03/03/07: City 0 Wigan 1Updated: October 3rd, 2007
Enough has already been written about this shocking display for me to comment on it much further. More important are the two key questions thrown up from the game: should Pearce remain in the job and will we stay up?
While there’s little evidence that changing managers now will help in the short-term (this study by academic Steven Dobson suggests that teams in a slump often fare worse after a change of manager), the evidence of his shortcomings is now becoming overwhelming.
And it’s not just the tactics and the results.
For the second successive Premiership home game the goals that defeated us have been scored by players Pearce has looked at but not bid for. Folan was a player Pearce had been monitoring in January, while Pearce admitted he had watched Leroy Lita four times before Reading snapped him up but “wasn’t sure whether he was good enough to step up to this level”.
Then there’s the question of Perace’s man-management skills. Following the win at Sheffield United in December I launched into something of a rant about what I felt was Pearce’s uncanny ability to dent his players’ confidence. After the side battled to nine points out of nine over the holiday period I did wonder whether I’d gone too far.
But it was an interview with Antoine Sibierski in Saturday’s Independent with The Independent that suggests the criticism is justifed:
A mild-mannered, considerate and fair man, Sibierski is never more angry or animated than when Pearce’s name is mentioned. “I was disappointed with the way things ended at City,” he says, barely masking months of simmering bitterness.
“I never felt any confidence from Stuart Pearce last year. It is why, even when I was on the pitch, I was not the real Antoine Sibierski. I was like another player. When you play without confidence you cannot be at ease with yourself and perform to the best of your abilities.
“I am still the same player who left City last August but I am a player with confidence this season. If you have the full support of your manager and your club, then you can be a different player.”
Former Arsenal player Stuart Robson wrote this excellent piece in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph, describing what happens to players when they lose confidence. Although he was talking about current West Ham players, he could easily have been talking about City. The sad sight of a hapless Samaras on Saturday suggests he too has been “Psycho-d”.
But sometimes it’s the smaller things that strike you the most, like the incident described by Wonderwall at Mancityfans:
We also got a freekick in the last 2 minutes of injury time and Weaver ran to the half way line and held his arms out at his side and said to Pearce should I go. Pearce shrugged his shoulders as if to say “I don’t know”.
The question of whether we’ll stay up is less clear though. According to Oddschecker you can still get odds of 12/1 on City getting relegated, while the best price for Charlton is just 2/5. So have the bookies got it wrong (they did after all have Manchester 16/1 outsiders for the super-casino licence) or are we worrying too much after a bad defeat?
A win on Saturday would have put us in 14th, nine point clear of the relegation zone with two games in hand. Yet there seems to be something in the air, more than just concern about the performances and the remaining fixtures. Maybe it’s the departure of respected coaches Tim Flowers and Frankie Bunn in swift succession, the whispers about training ground unrest and uncertainty about our future ownership, but City have the feel of a club on shifting sands. The fact that five of the starting line-up against Wigan - Weaver, Distin, Ball, Trabelsi and Beasley - will be out of contract this summer only strengthens that feeling.
Added to that is the nagging unease about the derby on May 5, and the fear that our worst nightmare might yet come true.
~ Comment of the week has to be from blueknowall at Wookie’s Lair. Last week he noted how Wigan were preparing for the City match by “biting muck and nettles” on an assault course as our boys sunned themselves in Dubai:
“And when the whistle blows at 3pm Saturday and the rain is slanting down, which team do you back to get stuck in. Bollocks. A week in a Lithuanian training camp would have been nearer the mark.”
~ Pearce’s post-match interview
~ Rtfract match photos; Getty Images
~ Latest Premiership table.
Match stats
Stat of the day is the fact that none of our 20 crosses found a City shirt. The difference between the first and second half foul count might also be telling. City committed eight fouls on players to Wigan’s one in the first half, yet only 5 to Wigan’s 14 in the second half.
The stats (below) are compiled from the live commentary and differ slightly from Sky’s stats here:
Match reports
City 0 Wigan 1
Getting booed off is sadly becoming a regular occurrence for Pearce and his team.
On their showing over the opening half-hour, the negative reaction which accompanied the half-time whistle was totally justified.
Quite frankly, the Blues were abysmal. Virtually devoid of any shape, they lacked ideas and inspiration and totally failed to find any method of combating Folan and Emile Heskey, who scored twice in the Latics’ four-goal hammering of City earlier in the campaign and recovered from a groin injury to terrorise them once more.
Folan thrives as Wigan leapfrog freefalling City (Dan Murphy)
Despite the improvement, an equaliser never arrived and nor, in truth, did City deserve one. Their performance was summed up by a bizarre passage of play in added time when several Wigan attackers were lining up to add a second goal and no City players appeared interested in stopping them. A round of hearty booing at the end and chants of “Psycho, Psycho, sort it out” confirmed that all is far from well on this side of Manchester.
The Ides of May haunting City (Kaveh Solhekol)
On the evidence of this pitiful performance against Wigan Athletic, City will need to strengthen even if they are playing in the Coca-Cola Championship next season. Wigan played like a team who were desperate to climb above their opponents and away from the relegation zone. City played like a team sleepwalking towards disaster.
No laughing matter for City as Folan scores for fun (Steve Bierley)
Pearce would have everybody believe that there is nothing whatsoever wrong with the spirit within the club and that hard work on the practice ground will put matters right. The pertinent questions must be: do the players believe this, and have they the collective will to stop the rot?
Folan proves a snip as City slide into danger (Ian Whittell)
Manchester City’s precipitous nosedive down the Premiership, from the relative heights of tenth as recently as mid-January, continued as Caleb Folan underlined the folly of Stuart Pearce’s transfer policy.
Folan drops City in mire (Pete Oliver)
It is hard to imagine any Pearce side being sent out anything but fired up, but from the way the dawdled out on to the pitch and then barely raised a gear in the opening half-hour it appeared lost on Pearce’s players that they are involved in a relegation struggle.
Folan puts City in relegation battle (Derick Allsop)
Wigan out-muscled, out-manoeuvred and, for long periods of the contest, outplayed City. With a little more composure in front of goal they would have put the issue beyond doubt long before the inevitably nervy final minutes.
City 0 - Wigan 1 (Alan Nixon)
You never know what is coming next from the boys in blue. The extra concern is that Pearce looked as puzzled as anyone about this dismal display.
Player ratings
Ratings come from (in order): Wonderwall, Kinkladze-Ireland, Alan D (Mancityfans), ReverendJeff, Bagpuss (Wookie’s Lair), Sunday Times, The People, BBC, Sky and Sky Your Rating
Weaver: 4, 5, 4, 5, 6, 6, 5, 4.6, 5, 4.9 (av: 5.0)
Poor decision making, should have come for their goal. It was in the air for a long time after looping off Dunne’s head. Had a very similer instance again later on. Also kicked the ball straight to them and almost cost us another goal late on. (Wonderwall)
Does OK. Much better than I thought he would be.. But can you honestly ever say he makes the difference between losing a game and drawing (or winning)? The answer to that is NO. You should always play your best keeper do for me Isacksson should be brought in to replace him for the rest of the season. (Bagpuss)
Richards: 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 6, 6, 5.5, 6, 6.8 (av: 5.4)
One of the few triers, cannot do all the work on his own and has not worked with Sun consitently enough to know whether he will be covered at the back when he bombs forward. (Wonderwall)
Pretty poor actually. A lot better after Sun came on. Wasted at right back. Put him in central midfield alongside Joey. (Bagpuss)
Dunne: 5, 5, 5, 7, 7, 5, 6, 5.2, 6, 5.6 (av: 5.7)
Not at his best today. Poor marking at set pieces and crap heading when we attacked too. He also gave the ball away in dangerous places. (Wonderwall)
Thank goodness he’s playing for us. He makes our defending look quite good. (Bagpuss)
Distin: 5, 3, 3, 6, 3, 5, 5, 4.4, 6, 5.2 (av: 4.6)
Was not at the races today at all, he let Folan go for their goal. He also played stupid balls which were picked off and he didn’t look like he gave a toss. (Wonderwall)
Garbage today. 4 times today he went to sleep. Lets players have ages on the ball before closing them down. Back to his worst. God I hope Ned comes back soon coz Distin has gone on his hols. (Bagpuss)
Ball (Sturridge 86): 7, 8, 7, 6, 7, 6, 7, 6.0, 6, 6.7 (av: 6.7)
Very impressed with this lad so far and I am glad we signed him. He was the only one who looked like he gave a shit in the first half. Also our best attacking option. I dont know why Pearce took him off, he needs his head examined. (Wonderwall)
Solid. Dependable. (Bagpuss)
Trabelsi (Jihai Sun 33): 4, 5, 4, 5, 1, 3, 5, 3.3, 5, 5.2 (av: 4.1)
Waste of human flesh, thank god Psycho took him off. It saved me the task of running on the pitch and rugby tackling the useless, uninterested twat. (Wonderwall)
Complete and utter wank today. Bet he enjoys counting his wad when he gets home. Mustn’t play for the next game. Failure must mean your out of the starting eleven. (Bagpuss)
Barton: 5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5 , 6, 5.4, 6, 5.8 (av: 5.1)
Obviously didnt want to get injured as he was anonymous at best. He kicked the ball about 3 times in the first half and they were all corners. He woke up in the scond half but it was too late. (Wonderwall)
Overun (Grob)
Can’t take a free kick or corner for toffee. But he was our only midfielder with any guts and gumption in the first half. (Bagpuss)
Ireland: 5, 6, 5, 3, 3, 5, 5, 4.6, 6, 5.3 (av: 4.8)
Another one that couldnt put two passes together today, and was also anonymous in the first half. Just when you think he might be coming good, he plays shite. (Wonderwall)
Atrocious. (Grob)
A passenger today. Pull yer finger out son. I know it was 2 v 4 for the first half - but honestly you really have to do better. (Bagpuss)
Beasley: 5, 6, 6, 6, 1, 5, 5, 4.0, 5, 5.6 (av: 4.9)
Anonymous again, and crap when he got a chance. Has he had a good game yet? (Wonderwall)
Honestly I’ve seen startled rabbits in headlights do better. Get shot tomorrow. A complete waste of space. (Bagpuss)
Samaras: (Mpenza 46): 4, 4, 3, 2, 0, 3, 3, 2.6, 5, 4.9 (av: 3.2)
OH MY GOD, he needs a royal kick up the arse and a map of the pitch to show him where the goal is. Poor show today. (Wonderwall)
Hit rock bottom today. Stuart Pearce has officially ruined him. (Grob)
About as much use as a chocolate tea-pot. Should never play for City again. (Bagpuss)
Corradi: 4, 5, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 3.4, 5, 4.8 (av: 4.2)
Well the Italian Job was certainly done on us when we were pursuaded to take this sack of puss on at city. My gran would be more effective and she died 20 years ago. (Wonderwall)
Not that bad in comarison to what was around him. He tried his best but he’s simply not good enough. (Grob)
Did OK once he had a good striker next to him and midfielders who were actually in support. (Bagpuss)
Subs:
Jihai Sun (Trabelsi 33): 6, 8, 7, 6, 7, 6, 5, 6.0, 6, 6.7 (av: 6.4)
Nice to see Sun’s energy in the second half. Gave us an outlet and should be RB next week with Richards on the right wing. (Wonderwall)
Good performance. Must be on from the start against Blackburn. (Bagpuss)
Mpenza (Samaras 46): 6, 7, 7, 6, 7, 6, 5, 5.2, 7, 6.7 (av: 6.3)
Looks overweight, has an arse the size of Fowler’s, but you can actually see something in him. He is a definite starter when match fit. Samaras and Corradi are not fit to lace his boots on that performance. He certainly tried hard. (Wonderwall)
Wasn’t great but will have to start against Blackburn. (Grob)
This guy looks good. I mean really good. he had pace, control and vision. Didn’t get a real effort but scared Wigwams defence to death. Must start in the next game with Corradi. (Bagpuss)
Sturridge (Ball 86).
Subs not used:
Isaksson, Hamann.