 Friday, 7th Dec 2012 00:00 by Clive Whittingham Tony Fernandes, rightly, seemed to be looking to Wigan as inspiration in his backing of Mark Hughes. Sadly, he picked the wrong lessons from the Latics’ syllabus. OverviewDespite improvements in performance, effort, commitment and organisation clearly evident in the two matches since Harry Redknapp took over at Loftus Road , QPR are still hunting for their first victory. Given that the season is now 15 matches old, the gap to safety seven points, and the haul from matches against Reading , Southampton, Villa and Sunderland – all very poor, limited teams – just three draws it seems many among the Loftus Road faithful are ready to abandon hope. Perhaps, therefore, this weekend's trip to Wigan is a timely one. This time last season the Latics had just ended a run of nine consecutive defeats with a couple of narrow away wins at Sunderland and West Brom only to then embark on another disastrous spell of ten games without a win that included seven defeats and stretched right through to the beginning of February. When they subsequently won their local derby with Bolton 2-1 on the first Saturday in February it was only their fourth victory of the entire season in 25 attempts. In mid November last year Wigan had six points from 11 matches and were five points adrift at the bottom. By the end of January they were still bottom with just 15 points, four points adrift., and six weeks later they were still bottom having only added another seven points to their total. What happened next was absolutely remarkable. Wigan went to Liverpool as Kenny Dalglish's second coming collapsed around his ears and won 2-1, and swiftly followed that up with a 2-0 home win against Stoke. The value of consecutive wins in a season of just 38 games – a feat QPR are yet to accomplish since returning to the top flight 18 months ago – was there for all to see. Suddenly, having been written off as "already down" by those searching for three teams to finish below QPR, Wigan were six points clear of bottom placed Wolves, level on 28 with QPR and Blackburn and just one behind Bolton. They were conned out of a point at Chelsea by a scandalous piece of refereeing but then put together consecutive wins again – this time beating Man Utd 1-0 at home and Arsenal away 2-1. Now up to sixteenth and five points clear of the drop zone the recovery was well and truly on and although they lost at Fulham they hammered Champions League chasing Newcastle 4-0 and actually won their last three games of the season – which meant victories in seven of their last nine and a fifteenth placed finish, seven points clear of danger. It was miraculous, but it shows it can be done. But although QPR can now look to Wigan for inspiration, perhaps they've been doing that a little bit too much this season. Tony Fernandes' steadfast backing of Mark Hughes, which had turned into the flogging of a horse so dead it was already glue long before he finally sacked him, was very reminiscent of Dave Whelen's support of his manager Roberto Martinez during Wigan 's bad times last season. Even when the Latics strung nine defeats together and crashed out of both cups to lower division opposition Whelen insisted that Martinez was the manager, would be staying the manager, and would be the manager again this season no matter what division they found themselves in. It was heralded as a victory for faith and common sense in an era where a manager is sacked every week in the Football League. Whelen was praised for his foresight and loyalty, which had not only kept his team in the Premier League against the odds but inspired one of the game's brightest young managerial talents to turn down the overtures of Aston Villa the summer before, and Liverpool this time around. Presumably Tony Fernandes was hoping for similar results from his worthy but ill-judged support of Hughes. The problem is QPR aren't copying Wigan where it matters. In a week when Chelsea and Man City crashed out of the Champions League at the group stages with billion pound teams as Celtic advanced with one that cost £15m it's clear that the theme of the 2012/13 season is going to be the team as a collective unit, rather than the footballer as an individual. Billionaire owners used to be a competitive advantage, but now everybody has one so it needs more than simply throwing money at big name players to set you apart as QPR have found to their cost this season. Wigan work on an extremely tight budget, so they're always likely to kick around the relegation battle, but they survive when they probably shouldn't by sticking to their long term plan. Arouna Kone, one of the absolute steals of the summer transfer window at just £3m after 15 goals in 34 La Liga games for Levante last season, said in interview recently that Martinez had been chasing his signature for the last three years – QPR have had five different managers in that time. Players at Wigan are bought on scouting reports, not names and past achievements, for small transfer fees and wages. When they succeed, they're sold for profit and replaced in the same manner. This summer they lost their outstanding player from the QPR games last season Mo Diame, their most dangerous attacker for the past few years Hugo Rodallega, and the inspiration behind their run at the end of last season Victor Moses. The previous summer Charles N'Zogbia left and Antonio Valencia, Lee Cattermole, Wilson Palacios and Leighton Baines have all gone the same way. In the past four seasons Wigan have spent £20m on players, and recouped £42m. Everybody coming in bought with an attractive system and future resale value in mind. It's the sort of activity that puts QPR and their 16 signings in a calendar year for only a five point return to shame. While Rangers were telling the world about Ji-Sung Park , Wigan were acquiring Kone. It's not foolproof of course – only a remarkable run kept them up last season, they could easily have been relegated, and it's up for debate how deep Whelen's pockets and will would be if that happened – but given their support base and budget it's remarkable they're in the top flight at all, never mind closing in on a decade of Premier League football. Tony Fernandes was right to look to Wigan as inspiration for his QPR, but he drew the wrong conclusion from it. Rangers remain obsessed with the individual – be it the manager or the next new signing – while Wigan and others profit from focusing on the team and the plan. Interview
Panic over not getting a Wigan fan at all led to overkill at LFW Towers, and we ended up with answers from three of them. Keep your cruel jibes about that being the sum total of their away support to yourself and read on as Rob, Liam and the editor of Cockney Latic try and fill you in on the latest situation in that particular corner of the North West. Wigan are still kicking around the relegation dogfight, but the team looks much better to me than it did at this point last season. I haven't seen many tipping Wigan to go down, is that how you see it? How's the mood? CL - We are still knocking the ball around really well, but more goals are going in this season (still not enough though). The Newcastle game epitomises what Wigan are up against, when a referee sends the first player ever off for a shoulder charge and gives a penalty. It sounds like a gripe, but in the majority of match reports we are dissecting the referee, when really he shouldn’t even be noticed. The mood though is really good, considering we are only at half strength, we feel there are definitely seven or more teams worse than us in this league. Rob - I have to say the mood here at Wigan is probably at its highest since we have been in the Premier League. The football we are playing at the moment, well since February, when we switched to our new formation (3-4-3 or 3-4-1-2) is no doubt the best we have played under Martinez . In terms of the level of performance that we have put in this season, we continued from the run of last season but we just have not been able to find that 'winning formula' and securing the win. We are the smallest club in the league so our first priority will always be to achieve safety but this season we have set a target of a top ten finish, which would be a fantastic achievement and a very achievable target. Liam - We are cautiously optimistic. We have held onto the majority of our squad - which is young - so we are confident that, while we may be a feature of the relegation fight, we hopefully won't be deep in it and relying on winning almost every one of our last ten games again. It also helps that, in my opinion at least, there are a number of teams (Reading, Southampton, Norwich & Villa at least) that are weaker than us. Give QPR fans some hope - what changed last season to take Wigan from a run of nine straight defeats at one stage and seemingly certain relegation to that remarkable run at the end of the campaign that saved you? Rob - Well this might sound funny but when we were on that losing run we were actually playing quite well. I will always remember the game against Fulham at home, we dominated the game and should have won the match by three or four but we ended up losing 2-0, which I think you're in a similar position too after looking at some of your games. In terms of the run we went on at the end of the season, was largely down to the change in formation from the 4-3-3 to the 3-4-3. It seemed that everything just clicked when we made the switch and we were able to achieve very good levels of performances and fantastic results, wins over Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Newcastle . Being used to relegation battles one thing which is vital which you have to do is to keep the faith, keep backing the team, never give up and that gives you the best chance to pick wins up. Can you repeat it? I certainly think you can, I believe if you look on paper you have one of the strongest squads in the league and it's only a matter of time before you should start picking up wins, hopefully not on this weekend of course. Liam – An interesting fact is that only three times has a team lost eight on the bounce and stayed up and on all three occasions it was Wigan. I think it's a mixture of a formation that worked for the team and a manager that can get the best out of his players. Harry Redknapp is arguably one of the best at getting the best out of a squad so if anyone can get you out of it it's him - other than our own Roberto Martinez. CL - What changed was the straight fact that we started scoring goals and didn’t get the sticky end of the stick from officials (see above). Performances were excellent and I suppose when you look at the end of season league table in ten years time, that run in will be forgotten and Wigan Athletic will have been comfortable. This time last season we had nine points and only 14 by January 1st, so we are already ahead of last season. We will hope that we can reach at least 20 points before New Year and hopefully kick on from there. Presumably Roberto Martinez's stock is very high with the Wigan faithful? Having held onto him for the last two summers, do you think he'll stay long term or be poached? Liam - He played for us for years so we are his club. I feel we will have him for one more season at least then he will move onto Tottenham or even Arsenal. He has already been with us for four seasons so, in Premier League terms, he is long serving. He isn't universally loved (he still gets criticised) but I hope we keep him for many, many years. CL - That is the million dollar question, I think that he will go when he thinks the time is right, not the fans or the chairman. He certainly won't be going for a big club job for the money, he has proved that. I reckon we have at least this and next season from him, who knows after that? He may end up staying for 20 years. Rob - Yeah Roberto is very popular as manager within the whole club, from the owner, the players and the fans. In my mind he is undoubtedly the best manager we have ever had at the club, he has brought a new philosophy to the club, always wanting the ball to be played to feet throughout the team. He has also transformed the club behind the scenes which people don't realise, we have bought the training ground we have previously been renting, we now have a youth academy and are focusing a lot more on youth development. As you said, we have held on to him for the previous two summers with him turning down moves to good opportunities, Liverpool, Villa twice and West Brom to name a few. I have to say I wasn't shocked that Liverpool came calling for Roberto or when he turned it down, he has Wigan in his heart and it will take an unbelievable opportunity for him to leave. Do I think he'll stay long term? There is no doubt in my mind that he is one of the best young managers in Europe , I would put him alongside AVB and Pep. He will one day go to one of Europe's biggest clubs, Arsenal, Man Utd or Barcelona would be my guess of his next destination, that's accepted by Dave Whelan and the fans. However I can see him staying at us for at least another two or three years and when the time comes for him to move on he'll go with all of our blessing. You seem to have coped well with the loss of Victor Moses, and actually look very lively in attack with Di Santo playing better than I've seen before and Kone also impressing. Is there a feeling that you can build on the base of this team, or are the better players just going to be picked off in the coming transfer windows? Rob - Victor was a huge loss for us, no doubt, he was a key player for us last season but I felt he probably made the move to Chelsea a year too soon. In my eyes he is the best player we have ever had at Wigan in terms of raw talent and we have had some very good players, Valencia, N'Zogiba and Palacios to name a few. Di Santo has been outstanding over the last few months and is finally showing his potential as a striker. He was always good linking up with players but the goal scoring was his weak point however he is now starting to find the net and his call-up to the national squad was fully deserved. Kone has been a great buy for us, he is probably similar do Cisse for you. We were actually chasing him for three years so it was finally a relief to have him here, he has settled in very well at the club and he is probably the goal scorer we have always needed as goals is often hard to get at Wigan. As always with us when a player starts to blossom there will be interest from the 'bigger clubs' but I do feel with the loyalty Martinez has shown will rub off on the players and this is the best chance of building a top squad here at Wigan. CL - We have basically changed our game, Victor was an ‘alright’ player but he was very wasteful and selfish. Is is true that we haven’t replaced him, but we do have a more balanced team when everyone is fit. Liam – Us Wigan fans are quickly losing patience with our teams being torn apart, particularly with Dave Whelan (our chairman) constantly saying how such a player will play for a bigger team. In fact it's already started with rumblings Di Santo could be the next to leave. Our only hope is that Martinez wields his clout and persuades Whelan to not cash in. He has already got the chairman to agree to getting academy status as part of him turning down Liverpool as well as investing in Kone and Ramis who have both been impressive. Long term we are a cynical bunch. With the potential departures of star performers in mind, what is a realistic short, medium and long term aim for Wigan ? CL - The same as it has always been, progression. Over the last three seasons we have achieved more points every season, and that is seen as the development. If we can manage to get 45 points or more this season, we will just have to see what position that gives us. Liam - Short term is without a doubt to avoid another relegation fight. Medium term is to become a boring mid team side. Long term? To be bought out buy a rich Russian and to become the next Manchester City. Rob - Always with Wigan if we have any player who performs to a good level then the bigger teams will be interested in buying them, that's the name of the game. In terms of realistic aims for Wigan: the short term aim will always be to achieve survival; medium target would be keep developing and try and become a club who would be able to consistently finish mid table without the risk of relegation most to every season; long term targets on the pitch would be to become a top ten club, which would be difficult to achieve but very much a realistic target. Who are the star performers at the moment, and where does the team need strengthening? Rob - We have a few good performers this year in my opinion with the first being Arouna Kone. Arouna has just came into the English football and has really impressed me with how quickly he has adapted not just with his 4 goals but with his all round game. I think Di Santo also has carried on his end of last season form and has linked up well with the team and has continued getting some goals which is vital. However if I had to pick a stand out performer it would be James McCarthy, I think he is our most valuable player, he keeps us ticking over, he's a great passer of the ball and is a real leader at 22. In terms of strengthening I think we need another one or possibly two forward players, it looks like we will be offloading Mauro Bosseli so we will need a replacement for him. In addition to that Arouna Kone will be off to the African Cup of Nations so we might have to look for a short term replacement for him. Otherwise in my opinion I don't see us having to strengthen with new players but just keeping the ones we currently have at the club. CL - We are lacking in depth all over the field, but our first team is a good all round team that can mix it with the best. Recent games where we have had half the team out through injuries has shown that the youth and fringe players are capable, but are seriously short of Premier League experience. I think January will be used to get a couple more bodies in to stop us having to name 16 year olds on the bench. Liam - I think we can strengthen all over. Realistically (with budget in mind) I think our first team is mid table quality, but we need strength in depth. We have sealed a deal for Honduran Espinoza who is a powerhouse so I think he will be important in the second half of the season. Star performers? Ronnie Stam is showing his excellent attacking ability on the right while Beausejour has been excellent on the left. Di Santo and Kone are also a handful. In a nutshell all our attacking players, none of our defenders. Scout ReportFollowing Aston Villa’s surprise switch to a three centre back formation at Loftus Road last week – with little overall change to a fairly basic philosophy – it’s highly likely that Rangers are going to find themselves facing wing backs again this weekend. The only doubt is suspensions for Gary Caldwell and Maynor Figueroa leaves Wigan short of centre backs so they may change slightly and play more conventional full backs, although given that the Wigan fans we’ve spoken to this week all point to the change in formation being key in their turnaround last season I doubt Roberto Martinez will stray too far from what’s working well for him. In many ways it’s a shame centre back Gary Caldwell picked up a fifth caution of the season at Newcastle on Monday, and is therefore banned, because he is by far and away the worst player in the Wigan team and his presence would have benefitted QPR more than it would the home side. Without the error-prone Scot to pick on, QPR’s success and failure in this match will be nullifying the threat of Ronnie Stam and Jean Beausejour going forward and then exploiting their weakness in behind. Stam in particular has impressed me whenever I’ve seen him this season – almost Mackie-like in his rampaging style away down the wing and slinging over one quality cross after another. But if you can stay very wide through midfield, and positive when under pressure, it’s easy to nip into the space those two leave behind on the counter attack. It needs good full backs to defend against them, particularly Stam who is excellent, and then release colleagues quickly and effectively. I’ve seen the last two Wigan games – against Man City and Newcastle – and in both matches they looked at their most vulnerable when the opposition pressed them high up the field to rush their attempts to play out from the back, and then loaded one flank with a winger and full back to overwhelm the wing back. Doing so drags one of the three centre halves across, followed by the other two, which in turn leaves them vulnerable to deep crosses to the back post. At 0-0, and being outplayed, Man City made the seemingly odd decision to put on Kolarov (a left back) for striker Sergio Aguero but the effect was to overload Wigan in wide areas, stretching them width ways, and create space through the middle that wasn’t there previously and quickly presented goals for Mario Balotelli and James Milner. With the likes of Fabio, Traore, Mackie and Hoilett at their disposal, QPR could set up in a way to exploit this weakness quite easily. But, I look at the Wigan attack and I worry. Franco Di Santo, you’ll recall, scored twice against Rangers here last August when he was awful. He’s improved since then, as has the Wigan attack as a whole, while QPR have got worse. Harry Redknapp, rightly, has turned to Clint Hill and Ryan Nelsen at centre back to bring leadership and organisation. The results have been positive so far, but one thing that pair lacks is mobility and the Wigan front three of Di Santo, Arouna Kona and Jordi Gomez is a constantly moving, rotating, thinking box of problems. Di Santo scored one in his first 50 Premier League games, and 11 in the proceeding 50, which tells you he is getting better and I’ve been impressed when I’ve seen him this season. Kone, at £3m, was the signing of the summer transfer window. When a front three is rotating as much as this trio does – a target man one minute becomes a winger the next – it’s important to stay disciplined and in shape. If you think QPR can do that, fair enough, perhaps they can. If you think this QPR team cares enough to match the work rate Wigan put in against Man City, when they were very unlucky to lose, I’d suggest you’re deluded. Led by a deep lying midfield pair of David Jones and James McCarthy they hassled City incessantly. The other interesting factor in the Wigan team is the goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi who has been magnificent and the club’s Player of the Year in recent seasons but cost them a bizarre goal against Reading and has since been at fault for a goal against City and Newcastle. He always was a little unorthodox and not my favourite goalkeeper in the world, but had a blinder at Loftus Road in January. It’s lazy to suggest shooting from whatever range whenever possible, but it’s always profitable against this keeper – whether he’s on form or not – to follow every shot in and wait for the inevitable presents he’s often only too happy to provide. Links >>> Official Website >>> Travel Guide >>> Cockney Latic >>> Wiganer.net >>> Vital Wigan Forum >>> This Northern Soul Tweet @loftforwords Pictures – Action Images Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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