Let me start by saying whatever the performance at Wigan Athletic, before the game I thought it was imperative that we actually took something from it. I didn’t think we could go three league games without a point and so whilst at the end of the match, I wasn’t singing and dancing, I can’t change tack and say that I wouldn’t have settled for it before the first whistle.
It was a weekend away taking in the game at Wigan and then over for a night out in Liverpool. A friend of ours, Dr Dean Allen is over visiting family from his now home in South Africa and so we made a weekend of it. Four of us travelled up early on Saturday morning and all of us said that we’d take a point.
I like the DW Stadium as I have great friends who live in Wigan, so it is always a trip that I look forward to. We had some food, and a couple of drinks in the Red Robin pub on the same park as the DW and there were plenty of City fans chewing the fat before the game. I met up with my friends Rach and Andy (although Andy being a Latic went in the home end and Rach Bristol born and bred came in the away end with me).
I wasn’t surprised by Nigel Pearson’s starting line-up, although a little disappointed. I would have stuck with Cameron Pring at left back rather than Jay Dasilva and would also have opted for the more fluid Nahki Wells up top with Tommy Conway; the two had linked really well during Wednesday night's Carabao Cup victory over Coventry City at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium (that’s a future quiz question), Wells directly involved in Tommy’s two goals. I was pleased to see that Tommy kept his place after a fine performance in that Coventry win.
As has been the pattern so far this season, we started brightly but then dropped deep and invited pressure on which eventually told. We took the lead after six minutes through Andi Weimann. Never has the popular Austrian’s confidence and (worryingly) profile, been so high. It was another fine finish after a flowing move.
Mark Sykes, who continues to impress me, won the ball on the right and fed the ball down the line to Conway. He took a couple of touches and drove inside before playing a perfectly angled pass to the onrushing Weimann who hit a left footed shot back the other way to continue his fine start to the season.
City were playing the ball with confidence and in Conway they had a player willing to run the channels and he was causing the Latics backline some real problems. The youngster was holding the ball up but also spinning off and he could have and, in my view, should have been awarded a penalty when he was challenged as he once again got into the box.
Watching a replay, I cannot see that the defender gets any of the ball. There was more controversy on 18 minutes when Wigan left back Joe Bennett clearly kicked out at Joe Williams after the two had ended up on the ground after a midfield challenge.
As Williams got up, Bennett threw a leg out, ala David Beckham against Diego Simeone in the 1998 World Cup. Williams probably overreacted but at the end of the day it was a kick out and should have been a red. The referee said afterwards it was more a case of petulance but that’s just not the case. If he saw it as a cardable offence, it should have been red and not yellow.
Conway had another good chance, but Wigan were also making opportunities and Josh Magennis should have done better with a couple of chances that came his way. Due to the sweltering heat, the EFL had ruled that drinks breaks should be in place, for players to rehydrate and it was from that point on that City lost their impetus and reverted somewhat to this season's type.
Wigan got their equaliser in the 67th minute with former Manchester United youngster Will Keane driving the ball home after City failed to clear a corner. It had been coming and I think most in the away end were fearful that we would once again leave a game with nothing after being in a winning position.
Pearson has his supporters and detractors, that’s the nature of the life of a football manager. I am pro Nigel, but I am starting to question his in-game management.
I was really disappointed at his substitutions on 73 minutes. Conway, who had missed a really good chance, getting too strong a contact, with a header after a great cross from Sykes was withdrawn along with the ineffective Alex Scott, for Nahki Wells and Andy King.
For me, and football as we know is all about opinions, Chris Martin, Scott, and Dasilva should have been the men to make way with Conway staying on and looking to reignite his partnership with Wells. Martin, who I like, just couldn’t get in the game, and looked well off the pace. Dasilva was really disappointing, very little confidence going forward and when he did his crossing was poor. Pring played well on Wednesday and should have replaced Jay.
I actually said on 60 minutes that to win the game we needed to change things around and I would have made the Martin and Dasilva changes for Wells and Pring at that stage.
If Pring doesn’t start on Tuesday against Luton Town, Nigel is sending out the wrong message. Similarly with Martin. Players who come in and perform deserve to keep the shirt and those that don’t perform should be dropped.
To only make three out of the five permitted substitutions on such a hot day also seemed poor in-game management. Kane Wilson is rapid and surely as the game entered the last knockings could have caused a tiring Wigan defence problems.
We tend to fade in the second half and the midfield gets overrun, we need to add an additional body in the middle and change to a back four to allow that. The midfield is an area of the team that surely has to be improved before the transfer window closes.
Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast Bonus show ratings were: Daniel Bentley 5, Mark Sykes 7, Zak Vyner 6, Kal Naismith 6, Rob Atkinson 6, Jay Dasilva 4, Joe Williams 5, Alex Scott 5, Chris Martin 4, Andreas Weimann 7 *MotM and Tommy Conway 7. A weekly average of 5.64 and a season average of 5.89.
For Nigel it’s a 5. The same patterns are immerging, with a good start and then fading and hanging on. We didn’t in my view make the right substitutions.
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