The Wisdom of Roberto Martinez - a word to the wise

[olaftab]

Terrific!

[Greg N'Ash]

I've got a lot of time for what Wigan have done - 7 years in the premiership is not to be sniffed at for a club their size.. My problem is for them survival is not a means to an end but an end in itself. No hopes to winning a cup or move up the table towards europe, just a relentless policy of selling your best players to balance the books just when they start to make a difference for the team, and then hope the cheap replacement comes good so you can sell him 3 years down the line. The trouble with doing that is sooner or later it goes wrong. Look back 40 years and there's plenty of Wigan's that became semi-permanent members of the top flight but eventually sold one player too many and disappeared, maybe for good. I certainly wouldn't bet on Wigan being in the premiership in 3 years time,

So while Martinez is right that stability is a key for them, they really haven't got any choice anyway. They have half our turnover even considering the mess we're in and their record crowd in something like 25k. Whelan's not stupid and he knows the squad quality is such it will struggle whoever's in charge, so it would be pointless and costly getting another guy in. They can't throw a fortune at buying new players in January so they have to stick with the current ones. Of course if they survive another season, pundits will praise Whelan for having faith in his manager and Martinez for doing so well with a poor squad but if it fails well its a good chance we won't be seeing them back in the premiership for many a year. So yes sticking with the manager and existing players during the bad times is a good idea if you have no choice, but personally if we spend 20m to get us out a hole in January or ditch the manager i won't care if stability goes out the window, The wisdom of hoping the likes of Stephen Ireland will suddenly come good in the next 5 months doesn't really fill me with confidence i must say.

[exigo]

Wigan made a profit of £4.5 million this year.Maybe he has a point.

Thanks mainly to the sale of one Mr C. N'Zogbia.

[Ad@m]

You've also got to look at this from Martinez's position. He's flirted with relegation for every single season as Wigan boss and in pretty much any other team he'd have been sacked long ago - it's hardly surprising he's advocating managerial stability!

[Lizz]

I can imagine Simon Bates reading that out on Our Tune if he still does it..if he's still alive.

He was alive on the first day of the premier league season. R5's intro was Simon Bates, in full our tune mode complete with music, eulogising about the Olympics and football.

[LeeB]

You've also got to look at this from Martinez's position. He's flirted with relegation for every single season as Wigan boss and in pretty much any other team he'd have been sacked long ago - it's hardly surprising he's advocating managerial stability!

And they'd probably be long gone into the championship.

[Ad@m]

You've also got to look at this from Martinez's position. He's flirted with relegation for every single season as Wigan boss and in pretty much any other team he'd have been sacked long ago - it's hardly surprising he's advocating managerial stability!

And they'd probably be long gone into the championship.

Based on what?  Are they that much smaller/shitter/poorer than Stoke, a team who haven't been anywhere near relegation since they came up.

[LeeB]

You've also got to look at this from Martinez's position. He's flirted with relegation for every single season as Wigan boss and in pretty much any other team he'd have been sacked long ago - it's hardly surprising he's advocating managerial stability!

And they'd probably be long gone into the championship.

Based on what?  Are they that much smaller/shitter/poorer than Stoke, a team who haven't been anywhere near relegation since they came up.

Er, yes.

[pauliewalnuts]

You've also got to look at this from Martinez's position. He's flirted with relegation for every single season as Wigan boss and in pretty much any other team he'd have been sacked long ago - it's hardly surprising he's advocating managerial stability!

And they'd probably be long gone into the championship.

Based on what?  Are they that much smaller/shitter/poorer than Stoke, a team who haven't been anywhere near relegation since they came up.

Stoke have an extremely rich owner who has put money into the club. They've also got far higher crowds.

Wigan existing in the top flight for so long is pretty impressive. They manage to do it by playing football too, rather than that horrible anti-football, gamesmanship guff Stoke do.

[Risso]

Dave Whelan is hardly poor.

[Dave]

Dave Whelan is hardly poor.

Certainly not by the standards of the average man, but he's still only worth about a quarter as much as Peter Coates is*

*at least according to the tedious 'rich lists' that seem to spring up at this time of year.

[sonlyme]

Oh dear.

Villa are again awful at Swansea.  Just awful.  It's like the manager isn't listening to the gurus on here at all.  He's only gone and picked the youngest outfield ten in the history of the Premier League!   He doesn't have a clue does he?   We lay down without a fight again, it's no wonder we're in the bottom three and incapable of doing anything.

We're doomed.



Aye - doomed I tell ye.