Wonderful Wigan

A little ode to Wigan.

Wigan Athletic, a side who for eight seasons, have been an established Premier League team, are viewed  unfavourably by many. This appears to be rather unjust. For it is Wigan, who have moulded themselves into one of the soundest, and most respectably set up sides in the Premier League. Tipped for a relegation at the start of each new season (a prediction which has never come to fruition), they quietly go about proving the doubters wrong. Three things that are notably impressive are their Chairmen, Manager and transfer policy.

The deadly donkey, Franco Di Santo

In Dave Whelan, they have a Chairmen who runs a club the way Liverpool fans could only dream their own would. He is quite unique, approaching situations in a way that the majority of other Chairmen never do. The correct way, the way that somehow, some way, most manage to deviate from. When clubs have come knocking, big clubs who realise Wigan have done all the dirty work, developing the player ( Valencia, Moses, N'Zogbia), Whelan does not fight the inevitable avalanche of offers. He doesn't do a Daniel Levy and let a saga like Berbatov's drag on, and totally destabilise the rest of the squad before the season even begins. The most recent high profile departure, and there is a link in the fact that there is always one every season, saw Victor Moses leave for Chelsea. Whelan, and Martinez, had accepted the fact almost as soon as Chelsea showed interest. Although the transfer took a while to actually happen, there is no doubt Whelan will have let Martinez know, well in advance, to plan for life without him.

What is so impressive is the relationship between Whelan and Martinez. You can immediately tell that this is not a facade, a fake relationship. They genuinely like each other. It is this father and son relationship, which has been crucial in holding the team together, in it's darkest hour. There is hiding the fact that certain Chairmen would have pulled the trigger on Martinez, at one point or other, since he took over at Wigan. Perhaps after the 9-1 mauling against Tottenham in 2009. Whelan however, accepts such results happen. Having been a player too (always a huge bonus in a Chairmen), he understands that a team like Wigan will get hammered, at least twice a season. Especially with the way Martinez wants Wigan to play. Whelan is simply realistic where others aren't. A positive trait to have.

The well liked Wigan manager, Roberto Martinez

It is a mystery as to how Martinez is not yet managing a Top 10 club. His record at Wigan is exceptional. He has mastered the art of winning a relegation battle, and has shown on numerous occasions that he can, at times, outsmart the very best. If Martinez leaves, which is likely, he will leave a philosophy which can keep Wigan secure in the Premier League for a long time yet. Although his team is weak in some departments, Martinez makes the most of what he has, and his desire to play a pass and move style of football is slowly paying off. New players arriving, are quickly integrated into the system Martinez adopts. Some players have come to Wigan, and flourished where they could not elsewhere. Shaun Maloney is playing out of his skin, and though a laughing stock to many, Franco Di Santo has started this season strongly, with a confidence that must have attracted Chelsea to him as a youngster.

Most of this is due to Martinez. There is no player that cannot be changed in his eyes. Anyone he brings in, he brings in with the belief that they can adapt their game to suit Wigan's. The faith that he kept in Wigan's tactics last season paid off too. They went on a fantastic run at the tail end of the campaign, beating Arsenal, with well prepared counter attacking intent, and Manchester United, with a rearguard stubbornness that had deserted them in the past. It will always be a work in progress for Martinez, because his best players get poached, and the style he demands, takes longer to gel in certain areas of the pitch, and with certain players. Just as Wigan take one step forward, they are forced to take two back. Losing Moses is a huge blow. And still Martinez is so coolly calm, he does not panic, and it is admiral that he never kicks up a fuss over the yearly star player loss. Having a calm, clear thinking man at the top is vital. Even more important, for a team that know they will be fighting near the bottom of the table for points. Martinez is just that.

They come, and they go, at Wigan

Wigan's transfer policy should be bought to attention also. Minus the 2010/2011 campaign, the last five seasons have seen Wigan's total selling figure fees higher then that of their buying. With this in mind, it is even more impressive that they have survived the length they have. What Whelan and Martinez agree, and understand, is that they cannot and will not compete, with other teams in the Premier League, when it comes to spending. Whelan is not happy with the way Man City and the like are using their money, and does things the right way. Hopefully this right way will get its reward, if the Financial Fair Play regulations ever come into play. Instead of mass spending, Wigan have made an excellent habit of buying future stars on the cheap, and then making them into top team material, before selling them on for a massive profit. With this money, they rebuilt their team each season.

This reputation has benefited Wigan. The Chelsea's and United's know where to look, within the Premier League, for their next star, and have a great deal of respect for Whelan, who they know is a fair man, one who conducts business in the correct manner. Sir Alex Ferguson obviously saw Wigan as the ideal place to send Tom Cleverly for experience, and now Cleverly is reaping the rewards of his time there. Though Wigan have seen Rodallega, Moses, Valencia, N'Zogbia, Palacios and co all leave, there will always be another star around the corner. If Wigan can just hold on to, or have in the same side, two or three rising stars, it could really give them the chance, and ability, to look up the League, rather then down. In James McCarthy, they have a player of excellent technical ability, and he has orchestrated a solid start to this new season. The chances that him and Martinez could be gone, by this time next year, are quite high. Nevertheless, in Whelan they have a man who has been in such a position before, and he will make a shrewd appointment, whoever he chooses.

Wigan host Manchester United at home this weekend, and so they should. They have earned their stripes in the Premier League, and should be valued more often then they are for doing so. It is rare to find at a club, firstly, a Chairmen who puts total trust and belief in his manager. Secondly, a manager at a relegation threatened club, trying and now succeeding, in playing passing football, and thirdly, a team run the proper way, spending wisely, and making sure that they make a profit on players each season, to warrant whatever spending they do.