The 12th Man Column: Champions of Asia, right? What a club!

Martin Tarbuck

Horse racing can be a cruel sport, so forgive the analogy but we’re over two-thirds of the way around the course, the pack is slowly starting to spread out and it’s getting close to the time when Paul Cook needs to get the whip out and give it a crack. Saturday’s home game against Ipswich is a vital fixture.There are plenty games we look at in the run in which we look at and do a sad “hmm, we’re probably going to lose that” but as long as we win the battles against the teams in and around us, then we can not only secure safety, but perhaps even creep to mid-table. Of course, the other teams around us will be desperately trying to do the same, but just like that horse race, as we come around the corner and hit the last few furlongs, some horses find that extra gear to steam through, whereas others seem to be wading through treacle and only succeed in giving a passable impression of flailing backwards.It was around about the same time two years ago when we were in a similar, perhaps slightly worse position, when Warren Joyce was in charge in critical games against Forest, Bristol City and Blackburn Rovers. They were all in and around us and from a Wigan Athletic perspective and they were three of the most dreadful, spineless performances I have ever seen. We set up to play with fear, when it should have been a case of “he who dares, wins [Rodders]”. I’m not saying that we need to go completely gung-ho. After all, I’d like to think it won’t come down to goal difference but you never know. We owe Ipswich one from earlier on in the season, and with our home form strangely miles better than our away form, we have three home games in the next four weeks to really put on a show and take aim at QPR in 18th place and upwards. This would have the two fold effect of dragging other teams into the relegation scrap and pulling ourselves further away from it. Reading away will not be easy, nor will Blackburn but by the time we play Rovers, we could be in with a chance of overtaking them in 14th if we can find a burst of form. Another three or four wins between now and the end of March and we really will be in with a chance of that mid-table finish come May and be able to enjoy a nice, quiet stress-free end to the season. There’s a bit of me that thinks that we don’t want that. As Wigan Athletic fans, I wonder whether the last few years have turned us into masochists; hopelessly dependent addicts, who need that year on year fix of a relegation battle, a cup run and/or a title chase. Yet we are in transition, on and off the field. Despite earlier concerns, I am warming to the new ownership. They are pragmatic and that is what we need. We’ve been there and done the whole rich owner thing and in 20 years later it would take 20 times the cash of a Dave Whelan to even break the seal of a Premier League promotion charge. There are clubs who occasionally circumvent the model of throwing hundreds of millions of pounds at it but they are increasingly becoming few and far between. It’s not impossible but it is becoming increasingly hard. The sooner we can pull ourselves clear of danger this year, the more time we will have to start preparing for next year and working on making the sum of the parts greater than the whole. This is a stability Wigan Athletic have rarely been afforded in recent times. The luxury of having the time to work on and embed those core values of player development and a tight knit squad which never seems to happen because we’re always changing division and never know our fate, cannot be under-estimated. We just need to get there first, and this Saturday represents an excellent opportunity to make a leap in the right direction.

Martin Holden

Champions of Asia!

Well, maybe not, but using the tried and tested method adopted when we were kids, the victory over Shanghai (the reigning Chinese PL champions) means that we automatically take the title off them. That’s right isn’t it? What a club! I am sure it brought quite a smile to the faces of the new owners.

In all seriousness though, the break in the sunshine and the victory over a team containing the Brazilians Hulk and Oscar will have hopefully increased the spirits in the camp ready for the final series of games that will decide in which tier of English football our little club will be playing next year.

It also marked an extremely rare victory in the yellow kit, the kit that has haunted us on our travels this season, the kit that looks brilliant but the kit we always seem to lose in. Maybe the fabric of the kit needs the sun and warmth to increase its “yellowness” to release extra energy and endeavour to inspire the players? Who knows, but maybe it will help us turn a corner now. I think that how we fare over the coming months with injuries will decide our future. We have key men that we cannot really do without and keeping them fit will be the key. If we can keep the players fit and healthy, I personally think we will stay up. Having key players injured for long periods of time has really hit us this year, so fingers crossed we have got all of that out of the way now.

The club recently announced the free ticket offer for under-18s for the Ipswich match and that is such a great idea. It really is such an important match and so every single voice that the club can get on to that terracing, supporting the players might make a difference. It is sound thinking and the fans will welcome the decision. If some of those kids manage to persuade their paying parents to come along as well, then in the long term it will be a financial success too, which can only help.

Last week, I wrote about the trouble I perceived Stoke City to be in, due to the careless and carefree attitude of some of their players outside of the matchday team. It therefore came as no great surprise to see Berahino arrested this week on a charge of drink driving, closely followed by reports of Stoke wanting to offload in the summer. I think that you can always judge the mood in a team when you look at how the players behave on and off the ball, in and out of the team. I said it last week, and I will say it again, in that regard we still look a committed, strong and solid group who believe and are behind their manager. Whether we are ultimately good enough, only time will tell.

Fourteen games to go, seven at home and seven away. We still must play Ipswich, Bolton, Millwall and Reading all either around us or below us, all should be games we can win. That is really a big set of four games. If and it still is a big if, we can get the victories in those games then it would pretty much keep us up with 46 points. If we can scrap for anything else along the way, then even better.

On the downside of things, we still must play Leeds, Norwich, Boro, Bristol City and Derby and even the most optimistic Latics fan won’t envisage us getting much from those games right now. But you never know do you, we can achieve the most amazing things when we need to.

Hopefully the Dubai sun will have warmed the players’ tired muscles, it will have uplifted their spirits and it will have focussed them for the fight ahead. The fans need to get behind them, the boo boys need to have a minute, and we all need to look forward to the Ipswich game with some optimism.

Over to you, Mr Cook.

David Perry

It’s deep into injury time in the Stoke game . Jamie Jones is in possession and sections of the crowd implore the keeper to launch the ball for one last throw of the dice for a last gasp winner . From his technical area Paul Cook shouts to him to do the opposite and slow it down . Which he duly does , the ball is thrown into a packed midfield and the whistle blows . Some groans of dissent from our section of the west stand behind the dug out . Personally I think he did the right thing . It would just be our luck to get hit on the break with a sucker punch . Point gained and a three-match unbeaten run is not to be sniffed at . Rotherham and Stoke were not classics but surviving the aerial bombardment at the New York Stadium and restricting Stoke to very few chances wasn’t bad either. As we all can see Cook is a bubbly infectious character and immensely likeable. This is sometimes not reflected in his more pragmatic tactics. It would be unfair to label them negative but at times they are cautious. The two holding midfielders protecting a back four has served him well during his managerial career so far . The obvious downside to this is the lone striker lacking service . Vaughn, Garner and Grigg have cut frustrated figures in this role as experienced centre half pairings have reduced them to onlookers. Our system relies on scoring early and getting the opponents to come out and have a go . The longer a game goes without a goal on we struggle to break teams down . Despite our wretched away form there are still teams in a worse position than us. A newly promoted team competing and staying up will be an achievement with something to build on . Our good start to the season and decent home form has kept our season alive. The highlight of the season has been the emergence of Reece James has a truly fantastic player and future prospect. Its been a privilege to witness and a joy to watch. The low has been the departure of Will Grigg. At least the parting was amicable and best wishes to him. Both players are assured a warm welcome should they ever grace the DW in opposition colours. The biggest frustration has been the limited appearances of Nick Powell. Hopefully he will make the contribution we all know he can during the run in. The business end of the season is never pretty whether you are fighting for honours or in a scrap. As fans we need to get behind the team to see us over the line. Get off players’ backs. Naismith and Windass seem to be the current “marmite players.” It can’t help anyone or any cause if we over criticise when we should be encouraging. The road ahead has a few six-pointers . Let’s turn up, turn up the volume and keep us up. Onwards and upwards .

Stuart Cadman

I’ve read loads on Twitter,the Mudhutter (Wigan’s premier fanzine,available from ne’er do wells on match day dotted about the Kaiserdome) and this paper about our current ‘plight’. According to some we’re doomed,heading back to League One with a whimper. Others say stay cool,Cook will guide us through to safety. I’m firmly in this camp and I’ll tell you why...

What us Tics fans have to realise nowadays is that Whelan has gone,the days of writing off our debt and throwing money about (it was costing £10 million a season to keep us going according to David Sharpe) are also gone. Our new hierarchy don’t seem willing,or able to spend big (this could be all hearsay come summer) and are more firmly in bringing the youth through,investing in that side of things and looking at the young Tics doing a great job. This is looking rosy, yes I know they all won’t make it but let’s just see eh?

When you look at “the big clubs” spending absolute millions to get to the promised land of the Premier League we cannot simply compare or compete with our 10k gates and resources. The aim this season and for I’d say for the majority of Tics fans was survival,simple as that. Steady the ship,stop being a yo-yo club..too good for League One,not good enough for the Championship and in Cook I feel we’ve 100 per cent got the right man for the job. Yes we’re struggling away and you could blame negative tactics for that but only at Preston this season have I seen us absolutely down tools and been hammered. Like Cook says,it’s fine margins and we’re not getting the run at the moment. Our home form in my eyes WILL keep us up,ive no doubt about that and as Darren Royle said, the signings we’ve made are for now,the ones in summer will be for the future. Also our injury list has been horrendous. No other team wouldn’t miss Powell, Jacobs, Massey and Grigg,the latter I wish every success at Sunderland. The man’s an absolute Tics legend... the other three are now just about back to fitness for the run in, great news for us and Icouldn’t care less if Powell struts round the pitch with a can of ‘bow in his hand,he’s good enough to.

All in all, just stay cool everyone, we’ll be absolutely fine and won’t go down. I say and we can all relax then and see what the summer brings whilst laughing at Bolton being in League One...

It’s a massive game this sat v Ipswich. A win I think will just about do it for us and the club are letting U18s in for free. Let’s get right behind the boys and hopefully they’ll give us something to shout about. And by the way Reece James for the man of the match, as always. This kid is going to be a star, I’ve no doubt about that whatsoever.

Christopher May

As a Wigan ex-pat living in Latin America, I follow the Latics as best I can with Ifollow and the local on-line news.

I have some basic questions and sometimes a guess at the answer. Here goes

- Why did the new owners buy Wigan Athletic? Given that cash flow is negative, crowd attendance (at best) is in the low tens of thousands, has a plan been articulated to stem the cash bleeding, increase support, open new markets?

- What business are the Latics in? The entertainment business? Soccer survival business? Buying and selling on talent to make a profit? Selling club merchandise?

I would suggest the entertainment business and earlier in the season (pre injuries) we were doing well.

- In the Premier League, we had success bring unknown talents from Central America, playing them and selling them on at a profit. How good is our scouting organizations today? Everton loanees is not a good business model. How will we develop local or foreign talent - has our youth development program delivered the goods?

- I recently read that Chelsea have 39 young players out on loan (Manchester City - 28). Something is very wrong as big clubs hoard talent and smaller clubs pay the bills by taking the players on loan. The number of players needs to be capped .

- Soccer is a money game. With the odd exception (Leicester), there is direct correlation between funds available and success. I find the Championship far more interesting than the Premier league as upsets are far more common .

So what will be Wigan’s business model going forward ?

Dan Fox

Last week, I was invited to visit the Euxton training ground, now known as the Wigan Athletic Training Centre. I’d been granted this opportunity on the back of my namesake, Danny Fox, signing for the Tics at the end of January and my cheeky tweet to the club asking if he’d sign my shirt. The club duly obliged and after a few exchanged messages, we had a set date. I wasn’t really too sure what to expect before I arrived; would I be ushered in, have my shirt signed by Fox and then hurriedly be set on my way, or would I be having a kick around with the lads?

Well, the way the experience played out was miles over and above what I could have ever hoped for. I arrived early, too early in fact, and was stood outside of the entrance looking a bit like a lost child. As my facilitator Ash was running late, it was in fact January signing Beni Baningime who invited me into the building and showed me to the media team, who were busy working on the programme for the Stoke game. I spent the next few minutes bombarding them with questions about the players, the club, the owners and just generally trying to get the inside scoop on all things Latics – a theme I would continue throughout the day.

Ash in the media team, arrived and we began the tour. He showed me the wall of scorers throughout our team in the football league, where the players ate and where meetings are held. All interesting stuff, but I was here to see if I could meet those who don the shirt and badge every week. I was taken to meet the chairman Darren Royle, who was up for a good laugh and joke, but very keen to keep pushing this club forwards. I was then warned that the gaffer may be in a meeting so we might have to come back later. He was indeed in a meeting, with assistant manager Leam, first team coach Anthony and widely regarded footballing royalty in Peter Reid and Joe Royle. I was invited into the room by the gaffer himself, as he asked me to help with the analysis of that Wednesday’s opponents, Stoke. I thought to myself, yep, I definitely didn’t expect this, but boy I was relishing the opportunity. I got stuck into the debate straight away. Who’s the danger man to watch out for, where can our lads exploit the space, are there still some feuds to be settled after the away win at their place (Nick Powell and Ashley Williams come to mind). The truth, is that all the staff are exactly as they come across in interviews. Very friendly, easy to talk to and passionate about football. Paul even asked me about myself, and after I told him I live in Liverpool, I think we weren’t too far away from arranging to meet up for a pint!

Next up, it was time to meet the players. As they each emerged from the food hall, they were more than happy to sign my shirt and exchange a few friendly words before they headed out to train. Shy at first, I had no idea what to say to those who I watch play football for my club every weekend, but I soon grew into it as I encouraged the lads to keep up the good work and wished them luck for the rest of the season. I was taken around a few more interesting parts of the building, including the dressing room, the boots room, the gym, the ice baths and the physio room. It’s worth saying that the facilities are phenomenal and there’s little wonder why we’re attracting a higher calibre of player with this enhanced workplace and fantastic spirit around the club. Spectating the training session, you could never doubt the hard work, motivation and good feeling around the place. A rondo to kick off the session, before more focused activities on recovery and preparation for the next game. The players quite clearly get along well, love working with the coaching staff and generally turning up every day. Next, a few pictures with my favourite stars and talking all things football with Peter Reid, I’d pretty much finished ticking off my list of things to do. In total, I was at the training ground for about three hours and I can honestly say it was one of the best days I’ve had as a fan of this fantastic club. I was able to see behind the scenes at the club I love and meet the ones who bring the smiles to our faces week after week. All this, on the back of sharing a name with one of our players – Not too shabby when you think about it.

Stuart Glover

It has been one of those weeks which hasn’t seemed complete. No Latics game. Desperate times. The FA Cup has given us some of the most wonderful moments in our recent history. But last weekend, Derby’s continued involvement in it, robbed us of another opportunity to enjoy Latics playing football. Or did it? Last week’s 12th man column created a few ripples with one esteemed contributor declaring that they would rather see us be relegated playing better football, rather than be negative and stay up. Never one to lead the agenda, but happy to react to it, here is my considered view. There is no doubt that we started season playing much more expansively. It seems a long time ago but the Sheffield Wednesday game still lives in the memory. Latics really attacked the season and seemed to be rewarded for that approach. Because there is also no doubt that our results were better back then as well. But for most of the season we have been much less expansive. Perhaps to the level where we might have considered ourselves to be taking the entertainment out of the IEC. So why this change? Is it a conscious change from the manager and coaching team? Or is it simply due to circumstances? Is it just a natural consequence of the increase threat and fear of relegation? Is it a tactical shift due to the injury problems that we’ve had this season, so that we play more to the strengths of the players who are available? I certainly think it is true that some players have not performed in the way that we expected them to. I remember many fans hailing Darron Gibson, and his excellent use of the ball following the season opener at the DW, but while I don’t think he has been terrible, he certainly has not performed at the same level since. The truth is that none of us really know why this has happened. We’re not in the squad and not exposed to the tactical briefings. Yet it is clear that the football Latics have played this season is not as attractive as it could be. But the issue is whether I’d trade results for better football. The answer is that I am not sure that we should have to. Our best results this season were when we played more free flowing football and we have looked more dangerous in games when we’ve had the ball on the floor and tried to play. So I would suggest that if we were able to revert to that style of play, we would find better results would follow. However if that choice were one that had to be made, I am not sure that I would make it. While I have no fear of relegation back to League One and have certainly enjoyed our last three title winning campaigns at that level, I would like Latics to establish themselves in the Championship. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, our dream was to play in the second flight. While we have had several years in the Championship now, we need to remember that this is only the sixth season here in our history. We have played two more seasons in the Premier League than in the basement beneath. And we have never had more than two consecutive years in this league. So I would rather try to establish ourselves as a natural second tier club – because that is a necessary step for a club like Wigan, without the spending power of many of our divisional rivals, if we are ever to threaten promotion and a return to the top tier. Yes there is a problem when your top scorer has five goals and it is late February, but I believe that it is worth fighting, scrapping and doing whatever it takes to survive, rather than having to start again next season and build a new squad. As fans we often call for the owners to invest in the club. Perhaps this is our turn to invest in our club by backing them and showing the passion that they need to see from us, even when we don’t feel like it because the football, to be honest, is pretty awful! Perhaps we need to invest by simply putting up with this season, in the hope of better ones to come. I love watching Latics. I don’t go to watch them to see them win, though I always hope we do being an optimistic sort of chap, and, to be honest, seeing us play well is usually considered to be a bonus. I just like watching Latics and there is nowhere else that I’d rather be at 3pm on a Saturday. This week has reminded me that not having a Latics game to watch leaves a hole which is not easily filled. I’ll be at the DW on Saturday and I hope that we will win regardless of how we play. And the omens are good. I have a 100% record when I am in hospitality at Latics. And I’ll be in the posh seats again at the weekend.