Fourteen goals conceded, only four scored, four defeats – a shedload of injuries and a probable terminal hit to our survival chances.
It all looked so different before the festive period, the new era getting underway with a positive draw at Millwall. Even on the 19th December we could and should have got a point against Sheffield United, but those two matches look more like outliers for Kolo Toure than anything else.
The three matches across Christmas and New Year have been some of the most disheartening I’ve had watching Latics. Not necessarily for the score lines (as admittedly damaging as they are) but more for the pattern that they follow. Struggle to get in to the game, concede then rally. Get back in to the game before conceding a second and then being picked off for the third and fourth goals.
Three identical score lines with identical mistakes and a run of form that has us at the bottom of the form table and the actual league table.
There is clearly a massive issues with confidence at the moment, you saw it against Middlesbrough and then again against Sunderland where we were on top after scoring the equaliser but the most blatant example was in the New Year match against Hull.
Latics were truly terrible for 45 minutes but with the introduction of Nathan Broadhead Latics had somehow got themselves level and for ten minutes it looked like there would only be one winner. Then a number of awful individual mistakes led to Hull getting back in front and Latics once again crumbling.
I know there are strong views on this and I had already stated that I didn’t think Leam Richardson shouldn’t have lost his job but increasingly to me at least, Leam Richardson wasn’t the problem. Ironically if he hadn’t had achieved what he had with this squad last season he probably would still be in a job.
But what’s done is done and it’s all about the here and now.
It was already a big job for Toure to keep Latics in the Championship it’s now close to looking unachievable and yet another return to League One could do untold damage to the club. It’s not over yet of course, we’ve nearly half a season left to play but with the games coming thick and fast we need to see some sort of improvement in both results and performances.
We’re also clearly desperate for reinforcements, all over the pitch. But who would want to come to play for us in our current state? And will a board* that didn’t back their man in the summer do it now? With even less of a chance of succeeding in the aim of remaining a Championship club?
He’s not been here long but we also need to see something from Kolo and his management team, I imagine some of the haphazard team selections and substitutions in recent games are down to him getting to know all of the squad.
It’s much harder to do this midseason when you haven’t had the luxury of pre-season friendlies to iron out tactics and styles of play, are we reading too much in to the more successful performances coming when (one would imagine) Rob Kelly was still leading on the backroom side of the things as the one member of staff who had worked with the players. Perhaps but it makes you wonder.
Anyway on to Luton on Saturday, and probably the most unappealing draw of the whole third round takes place at the most unappealing time possible of 5:30pm. I’ve not to say about the match apart from a result from anywhere and in any competition would be welcome at the moment.
For confidence if nothing else, it feels a world away from when we travelled to Luton at the beginning of September and pulled off a remarkable win. Who would have predicted what’s happened since then?
*I’ve no issue with the board not making money available for transfers, if the price for a continued Wigan Athletic is one that lives within it’s means rather than throwing money it doesn’t have away that’s absolutely fine. Our natural level is arguably one strand below where we currently are but that needs communicating with people and expectations adjusted accordingly.
Sean Livesey
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