Darksiders…

I like to think the reason there are no protests is because we have a little more class and are perhaps a little more in tune about our overall standing and are more realistic with our aspirations than Blackburn fans are – in fact I don’t think it I flaming know we are.
May I also suggest it is you who is the keyboard warrior for issuing a veiled challenge about protesting like you have done, you seem to turn up every time there is another inept display spouting your vitriol against anyone who voices displeasure in Martinez.

Forget about attracting players or whether they manage to win or not, let’s bring into the equation the real reasons for the displeasure, the gutless displays and lack of fight from the players we have now, a high skill level or 10 million pound price tag is not required to cure that.

This post of yours is because supporters dare to to complain about tactics or express displeasure, so while we are at it perhaps we can talk about this managers tactics, on why he goes from a system that worked in previous games back to one that had proved a downfall beforehand, lets also talk about his seeming inability to enthuse some passion and fight into his players, let’s also talk about his inane and quite often embarrassing ramblings that even pundits on television are now picking up on, we could also talk about the tactics that we fans in the stands can see are suspect, but commentators of our games are now also saying are all wrong.

You claim perhaps we need to “go down, regroup and get rid of the deadwood and start again”. Can I ask you who is the deadwood you talk about?

As I remember the ‘light side’ used to use the excuse that Martinez’s side were not performing because of Bruce’s deadwood, can you tell me who do the current crop of deadwood belong to ?

You then go onto claim it’s not Martinez’s fault for our predicament, indeed that has been your theme and the light sides all along, but this time it’s not referees, Bruce, lack of support, injuries or any of the popular excuses of the past that you all make for him behind the reason, this time it’s down to other clubs and their fool hardy improvements, despite it being widely acknowledged the drop in quality of the premier league in general, so why is there such a greater deterioration in our team as shown in our results and the league table ? The side playing this season is the same apart from Nzogbia and a bit part from Cleverly stuck out on the wing so what has changed.

In your last claim you say that some of our players have been found out to lack the required skills this season, I agree with you, indeed that may be the case, but would you and all the lightside not agree that the same trait has been found in abundance with the man at the helm and indeed it is him that is the “deadwood” you talk of.

We are not the ones having to make the decisions. It’s easy to spout off on a message board how YOU would change things to make it better. Sack Martinez, appoint someone else with no guarantee that they would make things better and we still get relegated. Cue moaning and groaning about how the wrong manager was picked and how it was no better than under Martinez.

Whelan spent money on players and managers and we rose to the lofty heights of mid-table mediocrity, but the crowds did not increase. When Bruce left it was a watershed moment for the club, or more specifically Whelan. He realised it was not possible for Wigan Athletic to compete in this league with clubs (that’s mostly all of them) who could pay significantly more for players and more crucially, pay significantly higher wages, so he did something about it. It’s simple economic business sense and why Whelan is a multi-millionaire and those criticising the way he runs this club are not.

We can moan about Martinez and his style of management but he has so far done what he was employed to do. Whelan has stated on numerous occasions that he wouldn’t sack him even if we were relegated so it’s obvious that possibility was clearly considered when he was appointed. Neither do I think there is some kind of loyalty bond between them which prevents Whelan from sacking him unless he’s uncharacteristically mellowed in his old age.

Maybe Whelan is also unhappy with the style of football served up by Martinez and how the club is progressing (or not).
The difference is Whelan is the one who has to make the decision rather than complain about it on a message board.

They are just like we were when we first came up. Let’s see if they last 7 years too.

Lowton Latic I think you are right.

I truly do beleive that the majority of Wigan fans want Martinez to succeed. I think he did well the first year considering what he had to work with at the time. However the last 18 months or so have seen some of the most dire football we have seen since Kenny Swain was in charge.

If you consistantly made mistakes at work or in life you would change things no doubt soon after. You would also change things using whatever materials or money you had available. Roberto seems to be too stubborn to change what is obviously not working and he does not seem to have the balls to really go for it (apart from 1 half against West Ham).
A few simple tweaks may help. I mean what other manager who needed a win as desperately as that against another out of form team would turn up and stick 10 players behind the ball hopefully scoring one on the counter?

I’d love to list other things that I feel he/we are doing wrong and they have probably been said on a few other posts. So please Bobby, even if it ultimately fails, please have the balls to try and motivate, nay force the players into being more positive and lets score a few more goals and if we must go down, at least go down fighting.