Looking up

It’s been a strange old week.

It started full of optimism after a very strong performance against Barnsley in the EFL Cup the previous Saturday that should have never ended in defeat.

Being bridged in the middle with an awful first half performance against Cambridge but a fightback of sorts.

Before a win in the Sherpa Vans, Auto Windscreens, Johnstone’s Paint, Pizza Trophy against Aston Villa’s U21s.

That was followed by the news that Latics transfer business is finally about to ignite.

In fairness Caldwell has urged for patience throughout the summer and with the building blocks put in place it looks like three Premier League arrivals could turn the dial on how our summer business has been viewed.

Manchester City’s Finley Burn’s arrived on a permanent deal last week followed reportedly by his City teammate Charlie Gray who was linked with Feyenoord and Lazio no less earlier this year.

Add in to that mix the long awaited arrivals of Chelsea’s Reggie Walsh and Fulham’s Luke Harris and there’s some quality finally being added to that squad.

Loans are unfortunately a fact of life for clubs at our level but it bodes well that the bigger clubs are willing to use us as a club for their talents to get that exposure.

Caldwell’s time as academy managers at Manchester City and Newcastle United will be standing him in good stead for recruiting those sorts of players.

It’s back to the league on Saturday with the gist of Leyton Orient and a reaction is needed following the previous weekend’s defeat at Cambridge.

Cambridge should have been out of sight after their third goal but that encouraged Latics to finally wake up and they should have had a penalty and at least come away from the Abbey Road with a point.

It wouldn’t have been deserved after the insipid first half performance of course.

The positive if there is one to take out of it is that we’re creating chances and scoring goals, and in both halves against Barnsley and long parts of the second half against Cambridge you can see exactly how we’re trying to play this season.

That will hopefully come with time and once we’re through the period of transition that Gary Caldwell has spoken about we can hopefully start the work of turning moments in to performances and performances in to wins.

With the transfer activity and relative performances (if not necessarily results yet) things are looking more positive than even a week ago.

With the news that Caldwell has said more backing is to come in the market. Right up to the deadline there’s a lot to anticipate over the next fortnight.

Sean Livesey

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