What a difference a couple of months makes. Whereas one or two social commentators have opined that we seem no better off under Rosler than we were Coyle, the facts tell a very different story.
Yes we’ve had the odd blip at Huddersfield and Doncaster and there are concerns over his squad rotation and inconsistent playing style but overall we are in a better place now and the decision to unceremoniously remove Coyle and his ping pong tables by Dave Whelan seems to be a warranted one.
We do seem to still have some ridiculously demanding fans out there who have already taken a pop at the new man – but for me he is doing a terrific job. I don’t normally like the loan market but listening to Rosler talk about the club’s financial health on Radio Manchester the other night, you can see how it makes perfect sense.
He is clearly a man who understands the position we are in and can speak about it and it’s a shame not all of our fans are willing to listen and are too busy screaming “WHERE’S THE MCCARTHY MONEY GONE” or indeed the parachute payments which may just about cover half of the wage bill. He’s German and that frugal efficiency is exactly what we need as we approach what must be considered the twilight of what has been an unbelievably golden era to be a Wigan Athletic fan.
The wage bill is still too high and renewing players contract for anything like it was before may be unfeasible. It’s not “letting players leave on a free” it’s “not being able to afford to keep them”
Whereas it may be a stretch for Josh McEachran or Nick Powell to become full time Wigan Athletic players in the summer, there are others now coming to the fore like Maynard and Waghorn who are potentially playing for their future and there will be considerable juggling of the wage bill over the summer.
I’ll not go into the “Do we want to go up or not this year” debate already covered by myself and Jakarta Jack. I will just repeat what I always say without depressing anyone too much which is that the last few years as a Wigan Athletic fan will be the best we will ever have and we as fans should use them as a positive indicator to keep us going for the next few years instead of demanding more and more out of the club: the manager, Whelan, the CEO.
We have got ourselves a brilliant manager yet again now in Uwe Rosler as the attached analysis testifies and somehow we need to trust him rather than continually questioning.
Essentially since taking over, we have been in near automatic promotion form so we can forgive the occasional blips as he gets to know his squad better, and given what I have already said – the rotation is necessary to decide who the “Keepers” are (the retained list not goalies that is)
So I leave you with the attached Excel analysis which highlights the facts of the Rosler revolution.
Me, I’d even take the opening day three points off Coyle for the 4-0 at Barnsley as it happened before Coyle had had time to undo Martinez’s footballing philosophy which the players have acknowledged is now partly returning (the good bits hopefully)
That’s possibly a bit harsh as Coyle did have the demands of the Europa League to contend with (but only succeeded in getting neither right)
See? The debates will go on forever – let’s just hope this run continues and in the meantime here’s a few more observations…..
- If Uwe’s points tally over 11 games was extrapolated over a full season it would yield 88 points, enough for us to have finished a point above Cardiff as Champions last year
- Bolton are not quite exhibiting relegation form but have been a lower mid table side throughout the season
- The three East Midlands sleeping giants of Leicester, Derby & Forest have all had stellar form from mid December
- QPR are fading fast. What a shame.
- Blackpool. Oops. Remember in September when they were top?
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