Weekly De-Brief: A busy festive period, and a Happy New Year! 🥳
Wigan Athletic wrapped up 2024 with impressive away performances at Rotherham United and Wrexham. Plus, the Latics have started their January transfer business early...
The festive period and New Year celebrations have come and gone for another twelve months, but Wigan Athletic had a very busy time throughout.
A Boxing Day trip to Rotherham United came before our final game of 2024 away at Wrexham, but our first game of 2025 was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
Due to the Huddersfield Town game being postponed so close to kick-off, all of the prepared food was donated to the Brick Charity, which is an excellent thing to hear. 👏
In between it all, Latics got to work on our January recruitment plans, and some exciting news broke on the first day of the window.
Let’s dive into it all and try to make some sense of it 👇🏼
Part One: Boxing Day delight away at the New York Stadium.
Part Two: Wrexham win late at the Racecourse.
Part Three: The weekly de-brief.
Part Four: Academy and Women’s round-up.
Part Five: Our next week.
Boxing Day delight away at the New York Stadium 🗽
Who doesn’t love a Boxing Day clash in the Football League? Well, me. And, many other Wigan Athletic supporters who had not seen a victory on this day since our 2-0 away at Leeds United in 2014.
Our opponents on this foggy afternoon were recently relegated newcomers, Rotherham United, who have had an uninspiring - and frankly worrying - start to the 2024/25 campaign.
Steve Evans’ side sat 18th at Christmas with 23 points from the opening 19 games. 6 wins on the board is one more than they had in the Championship last season, but with 5 draws and 8 losses to their name, the supporters have been left with much to be desired. 💭
Shaun Maloney had given the Latics fans an early Christmas present with an exceptional 2-0 victory away at Bolton Wanderers, but another gift was snatched from under the tree by Gareth Ainsworth’s Shrewsbury Town who fought back from 2-0 down to secure a point.
The Gaffer made one change to our starting lineup to face Rotherham United, with Silko Thomas replacing Michael Olakigbe.
👕 Starting XI: Sam Tickle, Toby Sibbick, Jason Kerr, Will Aimson, Steven Sessegnon, Baba Adeeko, Matt Smith, Jonny Smith, Thelo Aasgaard, Silko Thomas, Dale Taylor
🔄 Subs: Tom Watson, James Carragher, Scott Smith, Jensen Weir, Michael Olakigbe, Callum McManaman, Joe Hugill
Early phases of the encounter suggested that this was going to be a scrappy affair. Malik Wilks left one on Steven Sessegnon just one minute into the game and neither side was able to get a strong hold of the ball due to the foggy conditions. 😶🌫️
The first chance of the game came from Dale Taylor in the 7th minute when a long ball over the top set the forward a task to win the ball and get a shot away. He completed the assignment, but so did Dillon Phillips who made a good catch.
Rotherham supporters had to wait until the 27th minute to see their side create a goalscoring opportunity, and it came from a moment of brilliance from right-back, Joe Rafferty. 💫
The former Portsmouth and 2023/24 League One title winner received the ball in space on the right side of the midfielder and whipped a ball into the box that Trent Alexander-Arnold would have been proud of. Malik Wilks was the recipient but could only divert the header narrowly over the bar.
Disaster struck at the half-hour mark for Shaun Maloney, who was forced to make an early change. Matt Smith had gotten hurt in a tangle for the ball with Andre Green and took a while to get up after a problem with the back of his left leg. Minutes later, Smith went down again holding his hamstring. Scott Smith took his place.
The first half looked to be wrapping up without either side able to find an opener. Then, deep into injury time, Latics drew first blood. 🩸
The move started with a lovely long ball over the top from Will Aimson to Silko Thomas. His first touch was excellent to set the ball onto his right and get a shot away past Odoffin. Rotherham’s goalkeeper could only parry it to his left toward the corner flag.
Reece James attempted a hopeful punt upfield but Scott Smith intercepted and gave it to Adeeko. A bit of interplay with Toby Sibbick and Jonny Smith on the right set up a 1v1 with Smith and James. The Latics man worked it past the defender and took it across the byline to pick out Adeeko in the centre.
From a defensive perspective, it is horrific from Rotherham. How and why Adeeko had so much time and space to roam into the box and be able to receive the ball is beyond me. Still, it is Baba’s first senior goal and it was excellent to see him on the scoresheet after a handful of excellent performances over the last month. ⚽️
The second half failed to offer much excitement after an early set of attacks from Rotherham. Jamie McCart, Malik Wilks, and Jonson Clarke-Harris all came close in the five minutes after the restart, but after Latics got back in control the Millers asked very few questions of our defence.
Wigan could, and should, have doubled the lead in the 56th minute from a corner routine. Jonny Smith took the set piece from the right side and sent it deep towards the far post. Jason Kerr got his head on the end of it but failed to divert the ball goalbound from inside the six-yard area.
Neither side offered anything in the final half an hour, and the Latics were able to see out a fairly comfortable lead despite the low scoreline. Our poor record of Boxing Day results finally came to an end with the travelling supporters able to enjoy the festivities of a winning day out. 🎁
Wrexham win late at the Racecourse 😫
Our victory away at Rotherham United last time out put Wigan Athletic on 27 points from 21 games. The next target is to hit 30 points for the season, but going up against Wrexham looks to be too great of a challenge for many League One clubs this season.
The Red Dragons have enjoyed an excellent campaign so far and were unbeaten at the STōK Cae Ras coming into this clash.
Shaun Maloney made two changes to the starting eleven with Scott Smith replacing the injured Matt Smith, and Michael Olakigbe starting ahead of Silko Thomas.
👕 Starting XI: Sam Tickle, Toby Sibbick, Jason Kerr, Will Aimson, Steven Sessegnon, Baba Adeeko, Scott Smith, Jonny Smith, Thelo Aasgaard, Michael Olakigbe, Dale Taylor
🔄 Subs: Tom Watson, James Carragher, Luke Robinson, Jensen Weir, Silko Thomas, Callum McManaman, Joe Hugill
In the opening phases of the game at the racecourse, it was the Latics who broke out of the blocks the fastest and looked the sharper of the two sides. Our midfielders were sending searching balls to the wingers and forced Wrexham’s defence into early action to prevent us from finding an early sight on goal.
Jonny Smith had the first proper attempt on goal in the 21st minute after receiving the ball on the right wing. The move began with Steven Sessegnon receiving the ball midway inside our half on the left side. An excellent ball across the field found Toby Sibbick in acres of space, allowing the right back to carry the ball across the halfway line to lay off to Smith.
The winger cut inside to beat James McClean and Oliver Rathbone, but his shot was dragged wide of the near post. Despite the disappointing end to the move, it was an impressive, well-worked team build-up.
Up to the half-hour mark, I loved watching our defensive determination to win the ball back to allow the side to build attacks quickly. Wrexham had become reliant on any Wigan mistakes to win the ball back and they had plenty of work to do if they wanted to create chances of their own.
Unfortunately, just like in the Rotherham game, we lost a midfielder to injury on the half-hour mark. Baba Adeeko had evaded challenges from Lewis Brunt and Rathbone but looked to hurt his hamstring in the process. Maloney was forced into an early change with Jensen Weir entering the field.
The injury allowed the momentum of the game to shift with Wrexham gaining a foothold. Three dangerous free kicks on the edge of the area for the hosts gave them chances to go ahead before the break, but our defence held on well as both teams went down the tunnel without a goal from the first period.
Wigan almost opened the scoring less than a minute after the restart. A long kick upfield from Sam Tickle was knocked down to Sessegnon who put it forward to Aasgaard. The midfielder turned Max Cleworth so well that the centre-back fell to the floor, allowing the Norwegian to send a searching ball into the box.
Matty James got to the ball first but his attempted clearance bounced off the bar and fell to Jensen Weir who was arriving in the six-yard box. The pace of the ball and Rathbone’s pressure contributed to the skied effort over the bar.
The hosts opened the scoring on the hour mark with Ryan Barnett’s deflected effort working its way past Sam Tickle into the far corner. The right wing-back has just delivered two searching balls into the box but couldn’t find a target and decided the take the chance on himself.
For me, Scott Smith or Will Aimson has to get closer to Barnett to close down any path towards the goal. Standing off and allowing a shot to be taken will always run the risk of a deflected effort and we paid the price.
Maloney made a change five minutes later with Silko Thomas coming on for Jonny Smith. Phil Parkinson then made a change with former Premier League forward, Steven Fletcher, coming on for Ollie Palmer. The Latics Gaffer quickly reacted by making two more changes as Joe Hugill and Callum McManaman came on for Steven Sessegnon and Michael Olakigbe 🔄
With 10 minutes to go, Latics had shown that there was still a fight and desire to find an equaliser and we did just that. Silko Thomas received the ball on the left wing from Dale Taylor and pressured Barnett into backtracking into the box. Within the space that opened up to his right, Thomas whipped a searching ball into the six-yard area to find an unmarked Joe Hugill.
Hugill was unmarked as the defenders lost track of him, and a simple header beyond Mark Howard levelled the game. This was the Manchester United loanees third league goal of the season, with all three coming from inside the six-yard area. ⚽️
As the clock ticked closer to the final whistle, both sides looked to be going in search of a winner. Callum McManaman was denied a penalty after being brought down in a tangle, and Steven Fletcher fizzed an effort beyond the post from a close-range free kick.
Unfortunately, the hosts took the lead and the win in the 91st minute through the former Premier League frontman. James McClean received the ball on the left wing and quickly sent a searching ball into the box. Fletcher received it on his chest and laid it off away from Will Aimson who was the closest defender.
Before the ball could hit the ground, Fletcher hit a sweet volley towards the near post and Tickle could not respond fast enough. The goalkeeper took a step to his right just as the ball was struck, taking the momentum of his body away from the left post to make it harder for him to get down low in time.
It was a heartbreaking end to the game for the travelling Latics fans, but there were plenty of promising signs in this game to show that we can take the game to the best teams in this division and come close to not only a draw but a win.
With a decent couple of transfer windows to build up this squad, we will be able to win games like this. We are close, but close doesn’t put points on the board.
The weekly de-brief 🤔
Well, here we are. The end of the busy festive break is here and we can return to a somewhat normal schedule of League One football.
Of course, we will eventually have the rescheduled Burton Albion and Huddersfield Town games to play, but the run to the end of the season starts now after the first five months of mixed emotions.
The last four months have shown that our recruitment in the summer missed the mark. We needed experience in this squad to help younger players develop, but the large number of young loanees we brought in have not had the support required to find their feet.
Latics did open the new year with a new signing, and we welcomed 20-year-old right back, Josh Robinson, from Arsenal on a three-and-a-half-year deal. This then triggered Liverpool to recall Calvin Ramsay from his season-long loan as the gametime and opportunities have not been enough to aid in his development.
Robinson’s arrival shows that the club want to shift to developing our own young players rather than other clubs, and for the most part, I agree with that model as the long-term benefits will be much better.
You can read all about our latest arrival here 👇
Josh Robinson signs for Wigan Athletic ✍️
Wigan Athletic have signed Josh Robinson from Arsenal on a three-and-a-half-year deal.
Left-back, Luke Robinson has reportedly become a loan target for a number of Scottish Premiership and EFL clubs in this window and could be departing. The 23-year-old has featured just five times in League One this season and will Luke Chambers close to returning from injury his gametime will be limited.
Last season, the Academy graduate had two spells on loan at St Johnstone. With his contract being up in the summer, I wouldn’t be surprised if they come to some agreement on a potential loan move ahead of a permanent one at the end of the campaign.
Josh Stones returned from Oldham Athletic on Thursday after seven appearances for the other Latics. The 21-year-old netted five goals and provided one assist as he helped to strengthen Oldham’s position inside the National League Play-Off places. 👏
Joe Adams had his loan at Bradford City officially come to an end this week as he returned to Wigan Athletic to continue his rehabilitation following a serious knee injury. The 20-year-old was a halftime substitution for the Bantams on September 21st but departed the field fifteen minutes later after the injury. The midfielder’s contract is set to expire in the summer, but I would like to see it extended for another year as he looks a very capable midfielder in the EFL.
With Matt Smith out until March at least, Shaun Maloney will be hoping for speedy recoveries to Tyrese Francois and Baba Adeeko as our midfield options are thinning. It is entirely possible that we see the club loan in a midfielder to help us until the end of the season.
With any signings that arrive and any players that depart, I will be providing in-depth updates on this blog. So, make sure to subscribe or follow to be notified when a new post is uploaded.
Academy and Women’s round-up 🔵
Wigan Athletic Under 18s have been out of action since December 14th but will return to the field on January 11th away at Barnsley U18s.
Wigan Athletic Under 21s have been out of action since December 9th but will return to the field on January 7th at home to Crewe Alexandra U21s.
Wigan Athletic Women have been out of action since December 15th but will return to the field on January 5th at home to Lostock St Gerards.
Our next week 🗓️
Saturday 4th January | Wigan Athletic vs Birmingham City | League One
Sunday 5th January | Wigan Athletic Women vs Lostock St Gerards | FA Womens Lancashire County Championship Division (Tier 7)
Up the Tics 🔵⚪️
🙌 Thank you for reading!
✍🏼 Charlie Keegan / Central Wigan
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