Wigan Athletic - Securing Survival

Wigan win the F.A Cup!

Few people though it was possible, but Wigan Athletic have won the F.A Cup. With this being Wigan's first F.A Cup final, people were not expecting a victory, especially as they had not beaten Tottenham since Conroy has been in charge. It was by no means an easy path to the final as Wigan had to beat the two Manchester clubs in the quarter and semi finals. As expected Wigan played a defensive style which worked well as they shut down Tottenham, forcing them to long range shots. Just as the game as looking like it was going to extra time, Ademilson popped up to fire the ball home after his first shot was parried by Lloris. Wigan then scored again as a header back to his keeper by Kaboul was intercepted by Ademilson, who took the ball round the keeper and looked like he would score but Kaboul tried to make up for his mistake only to slide tackle the ball into the empty net. Not only did Wigan manage to hold on and claim the F.A Cup, they won their last three league games to hold onto 5th spot, their highest league placing ever. This means that they enter the Europa League at the group stage which will cut down the amount of games they have to play as they played over 50 games this season. The only question that remains is where do Wigan go from here? Champions League maybe?

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May

Premier League
2/5/15
Norwich 0 vs. 2 Wigan
Ademilson(43) Caldwell(pen 78)

A comfortable win away from home, we just need to hope that United drop points so we can go to fifth.

6/5/15
Wigan 2 vs. 1 West Ham
Sulejmani(25) Adryan(88)

A late winner from Adryan got us the points and I've noticed he seems to score goals at important times which is a good quality to have.

F.A Cup Final
9/5/15
Wigan 2 vs. 0 Tottenham
Ademilson(76) O.G(79)

We've done it! We won the F.A Cup! I couldn't believe it, especially as it was against Tottenham who look on course to win the league but we managed it, playing defensively then hitting them on the counter. Brilliant performance by the team.

Premier League
17/5/15
Wigan 4 vs. 0 Blackburn
Carroll(8) Adryan(29) Adeimlson(50, 72)

A great win on the last day of the season. We only needed to match United's result to finish 5th and they ended up drawing against Cardiff!

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JCMUtdfan1 said:
Cheers mate :) And yeah it would be good if it happened lol. Awesome, can you recommend any signings you've made that have played really well?
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Thomas Rogne from Celtic, got him for 2.8M.

Hes played 32. 10MOM. 2Goals. Average rating is 7.65 with 1 game of season left. In for young player of the year as well.

Wellington Nem as well. And playing James McCarthy in DM with DLP setting has worked well. Taarabt in January has been ace since he came and so has Zaha.

Anyone you recommend mate? My strikers aint really been scoring didnt help having Kone out for 5months haha
 
Rogue just got signing of season and highest average performance rating over 33 games
 
Fairhurst93 said:
Thomas Rogne from Celtic, got him for 2.8M.

Hes played 32. 10MOM. 2Goals. Average rating is 7.65 with 1 game of season left. In for young player of the year as well.

Wellington Nem as well. And playing James McCarthy in DM with DLP setting has worked well. Taarabt in January has been ace since he came and so has Zaha.

Anyone you recommend mate? My strikers aint really been scoring didnt help having Kone out for 5months haha
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I'll have a look at Rogue, he seems a good player from what you've said. Most of the players you've mentioned there I've got already apart from Zaha who I didn't really fancy. With strikers I relied heavily on Kone in the first season but Carroll helped me out a lot in the second season. In the third season Mamaev and Doumbia were out of contract at the end of that season so I signed them for the start of the fourth season so I've been quite lucky when it comes to strikers.
 
Iv got the young Brazilian striker you have on his way in January, iv took full advantage of people out of contract and brought 6 qaulity players without paying a penny and none on crazy wages. Brought Wiess in and Chadii both can do a job straight away and develop well. When I'm home from college il screen shot my transfers for this season
 
End of Season Review

Another great season for us with our first piece of silverware in the cabinet. Not only did we win the F.A Cup but we also climbed slightly higher in the league as we finished fifth which means even if we didn't win the cup we would qualify for the Europa League in the group stages which means we don't have to endure a playoff. Our performance in the Europa League was also very good, reaching the quarter finals and only losing out on penalties. If we get a kind draw next season it will be interesting to see if we could equal that performance or better it. Our defence has shored up this season with quite a few clean sheets, more than last season I think. It would be good to win the Capital One Cup at some point but the draws haven't been kind to us, though we should have reached the semi finals this season. Hopefully next season we can add more silverware to the trophy cabinet.

Did I meet my targets?

Reach the semi-finals of either the F.A Cup or Capital One Cup - Yes
Qualify for the group stage of Europa League - Yes
Come third in that group, or qualify from it depending on strength of teams - Yes
Come at least 6th again in the league - Yes
Keep at least 15 clean sheets - Yes (23)

Plans For Next Season

I would like to bring in some more quality defenders as we need to make sure we keep tight at the back with one of the new tactics I'm planning to implement. Also bring in Abu from City permanently or on loan depending on how much they want for him. I also wouldn't mind some cover on the wings as I plan to use them a lot more than last season and at the moment I only have Sulejmani and Wellington Nem. I want to hold onto Al-Habsi as well as he hardly played last season but I want to keep hold of him as cover for Ruffier.

Results From Last Season

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Wigan Team of the Year

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Fans Player of the Year

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Manager of the Year

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Other Competitions

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Man City won the Champions League beating Juventus 3-0
Tottenham won the Capital One Cup beating Man United 1-0 with Welbeck scoring the winner
Chelsea won the Community Shield beating Man United
Man City won the Club World Cup
Athletico Madrid won the Europa League beating Real Madrid 1-0

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Wigan move up the European Club Rankings

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Transfers

To make sure I can keep playing at a high level in Europe and domestically I wanted to bring in some better quality defenders. To help keep up our overall quality I signed up two players in January that will come in this transfer window, Mamaev and Doumbia. Two really good players which I was pleased to pick up on a free. Also I have a couple of youth players coming that I bought last season and will be for the future as they have four to five star potentials. Another winger or two would help a lot with my new tactics.

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I think I managed to pick up some good players in this window and picked up the players I wanted. I managed to bring in Abu from City permanently for half his value which is good and I brought in Batth from Wolves to help bring some more quality to the defence. I was also pleased to pick up Lacazette from City for much less than they paid Lyon last season as he will bring some quality to the left wing and up front. My youth players from last season came in but I'll try to get them out on loan soon enough. Also Adriano was brought in as cover for my left back as I sold De Ceglie and he can also play left wing which is useful.

Top three transfers: Lacazette, Doumbia, Abu

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Young Transfers

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Top 10 Transfers - Premier League

PlayerFromToFee (£)
Phil JonesMan UnitedArsenal25m
Ruben PardoReal SociedadTottenham21.5m
Kyriakos PapadopoulosFC Shakle 04Man United17.25m
Andriy YarmolenkoDynamo KyivChelsea17m
Juan Guillermo CuadradoUdineseLiverpool12m
Mateo KovacicDinamoNewcastle11.75m
Jordan HendersonLiverpoolArsenal11m
Gary HooperCelticWest Brom10m
Nordin AmrabatNowichWest Ham10.5m
Luca MarroneJuventusMan United10m
Andy KingLeicesterSwansea10m


Top 10 Transfers - Worldwide

PlayerFrom ToFee (£)
DedeVascoReal Madrid30m
Phil JonesMan UnitedArsenal25m
Ruben PardoReal SociedadTottenham21.5m
Hiram MierMonterreySL Benfica18.25m
Kyriakos PapadopoulosFC Schalke 04Man United17.25m
Mateo MusacchioVillarealSporting Lisbon17.25m
Andriy YarmolenkoDynamo KyivChelsea17m
Carlos LabrinPalermoJuventus16.25m
CoutinhoInterBayern Munich16m
Luc CastaignosFC TwenteJuventus15.5m

Biggest Spenders: World - Juventus (£53.25m)
Biggest Spenders: Premier League - Arsenal (£39.5m)

​
 
brilliant getting fifth and some really good signings here! the youngsters look brilliant too
 
banger93 said:
brilliant getting fifth and some really good signings here! the youngsters look brilliant too
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Cheers mate :) I was thrilled to bits to get Lacazette so cheap and hopefully the youngsters will form the core of my team in the next few years.
 
What tactics are you using bud? I'm 4 games into new season without a win, only managing a 2 draws. Dominating every game just not scoring haha
 
Fairhurst93 said:
What tactics are you using bud? I'm 4 games into new season without a win, only managing a 2 draws. Dominating every game just not scoring haha
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I'll post the ones I'm using for this season in my pre-season post which hopefully I'll get up some time tonight
 
Conroy Offered Newcastle Job

Yes, for the second pre-season running, Conroy has been given an offer to try and tempt him away from the DW Stadium. This time it's Tyneside that's come calling after Harry Redknapp retired at the end of the season. Having built a strong team at Wigan, Conroy rejected the offer immediately, to the relief of chairman Dave Whelan and the fans. After the success of last season, it would have been an odd move for Conroy to move away from Wigan, especially as they have an outside chance of making the Champions League this season if they keep their consistency. This is obviously a long shot for Wigan as Europa League seems to be the target again this year but if other teams have an off season then who knows.

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Pre Season

8/7/15
Watford 2 vs. 8 Wigan
Mamaev(15) Batth(35, 48) Sulejmani(38) Ramis(57, 62, 69) Roberto(85)

I was pretty amazed at the amount of goals we scored in this game, especially from corners as we scored 5 of our goals from corners.

22/7/15
Swindon 0 vs. 4 Wigan
Toure(40) McCarthy(45+2) Doumbia(69, 82)

Routine win as expected, good to see a clean sheet from the attacking tactic.

25/7/15
Wigan 3 vs. 1 Bayern Munich
Kone(46, 56) Doumbia(82)

I thought I'd try the third tactic for the first time rather than my big team tactic from last year and it seemed to work pretty well but it is pre-season so it has to be taken with a pinch of salt.

1/8/15
New York 3 vs. 2 Wigan
Kone(22) Adryan(52)

Honestly don't know what happened here but whatever it was, it was ****.

5/8/15
Platanias 0 vs. 5 Wigan
Doumbia(9, 25) McCarthy(53, 59) Anderson(89)

More of what I come to expect from the attacking tactic, plenty of goals.

Community Shield
9/8/15
Tottenham 2 vs. 1 Wigan
Ademilson(45+2)

Sadly we couldn't repeat our heroics of May as we succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. I will say though we were 1-0 up at half time and two stupid mistakes led to their goals but I'll put it down to it being pre-season.

Managerial Merry-go-round

17/5/15 Wolves sack Freedman
19/5/15 Ferguson and Redknapp retire from football
27/5/15 Guardiola becomes manager of Man United
29/5/15 Malky Mackay leaves Cardiff and takes charge at Sunderland
30/5/15 Zola takes charge of Wolves
9/6/15 I'm offered Newcastle job and swiftly turn them down
11/6/15 De Boer hired as Newcastle manager

Summary

A good pre-season all in all I think as I tested out my new tactics and tweaked them appropriately. I will post screenshots of them below but I'll say here that I'm using a defensive/counter 4-1-2-1-2 for stronger teams and an attacking 4-1-2-2-1 for most other teams. I do have another tactic which is a 4-1-3-2 which I'll be trying to tweak into a possession tactic for similar teams to me, or maybe drop the whole possession thing and create a tactic for half decent teams, we'll see how the season goes. I may be looking to sell Taarabt at some point because he's been playing pretty averagely and missing a lot of important penalties which isn't good for me, plus I have plenty of people who can play AMC and that's the only string to his bow.

Tactics

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If anyone wants more information regarding the tactics then let me know through the comments and I'll post it up.

My Aims For This Season:

Reach the semi-finals of either the F.A Cup or Capital One Cup
Second round/Quarter Finals of the Europa League depending on draw
5th of higher in the league
Keep at least 20 clean sheets
(I know this is less than I got last season but I'm not expecting as many using an attacking tactic)

Board Aims For This Season:

Quarter Finals of the Carling Cup
Sixth Round of the F.A Cup
Second Knockout Round of the Europa League
Qualify for Europa League through league position
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Wigan make promising start to league​

Wigan seem to be carrying on from where they left off last season as they've made a good start to this season's Premier League. One thing I will say is that they've not had an easy opening game since Conroy's been in charge and that continued as they faced Chelsea at home. Taking seven points from their first three games is form that Wigan fans will hope to continue seeing this campaign as they continue their meteoric rise up the Premier League. They will also be hoping to replicate their Europa League campaign last season and they have a good chance of qualifying from their group and depending on the draw they could get evern further than last season.

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Europa League Group G
Werder Bremen
Wigan Athletic
Feyenoord
Videoton

Capital One Cup 3rd Round Draw
Norwich vs. Wigan

August

Premier League
15/8/15
Wigan 2 vs. 2 Chelsea
Anderson(15) Lacazette(67)

Disappointed to only draw as we were 2-0 up and conceded goals in the 88th and 93rd minute.

22/8/15
Blackburn 0 vs. 4 Wigan
Ramis(1) Doumbia(4, 84) Sulejmani(73)

A great win away from home, putting to bed my fears that my attacking tactic wouldn't work in competitive games.

29/8/15
Wigan 2 vs. 1 Stoke
Anderson(pen 34) Adryan(64)

A good win against Stoke where I decided against using my attacking tactic as it uses wingers which wouldn't be much use against the giants that play for Stoke.

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In other news:
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Good form continues for Wigan

Manager Jordan Conroy has kept Wigan's good form going through September, losing only one game out of the four played. The month didn't start too well as they lost 2-1 to Arsenal but from their they kicked on and scored eight goals while conceding one. They made a good start to their Europa League campaign as they beat the toughest team in their group away from home. They've also managed to score a lot more goals than last season in the league which will stand them in good stead for the end of the season as goal difference could mean the difference between Champions League and Europa League. If Wigan continue their current form I see no reason why they can't challenge for fourth spot.

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Capital One Cup 4th Round Draw
Bristol Rovers vs. Wigan

September

Premier League
12/9/15
Arsenal 2 vs. 1 Wigan
Kone(90+4)

Completely outplayed here and the late goal was nothing but consolation.

Europa League Group G
17/9/15
Werder Bremen 1 vs. 2 Wigan
Wellington Nem(pen 64) Mameav(88)

It's good to see that our habit of scoring late goals from last season's Europa League group has continued and we played well after going 1-0 down.

Capital One Cup 3rd Round
22/9/15
Norwich 0 vs. 2 Wigan
Adriano(45) Ademilson(78)

A routine win against the now Championship side Norwich.

Premier League
26/9/15
Birmingham 0 vs. 4 Wigan
Doumbia(1) Caldwell(9) Lacazette(13) Mamaev(76)

It's good to see that we can score lots without conceding as it will do out goal difference a world of good come the end of the season so I was really pleased with this result.

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Wigan smash Liverpool as good run continues

Wigan Athletic have been brushing aside teams this season with relative ease compared to last season and have been troubling the tougher teams as well. Despite a 2-1 loss to Man City, Wigan won all their games this month and the highlight being their 4-0 win against Liverpool. Since Conroy has been in charge of Wigan, they have not lost a game to Liverpool and they kept that up in spectacular fashion. Wigan have also continued their great form in the Europa League by winning their two group games meaning that if they win the next one they will top the group with two games to go. They've also got through to the quarter finals of the Capital One Cup for the second time in a row and will be looking to go at least one step further than last season.

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Capital One Cup Quarter Final Draw
Newcastle vs. Wigan

October

Europa League Group G
1/10/15
Wigan 3 vs. 1 Feyenoord
Doumbia(17) Anderson(33) O.G(71)

A solid win against what could be a tough team, with the team we have to play next that should see us qualified from the group.

Premier League
4/10/15
Wigan 4 vs. 0 Liverpool
Batth(19) Doumbia(30) Kone(65) Abu(80)

A great win against a tough Liverpool side, probably helped by them going down to 10 men within 15 minutes.

17/10/15
Man City 2 vs. 1 Wigan
Anderson(8)

A little bit annoyed at this one as we were 1-0 up then they equalised in the 45th minute before winning it in the 92nd minute.

Europa League Group G
22/10/15
Videoton 0 vs. 2 Wigan
Doumbia(44, 84)

An easy win against a simple opposition, a win at home will see us top the group with two games to go.

Capital One Cup 4th Round
27/10/15
Bristol Rovers 3 vs. 6 Wigan
Toure(4) Ademilson(17, 29, 42) Lacazette(50) Doumbia(80)

Not too sure what happened with our defence this game as it seemed to think we'd won the game without playing but our attack bailed us out with Ademilson scoring his first hat-trick for the club.

Premier League
31/10/15
Wigan 2 vs. 0 QPR
Lacazette(21) Mamaev(36)

A routine win, not much to say about it really.

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