Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'There's added pressure to not just perform well but also win at home'

Matt Auffrey:

Our streak of ‘satisfactory’ results continued last weekend with a well-earned 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town.

The hosts benefitted from avoiding a straight red card in the first minute of the match, only for the offending player - Murray Wallace - to get on the end of a 34th-minute free kick, and head the ball into the back of the Latics net for the opening goal.

Ryan Lowe made an attacking substitution at half-time and was rewarded with a Raphael Borges Rodrigues equaliser in the 52nd minute after a beautiful ball by Callum Wright created a 1-on-1 with ex-Latics goalkeeper Lee Nicholls. The Coventry loanee was inches away from scoring a potential go-ahead goal-of-the-season just moments later, only to be denied by the woodwork.

The full-time whistle delivered many positive feelings. It was evident we secured a valuable point against a side in good home form with loads of individual quality in their team.

This weekend will bring a multitude of new challenges as the Brick is set to host its first derby match of the season. Our next opponents, Blackpool, have bounced back from a five-match winless run to win a second-round FA Cup tie against Carlisle United and take four points from the likes of Rotherham United and Lincoln City in the league.

They’ve scored a total of nine goals over this three-match unbeaten run, which should raise some eyebrows considering it has been over three months since Latics have scored more than two goals in a match.

The Tangerines recently replaced a manager who was in good graces with Latics fans (Steve Bruce) with one of our club’s greatest enemies of the past half-decade (Ian Evatt). There is no question Evatt will want nothing more than to atone for a woeful record against the ‘Tics during this time in charge in Horwich with a win this weekend.

To his advantage, he’ll enter Saturday with the only in-form striker between the two teams. Ashley Fletcher, who had an abysmal goal record during his single-season stay in WN5, has since turned things around on the Fylde Coast. The 30-year-old has scored five goals over his past four matches and now has a double-digit goal tally across all competitions for the season.

He has supplied much of the goal production that Dale Taylor was expected to deliver when he signed on a permanent deal over the summer for a rumoured seven-figure fee. Taylor's only goal contribution of the season to date came when he scored against Barrow in a Vertu Trophy group stage match in mid-September.

Blackpool have endured a poor start to their season, but a win this weekend could possibly catapult them from 23rd to 17th in the League One table if other results go their way. Given the fact we have yet to win a local derby under Lowe, there should be some added pressure to not just perform well but also win at home.

Aside from the first five minutes, we had a very lackadaisical first half effort at Huddersfield. Another substandard start could easily see us fall behind by several goals early in the match - just as we did at the Toughsheet Stadium on our last derby day.

We’ve seen some unlikely heroes deliver big goals over the past several weeks. However, if this team is going to reach their full potential and push for the playoffs come spring, the players we brought in to score goals - Christian Saydee, Dara Costelloe, and Paul Mullin - will have to start converting their chances sooner than later.

Nonetheless, a big opportunity awaits this group. A win over Blackpool could deliver a huge confidence boost ahead of a difficult run of four games in 10 days that starts with a trip to Bradford on Boxing Day. Three points would be a very deserving gift for our fanbase ahead of Christmas. It would create less work for Santa Claus next week as well!

Happy holidays to all!

Martin Lally:

In advance of the hop across the Pennies last weekend, we again saw another side to the current regime at the club in Ryan Lowe’s pre-match press conference.

Some will find the dictatorship refreshing but, for me, the manager calling out (but not naming) players stating ‘if you cry and pull your face, you can go’ is a parallel reflection that we hear in pre and post-match reactions when the focus is on how connected the club actually is. Well, Ryan, which one is it?

After a rough first half in Huddersfield, despite not really creating much nor being under mass pressure, we found ourselves behind to an extremely poorly defended opener. It is an age old tale, but how Murray Wallace remained on the pitch to actually score is beyond me...I still can’t believe it now!

When pictures prove that the referee's assistant is looking directly at the challenge from around 10 metres away, then the official consults with him, it tells you that they suspected what had actually happened...and Wallace should have walked.

The challenge was higher than the knee, so was it any wonder the Wigan players were once again so upset with the officials, after recent poor decisions against them? But no red! Again, another decision that affects the final result and cost us.

I’m not going to suggest there is an agenda, but there is more than enough evidence to suggest that we get less than we deserve. Don’t give me all this ’they even themselves out over a season’, because I’ve been waiting for the equaliser for 26 years and I haven’t seen a balance…

Credit where it’s due to the management, I couldn’t see a second half containing Raphael Borges Rodrigues in any scenario, and was surprised to see him return after the break. Truth is, the boys were excellent in the second half, and they absolutely played Huddersfield off the park.

Even a team containing Alfie May, who seems to just lap up goals against us...especially in his Cheltenham Town and Birmingham City days. I truly believe he would be a great signing for the Tics...although the money in this 'new world' may just be too rich for us.

There has been a lot of negative narrative over Dara Costello this season, but the truth is he changed the game. We were crying out for pace in the channels, and he provided it, retracting Huddersfield closer to their goal. Eventually the rewards were gained.

And after another assist, is Callum Wright on a permanent possibly the most important piece of business in January? And then Jensen Weir...for me, Saturday's man of the match. A few months back, Jensen was the only senior player left on the field in a Vertu Trophy outing. I remember sitting in the Brick Community Stadium trying to understand how he would find his way back to the first team.

Then came the infamous ‘subbed on, subbed off’ at Rotherham. But these last few weeks he has been superb, and I hope his form continues, as he has become a critical part of our team.

So on to Saturday, and the return of Ian Evatt to Wigan. The last time out he was dressed in his best suit and falling out with the Wigan team at the conclusion of another win over Bolton thanks to Stephen Humphries. It favvered a school disco and someone had pinched his Panda Pop! I’m sure he'll get a warm reception in Saturday's Christmas cracker with Blackpool.

George Arkwright:

Unbeaten in 10. Against most metrics, that’s pretty good going. Last time we did that was 2021/22 under Leam Richardson, where we eventually won the league. However, most of those games were wins, and most of these games have been draws.

Take Saturday for example - a game that really looked as though it was there for the taking and yet, come the final whistle, we rued a missed opportunity for the, by my reckoning, 28th time this season. To look at statistics, across his career, Ryan Lowe has an average win rate of 39.35 per cent, an average draw rate of 27.22 per cent and a loss percentage of 33.42 per cent, with an average points per game of 1.45.

To focus in on his time at Wigan, there is a significant drop in wins, as we average only 26.32 per cent, but significantly higher draws, at 47.37 per cent which is 20 points higher than Lowe’s average across his career. Unfortunately, we’re also putting forward the lowest points per game of his career, at 1.26.

Now to me, this says a lot about our style of play that, up until this point, has been anecdotal. We are evidently playing cautiously, as our defence is resolute and we’re not winning, which means we’re not scoring. Looking at our chances created, and our xG - which I appreciate may be ‘new-fangled - we are currently operating at an 'expected goals' of 1.27, vs an actual goal of 1.16, so we’re scoring less than we probably should.

However, this means that on average we’re also not creating that many chances - in an xG table we’re sitting 14th , which is not far from where we are in reality. If anything we’re slightly out-performing our expected league position based on those statistics.

So in that sense the problem is two-fold. It is evident our strikers are struggling to convert chances. We are so woefully out of form up front that it makes any actual positive progression very difficult. Lowe seems to be persisting with Dara Costelloe despite his relatively inability to score even easy chances, in the face of players such as Harrison Bettoni, who is limited to short cameos.

And while I felt Christian Saydee was doing his job well in holding up play and being a physical target-man, he is also failing to score, or even get into positions that he might score from. And when your strike partner isn’t scoring either, that makes for a pretty damp squib of a forward line.

However, it also means our attacking potency isn’t even manifesting itself out of the midfield. We’re not making that many ideal goalscoring opportunities, and that’s down to our set-up. We are, of course, playing pragmatically, usually adopting a 3-5-2 with our wide players operating as wing-backs, and this is evident as we’re not conceding. But this also means there is a lack of forward momentum and we’re not creating enough opportunities to get our team scoring.

Essentially, what we need is a reset. Lowe needs to make the difficult decision to drop his out-of-form strikeforce and experiment with playing a more attacking system. He also needs to have the confidence and belief that his team can operate without shutting up shop, as it seems this tempers confidence, and let our players play the way they probably ought to be.

I have spoken at length about the ethos and mentality of our team this season, and I think the longer the evidence mounts, the more I am inclined to blame Lowe for his failings. Yes, our strikers aren’t scoring, and we appreciate that he can't kick the ball into the net for them.

But we’re also not creating and, while 10 games undefeated is not something to diminish, we should simply be doing better. We cannot continue on this path of damage limitation, as without forward progress, our numbers will continue to dwindle, we will consign ourselves to complacency, and that on many occasions has spelled disaster.

We have seen the potency, and quality of our squad. Raphael Borges Rodrigues shone last weekend in a relatively tepid game, with an excellent finish and a shot spurred on by confidence that could well have nestled in the top corner and been in contention for goal of the season.

Fraser Murray started the season in red-hot form, and Harrison Bettoni, Callum Wright, Ollie Cooper and Matt Smith are all excellent footballers. Yet we’re seemingly struggling to put pieces together in a way that allows us to excel.

I still don’t think this means ineptitude, but arrogance. The mark of a good manager is to manage what’s in front of him. You wouldn’t employ bakers and ask them to build the pyramids. There needs to be an inherent lack of ego, and abundance of flexibility when taking control of a group with the motivation to succeed.

And when the sum of the parts far exceeds the whole, there really is only one person to blame...the architect.

Sean Livesey:

It’s looking better, isn’t it?

Latics travelled to Huddersfield on Saturday happy to be in the hat for the FA Cup third round, but not exactly buoyed by the performance against Barrow last time out. A conservative line-up in the Pennines saw Christian Saydee as the only recognised striker, but you wouldn’t have known that with how Latics started on the front foot.

Though Huddersfield should have been down to 10 men within 15 seconds as Murray Wallace escaped with a yellow card and a ticking off after a horror challenge on Fraser Murray. How many times has that tale of woe happened to Latics this season? Plenty, is the answer.

More salt was rubbed into the wounds when the aforementioned Wallace went on to score Huddersfield’s opener against the run of play after 34 minutes. If only the referee had been brave enough to follow the rule of the law, we could have been talking about a very different result.

But let’s not look back. Despite falling behind, Latics came out all guns blazing in the second half, and the improving Raphael Borges Rodrigues scored his first goal for the club to give Latics the equaliser they not only needed but deserved.

Rodrigues was a constant menace in the second half, and he nearly put Latics ahead when his shot from the corner of the box hit the crossbar. Latics pushed hard for a winner but also defended well, which was the most pleasing aspect of the afternoon.

I would have liked to have seen Paul Mullin introduced alongside Dara Costelloe. I know Mullin is struggling for game time, but he’s a goalscorer and - in a side struggling to score goals - I thought he was deserving of more than the 90 seconds he received.

It’s now 10 games unbeaten for Ryan Lowe’s side and, although it isn’t a pretty watch at times, that ability to grind out results will stand us well over the coming months. The key now is for Latics to start turning chances into goals, and draws into wins. It isn’t rocket science, but it’s also the most difficult part of football...as Shaun Maloney and co found out last season.

It’s not an easy festive season by any stretch of the imagination, and it will give us an idea of where we’re heading to in the New Year. Will that destination be the upper echelons of the table or the lower reaches? We’ll soon find out...starting with the return of pantomime villain Ian Evatt on Saturday with his Blackpool side.

I’m unsure if Ian’s time away from Horwich has lessened his ego, but I’ll be absolutely delighted if Latics manage to keep up their record against the man in this latest Lancashire derby. Speaking of Lancashire derbies, a big hand to Discovery Plus who decided we were more deserving of TV coverage in the FA Cup third round than Exeter City, who happened to draw Manchester City at the Etihad.

Meaning what could have been a bumper away following at Deepdale will no doubt be diminished by a Friday night post rush work to get up the M6 or across the West Coast Mainline. Still, I’m sure all those Discovery Plus viewers will be looking forward to Lowe’s return to Preston...