Wigan v Man City

Raskolnikov

Wigan truly are a dreadful team and Martinez has to be one of the most witless managers in the league. Alcaraz and Caldwell have to be the worst defensive duo's in the entire Premier League and it's amazing Martinez hasn't tried to find replacements. I feel sorry for McCarthy, he slogged his guts out tonight only for his team mates to lose the ball anytime they got into the opposition half.

ShamoBuc

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

against the worst team in the Premier league?:eek:

You mad!!!

Yeah, it wasn't too long ago that Blackburn were the worst team in the league....imagine losing to them at home:eek::rolleyes:

Now that would be mad;)

DoctorGonzo08

peterswellman wrote: »

This coming from the man who admitted he was totally out-of-line for waving an imaginary card against Liverpool. The same fella who was giving out about Rooney over the Kompany tackle.

Hypocritical beyond belief.

Mancini Oh Oh Ohhhh!

Raskolnikov

cambo2008 wrote: »

I would have given it to McCarthy,he was excellent,box to box.

I know he's Irish, but come on now, McCarthy wasn't even the best Wigan player. Al Habsi is the only reason why Wigan were even kept in this match.

smokedeels

dsmythy wrote: »

Barr wrote: »

Gary Nev gave it to him for one save

Well he is England's number one!

Nev hardly has a pro-England agenda. He called his International career "a massive waste of time"

Will I Amnt

Raskolnikov wrote: »

I know he's Irish, but come on now, McCarthy wasn't even the best Wigan player. Al Habsi is the only reason why Wigan were even kept in this match.

Al Habsi wasn't all that busy either,a few great saves yea.
McCarthy was everywhere and at the heart of everything Wigan did be it bringing it out from defence or setting up an attack.
And he's Scottish by the way

DM360

Raskolnikov wrote: »

Wigan truly are a dreadful team and Martinez has to be one of the most witless managers in the league. Alcaraz and Caldwell have to be the worst defensive duo's in the entire Premier League and it's amazing Martinez hasn't tried to find replacements. I feel sorry for McCarthy, he slogged his guts out tonight only for his team mates to lose the ball anytime they got into the opposition half.

I may be biased as a Wigan fan but I don't really agree with you there.

Martinez works wonders with what little resources he has. Wigan are the youngest team in the Premier League and are situated bang in the middle of a footballing hotspot in Great Britain. Obviously the fanbase is tiny, as you can see from so many empty seats, but that's for a reason. How are we to compete against Man City or United? Added to that there's also Bolton who are a far more established club with a much greater fanbase. Where's the money supposed to come from? We're owned by one man, Dave Whelan, who although he has his heart with the club, he's not some multinational company with millions to burn.

Our record signing cost us £7 million an that was N'Zogbia back in 2009. That's petty cash compared to the signings other clubs make, even those struggling to stay off the bottom.

I do agree with you, even together Caldwell and Alcaraz couldn't compare to one CB from any of the top clubs. They're clumsy, slow and reckless every single game but where are we going to get new ones? There aren't exactly top-class defenders queuing up to sign for us at bargain prices.

Anyway, even if a player does start to show promise, a bigger club just flexes their financial power, swoops in and takes our strongest player. Look at who's gone: N'Zogbia, Valencia, Baines, Palacios, Cattermole with MacCarthy and Moses on their way out in the coming years aswell.

The fact we only lost 1-0 to Manchester City, whereas United lost 6-1 but that's another story, is a feat that I'm quite proud of. We didn't lie down or whinge, we just kept going. We've held Liverpool and Chelsea to draws this season aswell.

Al-Habsi for me is our most important player. I'd put him up there as one of the best shot-stoppers in the league. His reactions are incredible and he's well known for making double and triple saves. He's an absolute rock and is a genuinely loyal and hardworking player. The day he leaves the club is the day we go down for a long time I reckon.

To conclude, I enjoy watching Wigan because their matches are exciting. Whether we're being stuffed 5-0 at Old Trafford or coming back to beat Arsenal 3-2 in the DW, there's nearly always entertainment. Maybe we are the worst team in terms of skill but we fight for survival and hang in there amongst the heavyweights despite all odds. You can call us dreadful, slag off our players, do whatever you want but we're gonna keep on scrapping regardless.

The_Kew_Tour

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Yeah, it wasn't too long ago that Blackburn were the worst team in the league....imagine losing to them at home:eek::rolleyes:

Now that would be mad;)

Your missing the point completely, and what dose Blackburn got to do with this.

By your logic every win is serious result.

DoctorGonzo08

DM360 wrote: »

I may be biased as a Wigan fan but I don't really agree with you there.

Don't think it's biased, I think the original comment was completely mis-informed.

One thing I picked up on last night that made me smile was in the second half, 1-0 down, Wigan came out playing the rest of the game as 4-2-4. THey wanted to score. City however obviously thought Liverpool were on to something last week and parked the bus.

Raskolnikov

I am critical of Wigan because the club has seemingly gone backwards under Martinez, despite the fact he has been given a fair crack at the whip, being in the job 2.5 years now. In the time he has been in charge, Wigan have barely threaded water, narrowly avoiding the drop both times. This is in massive contrast to the Bruce-era, where Wigan finished 11th in his last season, and in my opinion, were a much better side to watch. Under Bruce, they played a lot less narrow and utilised their attacking options much better. Bruce also did much better in the transfer markets, he made some serious money for Wigan by bringing in players like Valencia, Palacios, Cattermole, Nzogbia, etc. and selling them on. He also got some very decent players on frees (Melchiot, Zaki, Bramble, etc.). Bruce probably did have Wigan punching well above their weight, but you can't ignore the benchmark that he set.

About the budget, of course they make a fraction of what many clubs in the league make, but there are other clubs in a similar position, or even worse. Norwich and Swansea would easily have smaller wage bills than Wigan, the likes of Everton and Bolton have virtually no money whatsoever to spend. I am not by any means saying Wigan should be comfortable, but I would be expecting better than bottom of the league from a manager who has been given time to build the team in his own way. As for money, I know that traditionally, Wigan have not attracted a great deal of support, but even by their standards, an attendance of 16,000 against the league leaders who are just up the road is a shocker. You might believe in Martinez's vision, but the fans certainly do not.

I definitely agree with you on Al-Habsi though. As good as he was last season, he's even better this year and having seen quite a lot of Wigan, he has been worth several points to you this season. Even with him though, I can't see yourselves and Bolton not going down this season. Sorry.

DoctorGonzo08

Raskolnikov wrote: »

I am critical of Wigan because the club has seemingly gone backwards under Martinez, despite the fact he has been given a fair crack at the whip, being in the job 2.5 years now. In the time he has been in charge, Wigan have barely threaded water, narrowly avoiding the drop both times. This is in massive contrast to the Bruce-era, where Wigan finished 11th in his last season, and in my opinion, were a much better side to watch. Under Bruce, they played a lot less narrow and utilised their attacking options much better. Bruce also did much better in the transfer markets, he made some serious money for Wigan by bringing in players like Valencia, Palacios, Cattermole, Nzogbia, etc. and selling them on. He also got some very decent players on frees (Melchiot, Zaki, Bramble, etc.). Bruce probably did have Wigan punching well above their weight, but you can't ignore the benchmark that he set.

About the budget, of course they make a fraction of what many clubs in the league make, but there are other clubs in a similar position, or even worse. Norwich and Swansea would easily have smaller wage bills than Wigan, the likes of Everton and Bolton have virtually no money whatsoever to spend. I am not by any means saying Wigan should be comfortable, but I would be expecting better than bottom of the league from a manager who has been given time to build the team in his own way. As for money, I know that traditionally, Wigan have not attracted a great deal of support, but even by their standards, an attendance of 16,000 against the league leaders who are just up the road is a shocker. You might believe in Martinez's vision, but the fans certainly do not.

I definitely agree with you on Al-Habsi though. As good as he was last season, he's even better this year and having seen quite a lot of Wigan, he has been worth several points to you this season. Even with him though, I can't see yourselves and Bolton not going down this season. Sorry.

Clubs cannot continuously turn out good players for nothing and sell them on. Wigan had a great spell of talent come through but they are now in a bit of limbo, but yet they are fighting to stay in the premiership where they have the oppurtunity to attract players.