Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'The excitement lies in this season being a blank slate'

Matt Auffrey:

Fifty-one days felt like an eternity to wait, but the 2026 ‘off-season’ has ended and the 26/27 pre-season has officially begun. If you thought my glass was ‘half-full’ during the season, you can only imagine how it’s overflowing with optimism in late June.

I still get excited when I see the pictures from that very first group training session in the gym. Some big names from the past few seasons, most notably Jason Kerr and Sam Tickle, were visibly absent from the squad.

Only one of our two new signings, Connor Barrett, reported on the first day of pre-season as well, but he was joined by many familiar faces who nearly felt like new signings. The likes of Tobias Brenan, Kai Payne, Jon Mellish, Ronan Darcy, and Jonny Smith all finished last season on loan at other clubs, but were back at Christopher Park in blue and white on Monday.

Even seeing Baba Adeeko back with the group was a rejuvenating sight, after an injury-riddled 25/26 campaign dampened a very positive start to his first-team career at the Brick.

Some of these players may feature in significant roles for the club in the months ahead, while others may have one foot out the door and are mere days away from a permanent move elsewhere. The excitement lies in this season being a blank slate with an infinite number of outcomes to consider.

While it would be nice to focus only on our own transfer business and squad composition, the nature of the game will always have us turning our heads when other clubs make a big signing. Callum Wright joining Hibernian on a three-year deal just happens to be the most recent example of that phenomenon.

While Callum seemed to genuinely enjoy his time at Latics while on loan, his plans for this next season align much differently from ours. While Max Power will add value to our midfield as a tough-nosed player with a high work-rate, he won't present the same goal threat that Callum did.

So where will our goals come from for this coming season? As it stands, returning players scored less than a quarter of our 49 league goals last season, with wing-back Fraser Murray being the top returning goal scorer at five goals.

Our strike duo of Dara Costelloe and Christian Saydee may be asked to multiply their combined effort of five league goals by several fold next season in order for our squad to be competitive.

However, it is still very early in the transfer window and, with the World Cup still in its early stages, it’s becoming more apparent that the brunt of most clubs’ business will take place after the competition ends in several weeks’ time.

Our first retention, signing 20-year-old defender Llyton Chapman to a new three-year deal, was a step in the right direction. It is integral we keep our most promising academy graduates under contract so they can continue to develop and flourish in our first-team set-up.

Jensen Weir and Adam Moseley were quick to follow suit, and hopefully there’ll be a steady flow of positive squad updates continues to permeate our news feeds. In the meantime, we have a few more days of group stage World Cup football to enjoy before the stakes really ramp up on Sunday for the start of the knockout round.

The most exciting matches of the tournament have yet to be played in the same manner that Latics’ most intriguing summer signings have yet to walk through the door. Strap in, everyone!

Martin Lally:

Action this week at the Brick Community Stadium is moving faster than a certain party leader’s brain trying to explain his £5million security donation. Every time you refresh Twitter, something else is going on, and it’s great to be back in business. Despite the arrival of the players back at Christopher Park yesterday causing me immense excitement, you couldn’t help but worry about the squad depth, and the magnitude of the rebuild looks bigger than first expected. Limited activity to date, but rumours galore of strikers (old and new) and Joe Taylor again (ole ole), the latter being more rumour I suspect than concrete. The lad probably deserves a chance higher up the pyramid.

Jason Kerr and Callum Wright have moved to Hibernian north of the border. It is without doubt that both will be missed in next year’s campaign. The period without Kerr after the innocuous injury earlier this year yielded some really uncertain performances, and the loss of Callum from midfield through suspension was always noticeable as his running was outstanding.

I wish both the best in future endeavours and hope they do well both in the SPL and European competition.

Will Aimson has also got a deal at Salford City, and I’m really chuffed for him. Although I understand why many berated him, I personally think he always gave a lot for the shirt and the club.

Again, this one could be a real regret as we move into next season, as I personally would have least given him another year in League One.

Llyton Chapman was the first to sign a three-year extension, which is welcome news and another good addition to the squad. Chapman looked assured in his position last year, and I believe he will feature much more through the 2026/27 campaign.

Young Tobias Brenan is back looking like a World Cup superstar with a Premier League barnet, as are Jonny Smith, Jon Mellish and Ronan Darcy. However, it is yet to be seen if the latter three will be in blue and white in August.

It’s getting exciting now with the fixtures released on Thursday, and that always feels like the start of the run in to the season. A pre-season run out at the Brick is always awesome as we welcome Port Vale in July, but it would be good to be much further down the line with some new faces and perhaps some returning by that point.

The new training kit is out and I treated myself to a few pieces. I have to say I was not disappointed in the slightest, but must maintain the diet if I don’t want to go above XL! It’s a little snug in places…..

While the excitement of the return of the Tics peaks on the horizon, the continued bafflement and disillusion remains with the national team! How can they really be so good against Croatia and look so clueless against Ghana?

Football really is a funny game and, all right, other nations believe we are the most entitled nation in the world. But you can’t tell me that squad isn’t good enough to go deep in this tournament.

I really believe it is, but they consistently seem to disappoint when we least expect it...sound familiar? Up the ‘back in the building’ Tics.