Wigan Athletic

By: Nick | 5 Comments

At the conclusion of yesterday’s home match against Newcastle the words uninspired, lacklustre and predictable immediately came to mind. Prior to the game, expectations had reached a new high for most Wigan fans (at least this one anyway). A string of good results, firstly with a win away at Wolves and than drawing with ten men against Arsenal had seen the side climb out of relegation contention. For me, the Latics were finally showing attacking intention in the last third of the pitch and also looked to have cured their defensive woes that so affected the beginning of the season. However, as they did so consistently in the previous campaign, Wigan’s form suffered a severe dip and the side looked poor in comparison to what they showed against an in form Gunners side. All in all it was a disappointing performance across the board, and some areas definitely need imediate attention from coach Martinez. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Nick | 4 Comments

Want to know how to best avoid a relegation battle? Believe it or not the answer to this question is relatively straightforward and is presumably occupying the thoughts and feelings of several Premier League managers at this very moment. Put simply, it is to more often than not pick up all three points at home against opposition that are no better than your own team. Just ask sides like Fulham, Bolton and Blackburn who for the last few years have done exactly this, not entirely setting the League alight, but consistently picking up the points where it counts. For Wigan, the upcoming fixture against West Brom is surely one of these circumstances, because having looked through our next couple of games, it is difficult to see where a better chance of three points could come from. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Nick | 5 Comments

Wigan’s  defeat at Fulham on the weekend brought an end to a six game run without a loss, one of the most successful periods under the largely inconsistent tenure of Roberto Martinez. The highlights included a vital 2 – 0 win over Wolves, while this result was also emulated in the Carling Cup over Swansea. Other notable results came the Latics’ way in a couple of draws (that unfortunately should for the most part have been turned into wins) coming away to Newcastle and Birmingham and of course to Bolton at home. All in all, it has been a solid couple of weeks for the team and has slightly eased my fierce relegation concerns. So for me, it didn’t really matter that Wigan’s performance on the weekend was decidedly poor, because previously they had finally delivered on a promising run of consistency . Lets just treat the loss as a minor interference in what is hopefully to be a safe and entertaining season. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Nick | 1 Comment

In recent years, being a Wigan supporter has become tough and believe it or not this isn’t to do with our constant relegation struggle. What has become increasingly frustrating about the team is simply this, that over the the last year, it has been nigh impossible to predict just which Wigan team will show up on game day. Whether this be the poor side that were humbled 4-0 to Blackpool on the opening day of the season, the average side that scraped a 0-0 draw last weekend or the impressive side that overcame Tottenham 1- 0. Since Roberto Martinez took over as head coach before the 09/10 season, he has yet to record two league wins in a row, which quite frankly is becoming something of nuisance.

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By: Nick | 4 Comments

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the absence of recent blogs. I have been very busy at school of late. To be completely  honest, for any Latics fan, a lack of response from last weeks debacle against Blackpool, pretty much summed up Wigan’s effort level throughout the match, which thankfully has been erased from my memory. Having put that behind me, Wigan’s season will now unofficially begin in game two…and what better way to start a campaign than a home match against a fierce looking Chelsea lineup, that recently humiliated new boys West Brom in a six nil drubbing! Read the rest of this entry »

By: Nick | 6 Comments

For the last few years, the Wigan back line has been effectively marshaled by the hard working Mario Melchiot and the tough tackling Titus Bramble, but in the upcoming season this pairing will no longer be an option. It was always known that Melchiot would eventually move to a lower club as his lack of pace has been a concern, especially last season. I wish him the best of luck in Qatar with his new club Umm Salal. However, the loss of Bramble is a major blow. Whilst playing for the latics, Bramble had revitalized his career and has arguably been in the form of his life, working tremendously hard to make the starting centre back position his own. With Bramble gone, an obvious hole has appeared in the side’s defence… but all is not lost. If anything this is an opportunity for one our reserve/ younger players to step up and claim that spot. So who is in contention?

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By: Nick | 2 Comments

With just less than one month until the Premier league season begins, Wigan have already made some serious inroads in bolstering their thin squad having signed three top class players in three different positions. Immediately after the 09/10 season concluded it was clear that Wigan’s defence was a key concern. Roberto Martinez swooped for Paraguayan defender Antolin Alcaraz, who he hoped would halt the consistent amount of goals that hit the back of the Latics’ net. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Nick | 1 Comment

Figueroa - 2010/11 Wigan? Liverpool? Subderland?

This week has been a fairly busy one for the Latics in terms of transfer speculation, with a number of players tipped to be either leaving or joining the club. The most unexpected peice of news would have to be Liverpool’s expected bid of 6 million pounds for key defender Maynor Figueroa. It was recently announced that their newly appointed manager Roy Hodgson expressed a keen interest in signing the twenty seven year old Honduran international to bolster his much maligned defence. It was already news that clubs such as Sunderland had shown an interest in aquiring Figueroa, but the recent move by Liverpool was rather unexpected. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Nick | 1 Comment

Many apologies for my recent absence of blogs, like many I have been busily studying for mid semester exams and watching the World Cup. However, seeing that the tournament is over its half way mark, I have turned my attention towards covering Wigan’s pre season.

Due to World Cup fever and tournament hysteria, the lead up to the 2010/11 Premier League season has been very quiet. Of course, at the conclusion of the tournament, clubs from around the world will begin to splash the cash for some of the in form players. Just one of these many players was smarty snapped up by the Latics before the tournament even began, this of course was the Paraguayan fullback Antolin Alcaraz, who has started in the majority of games for his country and even managed to score against a miserly Italian defence. The fact that Paraguay have only shipped one goal all tournament says a lot for Alcaraz’ current form. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Nick | 1 Comment

One thing is almost certain for Wigan Athletic. If they are not able to spend on some quality players, then yet again relegation will be a possibility. For the past couple of seasons the Latics have made it a habit  of buying unheralded foreign players or picking from a crop of lower league stars. While in the long run this has proved beneficial and credit should be given to Wigan’s scouting system, doing it repeatedly can become risky business. Read the rest of this entry »