday night, the inevitable finally happened, and we are now looking for a new head coach. I think Ryan Lowe would have probably struggled to last another week, but Saturday's scoreline spoke for itself, and finally they had to act.

I said last week that recently we had seen actions within the club that were 'too little, too late' and so it proved again. Sadly, although he's finally gone, it's left a bitter taste among fans. The last few weeks have seen fans falling out amongst themselves, while some have been hiding on social media and making some disgusting claims...but now it's time we put the cork back in the bottle. Everyone involved in this sorry tale needs to learn from the experience.

Starting from the top. There's nothing to be gained by lashing out at the ownership group. They rescued us in our time of need - and seemingly for all the right reasons. They had little to gain from buying the Latics...let's face it, they don't need the money! If we have anything to blame them for, it's for simply trusting the people they put in place to do their jobs.

They were told Ryan Lowe was the right man for the job, they trusted that advice, and they supported their staff. However, they will have to learn something from this sad episode. A football club is different from other businesses. Yes, you have budgets, profit and loss- all the usual ancillary issues involved with running a hopefully successful venture - but it's much, much more than that.

A football club is an emotional place. Almost a living, breathing entity. It is probably ridiculous at times, but so rewarding (and not in a financial sense) at others. I think the new owners had a sense of this when they created the Fans Advisory Board and brought back Brenda Spencer. But they need to go further. I'm not sure the FAB has worked as well as was hoped, and we need to continue to build bridges in certain areas.

And so on to the next area of the management team...Sarah Guilfoyle and Gregor Rioch. Sarah seems a perfectly nice person, having heard her speak very well a couple of times. But beyond that, I don't really know what her role entails. And so on to Gregor...a club legend for many years, playing a massive part in our successful Academy, which has supported the club so well over many years. Gregor also played a big part in keeping the club alive when, along with Shaun Maloney and others, he persuaded Mr Danson to rescue our club. His reward was to be appointed the sporting director, and to work alongside the head coach and others to try to make our club great again.

So, what went wrong? We know for a fact Gregor has been the target of some hideous abuse on social media. Cowardly attacks from faceless bigots made him take a step back from social media. He definitely didn't deserve that level of vitriol.

I've met Gregor, and can vouch for his passion and his work ethic when it comes to Wigan Athletic. He really cares. But he isn't blameless in this instance. We'll never really find out what actually happened during the sacking of his mate, Shaun Maloney, especially when we could see Lowe in the stands in the weeks before Shaun's dismissal.

Lowe was ushered quickly into place, leaving another bad taste in several mouths. But Gregor did show admirable, if misguided, support for Lowe in recent weeks. I suppose it leaves Gregor with egg on his face if his recommendation flopped, but at least he tried his best to support him.

And so on to Mr Lowe himself. I've said several times that Shaun shouldn't have been sacked, and that Lowe definitely wasn't the person to replace him. Simply from a football point of view, the majority of PNE fans felt a different manager would have achieved more with their team, while Plymouth fans generally claim Steven Schumacher was the brains of that management team.

Football apart, it was hard to take to Ryan Lowe the man. We had little opportunity to interact with him apart from on the pitch, so he appeared a distant, almost aloof figure. He did come alive, however, when we beat Doncaster at home, banging his chest and strutting around. We didn't see much more of that.

What we did see was a nervous, yet arrogant figure addressing the camera each week...always with someone else to blame. Usually, he would heavily hint that the players were at fault, but in recent weeks he turned on the fans...and when you do that, it's game over.

During a recent substitution, the fans around the dug-out complained and he snarkily asked to see their coaching badges. I think my favourite in recent weeks was when he thanked the fans after we had played Preston reserves - he felt the noise levels urged the players on. But when we lost against Bolton the following week, he felt that perhaps the players were intimidated by the noise!

We can debate the rights and wrongs of this sorry episode for ages - and I've only had a short while to put this together - but it's important that everyone learns from this. I think the most important lesson is to appoint someone who has at least a tentative connection with the club.

Lowe didn't seem to care one jot for the team, the club or the fans. It was all about him. I have a few reasons to make that statement but, from my perspective, the deciding factor wasn't on the pitch or during an interview.

I found out recently Mr Lowe removed the 'Believe' poster from the wall in his office. Just ripped it off, leaving a blank space and some damaged plaster. As far as I'm aware, that poster has been there since Roberto Martinez's tenure. All the managers since then - some good, some not so good - were happy to leave the message on the wall. Perhaps as a nod to our history. But not Lowe. He ripped it off the wall and threw it in the bin.

Poetic justice...because that's what we've just done to him. Goodbye and good riddance.

Caddy from the 5:

As Erasure sang with great gusto, 'Ship of Fools' is rather apt at the bastion of English football right now. Captain Cala-mighty has rightly walked the plank (eventually), but there's others that are still 'Friggin in the Riggin', so to speak…

Saturday was lower than being in admin. Those lads kept us up by pride and fight, none of which was shown by the 11 on the pitch. Yes, none of them. They were an embarrassment to our great club. The only good thing to come out of it was the manager finally being potted.

Now he's gone, time to look at the ones that backed him only seven days ago...what were they thinking? The rot starts from the top, as I've said before. So where is Mike Danson? Where is Lucas Danson? Where is Sarah Guilfoyle? All we've had is a half-hearted interview with Gregor Rioch that, as this weekend showed, even he didn't believe!

We really are a rudderless ship, sailing into oblivion. We've no assets for any potential buyers, so where the hell do we go from here? The new manager, for me, will need a face of thunder and take no s**t.. Step forward Paul Cook! He's got unfinished business here and would definitely get a tune of these underperforming players. There is no way on earth this team is bottom four material.

The Supporters Club put a tweet out on Saturday night after the game, and they were spot on...'We're Wigan Athletic and we deserve better'. So take note. We don't suffer fools, and we won't be taken for one. There's not many of us, but we won't be crossed. The appointment of the next man will show us all what the hierarchy REALLY wants from us, and for us, so let's see.

Anyway it's only Leam's return on Tuesday - a time for the Maloney cult to switch alliances for one night - and then Arsenal. It couldn't happen, could it? Shut up, Cad...you're drunk again! Right, I'm off brushing up my CV for the job...will work for cider and a pie...hearing I'm an early favourite…

Mat Auffrey:

A term I’ve used frequently over the past several months has been ‘rock bottom’. Over that time, our results have transitioned from inconsistent to dreadful. Consequently, the energy surrounding the club had transitioned from largely negative to downright toxic.

Regarding our managerial situation, ‘the point of no return’ came at different moments for different fans. A large subsection were adamant that a change needed to be made before the new year. Some of those fans were willing to give Ryan Lowe additional time after the Preston triumph. However, with each ensuing performance, our frustration compounded.

Heading into Peterborough, we were winless in six league matches and hadn’t won a league match at the Brick in over two months. It was going to take an emphatic victory to shift the tides in a positive direction. Would the board have excused another loss if we were at least ‘semi-competitive’ like the recent Lincoln performance?

Nothing was left to chance as our worst defeat in nearly five years tipped the scales in a manner that no shade of rose-coloured glasses could overlook. There was no longer a question about whether Lowe was going to depart from his current role. The conversation turned into a guessing game of how soon the club was going to pull the trigger.

It took a little over five hours after the final whistle at London Road but, lo and behold, the corner flag was rid of its dust and made its grand return for the release of the official club statement confirming Lowe’s exit from the club. Lowe may go on to find success again in management again, but he was not the right person to lead Latics. It’s unfortunate we did have to hit ‘rock bottom’ in order to force the board’s hand, but it’s in the past now.

Glenn Whelan and Graham Barrow will have a very small window to hit the reset button and put the lads in the best position to win ahead of Reading’s visit to the Brick in midweek. Leam Richardson has solidified the Royals firmly in the division’s mid-table positions, and should have no reservations about kicking us while we’re down as he makes his long-awaited return to WN5.

The best thing we can do for the short-term is to let the players know they have our full support. There should be no denial from anyone that we are officially in a relegation scrap now. We need all 11 players on the pitch to collectively rediscover their roles. We need to start out-playing our opponents as we more frequently did over the opening months of the campaign. We need to secure points anyway we can get them, but more importantly, we need to start winning again.

We are not ‘doomed’ by any means. Many remaining fixtures should be deemed ‘winnable’ even while we suffer through our roughest patch of the season yet. Scoring goals at home - an area where we largely failed over the past several months - followed by winning matches on our home turf are the easiest first steps we can take to re-establish ourselves as a competitive outfit again.

One major dark cloud over our club has been cleared. Let’s get behind the lads as we all work to create brighter days ahead.

Martin Lally:

Saturday, 4.30pm, 4-1 down at Peterborough United...and a combined chorus of ‘It’s a long way back to Wigan, when you’re s**t’ from both the home and away fans could well be my lowest point ever in the 25 years I’ve watched Wigan Athletic.

Arriving early at London Road, to sample the fan zone (rate my burger 8/10) and then proceeding to watch the warm-up, there was just something about us that we didn’t seem right or up for the task ahead. The lads looked on the floor before a ball had been kicked.

Nine minutes in and 2-0 down, and the away end was a cauldron. The youth element can be easily identified as 'problematic', but the truth is we are not really a bad club...just passionate. But throughout that game, and in close proximity to management, the fans of all age and description certainly let their voices be heard.

A 6-1 thumping. In the end, it was laughable. Walking out, I thought to myself if he survives this, he will survive anything. And having found myself back in the People’s Republic of Wigan at 8.30pm with still no news, it seemed the Latics manager had more lives than certain political figures who should also have been given the boot this week...but let’s not go there.

The truth is he should have gone after Blackpool at home in December. At 10.15pm, Ryan Lowe’s fate was sealed, and the club finally acted in what has been possibly the most torrid and feral time in the history of this great club.

Liam Jennion:

When it rains, it pours. Most react one of two ways. Some push through and reach their destination. Others turn around and admit it was a bad idea in the first place. And then there’s a ‘select few’ who simply splash in the puddles ignoring the downpour. Usually those people are children. Yet, it’s felt like that same carefree approach has been coming from inside the boardroom.

We Wigan fans can be fickle, but we’re not typically delusional. Before our away game at Bolton, there was genuine optimism building around this team. Looking back now, it was as if Ryan Lowe had everyone in a trance. The ideas looked modern, the messaging confident, and results just about steady enough to keep belief alive.

What followed was a realisation many supporters had been quietly forming: too rigid, too arrogant, and ultimately one-dimensional. The warning signs had been there for weeks, in performances, in interviews, in the stubborn refusal to adapt, and frustration had grown that change wasn’t made sooner.

Most supporters understand our place. A stable mid-table season would have been accepted, even welcomed, after recent turbulence. In fact, this should have been the easiest job in football: low expectations, no play-off pressure, just competitive football, gradual progress and, above all, survival. How hard can that be?

My question at the fans forum would be: how did a manager whose approach often clashed with the club’s 'Believe' values ever feel like the right fit? Belief and defying the odds has always been part of our DNA. But belief starts with humility. There’s little need to believe in anything if you already think you have all the answers. And that, ultimately, is where this era began to unravel.

So, a plea to our next manager: be humble. The most successful periods in this club’s history haven’t been built on ego or noise, but on graft, unity and a collective belief in something bigger than one individual. We know our place, but we also know our identity. A manager aligned with that identity gives this club its best chance of moving forward with purpose rather than drifting between false starts.

Dare I say, we had exactly that not so long ago…

Soccerates:

In my previous column submission, I’ll be the first to admit I was scathing toward the hierarchy. In the cold light of day, perhaps I was too quick to point the finger at the top but, after the 6-1 capitulation at Peterborough, the frustration is impossible to mask.

Ryan Lowe has departed yet, as the dust settles, a more worrying pattern emerges. Many fans have lashed out on social media...berating staff, players, one another, our rival fans (who have loved nothing more than twisting the knife) and even our own local press...to varying degrees.

From sometimes humorous, to sometimes venomous comments, from memes to more unsavoury comments. We do need to remind ourselves that there is a person at the other end of those...some (most) of which has not been justified. I'd like to hope that going forward, we can handle ourselves with more dignity.

We’ve now seen two different managers - Shaun Maloney and Ryan Lowe - struggle to get a tune out of by and large the same group of players. These are players we know have quality yet, for some reason, the spark has vanished.

When a squad fails to perform under two distinct styles of leadership, then perhaps that needs to be taken into account. I don't agree with 'the players have downed tools', but we haven't looked like a decent side for large chunks of the season. Despite a claim of lack of investment in the playing squad, we have spent commensurate to our current stature in the game. There's a lot of potential in the group, unrealised.

My appeal to the players (if they're reading this) is that I hope they don't look back on this time at Wigan with regret - because a playing career is short. Moments such as this can define a career. It's your time, your chance to write a new chapter. The fans are behind you.

The next appointment isn't just about tactics. It’s about a psychological rebuild of a dressing room that looks lost. As far as tactics goes, what I personally would like to see is more a dynamic and fluid attack. We've heard 'playing on the front foot' quite a bit, and perhaps we need our players to try and go less into feet and work passes a little bit ahead of their colleagues, to encourage that movement, and to mix things up between long and short passing. Defensively, we've conceded as many goals at this stage as we did in almost the entirety of last season. Against Peterborough, we were wide open, the gaps ever increasing as the game wore on.

The statistics since the end of the 'Barclaysmen' era ended make for grim reading. Since Roberto Martinez departed in June 2013, the revolving door at the Brick Community Stadium hasn’t stopped turning. Looking at our 11 permanent appointments since Martinez left just over 12 years ago, the numbers really highlight our lack of real continuity: With an average lifespan of just 14 months per manager, it is no wonder the players look disjointed. We are asking them to learn a new approach almost every year, and the end result is the rudderless performance we saw on Saturday.

I might have been harsh on the board last time out, but my core concern remains: the next appointment has to be the right one, not just the next one. We have a squad capable of much more than 22nd in League One, but they need a leader who can break this 1.15-year cycle and actually build a foundation. This is even lower than the 1.6 years a manager gets in League One.

We aren't quite at Watford levels of a managerial merry-go-round, but we are getting unnervingly close to it. I appreciate we need a steady evolution of other aspects in and around the club, but the spotlight is upon us once again. In these moments in the past, we defied expectations. If we don't find someone who can finally unlock the potential in this squad, the 'downward spiral' will become a nosedive.

Lots of names will be rumoured and I have no doubts that we will have plenty of applications from potential managers or head coaches willing to take us forwards. In terms of style, we need to move towards a manager who implements a high-intensity, pragmatic approach that plays to the strengths of the personnel we actually have, rather than the ones we wish we had. Whether it’s an experienced survivalist, or a hungry, pragmatic coach, they must prioritise defensive solidity and attacking fluidity. You don't win games - or stay in this league - conceding six.

Tony Moon:

The (now, not so) Moody Blues sing: We've already said, Goodbye'...Since you've got to go, oh, you'd better go now, Go now, go now (Go now, ooh), but you won’t see me cry. I don't want you to tell me just what you intend to do now. 'Cause how many times do I have to tell you, Ryan, Ryan, we’re not in love with you now? Woah. We've already said: 'So long'.

We’re relieved to see you go, oh, you'd better go now. Go now, go now (Go now, ooh), did you even try? Tellin' us that you really don't want us to end this way-ay, ‘cause Ryan, Ryan, can't you see we don’t want you to stay? Yeah-yeah. We didn’t want to see you go, but Ryan, you'd better go now…

Billy H:

Well, the proverbial 100 per cent backing of the board of Ryan Lowe last week had the desired effect. His rightful sacking, after a totally humiliating 6-1 defeat at the hands of Peterborough.

After the board got behind Lowe, I thought it looked like he was here to stay regardless of the unrest, the toxicity and the dire performances. So I'd need to bite the bullet, strap in for a relegation fight, and get used to even more miserable visits to the Brick Community Stadium.

Cue less than 10 minutes into the game on Saturday, we were two goals down, in total disarray, and the players looking shell shocked. Looking at the final result, and the embarrassing scoreline, I thought it's going to be a long hard slog getting to the end of the season, as the 100 per cent backing of Lowe was still ringing in my ears. Thankfully the old adage of 'backing of the manager' came to the fore, and Lowe was rightly relieved of his duties.

I honestly think the squad of players we have are more than good enough to stay in this division, and I feel the players had lost confidence in Lowe, and in the way they were set up and asked to play...how else do you explain the drop-off in games week in, week out...only to then suddenly find form for an FA Cup clash against Lowe's former team?

With a game coming in midweek against former manager Liam Richardson's Reading, I hope the players can dust themselves off, find the form we had at the beginning of the season, and put in a decent performance worthy of a Latics shirt. Because after all, we deserve a good old fashioned 'up and at 'em' battling win to get us back on form.

Sean Livesey:

Two months too late, but finally the decision that should have been made has been made. Embarrassing that it took a 6-1 mauling to do it. Rather than any sort of recognition of the malaise we've found ourselves in for the majority of this season.

A club legend last season, who hadn't seen us in the relegation zone and with what many consider an inferior squad, was sacked in a brutal fashion by the club. Which made the fact they wouldn't even - as recently as last week - consider moving on from Ryan Lowe even more inexplicable.

In the end the angry scenes witnessed at both Doncaster and Peterborough forced the club to act. They had stuck their neck on the line to appoint him, and made such a big thing of the 'new era' stuff that it must have been difficult to see what everyone else could see....that Lowe was not a fit for Wigan Athletic Football Club.

After the way he's conducted himself this season, I doubt he'll be a fit for any other football club any time soon. It's something to consider a character as divisive as Lowe when over the last 15 years we've had the likes of Coyle, Joyce, Toure, Sheridan and Mackay in charge...and Lowe beats all of them hands down.

'Mr Not My Fault' (credit the artist Tat) spent his time either belittling the supporters of this great club or the players representing this club. How many references to our small support, to our league status, to our lack of success in recent years, could one man make? Let alone arguing with supporters in the stands at regular home matches since the autumn.

The vibe with Lowe throughout his tenure was 'I've better things to do with my time' and that we were lucky he had decided to come and do us a favour. There wasn't space in our football club for the ego of Lowe. His appointment and the subsequent 11 months in charge will go down as some of the worst in the modern history of our great club.

Talented players cast aside because they didn't fit with some unworkable formation that gained us no results, instead of adapting his system or formation to the players he had he instead decided our failures were on the players. They weren't following his instructions, and if the supporters didn't like it? Well they were a 'small' number who couldn't be on the same level as the footballing genius that is him.

But the warning signs were there. From Bury fans, from Plymouth fans and, most inexplicably, from Preston fans. I imagine the supporters of all of those clubs were happy with their league positions under Lowe. Indeed, Preston, who had decent finishes under Lowe. But scratch below the surface and the digs, the criticism, the avoidance of responsibility were all there long before he arrived.

I've never felt such discontent with the club as I have done this season and that starts with the manager. But he's not the only one to blame. The board takes a huge responsibility for this monumental mess we find ourselves in. There are serious questions to be asked of the club over the next few weeks.

First needs to be what kind of recruitment process we went through last year. On paper, Lowe was a strong candidate. But did we have the players for his rigid wing-back system? Had we looked into his character? It isn't enough for him to have previous connections to some of the staff in the club.

Secondly, why - when even a blind ostrich could see the direction of travel over the last month - did the board give the head coach their 100 per cent backing just a week ago. Wasting the month to try and get a new manager in and as such wasting the transfer window.

Thirdly, and for me more importantly, what kind of values do we want to represent our football club? The last manager in my eyes did not align with those values. The board needs to get this next decision right or the tide of discontent heading their way will turn into a tsunami.

I hold no personal grudges against those running our club. They are doing a difficult job in a thankless industry. They are learning on the job, and unfortunately that lack of experience has shown in a dramatic fashion this season. The issues on the pitch only arise when you're losing, but they exacerbate the issues off the pitch that people may prefer to overlook in the good times.

As I've said many times before, Wigan Athletic is a club that has been hollowed out over the last six years. Two near-death experiences, two relegations and various points deductions mean this club is unrecognisable from what it was in 2019.

That is part of the reason for that anger now, and not all of it can be aimed at the board and owner. There are no quick fixes and our days of spending our way out of trouble are long gone. But nonetheless, that's why we need a manager who understands these challenges. Our budget may not match the top of the division, but it will still be larger than 50 per cent of this league. The team we have simply should not be propping up the division.

It's time for those players to now come out and prove me and the many who have continuously backed them correct. Prove to us that our faith in you hasn't been misplaced. Leave your all on that pitch for Graham Barrow (and Glenn Whelan). I can't speak for Whelan, but Barrow bleeds blue and white. And if you're not giving your all for that man, then our faith in you has been misplaced, and you're as culpable as the head coach who left with his tail between his legs.

For us on the terraces. Channel the anger on Tuesday. Get down to that cavernous ground we unfortunately call home and get behind that 11 that takes to the pitch, get behind Barrow and get behind our Wigan Athletic. It isn't too late to save this season, I believe these players are good enough. Now it's time to show it.

George Arkwright

Well there we have it. ‘End of an Error’ really encapsulated it perfectly. 11 months, 49 Games, 12 Wins, a 24.98 per cent win rate and, let's be honest, not much to write home about. Ryan Lowe’s tenure at Wigan Athletic is seemingly a blip that the majority of us will hope to forget.

There's not much to write in regards to the man that wouldn’t be well-trodden ground for this article, but I think the crux of the matter is this: he never got us. I never felt as though he was endeared to Wigan...the team, the fans, or the town. What started as an interesting, exciting appointment quickly became evidently problematic, as his incompatibility with the club became apparent.

His attitude to our derby games against Bolton...his absence at our midweek cup games...his inability to shift his tactics or take accountability for our poor performances. All of these caused nothing but ill-favour in his direction and, coupled with a very uncomfortable league position and little to be positive about in terms of our patterns of play, the writing was very much on the wall from the early part of what turned out to be his only season in charge.

His departure brings hope. With 17 games left to play, we are still afforded the time to turn our situation around. However, with the team looking bereft of confidence, rudderless, and having spent large parts of the season being impotent seemingly by design, it is no small task for whoever steps into the dug-out in Lowe’s stead.

The responsibility now falls at the feet of our leadership team. Much criticism has been levied at them - Gregor Rioch, Sarah Guilfoyle et al - on their handling of our current situation. To spend weeks in silence, only to have their hand forced by public outcry into backing a manager, only to then completely renege on their sentiment and fire him, leaves numerous questions...and a sour taste in the mouth of many.

Why wait until now, when the issues that have arisen have been so prevalent for so long? Why afford the manager the entirety of January and a full transfer window, only to sack him immediately? What did he pose during the interview process that convinced them he was the right manager for the job when he evidently did not have the character needed to adhere himself to the Latics faithful?

Moreover, what is the strategy now? Where do we go from here, and what are the contingencies if the impossible happens and we get relegated...despite Gregor’s affirmations otherwise? These questions can probably be allayed by an astute appointment, one that matches both the passion and the earnest attitude that our most beloved managers have cultivated, and a positive change on the pitch that we so require.

However, we are obviously at a crossroads. Get this appointment correct, and we absolutely have the time and resources in our playing squad to turn our season around. Get another wrong, and we will be over the precipice...destined for League Two, and all of the accompanying agony.

Let us not lead with niceties - there will be redundancies, decline, and it will be tougher than most realise to bounce back. It could begin a period of our history that we haven’t experienced in any form for almost four decades. The options are stark. Success, or potential doom.

The leadership team will have a lot to answer for come Wednesday’s fan forum. They have probably avoided some difficult questions with the removal of Lowe. But nevertheless, they will be put into the spotlight for the first time this season. There is hope that those in attendance will pull no punches, and we as a fanbase are owed explanations, answers, and the quelling of some pretty inevitable anxieties.

By the same stretch, it is paramount that the panel embrace the spirit of the event, and turn some of this anger and frustration into passion to help us push ourselves back up the table, and bring many that feel disenchanted by recent events back on board.

A game against Arsenal is seemingly, hopefully, the first task for our new manager. If we can appoint someone in time, it will be a stern first test, but a buoyant away end, packed to the rafters, will provide a backdrop of positivity on which we can attempt to achieve the unachievable.

After that, Luton and Stockport are also not to be trifled with but, with the right backing and the support of a fanbase enthused by the prospect of good football, we should hopefully be looking up the table instead of over our shoulder.