Being a Wigan Athletic fan has not been easy. However, I thought I would provide something a little different today…
11 May 2013 is a day fondly remembered by Wigan fans. It was the day in which odds were defied, David slayed Goliath and the unthinkable was made possible. The Latics had defeated Manchester City at the Wembley Stadium. Ben Watson, the inspired substitute scoring the winner with only moments to play sending the Wigan fans into a mixture of excitement and shock to what was unfolding in front of their eyes.
These fans had only eight years prior never seen their side feature in a top-flight fixture and were now taking down the giants of English football. The harsh reality of battling position amongst the Premier League ranks was realised as only days later, they were condemned to relegation to the Championship.
Upon relegation in 2013, Wigan were subject to losing many key players and were left with gaping holes in their squad. Roberto Martinez had deferred to Everton and many of the starting XI including James McCarthy, Antolin Alcaraz, Arouna Kone and Maynor Figueroa had all departed. Martinez was replaced by Owen Coyle, which was a highly unpopular move amongst the Wigan fan-base whose previous tenure with Bolton proving to be highly unsuccessful.
Coyle was able to keep some of Wigan’s bigger players along with signing players with the intention in mind of an instant return to the Premier League. Amongst these being Grant Holt who had shown his ability for Norwich in the top-flight and was seen as the go-to-man for the coming season, only to become one of the greatest flops in Wigan footballing history.
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By December, Wigan were languishing in 14th and Coyle was sacked. After also being part of a Europa League campaign in which Wigan gallantly were eliminated in the group-stage. The results had proven that he was not the man to lead Wigan back into the top-flight.
Enter Uwe Rosler. The prosperous manager of League One side Brentford was hired as the new manager. Immediately, Wigan’s fortunes were changed and were eventually in the top five of the Championship, qualifying for the play-offs. Although, this wasn’t the biggest achievement of Rosler’s turnaround. The German guided Wigan to another cup-run which saw them dispatch Crystal Palace, Cardiff City and the biggest of all, Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Nonetheless, the Latics were in the semi-final facing Arsenal at Wembley where they were defeated on penalties. To add insult to injury, Rosler’s side were eliminated by QPR in the play-off semi-final in extra-time thanks to a double from Charlie Austin. On both occasions, Wigan squandering leads to only fall at the final hurdle. The worst was yet to come.
The following season, more key members of the starting XI filed out and were replaced with less than mediocre players. Rumours of unrest amongst the players with Rosler was becoming more frequent and by November, once again Wigan were languishing at the bottom-reaches of the table and only had recorded three wins in seventeen.
After an embarrassing defeat to Bolton, Rosler was sacked and replaced by the controversial Malky Mackay. The Welshman was fired by Cardiff the season prior and was a popular figure amongst the Cardiff fans following the unfair treatment of owner Vincent Tan. Soon after, it was revealed that Mackay was embroiled in a text-message scandal which involved to be of a racist, sexist and homophobic nature.
To much surprise he was hired by Dave Whelan but the results did not change. It took Mackay a month to win a single match and more of the key Wigan players departed in January. In the months to come, the Latics were almost unrecognisable to the team they were only a year and a half prior and started to look ever closer towards relegation to the League One. By the time April had come around, it was all but too late and Mackay was sacked.
Replacing him was former club captain and recently retired Gary Caldwell. Mackay had only gathered 19 points from a possible 72 and the move was popular amongst many of the fans. Caldwell, along with newly appointed president, David Sharpe, who was the grand-son of the recently resigned Dave Whelan promised a return to “attractive football”. Similar to that in which Caldwell had envisaged under his former manager Roberto Martinez. However, the season was too far gone and the Latics were relegated to the Third Division.
In the off-season, Caldwell only retained seven players from the season prior with many being released or searching for moves abroad. The Scotsman promised an instant return and gathered a squad with a mixture of experience and youngsters. The wage bill was cut significantly with many moves made with finances in mind.
Players such as Will Grigg, Michael Jacobs, Donervon Daniels and Max Power were signed as key figures in their promotion push, due to their already strong credentials but also at a fruitful, young age. Experience in the form of Juusi Jaaskaleinan, Craig Morgan, David Perkins and Craig Davies were also added to give a good balance amongst the playing group.
After a slow start, Wigan now sit second with a 4-point gap on third with 11 games to play. Their performances as of late have seen them not lose in 14 games and have added extra quality to add to their already strong squad amongst the League One. The vision of Caldwell and Sharpe to get this side back into the Championship and eventually the Premier League is looking promising.
A side which looks motivated and a sight us as Latics fans have not witnessed in 3 years. With only two months remaining, the position and form which Wigan are in is extremely impressive after forming practically a brand new team in the off-season and the efforts of Caldwell have to be recognised. Come next season, expect Wigan to be plying their trade in the Championship once again with the thoughts of Premier League weighing heavily in mind.
Believe.
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