Weekly De-Brief: Wigan secure back-to-back victories for the first time!
Shaun Maloney's Latics secured the full six points this week, following a trip to Oakwell and a night under the lights hosting Northampton Town.
What is this?! Back-to-back victories? Six points from six? Can’t be Latics that, surely!
Shaun Maloney took his side to Oakwell on Saturday to face a high-flying Barnsley side, before hosting an injury-hit and inconsistent Northampton Town side on Tuesday night.
The last 180 minutes of football have had everything from electric attacking displays to bodies-on-the-line defensive masterclasses. It’s never easy, but it can be exciting at times.
All of a sudden, our season is looking much better as we can start to look up the table rather than worry about how close we were to the bottom four.
Let’s dive into it all and try to make some sense of it 👇🏼
Part One: Outstanding at Oakwell.
Part Two: Another victory cobbled together!
Part Three: The weekly de-brief.
Part Four: Academy and Women’s round-up.
Part Five: Our next week.
Outstanding at Oakwell 🌟
On Saturday afternoon, thanks to the hardworking ground staff and volunteers who ensured the pitch was playable, Wigan Athletic travelled to Oakwell to play Barnsley 🔴
Before kickoff, the Tykes were 5th in the League One table, while the Latics were 19th, one point above the bottom four.
Shaun Maloney made four changes to the starting lineup, with Steven Sessegnon, Baba Adeeko, Dion Rankine, and Dale Taylor coming in for Luke Robinson, Matt Smith, Jonny Smith, and Scott Smith.
👕 Starting XI: Sam Tickle, Toby Sibbick, Jason Kerr ©️, Will Aimson, Steven Sessegnon, Baba Adeeko, Tyrese Francois, Dion Rankine, Thelo Aasgaard, Silko Thomas, Dale Taylor
🔄 Subs: Tom Watson, James Carragher, Luke Robinson, Scott Smith, Jensen Weir, Maleace Asamoah, Jonny Smith
Barnsley had a full-strength side available to them, with Captain, Luca Connell, returning to the midfield alongside Adam Phillips and Jon Russell after serving his one-match suspension for accumulating five yellow cards already 🟨
The hosts had the first attempt in the fourth minute, with Connell playing the ball to Phillips in the centre of the midfield only for the shot to fly well over the bar. In hindsight, this missed opportunity was a preview of what was to come for Darrell Clarke’s side.
Wigan came close to opening the scoring in the 8th minute after Will Aimson’s long ball over the top was knocked down to Silko Thomas by Dale Taylor. The winger cut it onto his right foot to try and whip the ball into the far corner, but it narrowly fizzed past the post 😫
As you can see below, Thelo Aasgaard was free to play down the left, and he could have played it across the box to Taylor who would have been clear of any defensive pressure. I rate that Thomas wanted to try it, but perhaps this was a missed opportunity to score a more simple goal.
Thomas had another attempt on goal just before the half-hour mark when Dion Rankine won the ball back in the centre circle and played it forward to Taylor to start an attack. The on-loan Forest forward played it left to Silko, who again cut onto his right foot, but the powerful shot was blocked by the defender. Despite not being able to get a clean shot away, I liked the idea and speed at which the attack was created.
With the halftime break only moments away, I am sure Shaun Maloney would have been the much happier manager and had his speech all prepared. Then, in the 43rd minute, Latics were working the ball down the right-hand side before quickly playing it across the midfield to find Thomas out on the left.
As you can see below, by the time the ball was played to Thomas, the positioning of the majority of Barnsley’s players was over to their left side which meant Thomas had a simple 1v1 with Corey O’Keeffe off the wing.
The rainy conditions and consequential playing surface played into Thomas’ hands, and he was able to be in full control of the run to the byline which caused O’Keeffe to slip. Aasgaard waited for the cross at the edge of the six-yard area, and the ball found him perfectly to nod Wigan ahead. Excellent goal ⚽️
The final story of the first half was Tyrese Francois’ unfortunate injury which required him to be replaced by Scott Smith. A tough coming together with Stephen Humphrys in the middle of the park has resulted in the summer arrival now being ruled out of action for at least three months. All the best in your recovery, Ty! 🙏
Neither side made any more changes at the break, and it was Wigan who had the first attempt in the second half to try and extend our lead. Thomas and Aasgaard were involved again, with the wingers cross into the box being knocked down to the Norwegian on the edge of the area to shoot. The effort was sliced over the bar, but it looked like a promising restart.
Barnsley grew into the game around the hour mark after Clarke made four substitutions. He brought off the wing-backs, Georgie Gent and Corey O’Keeffe, and the centre midfielders, Adam Phillips and Jon Russell. Centre-back, Donervan Pines, and midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali, came on, with attackers, Fabio Jalo and Sam Cosgrove, going up top with Stephen Humphrys and Davis Keillor-Dunn to try and force an equaliser.
The biggest chance that the hosts had came in the 68th minute from a corner routine. In the build-up, Luca Connell was progressing down the left wing and had Josh Earl free inside. Earl was in space and would have had time and space to look for a pass into the box where six Barnsley players would have been.
As you can see below, Dale Taylor noticed this threat early on, and by the time Earl received the ball, Taylor had closed him down and forced the defender to play the ball back to Connell. Taylor then carried on his run to close Connell down and force him into a rushed cross. The ball eventually was deflected out for a corner, but I loved seeing this desire to defend from Taylor 👏
From the right corner flag, the ball was sent into the near post where Maël de Gevingey met it first to head towards the goal. Taylor was at the near post and made an excellent goalline clearance, but the ball fell to Donvervan Pines to shoot from two yards out. His effort was brilliantly blocked by Will Aimson, and the ball was sent behind. This was proper body-on-the-line defending and was great to see when Barnsley were stepping up their intensity after the substitutions.
For the final 10 minutes, the Latics were defending our box very well and forced Barnsley into taking efforts from a distance. Connell, Humphrys, Jalo, Cosgrove, and Roberts all tried their luck, but the outfield players or Tickle had them covered each time 🙌
While the victory wasn’t pretty, it was certainly a strong sign of the togetherness building within the squad and I could highlight every player and talk about a number of impressive moments throughout the 90.
I do think this was Silko Thomas’ best game in blue and white, and seeing how determined Baba Adeeko was to put in a huge shift after working his way back to full fitness was great to see. Barnsley had no answers for how well we played in the end despite looking the more dominant side from the stats.
Another victory cobbled together! 🥾
After such a strong performance and securing three points at Oakwell, Wigan had the chance to record back-to-back victories for the first time since April. At the end of last season, the Latics won away at Lincoln City and Portsmouth before a final-day victory at home against Bristol Rovers. That was the last time we followed up a win with another.
Shaun Maloney made three changes to the starting lineup, with Jensen Weir and Matt Smith replacing Baba Adeeko and the injured Tyrese Francois in the middle, with Jonny Smith a tactical addition ahead of Dion Rankine.
👕 Starting XI: Sam Tickle, Toby Sibbick, Jason Kerr ©️, Will Aimson, Steven Sessegnon, Jensen Weir, Matt Smith, Jonny Smith, Thelo Aasgaard, Silko Thomas, Dale Taylor
🔄 Subs: Tom Watson, James Carragher, Luke Robinson, Scott Smith, Callum McManaman, Maleace Asamoah, Dion Rankine
From kickoff, there were strong signs that Wigan were going to be the ones in control of the early phases of the game. Thelo Aasgaard and Dale Taylor were working excellently together in the middle of the park, and in the 10th minute, Aasgaard sent the ball through to Silko Thomas.
When Thomas took the ball to the edge of the area, Steven Sessegnon was available on the overlap for a reverse through ball, but Thomas cut it onto his right foot and took on the chance himself.
I don’t mind seeing Thomas go for the shot himself, and it is clear that he is hungry for his first Wigan Athletic goal but, just like the opportunity in the Barnsley game which I highlighted before, I do think playing it to the overlapping player and having them put it across the face of goal for Taylor would have been the better option. Hindsight, eh? 💭
Luckily, this missed opportunity did not matter because one minute later, Taylor won the ball inside our half, played it through the legs of Samy Chouchane, and set Aasgaard away on a 1v1 with Lee Burge. Our top scorer tried his luck at the near post and bagged his fifth of the league season despite the keeper getting his hands to it ⚽️
Northampton were trying to play a 4-2-3-1. However, this was being condensed into a 4-5-1, or a 5-4-1 at times with Chouchane slotting into the centre of the defence, due to Toby Sibbick and Steven Sessegnon playing high and narrow while Silko Thomas and Jonny Smith mostly stayed wide to have the Cobblers surrounded and contained.
If Smith came inside, Sibbick was running an overlap, and if Smith stayed wide, Sibbick would make an inverted run. The same applied with Thomas and Sessegnon on the left. This meant Northampton were not sure who to mark and prevented them from getting a grip on the game.
In the 18th minute, Smith came more centrally, and you can see Sibbick made the overlapping run down the right. It’s important to note here that three other Wigan players (Thomas, Aasgaard, and Taylor) were already in the box and keeping the defenders occupied, with Weir arriving on the scene and making the midfielders decide whether to go toward him or Smith.
In the end, enough space opened up for Smith to try one of his belters™️ and it nestled into the back of the net to make it a fully deserved 2-0 lead 🎯
On the half-hour mark, Sibbick made the inverted run into the box with Smith playing the ball to him toward the byline. When Sibbick went to cross, there were four options for him to pick out, and the yellow line was the direction he chose to find an unmarked Weir.
Taylor could have been picked out in the middle of the six-yard box, Aasgaard was free arriving toward the penalty area, and Thomas potentially could have been found at the back post. Weir did everything he could to go in search of a third, but an excellent goalline clearance from Aaron McGowan kept the ball out 👏
The main thing here was how dangerous we have looked by getting bodies into the box, and it is something that Latics need to make sure they continue to do if we want to find the back of the net more often.
At halftime, Jon Brady brought off Tyler Roberts and played Tom Eaves up top. The instruction was for Eaves to stay as high up the field as possible, which allowed the contained 4-2-3-1 to have some space between the lines and create more viable passing routes.
This tactical change worked wonders for the Cobblers and throughout the second half, they had much more joy getting the ball forward and testing Latics.
With 56 minutes on the clock, Nesta Guinness-Walker found some space to run into on the left side, and his cross to the back post found Eaves to pull a goal back. There wasn’t much Sam Tickle could have done to prevent the goal as the strike bounced off the near post and in.
The final stages of the game were a bit too backs-to-the-wall for my liking, but Tickle produced two outstanding saves to keep us ahead.
The first came from Aimson’s poor backpass releasing Liam McCarron in 1v1, where Tickle held his position next to the penalty spot to get down low and throw a hand to his left to palm the shot wide. The second came in the dying moments when Tickle’s deflected clearance fell to Sam Hoskins to unleash a rasping shot on goal. Our number 1 proved yet again why he is worthy of the jersey after an excellent save denied a late equaliser 🧤
While the second half was not pretty and we had to defend the lead like we did in the Barnsley game, this was another excellent team performance that is only going to add to a strong group togetherness and mentality that has now allowed us to look up the table, rather than behind us.
The weekly de-brief 🤔
This past week has been very busy off the pitch, but the first thing I want to talk about is my experience at the Northwest Football Awards which took place on Monday night at the Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground 🏆
I went with Barry Worthington as the Progress with Unity Podcast was nominated for ‘Fan Channel, Media, or Podcast of the Year’, alongside Turfcast (Burnley), The Scarf Bergara Wore (Stockport County), The Devil’s Advocate (Manchester United), and Redmen TV (Liverpool).
It was an honour to be in that room and I am very grateful to Barry for taking me with him, as it is his hard work in producing the podcast that had us nominated 🙌
Seeing Sam Tickle collect his deserved League One Player of the Season award, Ian Rush handed his Lifetime Contribution award, and hearing so many stories from every generation of people who have crafted the game we know will stay with me for life, I am sure.
Our Vertu Trophy Round of 32 tie was confirmed this week, and Latics will travel to Chesterfield on Tuesday 10th December for a 7pm kickoff. I am looking forward to seeing former players such as; Will Grigg, Michael Jacobs, Tom Naylor, Ryan Colcough, and Chey Dunkley, as well as Paul Cook. Chesterfield have been having an excellent campaign so far.
The Fan Advisory Board minutes were released this week, and while there is plenty to sift through and understand, I am glad to hear that we are going to see some movement on the hiring of a permanent Managing Director/CEO for the football.
Ben Goodburn explained that his skillset was required to navigate the legalities and details of the stadium and club restructuring under Mike Danson’s ownership model. Now that is coming to a close they are ready to take the next step in expanding the management group which is great to hear.
Josh Stones has been continuing his impressive form for Oldham Athletic who took on Boston United on the weekend in the National League. The 21-year-old netted a 67th-minute goal in the Latics’ 4-0 victory, taking his goal contribution tally to 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 games. Oldham are up to 4th in the league and look like a strong contender for promotion into League Two this season.
Matty Corran featured twice for AFC Marine this week in the National League North, securing a clean sheet in the 2-0 win over Needham before helping to pick up a point in the 2-2 draw with Spennymoor. Marine are 22nd with 17 points and are now only 1 point inside the drop zone after a series of good results.
Academy and Women’s round-up 🔵
Wigan Athletic Under 18s took a trip to Burnley U18 for our third and final PDL Cup Group Stage game. Both sides had failed to pick up any points in the opening two games and had a -2 goal difference. Preston North End U18 and Sheffield United U18 had beaten both teams earlier in the season, meaning the Tics and the Clarets could not qualify for the knockout stage.
👕 Starting XI: Jake Spaven, Christy Edwards, Harrison Bettoni, Sam Bolland ©️, Alex Hughes, Alastair Clifford, John-Paul Cavanagh, Liam Flight, Charlie Hughes, Cole Simms, Charley McKee
🔄 Subs: Trialist (GK), Henry Miller, Callum Jones, Liam Edwards
The hosts opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a strike from Frankie McMahon-Brown and added a second a couple of minutes later through Adam McCoy. On the half-hour mark, McMahon-Brown added another to give Latics a big mountain to climb in the second half.
Marc Maddocks made one change at the break with Alastair Clifford making way for Callum Jones, who has been given the all-clear after his battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Jones was diagnosed in October 2023, and it is incredible to see him back involved with football again after such a brave battle.
After a spirited start to the second half, Burnley added a fourth through Corey King which settled the tie. Henry Miller and Liam Edwards came on for Charlie Hughes and John-Paul Cavanagh, but the game ended 4-0. Latics can now turn their full attention to the league.
🏟️ Burnley U18 4 - 0 Wigan Athletic U18
Wigan Athletic Under 21s were scheduled to play away at Barnsley U21s in the Professional Development League on Saturday afternoon. However, the game was postponed due to poor surface conditions due to the snow and ice. A new date for the game will be announced soon.
Wigan Athletic Women were set to play Haslingden Ladies and Girls at Robin Park on Sunday. However, the game was called off due to the pitch being in an unplayable condition. A new date for the game will be announced soon.
Our next week 🗓️
Saturday 30th November | Cambridge United vs Wigan Athletic | FA Cup Second Round
Saturday 30th November | Wigan Athletic U18 vs Crewe Alexandra U18 | U18 Professional Development League
Sunday 1st December | Blackburn Eagles vs Wigan Athletic Women | FA Womens County Championship League (Tier 7)
Tuesday 3rd December | Huddersfield Town vs Wigan Athletic | League One
On Friday (29th November), I will have a full match preview uploaded for our FA Cup fixture against Cambridge United, and on Monday (2nd December) I will have a preview uploaded for our League One trip to Huddersfield Town. So, be sure to subscribe and check back for this 🫡
Up the Tics 🔵⚪️
🙌 Thank you for reading!
✍🏼 Charlie Keegan / Central Wigan
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