David Sharpe: “Having a top-class Academy is something I’m so passionate about” Photo courtesy of Sky Sports.   “We strive to keep the way of playing football recognizable; attractive, offensive-minded, creative, fast, fair and preferably far away from the own goal on the opponents’ half.” One could only wish the statement applied to the Wigan […]

  “Martyn showed what forwards are for, they’re there to score goals.” The words of Malky Mackay after Martyn Waghorn’s spectacular late equalizer saved a point against a poor Bolton side. Mackay will win some journalistic praise for an inspired substitution. After all it helped Wigan share the points when it looked like the opportunity […]

“Marco is a quality player and we were very impressed by just how well he did for us last season. People say he didn’t have a fantastic scoring record. But look at the goals from midfield after he came in. The goals the other boys scored because the way he played was phenomenal. Marco had […]

  Malky Mackay’s team of scrappers was once again caught short on their home ground. Watford are by no means Barcelona, but they try to play good football and deserve to be challenging for promotion. A 2-0 win for the Hornets was never a surprise to the realists among the Latics support. It is almost […]

“One of our forward-thinking players is going to have to stick the ball into the back of the net and that’s the key to it.” So said Malky Mackay after the Leeds match where Latics had 60% of possession and 19 efforts on goal without scoring. But in these days of increased use of data […]

    When the lineup was announced prior to the Leeds match on Saturday it was a sadly depressing moment. The mood had been positive and people had started to “Believe” again. But a look at the team sheet was enough to send many of us into despair. How can you keep faith in a […]

  [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2Mm2UqI9SQ?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent]“Dave Whelan: Racism row forced me to quit.” So said the Daily Express headline yesterday. Sadly another example of gutter journalism, of which we have seen far too much over recent months in the national press. That newspaper, along with others, was once more ready to condemn a man who has done so […]

I read a quip the other day that amused me. It is relatively easy to take out £1m by being the owner of a football club. All you have to do is first put in £2m. Dave Whelan reportedly put £100 m into underpinning Wigan Athletic’s success over these past two decades. One wonders what […]

“There was nothing like it. Running down the tunnel and hearing the roar of a 3,000 crowd. Springfield Park was the best place in the world for me.” Meeting Harry Lyon in the early 1980s was like a dream come true. It had been a chance encounter with the man for whom the title “legend” […]