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I don’t think that he ever looked like he was comfortable playing in a 1 up top system which is what our 2 previous managers preferred to play & which is also the preferred style of our current manager.
He may well perform better in a system that plays a conventional front 2 but Latics whole squad is set up to play a different way so to suggest changing that system, unbalancing the squad & having to bring in players suited to a different system & shipping others out is a hell of a lot of upheaval for a player who had 5 months of football league experience at Lge2 level before we signed him, who seems hindered by a groin problem & who one of our previous managers in effect accused of not being able to listen to instructions or take on board adviceWhen you see that West Ham only paid £33k for policing over the cost of the entire 16/17 season (average attendance almost 57k), it makes you understand just why Dave Whelan was so hacked off with Wigan GMP’s charging when you think that as far back as 2005 they charged the club over half of West Ham’s current annual policing budget just to police one game against Cardiff with an attendance of 9000 on!!!
The thing is, if any potential sale of the club is ever to take place, there is only one asset really that is actually owned by the club, as they don’t own the stadium, or training ground.And that’s the players contracts.
With how the ownerships are separate, the club doesn’t own the stadium or the training ground, I struggle to see how the club could possibly be sold. If you were a potential buyer, would you be so daft enough to just buy the club and not have the stadium or training ground? I wouldn’t. Potentially, you could be setting yourself up for the cost of building a new stadium! The club…as in the only assets being the players contracts, isn’t an appealing entity at all.
So, if we do as you say, and sell off the majority of contracted players and replace them with loan players and cheap options, when the Whelans decide to pull the plug and announce that they are handing control over to the supporters as a “gesture of appreciation”, and I’ve been told this is likely to happen eventually, whoever it is who takes over the running of ‘the club’ will be left with basically an asset-less entity.
This will mean the club is in serious dire straights, and unless some serious investor moves in and chucks some daft money at it, the club will probably fold within a year or two. The stadium will still be a thriving entity, the rugby lot will gleefully get their way, and a lot of Latics fans will be left with nothing but memories, seething anger, and regarding the Whelans with so much bitterness for allowing it to happen.
ME? I’m just going to try and enjoy watching Latics this season, whilst we have a club to watch. Within the next 10 years or so, we may not have a club.
That’s the stark reality I’m afraid..and yes, it is terribly terribly worrying.
If somebody else is insane enough to decide they want to plough money into a club with ungrateful fans in a town that doesn’t have the latent support for Latics ever to challenge consistantly in the top half of the professional game then they could just as easily buy Wigan Athletic Holdings (who are the sole sharedholder in Latics) as they could buy Wigan Athletic FC.
Whether Powel or Bogle are good enough is immaterial. With a week to go until the season opens this should not be the sort ofnews we are hearing.The fact that this kind of stuff is going on off pitch and players are turning to social media to publicise it really worries me about Cook’s managerial control.
Fair enough if we don’t want players who don’t want to be with us, bit the way this is bein managed is a joke. Not helped by Cook’s comments in the press about McKay or Morsy. Does make you wonder if it’s just injury keeping Grigg, etc off the field.
Wouldn’t surprise me if we start the season with half the squad being youngsters. A far cry from the what we were told a couple of months back about the core of the squad being kept together.
I’m not sure why these incidents would concern you about Cook’s management style & think we need to be careful not to take the players (or player in the case of Power) words at face value.
Power has said that he spoke with Cook in the first week of pre-season & said that if an offer came in from a Championship club then he would like to go. It would appear that neither Cook nor the club in general had a problem with that as he’s been involved in the pre-season games (prior to Notts County) & been used by the club for publicity. Same with Bogle.
The fact that both Power & Bogle have been dropped from the 1st team squads indicates to me that something has happened since then that Cook or the club, or both, are really unhappy with. In the case of Bogle it could also be that the club has accepted an offer & the buying club don’t want him to play in case he gets injured.
It’s normally pretty serious behaviour for a player to be dumped from the first team squad or a case of a player being so bad they want him to quit. I think that its highly likely that players such as Morsy, Burn, Grigg etc.. have also said that if offers come in from higher level clubs then they would be interested but they’re still involved with the first team squad so it indicates to me that their committment & effort isn’t in question but that the likes of Power have done something unacceptable in the club’s eyes.
The fact that Power has gone public in the way that he has & Bogle has issued a thinly veiled “I’m off” statement says more about them as players than it does about the club
IMO the club cannot allow the tail to wag the dog in terms of player behaviour & demands & if this has been the case then personally I back the club even if this sort of stuff isn’t particularly want I want to be hearing about 8 days before the start of the seasonPersonally I have never rated Power since the day he arrived & couldn’t understand why a) other supporters rated him in Lge1 & b) why he has always been getting linked with “bigger” clubs. I think his performances all last season & the fact that he was dropped in the run in showed that he isn’t as good as he thinks he is
Preparation I mean is actually match time the players will have had before the big kick off.
On the striker front, I am almost sure that the ones who have left would have been known weeks ago so a replacement even if it’s the 98 year old Hunt should have been in place.It’s one thing wanting to get rid of certain players. It’s another allowing them to talk to other clubs & another thinking a deal to get rid is close.
It’s a completely different kettle of fish to be certain it’s happened & that their salaries are freed to spend on someone else.
It’s a fact at Latics now that the budget is strict & new guys aren’t brought in until others have gone – not might be on their wayMcKay as we expected gone to Ross County.
Any bets who is next.
If anyone comes in with money it could be Grigg, Powell, Burn or Power but probably Woolery first.
So that in effect is two strikers gone in less than a week and half and one friendly before the season starts. Cracking preparation yet again.[/quote]Mandron & Woolery clearly aren’t good enough however it makes sense that Cook has been told that the bloated squad he inheritted must be trimmed before anyone else is brought in (something that I’ve no doubt he was aware of before he took the post on) so I see no problem with what has happened & expect to see new faces brought in as a result – Noel Hunt seems to be nailed on.
You’re right though that if bids come in for any of our players that matches the club’s valuation then they’ll be off. Unfortunately as the premier league money is now a dim & distant memory that’s how it’s gonna be from now on
Woolery – or has he already gone?. I can see Lavercombe on his way as well
Can’t see Lavercombe going tilders we already lost 2 keepers but Woolery is a good shout maybe to Forest Green.[/quote]
I can. I think Cook will want to bring in a more experienced keeper as back up to Walton & (purely based on the fact that he started against Southport) i think Cook prefers Owens so if one was to go it’d be Lavercombe
Well there’s a pattern at the moment were forwards come to the club and we basically don’t play to their strengths.We need to play to our forwards strengths. When Grigg got a bundle he had Deli Ali with him at MK Dons.
I get your general point, but Grigg scored a bundle at MK Dons playing as a lone front man. He also got a bundle at Latics playing as a lone frontman
The problem is in both getting the supply to him right & backing that up with support. Too often last season whoever was playing up front was just completely isolated & feeding off scraps.
Grigg can clearly play the role well at Lge1 level so there’s no issue as long as the play behind him is done right. From what little I’ve seen of him though, Bogle looks more like your poacher in a front 2I’d also say get shut of Mandron & Laurent too – seems a little unfair bearing in mind that I only saw them briefly away at QPR & they’ve not had much chance but given Joyce’s transfer record I’m mindful to get shut rather than wait another year
I also remember john motson commentating in the popular stand at springy park versus coventry in the cup replay & the fans hurling abuse at him.Yeah I remember that – I don’t think that the BBC team fancied going in that rickety owd thing suspended from the roof of the Phoenix Stand!!!
The main problem with where they put it though was that you couldn’t see a damn thing down one end of the pitch coz of it!!Thought the same thing when I heard him on talksport this morning.
He’s gonna have to be realistic with his wage demands though – & not just at LaticsHave we not learnt anything!!!The only lesson to be learned was not to agree to any loan with an appearance clause in it & they haven’t so yes they have learnt
If its a loan in general you have an issue with, personally I don’t. As long as this guy has been properly scouted, is rated by the manager & the club approached Brighton then I don;t have an issue.
Where the loans have failed in recent years is that the club just seems to have chucked out a blanket “Do you have anyone we can have?” & accepted what was offered without properly scouting them or knowing their strangths & weaknesses
Well at least that’s a keeper signed with experience of the lower leagues albeit on loan.
Lavercombe can claim lower league experience with Torquay and he is our player.[/quote]
No he aint – He’s only ever played non-league football. Torquay were already in the conference when Latics signed him & loaned him back
I’d say the fact that Latics were looking to loan him out last season & he wound up at Rhyl (relegated from the Welsh Prem) probably gives an indication of his current ability level
