The more things change, the more they stay the same

“The more things change, the more they stay the same”

So the post Lowe era began with less of a bang and more of a whimper – that’s unfair really, there was definite improvements but sadly not enough for a result on the night.

Latics started off so brightly in contrast to the last few weeks, it’ll be lost in the face of a defeat but there was genuinely an improvement – certainly in the first 30 minutes and immediately after Latics conceded. Was it enough? No clearly not, was it an improvement? Definitely – and frankly small incremental steps are a positive at the moment.

It’s been a depressing week for Latics, once again and there have been too many of those over the last few seasons but there was a glimmer of hope tonight. Anyone hoping for some big bang (theory) where the departure of Lowe would lead to Latics scoring freely and not conceding clearly haven’t watched much football.

Two days on the training ground won’t eliminate those known issues but there were signs of progress last night and at the moment any progress must be clung to as a positive. Latics could and should have been ahead after the first few minutes, Harrison Bettoni was only marginally off-side as he thought he had opened the scoring. If he had of stayed onside that could well have been the spark that we needed to ignite the evening.

Jason Kerr returned to the starting line-up after injury on Tuesday night. His absence has had a detrimental effect on the season and coincided with a dip in form for Will Aimson.

The defence last season had such a big impact on our league position, although we struggled all through the season to score we did have a solid backline marshalled by Sam Tickle that kept our goal difference as low as possible.

That decent defence has all but disappeared this season, but the issue of struggling to score remains. Meaning that we now find ourselves in the bottom four and with no clear direction of how we get out of it.

Graham Barrow spoke last night about the nature of how soft the goals were to give away and it’s been an issue for a while. The return of Kerr will obviously help but even the captain spoke about the disservice given to the fans by conceding goals as we did last night.

But again it could have all been so different, Joe Taylor got Latics level and there looked like only one winner at that time. Moments after Taylor’s goal Raphael picked up the ball in his own half, ran the length of the pitch and his shot that was creeping in to the bottom corner was superbly saved by Reading’s goal keeper. Raphael would later give away the soft free-kick that directly led to Reading’s winner.

Such is our luck at the moment.

So at the time of writing a new manager isn’t confirmed yet but all the direction of travel points to the most unlikely of story arcs and a return to the club for FA Cup winning captain and League One winning manager one Gary Caldwell. At first glance it makes little sense but scratch beneath the surface and there’s a lot of consideration in there.

Monday evening’s statement from the board seems to point to wanting a candidate to unite the fan base again – whether Caldwell can bring together a fan base for whom moaning can become an Olympic sport is yet to be seen but he certainly knows this club. Through good and the bad.

Caldwell was unfairly dismissed in 2016 following a fantastic season in 15/16 that will live long in the memory for many Latics fans. He got the club back up to the Championship at the first time of asking and although a return to the Championship was proving difficult it was never a terminal situation and Latics including Caldwell were learning on the job and had started to build momentum. That momentum was killed stone dead by removing the manager.

His experiences since then have probably shaped the Caldwell we see now, a rushed spell at Chesterfield followed by saving Partick Thistle from relegation. He’s been at Exeter for four years now and seems to be universally respected among Exeter fans after a difficult start.

He’s probably a lot more pragmatic in his approach to the game these days and more importantly is used to working on a budget, Exeter have the lowest budget in League One (and one of the lowest budgets in the EFL) yet they’ve finished consistently higher than other clubs (including ours) who have much bigger budgets.

After the disaster that was Ryan Lowe I think many would welcome a return to Caldwell.

It’s been a while since we had a manager who had no prior connection with us that was successful. The contrast on that list is something to behold, if we approach it from Jewell’s arrival in 2001.

Jewell

Martinez

Bruce

Caldwell

Cook

Richardson

Maloney

Coyle

Rosler

Mackay

Joyce

Sheridan

The only manager without a previous link to us who was remotely successful in this period was Uwe Rosler and even then it all fell apart for Rosler in that horrific second season, culminating in an embarrassing defeat to Bolton.

I’m open to any suggestions this time but over the last decade it does seem that those who know us, and we who know them seem to do better in charge.

Looking at the disdain that Ryan Lowe held us and this club in I’d be happy to take anyone who knows what Wiganer’s are like – we’re a unique club, in a unique town.

It often needs a unique approach – it’s now for the club and the new manager if that is someone with a prior connection or not to start building bridges as they have been severely damaged this season.

One of Gary Caldwell’s final acts as player for Wigan Athletic was a missed penalty against Arsenal in the FA Cup. Gary Caldwell managing Wigan Athletic against Arsenal in the FA Cup this Sunday could well be a story arc no one considered just a few days ago.

There’s a shot at redemption for the club and the incoming manager – it’s something no one may have considered but at this moment in time it could well be just what we need.

Sean Livesey

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