Friday 8 May 2015

Cameron and Caldwell: The Similarities are Endless

Today social media is over-ridden with people airing their views on the General Election and how the country will be led under the Tories for another term of office. I'm not one to air my political allegiances on these forums for a number of reasons, but one opinion that caught my eye and I agree with is this: the country has voted and we all must go ahead with holding our Government to account for the pledges that they made in their manifesto.

Now, one area that I do like to voice my opinion on is sport, and more specifically my football team. And so this leads me to draw comparison between politics and sport. Gary Caldwell has been appointed as our leader, and as Wigan fans we must now hold him to account for the promises he has made us. His appointment may not have been a democratic process, but I'd like to think Latics fans probably would have put a cross in the box for Caldwell had they been presented with the option. If only we'd had that possibility back in November (I digress...).

I have been a bit quiet on the blog front of late because of personal and work commitments. I'll also admit to being in a massive sulk about our relegation. I moved house on the day our drop to League One was confirmed and in some respects I saw this as apt that a new era started for myself and my football team.

My season review wouldn't make for pretty reading and I'm a big believer in the theory that dwelling on what has gone wrong does no good for looking to the future. As such, I won't be passing my judgement on where it all went wrong, who should be held accountable and why we're about to see an inevitable drop in the number of Wigan season ticket holders.

Instead we should look to our new leader and how his term of office can be as lengthy as Mr Cameron.

Wigan's retained list should make for interesting reading, although I don't expect it to be a long document, either. This season has been a juxtaposition of loans, short-term deals, high-profile exits and debuts for youngsters. But onwards and upwards.

I was at Brentford last weekend when Billy Mckay and Tim Chow both started and I'd like to think this will be a thing of the future. My work colleagues often ask me what has gone wrong at Wigan and also why they they haven't heard much about Mckay. "Has he not taken to the Championship? Has the step-up to England been too much for him?" No, is my answer. He hasn't had chance, but now I hope we have a manager who will give him and countless others an opportunity.

Caldwell has promised us the Wigan way of football and promotion; and I fully expect him to deliver. The Twittersphere has been full of banter about Mckay and Holt banging them in in League One, but this is completely what I expect to happen.

This is also a crucial time for the Wigan PR strategy to shine. We've had a season to forget on and off the pitch and the wheels have been set in motion to remind the public that we're a down to earth club with family values. Some of the stunts to give out season tickets and promote the club may be received as a tad cringeworthy, but they're all important tools to get us back to where we were pre-Mackaygate.

I write this with a prosecco in hand by the pool in Greece (the heart bleeds, I know) with a degree of relief that the season is over. I didn't book this holiday until my realism kicked in and it dawned on me that we wouldn't be in the play-offs, but I have optimism that I'll do the same next year: this time knowing we'll be going up automatically.

A little like the Tories today, the general public have never thought that Wigan have had enough to get over the line, but time and time again the public have backed them and they've defied the odds. Today the Queen has invited David Cameron to form a Government. This time next year David Sharpe will be inviting Gary Caldwell to form his Championship squad. Mark my words.

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