Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'We achieved a massive breakthrough last Saturday, let’s see if we can ride that momentum...'

Matt Auffrey:

In the moments before kick-off against Port Vale last Saturday, if I had told you that we would win the match with a clean sheet, I can imagine you would have envisioned a number of different scenarios playing out during the next 90 minutes.

I can guarantee that not a single one of those prospective scenarios would have come close to replicating the events that actually took place at the Brick that afternoon. A nondescript first half ended with the home side finding themselves on the wrong side of a controversial red card decision.

Big questions regarding how Ryan Lowe would organise our 10-man side for the second half would soon be asked. We could hardly keep our bearings together with 11 men on the pitch over the past handful of games. How were we going to manage with just 10? There was some statement of intent when Maleace Asamoah entered the game as one of two half-time substitutions at the restart. He was not only goalless across all league matches this season, but hadn’t featured in a single league match for nearly a month since Bolton away.

Yet, 10 minutes into the second half, a misplaced defensive header found its way into an empty Port Vale box, and it was Asamoah who pounced on the loose ball right away. One touch later, and the 22-year-old fired into the back of the net, as Latics found themselves with quite an improbable 1-0 lead in front of their home crowd.

The gaffer’s gamble to bring on a second striker to fill the void of red card recipient Costelloe paid off handsomely. The lads performed superbly for the duration of the match. They ran their socks off, kept Port Vale from establishing any type of attacking rhythm, and defended aptly in their box during the few moments of genuine threat on our goal. The full-time whistle delivered a long-awaited moment of elation throughout the stadium.

The gaffer pranced around the pitch in celebration in as animated a manner as we have seen from him since he joined the club last March. It didn’t matter what trials we had to endure over the previous 90 minutes and how the stats looked when all was said and done. We secured our three most important points of the season to date and rewarded our fans with a battling performance they had longed to see for the past month. Christian Saydee, Jensen Weir, Matt Smith, Jason Kerr and Will Aimson highlighted a group of Man of the Match candidates that deserved to share the honours as much as any previous conglomerate.

So where does that leave us ahead of Saturday’s trip to Mansfield? We’ll be facing a confident side that just defeated Luton 2-0 at Kenilworth Road over the weekend. Would it be too much to ask for our first away win of the season? On paper, it appears as it would be, but the odds of victory were certainly not in our favour when we came out of half-time against an in-form Port Vale side while being a man down and not having won a single match over the past five weeks.

If Lowe can summon a similar degree of togetherness within the squad and get the lads to battle like they did during the second half against Port Vale, we’ll give ourselves a great chance of producing a positive result. We achieved a massive breakthrough last Saturday. Let’s see if we can ride that momentum towards a bigger breakthrough this weekend.

George Arkwright:

You only sing when you’re winning. Think that can be said about us as much as any in the league; not that we’ve had much to sing about recently.

I’ll give it to Ryan Lowe; last week I was potentially the harshest I’d been on a manager since our initial stint in admin, and yet here we are on the back of our first win in seven.

I derided him for his lack of accountability, his apathy and his tactical ineptitude and inflexibility. I still don’t think I’m wrong on any account. But give him his dues, he’s gotten our players to dig deeper than they’ve had to, or managed to at any other point this season, in order to secure a much-needed win.

Don’t get me wrong, it was scrappy. Arguably downright ugly.

But we’re three points better off, and he did little to tarnish his reputation further than he had already. I think it’ll take more than points on the board to repair my faith in the ‘Lowe’s Coaches’ Believe Bus, but his reaction at the full-time whistle speaks loudly of a man who, at best, has been holding back his emotions and at worst, read my criticisms last week and has acted out of character to appease. The latter is highly doubtful, which, to be honest, is probably a good thing.

We played with more vigour. Our formation and positioning made more sense than it has in a while. We’re still maybe not able to field our best 11, but looking at our squad, I couldn’t have said many players were missing that could and should’ve been there. We weren’t playing attacking, inexperienced wingers at wing-back; we played a back three of actual centre-backs, Fraser Murray was out wide on the wing instead of nestled stiflingly amongst the melee, and we seemed to understand that playing up to our strike partnership has its benefits. If not least because if Christian Saydee has the ball, their strikers probably don’t; and we’d be unlucky to see Christian plant one in his own net from 60 yards, even with a strong breeze.

Dara Costelloe still offers very little. He seems like the sort of player who will absolutely be an asset to whichever club we inevitably sell him to when he fails to register a shot on target for the rest of the season; think Devante Cole, who was admittedly quiet, Ivan Toney, etc. The red card was maybe a touch harsh, but his decision-making and lack of finishing ability leave a fair amount to be desired, and even if he’s putting in the blood, sweat and tears, we don’t get points in exchange for bodily fluids.

Maleace Asamoah, on the other hand, seemed a man who has benefited from a step or two out of the limelight. He came on and did exactly what he’s always done; stretched play, but with an enthusiasm and skill that’s been lacking since he came to the club, capping off a great performance with a goal worthy of any striker in the league. He and Saydee, dare I say it, are a match made in relative heaven. Big man, fast man. Classic combo. Tried, tested, true.

Couple that with Joseph Hungbo and Murray pinging balls off his head, and Asamoah running in behind, and you’re onto a winner. See, there I solved our personnel problems that easily, I’m unsure why it took Lowe this long to figure it out.

Generally, I think it can be said with a fair amount of confidence that when you put round pegs in round holes, you get smooth surfaces. We’re not the finished article even with every player playing in the right position, but we look a damn sight better than we do when we’re playing as though someone put the team sheet together in the dark. It seems our biggest frailty lies in the manager’s inability to accept that his own ideologies may not be as bulletproof as the back five he’s fielding.

Martin Lally:

The big question this week is, could that be a pivotal moment in the 25/26 season for Wigan Athletic?

It seems to have been a trend, as Manchester United fans may be asking the same question after an impressive win at the home of champions Liverpool last Sunday.

At certain points on Saturday, though, we seemed to establish the ‘Us vs Them’ mantra, and it suited us. Everyone pulling together for the one common purpose that really hinged around another poor refereeing decision.

The only place to really start is there, just before half-time. For me, that is not a red. It is nowhere near a red, and it’s a poor decision influenced by a vocal opposition. It’s certainly a yellow because it’s technical violent conduct without a shred of intent.

If that’s a red, then from here forthwith, they have to make the determination that any player looking to score any form of acrobatic effort has to be reviewed or ruled out, as this decision has been deemed as dangerous play.

Yes – they are sucking the entirety of life out of the modern game and it’s a bit of a shambles!

It’s also a possibility that Costelloe now faces three more games out of the team after starting to find improvements in his game, evidenced by the chance he had moments before the sending off, where he was put in on goal, and finally looks more composed than he has across his time with Wigan Athletic, perhaps another pivotal moment.

As one door closes, one door opens. Personally, I believed that Asamoah’s time at Wigan had become limited. The frustration around this raw talent is palpable, but he took the goal well against Wolves and again found the right place in the channel to finish against Port Vale. The lad is in good form, but I’m still not certain he is in a position to lead the line with Saydee and I suspect we will see Paul Mullin return to partner Saydee in the next three.

In terms of Port Vale, I was disappointed. I quite like Darren Moore, he’s done good things on tight and constrained budgets, but his game plan was awful against us. The ‘thuggery’ plan never really worked for them because it was cross-referenced with a high press that didn’t work, and they looked more comfortable in a defensive shape, which went higher up the field as they were chasing the game, and at times, they could have snatched a point. In my view, it wouldn’t have been deserved after such a terrible decision fully changed what was a better game than we have seen recently.

So it’s good to be back as we enter quarter two of the season with a positive result. I’m hopeful Lowe will take the FA Cup seriously and play our strongest team, or else that will be a difficult day, an obscurity this year is that we are now in a period where there isn’t a high volume of Tuesday/Saturday.

Mansfield away is tough, but we go again and aim to keep progressing through this ever-changing League One season. Up the gutsy Tics!!!

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