Lessons Learned?

So he's made a big mistake; he's insulted a lot of people; and as Wigan fans will testify, he's ruined the reputation of a well-run family club. But if Dave Whelan steps down as Chairman of Wigan Athletic, it can only make things worse.

Now that the FA have handed out their punishment for Whelan's comments about Jewish and Chinese people it's time for the club to move on. Some may say a six-week ban is lenient but the mandatory education programme he will also attend should ensure that Whelan learns a valuable lesson.

Whelan has made millions of pounds and is one of the most successful self-made businessmen this country has ever seen. So imagine what it will make him feel like to sit and be told what is right and wrong, like he is back at school? It will be embarrassing and demeaning, but it's totally necessary.

Crucially, the FA haven't found Whelan to be a racist and this might be what saves his position at Wigan. He is guilty of being a naive old man with an old-fashioned mentality though. And if an education programme drags him into 2015 then bring it on.

When Venky's took over at Whelan's beloved Blackburn, he vowed that he'd never let something similar happen to Wigan. And that's when the talk started about his grandson David Sharpe eventually taking over. Eventually, it makes sense. But not quite yet.

Sharpe's appointment to the Wigan board just before Christmas was quite telling. I hope it's not because the FA ruling marks the end of Whelan's tenure, but rather I would prefer it to mark the start of Sharpe's education in how to run a football club.

I'd like nothing more than the club to remain in the Whelan family when Dave steps down, but please not just yet.

The sensible thing to do is to make this a gradual process. Whelan has been foolish but the whole club shouldn't be made to pay for it.

Sharpe represented the club, along with Gary Caldwell, at a Skybet Transfer Fund event at Wembley just before Christmas, and this is the sort of thing he should be seen to be doing for when his big moment comes.

Uwe Rosler said at the weekend that he called Whelan when he said he'd quit if found guilty. Rosler urged Whelan to rethink and said the club needs its Chairman right now. And how right he is.

We musn't forget that the FA are yet to rule on Malky Mackay so there could be tougher times ahead. And I for one don't want the club to face them without Dave Whelan at the helm.

Hoof Off

It's never fair to judge a match on the basis of what you read on Twitter, so before before publishing this blog I decided to watch Goals Express to see if my thoughts were justified. And after seeing the goals I didn't change a single word.

For weeks we've all been whinging. The football's shocking to watch; we can't see where goals are coming from; we're a shambles off the pitch; and even my Mum is questioning the tactics (sorry, Mum). But through it all whoever thought we'd be in a relegation battle? Well, it's time to hit the panic button because we bloody well are.

We're not losing with flair, we're not conducting ourselves with class and we're boring everyone to tears.

And something alien to our favourite Wigan sides of recent years has begun to creep into the play: hoof it up the field. 

I for one used to get frustrated with Roberto Martinez and his sides around February every year. We'd be languishing in the bottom three or thereabouts, always the favourites to go down, and we refused to stick the boot in and be gritty. Sometimes you just need to play long ball and battle it out when you're struggling; but Martinez always stood by his principles and proved me wrong every season (well, bar one, but he won the FA Cup so we'll forgive him).

So with this sort of attitude you'd think I'd want to see Malky's men going for the gritty approach. But that element of tactical genius slips up slightly when there's nobody to hoof it up the field to.

It seems Grant Holt is ready to come back and take his place in the team in January, and you have to say on the basis of this style under Mackay, that he'll actually fit in. I'd much prefer us to revert to playing a bit of football and having the creativity and spark that the likes of Callum McManaman and Shaun Maloney deserve, but first and foremost we're in a hole - and we need to climb out of it fast.

So if Holt is ready to come and score the goals then be our guest. He's seen off two managers so far in his Wigan career and his contribution could go some way to either making it a hat-trick, or shock us all and save Mackay's embarrassment.

My Christmas list a few weeks ago looked a little lavish but right now it seems a bit more modest. If I'm willing to give up the handbags and clothes, can I please have three points at Leeds and a striker in the January sales please Santa?

False Nine and False Hope

Today I saw Sir Elton John and watched Wigan lose a match. Only one of these things is unusual.

Before the game as the whole of Vicarage Road united to sing 'Your Song' I rightly predicted that would be the most memorable moment I would take away from today. Sir Elton was there to open a new stand named after him and got the crowd clapping their appreciation with an emotive speech firstly about what Watford means to him, and secondly in support of Dave Whelan.

Sir Elton said he saluted Whelan and what he had done for the club. A sentiment that we all agree with - none of us can fault what Whelan has achieved for Latics. What was perhaps more apt was 'I'm Still Standing' being the last song played before kick-off. A subtle message referring to Whelan's plight maybe?

On the pitch the same woes continue for Wigan. Whelan says he appointed Malky Mackay on footballing reasons. Well so far I'm not seeing any evidence to suggest the football we are playing is any better than that under Uwe Rosler.

The away end of Vicarage Road was one of bemusement in the build-up to kick-off as news broke of Mackay's team selection. No clear striker named in the 11 left us all pondering where a goal would come from and whether Mackay had come here for a 0-0.

James McClean, to his credit, ran his socks off. He chased every loose ball, pressured the keeper when required and covered more blades of grass than many a Premier League striker would have done today.

But it takes a bloody good side to make the false nine position work. And that we are not. False nine equalled false hope for Malky today.

After going in at half-time at 1-1 we came out a much better team in the second half, and looked a real threat. But those real threats never really amounted to much without a recognised striker on the pitch. We can't go relying on attacking midfielders to keep us up. Callum McManaman can't manage 90 minutes at the best of times, so how are we going to get the best out of him if he's doing unnecessary extra work?

It took going 2-1 down before Andy Delort came on. He's far from setting the world alight, but you have to feel for him in that situation. He's had barely any match time and is expected to come on and rescue a point in four minutes. Christmas may be a time for miracles, but even miracles have a limit.

I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind that I put down in words (sorry, no more Elton references) my frustration at Wigan's slide down the Championship table. The January transfer window is approaching and I hope I speak for all Wigan fans when I make this plea: Malky, don't rely on the impending return of a certain Grant Holt.

So as we head for another Saturday night analysing where it all went wrong, there's one more Elton song that seems to sum up our emotions: 'I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues.' (I lied about no more Elton references).

Remember the Good Times

Ok, I think we need a bit of cheering up. There's lots of negativity surrounding Wigan Athletic at the moment, so let's use this opportunity to think of the better days.

Dave Whelan's comments about Jewish people are still under investigation from the FA but in just over a week's time Whelan's "hundreds of Jewish friends" will celebrate the eight nights of Chanukah. In my household my boyfriend will light candles for each night, so I have decided that I will mark each night by reminiscing about my favourite Latics matches. A swapping of religious traditions, I guess.

These games are all post-promotion as it was hard enough to pick eight in the last nine years. So, in reverse order, here are my eight games that make me smile:

8) Wigan Athletic 3-2 Arsenal

April 18, 2010

My list starts with a game that I wasn't even at. I was working on a busy Sunday afternoon at Sky Sports News in the unusual position of watching Wigan on TV (us Latics fans savour our TV appearances) whilst also writing the text headlines. At 2-0 down it seemed the game was over and my Arsenal-supporting colleagues were careful to tiptoe around me. But with one goal back came a more respectable scoreline; two goals brought optimism; and the third...well let's just say my job was saved by Charles N'Zogbia scoring in an ad break.

7) Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Wigan Athletic

May 7, 2012

Games to secure survival will be a recurring theme of this blog, but this night at Blackburn is probably the least glamorous and dramatic. This was one season we decided to do the hard work with a game to spare having gone on a ridiculous run that included wins over Liverpool Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle. So to seal another year of Premier League football with an 87th minute goal from a defender on a Monday night at Ewood Park with a chicken for a pitch invader, seems a bit of anti-climax. But our little section of Ewood was buzzing that night. Even if it did cause a Davies-family argument over who got the two tickets we were able to get for the game. Bank of Dad and the daughter who travelled from London were the victors in that duel. 

6) Maribor 2-1 Wigan Athletic

December 12, 2013

It might seem odd that a defeat makes a countdown of my most memorable games, but hands up who thought they'd ever watch Wigan in Europe. No? Thought not. A questionable decision to send off Chris McCann popped our slim hopes of qualifying for the next stage like a balloon, but being in Slovenia watching Wigan was somewhat of a surreal experience. That trip was memorable for being Rosler's first game in charge as he was greeted by chants of "he doesn't wear shorts" (why would he, it was 5 degrees), but it will always make me smile for seeing what a Eastern European city is like when a load of northerners descend on it. My personal highlight was having dinner with around 20 other Wiganers. One of them was presented with their starter of beef carpaccio. His response? "What the fuck's this? I ordered beef." It was at that point I questioned whether I have been a northerner living in the south too long.

5) Sheffield Utd 1-2 Wigan Athletic

May 14, 2007

This would probably be a bit higher on my list if I'd been able to be there. But a uni exam/deadline the next day meant I watched on TV in Newcastle with one other Wigan fan and a group of friends who sought amusement in our stress. That amusement was at its highest as David Unsworth stepped up to take what would eventually be the winning penalty. The two Wiganers in the room couldn't bare to watch. So one of the others turned the TV off. It was only turned back on in time to see the celebrations - so I missed one of the most important goals in the club's history but I guess my cries off "I can't look!" meant I had it coming.

4) Arsenal 1-2 Wigan Athletic 

April 16, 2012

Being a Wigan fan who sees the majority of my games in London was a distressing time when I first moved to the capital. My first year working at Sky in 2009/10, Wigan's record in London read P5 L5 GF 4 GA 26. A refund from the players after the 9-1 defeat at Spurs was only scant consolation of the investment of following my team. So imagine what it was like being at a win in London for the first time in 2012. Going 2-0 up at Arsenal after eight minutes led to a pretty nervous 82 after that, but my God the relief that I hadn't cursed my team was worth it all.

3) Manchester City 1-2 Wigan Athletic

March 9, 2014

So last season was all in all a bit shit. But in all the misery there was one day that made us remember the Premier League days fondly. Uwe Rosler took Wigan to his former club in the FA Cup quarter-finals with no pressure, no expectation and we all thought, with no chance of winning. Before the game City paraded the League Cup they'd won the week before to a Wigan response of "what the fucking hell is that?" And on the pitch we showed them we weren't letting that our superior trophy go. The 2-1 win did lead to a bit of confusion as we didn't know if we could sing "beat Man City with a Watson goal anymore." But "beat Man City with a James Perch goal" doesn't quite have the same ring to it. I thought my Mum summed this one up well as we were walking away from the Etihad: "ooh I think I liked that more than the cup final - I could really relax and enjoy it." Yeah that last ten minutes was the same as lying on a beach, Mum.

2) Stoke City 0-1 Wigan Athletic 

May 22, 2011

I will remember this day forever. Up at 3am for work and then my lovely boss let me leave 30 mins early to catch a train from Euston to Stoke. So by the time I got to the Britannia I was pretty tired, but little did I know I was only half way through 24 hours awake. My Dad was the epitome of calm but God knows how with me next to him. "Are you nervous Dad? I'm really nervous Dad. Why aren't you nervous Dad? I think Blackpool are winning at United, Dad. Blackpool are now losing at United, Dad. Dad, why aren't you nervous??!!" Turns out he was, he just didn't want to make me worse. I celebrated Hugo Rodallega's goal so much that I was spotted in the crowd on TV by a work colleague who saved the clip as "Gemma Davies goes loco." But not as loco as I went when I persuaded some of my friends to celebrate out in Wigan that evening and half the squad walked in to Chicago Rock. I came home drenched in Moët champagne courtesy of Chris Kirkland and with the best photo ever of me congratulating Ben Watson on another year in the Premier League.

1) Manchester City 0-1 Wigan Athletic

May 11, 2013

Ok so the number one spot may be a little predictable, but what else could ever compete? Before the game I was adamant I would rather we stay up than win the cup, but I take that all back now. I went to Wembley pretty calm and without expectation. Those few minutes which saw Ben Watson score and then the jubilation of full-time are my favourite of my life to date and ones I will cherish forever. I'll never forget my Mum with her head in her knees saying she couldn't watch just before we scored the the goal - until we pointed out we were attacking and she probably should watch. And how drunk my brother was before the game had even started. And what it felt like singing 'Abide with me' as a family before kick-off. And singing 'I'm a Believer' together the longer the game went on, because we really did believe. Yeah, you really can't beat supporting an underdog on a day like that.

This may seem a tad indulgent to regale you all with stories of how I watched these games, but my point is this: as depressing as it may be to support Wigan at the moment, there are plenty of times that we should be proud of. So think of all the moments our club have made you happy. How many of us will be wheeling those photos from the FA Cup Final to our grandchildren in years to come? I certainly will be.

I'm a believer...but even believers have doubts

By no means has the dust settled on events at Wigan Athletic, but the hysteria seems to have died down marginally - if only until the FA make their ruling on Dave Whelan's comments. And of course there's the small matter of the FA deciding Malky Mackay's future.

I have tweeted my upset and discussed with friends how let down I feel by my club. My club that 18 months ago had just won the FA Cup in the biggest shock since the Crazy Gang; we were managed by one of the nicest guys in football; and despite the season ending in a heartbreaking relegation, we could look back at eight seasons in the Premier League when nobody gave us a hope of even one.

I'm not saying everyone took Wigan to their hearts; it's not like we were everyone's second team or anything like that. But we were difficult to dislike. Roberto Martinez had built his reputation on avoiding relegation by playing classy football. None of this 'kick them in the air' lark. In seasons gone by, one by one we dismissed the big guns and nobody could begrudge us that fairytale.

In 2011/12 as we came from nowhere to stay up with a game to spare our theme tune became the Monkees' 'I'm a Believer.' And my God did we believe. We believed in our manager, our players and our mentality of 'little Wigan taking the piss.' And do you know who else we believed in? Chairman Dave Whelan.

Whelan had taken us from the Old Division Three to the Premier League in ten years. When he first took over and said that was his vision we all laughed at the deluded man who started out with a stall on Wigan market.

But he didn't let us down. He gave us a new stadium and financial backing that all led to a 3-1 win over Reading in May 2005 that took us to the Premiership.

Back then it was Paul Jewell in charge; someone who we're led to believe had a good relationship with Whelan. But it wasn't until Martinez took over in 2009 that it became clear that Whelan had appointed his adopted son.

And this is where it was all to go wrong for every manager in Wigan's future. They're not Martinez.

Owen Coyle was never the right fit. Fans called for him to be sacked like I've never heard Wigan do before. But with Uwe Rosler I felt like he was the manager we meant to appoint after Martinez. He came in wanting to build his team; play football the right way and lead us back to the Premier League.

I'm in the unusual position of being a Latics fan who goes to more away games than home ones. I've lived in London for my job since 2009 and have seen some horrors in the capital: 9-1 at Spurs, 8-0 at Chelsea, the night we went down at Arsenal; but I don't think I've left a match more disconsolate than QPR in the play-offs last season.

That truly felt like a missed opportunity. But after I'd sat in my car in tears whilst eating a pick-me-up Mars bar for 20 minutes, I then pulled it together enough to drive the short journey home in the pouring rain and I had the slight consolation that Rosler had achieved something. If he could take us to the play-offs from the position we were in, imagine what we were going to do this season.

And that's where me and probably thousands of other Wigan fans were totally wrong.

This season has been a shambles to put it mildly. Rosler's inability to find a decent striker is what ultimately cost him his job. But I was genuinely disappointed when Whelan sacked him.

The biggest disappointment of all was the manner in which Whelan handled it. He came out in support of Rosler one day, and then a few days later he was gone.

Whilst Wigan's target should undoubtedly be promotion, I always had faith that Rosler would never drag us into a real relegation battle. If he could take us from mid-table mediocrity to the play-offs last season, I didn't doubt he could do the same again.

But if only the performances on the pitch were the worst of it.

Mackay's appointment was doomed from the start.

What the hell was Whelan doing getting involved with someone who is being investigated by the FA? Regardless of what it is for, it's a messy situation we had no part in. And now we've been dragged through the mud and arguably made to look even worse than Mackay in the first place.

I do think Whelan has been guilty of nothing more than being a naive old man. I don't think he's racist or anti-semetic. I just think he's old-fashioned and doesn't realise how offensive he has been. Nor does he realise how much damage he has done to our lovely little club.

So where now for Wigan? Well that's for the FA to decide on two fronts. In a few weeks we could be without our chairman and without our new manager. Regardless of the outcome, this period will go down as the lowest in the club's history.  If Mackay and Whelan do both stick around, let's hope for everyone's sakes that they form the father-son relationship that Dave had with his beloved Roberto.

I hope that most fans, like myself, will continue to traipse to unfashionable Championship away grounds, and continue to sing 'I'm a Believer.' Because throughout all of this we shouldn't forget what Whelan has helped our club to achieve. Without him we wouldn't be able to sing (to the tune of 'We Built this City'), 'We beat Man City, beat Man City with a Watson goal.'

Another of Wigan's trademark chants is 'Let's hang on to what we've got' when we take the lead. I wonder if Uncle Dave wishes he'd done that with Uwe now.