The nightmare before after Christmas had nothing on this, a day that had promised so much left Latics looking in a desperate state just at the wrong time.
Kolo Toure’s side had been the better side for much of the early exchanges in the first half but were once again un-done by an early goal that quickly became an unsurmountable lead to turn around.
Let’s look at the main issues facing Kolo and this side at the moment, there’s clearly a big lack of belief and confidence at the moment.
That is translating in to us being unable to capitalise when we’re in decent positions and for the first half we often got ourselves in to good positions.
That lack of confidence is also evident at the other end of the pitch, where a goal conceded earlier in the season or last season may have led to Latics rallying it now points to almost certain defeat as heads drop.
Throw in to the mix players being asked to play a new style of play that can leave them exposed in defensive areas due to those players either not being used to the style of play or indeed good enough to play it.
For a final kick in the proverbials we’re missing a number of players from the first eleven who may have been better suited to playing Kolo ball such as Jason Kerr, Jack Whatmough and Charlie Wyke.
It shouldn’t be all doom and gloom, January is fast approaching and an opportunity to freshen up a squad that looks to be running on empty needs to be grasped by both the management and the board.
If it is and we can start to turn this ship around the decline of the Autumn and Winter need not be terminal. If we don’t sadly a swift return to League One will once again be on the cards for Wigan Athletic.
None of this is a criticism of our new manager, but unfortunately an honest appraisal of where we’re at and the forces that are conspiring against us.
Already Kolo’s style of play is benefitting our forward play – with better finishing against both Middlesbrough and Sheffield United we could have had more than the two solitary goals we scored.
We need to work more on that and hope that tightening up at the back can help us to get out of the situation we find ourselves in.
Sunderland won’t be an easy prospect, despite only coming up via the play-offs they’ve been the side to make the best start out of the promoted sides.
They haven’t missed a beat since Tony Mowbray took over and after beating Blackburn on Boxing Day will be an unenviable opponent.
Followed up by Hull City, arguably where the deterioration of our Championship season begun back at the start of October.
A minimum of four points from the next two games is an absolute must. The lads and the management will be as hurting as much as all of us in that away end on Boxing Day but you can’t loose faith.
Stranger things have happened, it’s hard and it’s frustrating but the Championship was always going to be like this on our return.
All we can do is give them our best and hope that it’s replicated on the pitch.
Come on Latics, we’re not done with yet.
Sean Livesey
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