A keen eye

It’s been another topsy turvy type of week at the Dave Whelan Stadium (I wonder how much longer we’ll be calling it that post takeover).

Following the highs of the news of a successful bid being accepted for the Latics and another important win over Doncaster, Tuesday saw the link of the name of one of the potential bidders and a humbling defeat to Port Vale in the EFL Trophy.

Let’s tackle the name linked to the takeover first – it was interesting to see a name revealed for the first time, but in reality it’s only part of the story. The administrators mentioned a group of bidders so although we have a name it certainly isn’t the full tale yet.

The news was leaked by The Business Desk website who have a decent track record in this sort of information. Whether our potential new owner would have wanted his name revealing yet is another point.

I’ve not looked as much in to his background as I would have liked to yet, it’s clearly not the major club link up some of us may have thought could have been in the offing. Instead it’s a moderately successful businessman based in London and originally from Madrid. He’s had various interests in Spanish football clubs and from the little I can find on the web seemingly did ok.

He rescued Albacete and managed to get them from the brink of bankruptcy to the Segunda League and then sold them on to a group with more financial fire power.

There are worrying elements on the surface of it and it’s that where Wiganers have to be wary. There’s no reason whatsoever to be openly hostile but to keep a keen eye on any potential new owners and scrutinise their plans properly isn’t beyond what should be expected.

This is where the involvement of the supporters club is key, we need fan involvement and we need supporter representation to ensure this last few months never happens again. Let’s see what comes of the next few weeks. Gerald Krasner in this paper on Wednesday announced that they would be out of the door by October.

We shall see if that timeline transpires.

Away from the boardroom, it’s been as busy as ever on the pitch. I missed Saturday’s match but from reading the reports it sounded like an excellent win. We may well have rode our luck at times but to keep a clean sheet against a free scoring Doncaster team shows that our resilience is growing.

Joe Garner getting his fifth of the season was another boost for John Sheridan’s side and it’s so important we keep the captain and the remaining senior pros fit.

In contrast Tuesday’s match with Port Vale was very much men against boys. It was good to see our young lads get a run out again and if not for some poor defensive mistakes in the first half they could have got something from the game. Attacking wise we looked dangerous, especially in the last fifteen minutes of the game. The defence definitely needs reinforcements though, especially with Danny Fox’s departure to India.

It’s a Covid-19 ravaged Crewe next up on Saturday. In normal times one of the highlights of any League One season. A quick train from Manchester followed by a lunchtime in the Belgian Hops Bar before taking our seats at Gresty Road among 2,700 other Wiganers.

Not this season sadly. But as the world begins to implode again it’s important to remember those days will return. We will be back on the terraces one day, and we will be back in number travelling across the country with our friends and family.

Until that day stay safe and look after each other.

SEAN LIVESEY

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