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  • in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #176436

    In league 2

    So did Jamie Vardy[/quote]
    And so did Omar Bogle and David Graham!

    Swings and roundabouts

    in reply to: Today’s game #176295

    Well done Vatty, it takes a lot to come on and admit you were a little irrational but you had something to be mad about. He was many peoples fans favourites.
    I would rather remember him now as a great striker and servant to the club rather than ‘somone not good enough’ or a ‘wantaway’as some were interpreting the way they saw him because he was leaving.
    When 30,000 people are singing the song at The Stadium of Light theyll be singing our song.
    To the new owners theyve re-couped around one sixth of what they payed for the whole club and infastructure so not a bad evening for the owners either. Browny points to the invisible man from them.

    Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think it was ‘our song’. Am I right in saying that Newcastle were singing it about Mitrovic first? ;) ;)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrBAqegpKpY%5B/quote%5D

    …and Bristol City and Stevenage sung the same song about Luke Freeman two years before Newcastle did…..

    in reply to: Total Football #176203
    In the past members of CL including one in particular who looked down with distain at anyone that did not share his pro Martinez view of how we should play the game, in fact it was probably him who coined the phrase “the dark side” for anyone daring to say bottom four bob was anything less than perfect.

    His views were echoed by many on this board including one or two who still post on it, back then and even now when there is any talk about Ste’ve Bruce, his time with us and any smalltalk of a possible return it was met with the same old cliches of long ball crap and how their neck used to ache watching the stuff on offer, with that background I will get to my point.

    Where are all these posters now, we are seeing stuff at the moment from Cooks stable that makes him look like an apprentice of John Beck or Dave Bassett, the long ball crap is a disgrace and shocking to watch, it is driving fans away, he has frozen our best striker out of the club only to replace him with one who suits his hoof ball game, Saturday at Rotherham in particular must have seen an unpresidented demand on neck braces from Wigan Infirmary from fans, where are all the posts from the Martinez tippy tappy school of thought, and more so why are they not condemning this rubbish as should be.

    I was and still am one of Martinez’s biggest fans.

    I rarely come on here these days because, to be honest with you, I can’t be bothered arguing the same toss over and over again about why we don’t play 2 up top, proper wingers, why are we not buying X and Y, etc.

    Plus, these days I’m coaching my youngest son’s rugby team (‘proper’ rugby I hasten to add) so that plus the other sports he and his brother are playing at the moment make time a scarce commodity and therefore I’ve not been to a single away game this season.

    Not a bad thing though, as they’ve been poor of late.

    But, I still don’t see us as a longball team. Yes, we’ve been very direct in some games, and it’s a lot more direct than when Martinez was in charge, but it’s hardly a case of bypassing midfield – other than the game on Saturday, which was a case of needs must.

    It certainly wasn’t long ball last season.

    Plus, didn’t Cook say all our best performances were when Grigg was in the team, but without Powell, Jacobs and Massey, Grigg wouldn’t get the service he needed, which is why he didn’t play?

    That’s hardly freezing him out.

    The Sunderland lot are already saying he looks like a player who needs service as he’s hardly going to bully defenders or create his own chances.

    And I know Cook definitely didn’t want to sell him, but the decision was taken out of his hands.

    in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #176074

    Should Griggs games played have read 46.
    Both good strikers, but with different styles. Lone striker role doesn’t suit Grigg and I’m sure if he got better service he’d score more, great finisher.

    Grigg doesn’t suit the line striker role???? By his own admission it is his preferred position.
    He also scored 20+ goals playing in that role for MK Dons playing as a lone striker. He scored 20+ goals playing in that role for us in his 1st season at Latics. He scored 20ish goals for us last season playing in that position.

    I’d say the fact that he’s not had such a prolific rate in the Championship is more to do with where his ability level is than the position he’s been played in. There’s a reason why Brentford got rid of him when they got to that level, why he wasn’t prolific (even before injuries) for Latics in our last visit to this division, why Cook preferred others to him this season and why O’Neill doesn’t often start (or even pick him) at international level[/quote]
    There’s also the argument that perhaps it was those providing the service to him that weren’t good enough to step up to the Championship – hence why the manager opted for more combative types of striker when the likes of Jacobs, Massey and Powell were injured.
    Either way, it’s all academic now.

    in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #176073

    Here you go…..

    Decide for yourselves

    Clarke Stats:
    2003-2007 Wolves/Kidderminster/QPR/Plymouth…….goal every 6.5 games
    2007-2010 Sheff Wed/Oldham/Southend……………….goal every 3.5 games
    2010-2011 QPR/Preston……………………………….goal every 19 games
    2011-2012 Swindon/Chesterfield………………………..goal every 1.7 games
    2012-2013 Charlton/Crawley/Scunthorpe/Coventry….goal every 2.25 games
    2014-2015 Wolves/Wigan………………………………..goal every 7.5 games
    2015-2016 Bury…………………………………………..goal every 2.1 games
    2016-2019 Sheff U/Wigan………………………………..goal every 2.9 games

    257 Championship games, 59 goals = goal every 4.3 games

    Grigg Stats:
    2008-2013 Walsall…………………………………………goal every 3.9 games
    2013-2014 Brentford……………………………………..goal every 9 games
    2014-2015 MK Dons………………………………………goal every 2.27 games
    2015-2019 Wigan………………………………………….goal every 2.21 games

    26 Championship games, 10 goals = goal every 4.6 games

    Other than a blip of a season (2 for Clarke) not a bad record for either of them.

    Should Griggs games played have read 46.
    Both good strikers, but with different styles. Lone striker role doesn’t suit Grigg and I’m sure if he got better service he’d score more, great finisher.[/quote]
    Yes -sorry, typo. Have amended.

    But Grigg always stated that he preferred to play as the lone striker.

    in reply to: Club Finances and Possible Future #176057

    Had a debate elsewhere recently about the financial position of our club and what the future might look like. Some of you maybe interested in what I found –

    Starting with the facts. The below relates to the 15/16 season when we were promoted from League 1 (Last set of published figures).

    Turnover – £15.7m (This turnover includes £12m in Parachute Payments :( )

    Salary Costs – £11.9m

    Transfers – £2.0m profit made

    Overall loss made – -£2.3m

    Below is an assumption of what the financial figures will be for this season (17/18) by using the figures from the last time we were in this League (Less the parachute payments)

    Turnover – £3.7m

    Salary costs – £10m (Assumed a small reduction but could be higher, Powell, Morsy, Grigg will be on decent wages)

    Transfers – I’m going to ignore any profit made from players sales because the club cannot rely on having a 6/7m Yanic Wildschute to sell every season.

    Overal loss of – £6-7mill (Surprisingly a similar figure we received for yanic)

    To Summarise

    – Current wage budget maintained due to Yanic money. Squad would look a lot different from the one you see today if he wasn’t sold in January

    – Failure to get promoted back to the Championship will result in the squad being broken up and wage bill reduced to around the 4million mark (a 60% reduction). Alternatively, the club rack up debts of about 6/7mill a year.

    – Being in the championship worth about £8mill extra a year to our club (Heard Jonathan Jackson say this once). Essential that we get promoted to have a chance of keeping the likes of Morsy, Grigg, Powell, etc.

    – Parachute Payments may have stopped, but we are still benefitting from the effects of the investments made with the premier league money. Yanic being one of those investments. This wont last.

    I’ve obviously made a lot of assumptions above. Feel free to correct me.

    Thought I would bump this back to the top having just viewed the latest set of financial figures that cover the 16/17 season. My prediction for this seasons finances appear on target based on the latest figures

    We will post a 6/7million loss for this season ending 31st May 2018 (figures for this season will be realeased this time next year). This is unless we sell players to cover this loss in January.

    The perspective new owners will know this. Will they be happy to cover the losses or will they persue a sustainable future?

    Interesting times.[/quote]

    B)

    Right on the money. [pardon the pun][/quote]
    Fairplay. Decent estimate the wage-bill too. Only £1.7m out

    in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #176056

    Here you go…..

    Decide for yourselves

    Clarke Stats:
    2003-2007 Wolves/Kidderminster/QPR/Plymouth…….goal every 6.5 games
    2007-2010 Sheff Wed/Oldham/Southend……………….goal every 3.5 games
    2010-2011 QPR/Preston……………………………….goal every 19 games
    2011-2012 Swindon/Chesterfield………………………..goal every 1.7 games
    2012-2013 Charlton/Crawley/Scunthorpe/Coventry….goal every 2.25 games
    2014-2015 Wolves/Wigan………………………………..goal every 7.5 games
    2015-2016 Bury…………………………………………..goal every 2.1 games
    2016-2019 Sheff U/Wigan………………………………..goal every 2.9 games

    257 Championship games, 59 goals = goal every 4.3 games

    Grigg Stats:
    2008-2013 Walsall…………………………………………goal every 3.9 games
    2013-2014 Brentford……………………………………..goal every 9 games
    2014-2015 MK Dons………………………………………goal every 2.27 games
    2015-2019 Wigan………………………………………….goal every 2.21 games

    46 Championship games, 10 goals = goal every 4.6 games

    Other than a blip of a season (2 for Clarke) not a bad record for either of them.

    in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #175850

    It’s done unfortunately and if Cook had no say in it then we are in real trouble. Been here before aka Whelan selling Steve Bruce’s team but somehow I find this more problematic considering our precarious league position.

    What Whelan did to Bruce’s team was saving our bacon. We had a unsustainable wage bill on turbo charge that, if we didn’t cull it within 2 years we would have sunk to the dark depths like a Pompey thats unless DW had of thrown all his dosh in which was never gonna happen.
    A possible £4 million for Grigg is v.g. bit of business. At least we can’t say “Who’s next to go ?”.

    If this is the way forward then I think it’s time for our Academy to started producing and some of the younger lads given a go even if only to train and travel as the owners said they would when they took over. We’ve enough olders pros right now that can help these young lads on thier footballing journey. What these guys can show and teach them would be priceless and I can only imagine them coming on leaps and bounds as did MacManaman and Baines.

    The problem with that ?, Your manager has to risk take and try youth something Cook is in capable of doing. As long as Cooks here Geldhart and Langs studs will never touch the grass at the DW on a regular basis.
    And as for Powell ? I don’t hear anything about contract negotiations, there’s another asset gone but this time on a free another mind bending bit of business to turn down £10 million.

    I’m beginning to think the IEC don’t give a flying fook and the Royles are clueless, again I hope they prove us all wrong buy investing or giving young the lads a chance but given what I’ve seen so far in the time they’ve been pulling the strings at Wigan I personally think were nothing more than real estate to them and a good one at that.[/quote]

    What Whelan did to Bruce is exactly what’s happening now. We’re losing money and need to sell a Grigg or Powell every couple of years to pay the bills.

    Powell wasn’t sold last year because Sharpe was chairman then, and he’s a Latics fan. The new owners and chairman aren’t fans, so they’ll use their heads – not their hearts to make decisions.

    They said all along they wouldn’t be throwing money at it, and would be investing in youth, and we’re sending out our best young players to get first team experience – which is better than sitting on the bench at Wigan.

    in reply to: Football & Rugby joint season tickets ?? #175491
    They already share the trophy cabinet.

    Superb sport ran by idiots.

    Wigan RU might be playing there in the future if they carry on winning things with their junior teams….

    in reply to: Warchest key lost in Hong Kong? #175490

    What do people seriously expect in this transfer window?

    The January window is notoriously last-minute, as clubs don’t like to release players unless they’ve got a replacement lined up, or they’ll hold on until the final day – trying to get as high a bid for their player as possible.

    Plus, the club are hardly going to openly announce who they’re trying to do a deal on or how much they have as a transfer kitty are they?

    in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #175377

    In all seriousness though, the matches are only a fraction of their job.

    When we finish work we can go home and switch off.

    They rarely switch off, and the stress of knowing that a few thousand people are ready to shout abuse at you, call you names and contact your employer asking for you to be sacked the second you make decision they don’t agree with….

    Nah. Despite the pay, it wouldn’t be for me.

    in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #174996
    I’m sure we’ll have a fair few pokers in the fire but as per usual, other clubs will be doing the same and hanging on to fringe players till they see what’s on offer plus the player himself might be waiting for a far better offer.

    Then weigh in the factor that, were slding down the table faster than sh!t off a shovel ! not very appealing to any player. We’ve so called offered up to £450,000 for Blackett but that’s to replace not to improve so to speak.

    If Grigg does go either on loan or even sold then I’m sorry it’s a simple show of defeat by the new owners as they’ve no reason what so ever to unload him. Will Cook not have the last say on such a high profile player still in contract ???.

    I just cant see anyone of a similar quality to Grigg coming to Wigan. Now if Cook had of concentrated on getting some kind of supply to Grigg making sure he had service then some of those stupid 1-0’s might just be wins and those games we were in front might now be 3 pts.

    No one play player will save us from the drop, it will be a combination of, a few in few out, a total change of style of play, change of player mindset and simple fresh idea’s then we might, just might beat the drop something I feel Cook is incapable f doing. He’s just too far down the line with little time left.

    Cook’s just read this and thought ‘Bollocks…he’s right. If we can get the ball to Will, he might score. Call the players in…’

    Nothing to do with the fact that Jacob, Massey and Powell – who usually load the bullets in Grigg’s gun are all crocked?

    in reply to: Will Grigg Rumour #174990

    It was all a big wind-up

    Everyone can calm down again now!

    in reply to: 75 fatal stabbings in the London Bubble this year #174916

    Ps….What happened to max 5 year jail term for carrying a knife in public. Can’t recall anyone receiving that.

    Prisons are full, so our Nanny State doesn’t bother.

    As for the comment about more shootings in the USA, I’d like to see the comparative stats as a percentage of shootings / stabbings against population.[/quote]
    There are some comparisons on here:
    Dispelling The Myth – Why the UK is NOT more violent than the US

    The summary at the end is:
    While it becomes clear that certain types of offenses are marginally higher in the UK than in the US (robbery and knife crime being more likely in the UK by an order of 1.1x and 1.27x respectively) a number of other, more serious offenses, are both marginally and substantially higher in the US. Rape of a female is 1.02x more likely in the US, while theft of a vehicle is 1.29x more likely. More disturbingly, burglary is significantly higher at 1.52x more likely to occur in the US. However, it is at the considerably more, well, violent crimes that America really supersedes England and Wales into its own class. In the United States, you are 6.9x more likely to be the victim of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury than in the UK. You are 4.03xmore likely to be murdered than in the UK. And more staggeringly (though not surprising) you are 35.2x more likely to be shot dead in the Unites States than in the UK. Before anybody asks, no, these do not take into account justifiable homicide and other “acceptable shootings”, nor do murders for that matter:

    in reply to: January Transfer Signings? #174914

    7 or 8 isn’t too many? Glad you don’t want a cull Donny lol.

    Donny is being pretty reasonable there I think.
    Here is a list of 9 players who are not good enough for this level and wouldn’t be missed.

    Naismith
    Roberts
    Cole
    Walker
    Connolly
    Evans
    Robinson
    Bruce
    Flores

    I could go on and add the likes of Byrne, Massey, Vaughan, Garner, and Windass, as well as the ones Cook doesn’t seem to want anyway, Lopes, McDonald and McManaman.

    We might be a bit thin on the ground mind, if a cull of this level was made in January.[/quote]
    Massey was probably our best attacking player pre-injury. And Vaughan is different to our other strikers in that he’s more direct and IMO worth keeping.

    I’d also disagree with Evans. Earlier in the season he looked a composed and decent midfielder.

    Plus Naismith can put a cross in – something that none of our other wide players seem to be able to do.

    I wouldn’t be overly fussed if any of the others left though.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 5,437 total)