What a fortnight

An eventful first couple of weeks of the season and when I say eventful I obviously mean that dog in the cafe on fire meme.

General positivity from the fan base and a largely settled pre season gave way to two league defeats and an exit from the cup on penalties to those upholders of law and order from Barnsley.

The Charlton game really could have gone one or two ways, it was a game we dominated without ever looking in danger of losing, but lose we did.

A strong side dominated the first half in the cup against Barnsley before looking completely outclassed in the second half and the less said about Reading the better.

Throw in to the mix shining young light Charlie Hughes leaving for Hull and the reported interest in Sam Tickle from the Championship and it’s not been a happy time on the good ship WAFC this August.

But let’s dial the tone down a little should we? We’re two games in to a forty six game season.

Yes the start has been poor but there’s a lot of football to be played yet and this side will undoubtedly improve.

We’ve lost some big senior voices/players from that side since the start of last season.

Josh Magennis may have been ridiculed by many on the internet during his time at Wigan Athletic but I wonder how many would be happy to have seen him feature this previous weekend?

Replacing those senior players and the values they brought to the squad either internally or externally will take time.

Some of the reaction online in recent days has been a bit dramatic to say the least.

It surely can’t be a surprise to people that we have been open to selling our best assets?

Wigan Athletic have and always will be a selling club, it’s how 99% of the football pyramid in this country operates.

Unless you are one of the elite who don’t have to sell, clubs will sell players to fund the respective club.

It’s the football food chain in action. Am I disappointed Hughes has left? Of course I am, as I was with Gelhardt, Divine etc. if things go right for Charlie Hughes he should one day play for England.

The fact that we’ve had a better recent history than Hull counts for nothing these days.

Football is the here and now and now, unfortunately Hull both financially and in terms of status are a more attractive proposition than we are.

Not to mention we’re still recovering from administration, overspending on a grand scale and near liquidation last summer it’s a wonder we managed to keep Hughes and Tickle last season.

The price for Hughes ranges from the price of a four pack of Estrella and some KP nuts to £5.5m rising to £7m dependent on who’s relaying the tale and which side of the dramatic stage they sit on.

But I’m confident the club (primarily Gregor Rioch) who have coached Charlie at every stage of his career over the last seven years will have got the best possible price for him.

Indeed if reports are to be believed Hughes has gone for a similar ball park fee to the most expensive defender in League One history.

Anyone who was expecting we would receive £10m for a 20 year old with only a year and half of professional football under his belt, well I’ve some beans you may wish to purchase.

We’re well stocked at Centre Back with James Carragher finally looking to fullfil his potential after a strong pre season and the arrivals of Toby Sibbick and Will Aimson so the loss of Hughes needn’t be the extinction level event it’s being portrayed as by some.

It’s a new reality for some but for those of us old enough to remember B.D.W (before Dave Whelan) it’s a return to our previous model. We’ll sell academy products to sustain the club.

I would point everyone to read my good friend Martin Davie’s extensive interview with Bill Kenyon in the latest mudhutter fanzine, we were a selling club then and we’re a selling club now it’s stark how little has changed.

I love to rib them but after their administration Bolton started getting some of their biggest crowds in a generation. Ours have gone backward and complain about every move the club / owner / manager makes.

Our 9,000 stronghold does not support the sort of money we spent to get out of League One in 21/22 and guess what. It didn’t in 15/16 and 17/18 either.

Until the club starts generating more of it’s own money either through ticket sales or commercial income we will have to do things differently from what we did in the past.

We were a selling club in the Premier League as well. So much so that Steve Bruce had a temper tantrum and left for Sunderland.

The football club has experienced two seismic financial shocks in three years that some clubs can go a lifetime and not experience. It will take time for us to get back on the feet.

A mid table finish with clear progression on and off the pitch will suit me. I realise that’s not a popular opinion and I’ll be derided as a happy clapper / club apologist / Danson sympathiser etc but that’s fine.

I also understand how hard it must be to adjust the mindset, I’m approaching 40 at hurtling speed.

It’s a long time ago now but I can remember the days pre Whelan and the endless years spent in Division Two before reaching the soon to become Championship.

The good times were never going to last forever but it’s not the end, it’s just an adjustment.

This football club has given each of us so much.

That maybe instead of throwing our toys out of the pram on the internet because of the financial mistakes of previous regimes mean we have to sell our young talent or we’ve made a conscious decision to not spend past our means anymore we try to make sure our support is that bit more vociferous

So the golden boy departed for pastures new, no wins from three and the fan base in open revolt.

If Latics ever needed a win this weekend is probably it. I’ve a sneaking suspicion that we may just manage it as well.

Sean Livesey

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