Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - '...will be one of the most important tasks of the summer...'

Matt Auffrey:

After weeks of radio silence regarding our summer transfer dealings, we finally got our first real updates for the window ahead as we turned the calendar page from May to June. And in true Latics fashion, the first potential new addition to next season's squad generated a great deal of debate in a short amount of time.

Max Power joined Latics from Tranmere in the summer of 2015 as a bright-eyed 22-year-old looking to make his first real splash in the game after leaving his boyhood club. He went on to have five noteworthy seasons with the club during two separate spells covering an eight-year span. He was a durable player and a consistent presence in the center of the pitch who also created plenty of goals.

Most importantly, he had a tackle in him and played with an edge that made him an instant fan favourite. Fast forward 11 years from his first arrival at the DW, and Power is certainly going to be a different player at 33 years old.

Yet, if you look at his stats from last season at Bradford (who finished 4th in the league table), you’ll find some familiar trends. He started 43 of 46 league matches, contributed five assists, and finished the season with a career-high 15 yellow cards. It’s almost like he hasn’t lost a step!

In all seriousness, we’ll have to trust Gary Caldwell’s vision for Max’s role within the squad. Power is still under contract for another year at Bradford, so some form of extra compensation will have to be paid - whether it goes to Bradford themselves or towards Power’s wages. However, the gaffer knows his game, he knows this league, and he surely believes that Max will improve our ability to win in a number of ways.

Shifting the conversation to potential outgoings, it seems like there is a good chance we have seen the last of Sam Tickle in blue and white. The 24-year-old academy graduate has done more than enough to warrant a move to a higher level, and it makes sense for the club to finally cash in on him this summer.

Hopefully a week from now, a bidding war has started to form and his price tag has risen. Regardless of whether a sale materialises quickly or not, a major source of stability within our squad is on the verge of vanishing. Finding a replacement for Tickle will be one of the most important tasks of the summer - whether it be through the loan market, a new permanent signing, or from promoting a keeper from our own academy.

Our fanbase will surely be split when determining Power's potential impact next season, while the uproar surrounding Tickle’s departure will undoubtedly range from mild discontent to apocalyptic dread. If there’s one thing we can agree on, it’s that it feels good to have the most ‘boring’ month of the season behind us.

There are plenty of rumours and theories about our financial situation, the commitment of our owner, and our approach to building the squad during another crucial transfer window. The month of June will answer a number of our most pressing questions - for better and for worse. Keep the faith!

Martin Lally:

Well it’s all got a little bit exciting hasn’t it, since we moved from May to June. We have seen 2/3 English clubs declare themselves champions of their respective European competitions and, despite still holding a bit of annoyance at the Arsenal for dismantling us in the FA Cup, you couldn’t help but feel for them when they ran arguably the best team in the planet so close.

But it’s Wigan Athletic World that’s gaining some momentum, which started with the end of the Puma contract and the birth of the relationship with O’Neills, I am always very excited to see the new kits each year and, regardless of what they look like, it’s highly likely I will once again fill my cupboards with the copious amounts of new merch! Luckily I don’t think the 'Domestic Boss' reads this column…

We are also now around three weeks from fixture release day, which is always a very exciting day, and I’m sure we will chat more on this down the line. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, though, with one suspected in and two potential outs.

Let’s start with the positives, we are now heavily linked with a potential third spell for Max Power. Personally, I really like Max and I think he would be a great addition, especially under Gary Caldwell.

I didn’t see a lot of difference in Max’s game when he visited the Brick Community with Bradford in March this year, but what worries me is that lots of voices had views on Max towards the end of his second spell. Allegations of more pointing than action will once again be close to the fickle tongue, but the fact we are in the mixer for him is a good move, and also will be great for the young lads in the team.

I did see that Brentford released Ryan Trevitt from his contract, and I probably would take a chance on him, despite his injury record. If we got that correct, and a return for Matt Smith, the midfield is starting to take shape.

Now for the not-so-good news... I did see one report elsewhere suggesting Callum Wright would not return. This would be quite a blow for me, as I think Callum was pivotal to last season, and we were always better with him than without him. I do hope he returns.

The two rumours really making the news, though, are Harrison Bettoni and Sam Tickle. Sam is probably the easy one to go first. How can we be sad if Sam moves on as long as it is to better his career? I always compare Sam with James Trafford, who was at ‘them up the road’ when Sam was starting his journey.

Trafford has moved on and developed with a really tough season in a low-end Premier League club to become an England international and a solid No.2 at Manchester City. In the meantime, Sam has remained loyal to us.

As much as I would love him to stay, as long as the move develops him (just like our superstars moving into the Premier League with Hull City), I don’t think we can wish him anything but the best of luck, knowing we will always be thankful.

I find the Bettoni one much more distasteful. It’s hard, because you don’t know what’s true and what’s not. But in the past, we have evidenced as a club that if one of our youngsters stands out, we lock them down to a long contract, it always seemed to be an agreement to reward the player but also safeguard the football club.

Reports elsewhere suggest the player declined two contracts, which is sad. But who really knows the truth considering we have also allowed multiple other players to run contracts down? Bettoni is young and raw, but he has all the attributes to go all the way to the Premier League.

You may think this is excessive, but you can just see the talent in abundance, and at some point I’m certain that young man will play at the highest level. I hope the club are working hard to secure his signature, but only the next few weeks will provide these answers.

People, it’s early, many players are still on holiday, but it’s nice that the machine is starting to turn the wheels and we have some points to discuss. It’s easy to worry about the 'fake news' among the real, but also get excited in equal measure. All told...we are back! Up the ‘early June’ Tics!

George Arkwright:

Never quiet, is it? This week's spin of the Wigan Athletic Crisis Wheel has landed on a familiar square: Mike Danson's 'tanking the club'. He's a 'liar'. A 'fraud'. He's 'got no ambition'.

This, of course, is the same Mike Danson who has poured more than £20million into keeping the club alive. The same owner who, from the very beginning, has consistently stated that his primary objective was to make Wigan Athletic self-sustainable. The same owner without whom, for all intents and purposes, we probably wouldn't be here at all.

Yes, there have been statements made during his tenure that, viewed retrospectively, have become somewhat controversial. Ambitions of the Championship. Ambitions of the Premier League. But at the time, coupled with the constant messaging around sustainability, I took them as exactly that: ambitions. And frankly, what else would you expect?

If your football club doesn't aspire to play at the highest level possible, regardless of whether it's realistic, then what exactly are we doing? Ashton Athletic and Ashton Town will have 'Premier League ambitions'. Ours are just slightly more achievable.

What I find increasingly tiresome is the relentless search for the next disaster. I've written before about a fanbase that has been burnt repeatedly over the last decade. Twice placed into administration. Ownership groups that promised the world before leaving us with next to nothing. The scars are understandable.

But at some point, you must ask whether some people are more comfortable being miserable than optimistic. No, we're not going up like that lot up the road. No, we're not throwing money around recklessly. And yes, there are legitimate questions about where the club goes from here.

But our owner is still bankrolling our existence. He is still actively seeking investment. And while existence and competition do not necessarily marry together, we are undeniably in a healthier position than we have been for most of the last five years.

That doesn't mean there aren't frustrations. Take the current contract situation. Once again, panic stations. Bettoni has apparently attracted interest from some of Europe’s giants. If reports are to be believed, our negotiations with him have been ongoing for months. If that's the case, it probably wasn't looking particularly promising long before supporters started worrying about it.

Could the club have tied him down earlier? Perhaps. But let's be honest: before that extraordinary double at Wimbledon, nobody was predicting this. Ryan Lowe needed a spark, and the least likely person to provide it was a teenager taking his first steps into professional football.

Handing out a lengthy contract before he'd properly established himself would've been a gamble. Had it failed, we'd probably be criticising the club for that too. If he moves on, I'll be disappointed. But I'll also wish him well. It was a brilliant story while it lasted, and I'll watch his career with great interest.

The same largely applies to Matt Smith, Jensen Weir, Callum Wright, or whichever rumoured target or loanee becomes this week's talking point. Sam Tickle aside, the player who always felt the most difficult to retain was Wright. He's been exceptional. Arguably too exceptional. He's potentially playing way below his level, and even without a transfer fee involved, keeping hold of him was always likely to be difficult. He'll have admirers throughout the Football League and beyond.

That isn't defeatism. It's simply the reality of where we are. Until somebody arrives willing to significantly increase the budget, we're going to lose some of our best players. We're going to miss out on some loanees we'd love to keep. And we're going to watch others move on to bigger opportunities. That’s just life, isn’t it?

Where I do have some sympathy with criticism of the ownership is in the long-term sustainability model itself. Simply because sustainability doesn't come from thin air. If the plan is to become self-sufficient, eventually you need assets. You need players tied down to contracts. You need young talent that can be developed and sold. You need recruitment that creates value.

At some stage, the model must move from preserving the club to growing the club. Now, to be fair, the last two years have largely been about stopping the bleeding. Stabilising finances. Attempting to rebuild trust whilst maintaining pragmatism. Turning Wigan Athletic back into a functioning football club after years of chaos.

All work that needed done sooner than later, and we evidently have the people behind the scenes who’re happy to get their hands dirty in that respect. But if we're writing those seasons off as the necessary cost of repairing the foundations, then this season feels like the point where we need to start seeing the next phase. A little forward momentum; some progress.

For me, the appointment of Gary Caldwell was exactly that. For the first time in a long while, there feels like there's a coherent direction both on and off the pitch. Add a few smart additions this summer and who knows where that could take us.

Maybe Joe Taylor is out of reach. I think he always has been. Maybe a player of the calibre of Max Power isn't. Maybe we'll surprise ourselves and make some stellar acquisitions over the next few months. Stranger things have happened.

Whatever happens next, though, it feels worth remembering one thing. There is a significant difference between stagnation and stability. For the first time in a very long time, we're at least arguing from the latter.