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The Season Ahead Part Nineteen : Wigan Athletic

Published by Ian John on September 19, 2009

Prospects for 2009 :
With Steve Bruce gone North to the Stadium of Light, Wigan have appointed one of the most exciting young managers from the football league in Spaniard Roberto Martinez. Martinez shone at Swansea where he developed a team that played some of the best football outside of the top flight. Chairman Dave Whelan is hoping with more resources, the Spaniard can continue the work of Steve Bruce and push Wigan on towards the upper echelons of the table and maybe even dream of a European place. It is a big ask for a manager with relatively little experience however and with Luis Antonio Valencia having left the club, Martinez faces a challenge this season to improve on last years 11th placed finish.

2009 is a big season for :
Titus Bramble. Good lord, over the years I have given this fellow some stick and I have to say, it has all been entirely deserved. Bramble had the unerring ability to play well in matches when it wasn’t broadcast live to a much wider audience, however when the camera’s were on him, he had an incredible tendency to make catastrophic cock up after catastrophic cock up. There can be no worse feeling for a player to be cheered on as a substitute by the opposition fans because you have a reputation as a bit of a joke footballer, as happened to Bramble at Anfield in 2008. However since moving to Wigan and after a few of the usual calamities, Brambles form and confidence is much improved and he is looking much more like the defender whom Ipswich fans thought would be an England regular when he broke into the side. It’s great to see a player struggle with adversity and bounce back as Bramble has done, long may this continue in 2009.

Guaranteed to irritate in 2009 :
Dave Whelan. The Wigan chairman seems an affable enough chap but it seems increasingly of late, that he can’t wait to get his mugshot in the news for one item or another. His JJB empire has been rebranded “DW” and as such, so has the stadium, which is a tad egocentric really. I mean usually the fans clamour to name their stadium after a legend at the club, rather than the chairman name it after himself (well, apart from John Majedksi of course). Also his love affair with anything Manchester United irks me. It seems that the Red Devils interest in his players is justification of Wigan’s excellent scouting policy, anyone else shows interest in them and it is an unwarranted intrusion into the affairs of the club. If I was a Wigan fan, it’d make me drop my pie in anger.

Things they’ll moan about in 2009 :
The pressure will be on Martinez from the start to show that he is every bit as good a manager as Steve Bruce and if by the end of November things haven’t gone too well, expect the first murmurings of discontent to follow. There will also be Dave Whelan’s much loved rant about how officials favour the richer teams in the Premiership which usually gets trotted out by the chairman at least four times a season. Never against Manchester United though oddly enough.

Song that sums up their chances in 2009 : “Fiesta” by the Pogues
With Rafa the gaffa no longer being the only Spanish manager in the Premier League, Wigan fans can hope for a chorus of “Ole’s” as the slick passing game instilled by manager Roberto Martinez takes full effect. It’ll be Fiesta time for the Latics if Martinez can get this race. If not, then it could be Hasta La Vista Baby!

Image Courtesy of ***Tommy-64 *** at Flickr.com

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