21/10/06: Wigan 4 City 0Updated: October 3rd, 2007
It’s hard to know where to start with this game, so let’s begin with the team-sheet. Here is City’s starting line-up for last season’s game at Wigan on Dec 26. The players who started on Saturday are in bold:
James, Onuoha, Sommeil, Distin, Thatcher, Sinclair, Barton, Reyna, Sun Jihai, Sibierski ,Vassell.
That many changes are bound to have an unsettling effect. But as only three Wigan players - De Zeeuw, Baines and Camara - started last season’s game, that cannot be the reason for such a dire performance.
The length of our injury list is another factor, but how many of the missing players would improve our fortunes? Beasley and Trabelsi could well strengthen our flanks, but the return of Sun Jihai, Onuoha, Ireland, Dabo and Thatcher is hardly going to turn our fortunes around.
There are other reasons for this performance: the loss of Distin affected us more than we would have imagined, while James’ departure has resulted in communication problems in defence.
But what it all comes back to is the club’s transfer policy over the last three years. The creativity and class of SWP, Anelka, Fowler and Cole replaced in the main by tired legs and workmanlike players who don’t want to work.
Wigan too have seen some their best players depart, have made a hefty profit on transfers and have a wage bill much lower than City’s. Like City, they should be a club on the slide.
But then, they have Paul Jewell.
Getting Bradford and Wigan promoted on a shoestring budget, and keeping them up, shows that Jewell can work miracles. Stuart Pearce cannot.
Opinion is now divided down the middle as to whether Pearce should go. Polls on Bluemoon and Mancityfans show that 50.6% (123 people) think he should stay and 49.4% (120 people) believe he should go.
If Pearce was backed up by a decent transfer budget, it might be a different story. Maybe. But the reality now is, for whatever reason, City are a selling club. To survive in the Premiership we need a manager who is tactically astute, a motivator and a wizard in the transfer market.
Whether that manager is out there is another matter.
~ Pearce’s post-match interview can be found here, while you can see pictures of the game here and at Getty Images.
Match stats
The stats, below, are compiled from the live commentary. The figures for shots differ slightly from Sky’s stats, which can be found here.
Season-on-season table
As we lost away to Wigan last year, there’s no change to our points total in the year-on year table. The bad news is that should all results until the end of the season match last year’s, City would finish in 18th place.
The latest Premiership table can be found here.
(Results against last season’s relegated clubs - Sunderland, West Brom and Birmingham - are compared to Sheff Utd, Watford and Reading respectively.)
Match reports
Wigan 4 City 0 (MEN)
Cries of ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ rang out loud and clear. In some cases, in particular Bernardo Corradi and £6million Georgios Samaras, whose woeful efforts contrasted sharply with those of Heskey and Camara, the observation was astutely accurate.
Wigan crush hapless City (Sky)
Wigan Athletic produced a ruthless performance to hammer a mistake-ridden Manchester City.
When Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison were creating a Manchester City dynasty, Wigan Athletic were emerging from Lancashire Combination obscurity into a new Northern Premier League. The apprentices have finally eclipsed the masters.
Heskey gives City the blues (Daily Telegraph)
When Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison were creating a Manchester City dynasty, Wigan Athletic were emerging from Lancashire Combination obscurity into a new Northern Premier League. The apprentices have finally eclipsed the masters.
Revitalised Wigan gorge on City’s marshmallow defending (Sunday Telegraph)
Throw in their similar lack of midfield and attacking fibre and it is easy to understand why City have lost 17 of their past 20 away fixtures and why Stuart Pearce, their manager, spent much of the afternoon in a grim-faced, arms-folded pose.
Heskey on a high as City face winter of discontent (Guardian)
Manchester City… were so dire it is hard to see how they can avoid anything other than a winter of struggle.
Jewell acclaims ‘tremendous’ Heskey (Independent)
As if a deficit in endeavour were not bad enough, City were bereft of leadership, creativity, penetration, and, crucially, the blistering pace possessed by Heskey’s partner, Henri Camara, and the Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia.
Camara clicks for Wigan but poor City are losing the plot (Independent on Sunday)
City have now earned only one point on their travels in five matches this season. Since last December they have won just one away game, at Villa Park in April.
Pearce left to pick up pieces (The Times)
The silence from the Manchester City dressing-room was deafening compared with all the hot air being spouted by the club before their heaviest Barclays Premiership defeat for 3½ years.
Wigan crush woeful City (Sunday Times)
Manchester City failed to turn up so it was left to their supporters to provide the performance.
It’s all over in minutes after City surrender (Daily Mail)
Things must be bad when the return of Ben Thatcher is something to look forward to. Yet that is the case with Manchester City following their almost shameful collapse at Wigan.
Wigan 4 - 0 Manchester City 0 (The People)
Stuart Pearce’s future hung in the balance last night after one of the most gutless Manchester City performances of his reign.
City players meet with a chorus of disapproval after pummeling (Scotsman)
Hapless Manchester City were booed off by their own fans after collapsing to a miserable 4-0 Barclays Premiership defeat at Wigan.
Player ratings
A special thanks goes to all the extra Mancityfans posters who filed player ratings this week, thus extending my working day by 30mins.
Dr Spectrum, Tokyo Blue, and Niall_Quinns_Discopants make their debuts this week, and are joined by Wookie’s Lair’s FleetwoodBlue and JeffTheEgg.
This week’s ‘Sweary Mary’ award goes to bluemoon, who introduces the c-word to this site. A fitting day for standards to decline.
The ratings come from (in order): Arjan Van Schotte, Grob, Dr Spectrum, Tokyo Blue, bluemoon, Niall_Quinns_Discopants, FleetwoodBlue, JeffTheEgg, MEN, Sunday Times, Sky, Sky Your Rating :
Weaver: 6, 6, 5, 4, 5, 4, 6, 6, 4, 4, 5, 4.7 (av: 5.0)
Hesitant on a couple of occasions and a week away didn’t help communication. (MEN)
Had some shaky moments (AVS)
Had little to do but pick the ball out of the net. Wouldn’t fault him and couldn’t praise him. (Grob)
Blameless for 3 of the goals - Not sure what went on communication wise with the Dunne OG. (Dr Spectrum)
At fault for the second goal - it should be the player coming away from goal’s ball and he didn’t collect. (Tokyo Blue)
It’s concerning that the defenders seem to have little faith in him at set pieces. Positioning isn’t that great either. (bluemoon)
Looked shaky and didn’t really command his area. While none of the goals were directly his fault it’s still his job to organize his backline. (NQD)
M Mills (Vassell 60): 6, 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 4, 5, 5, 4.4 (av: 5.0)
Making his full debut and it didn’t go well. Hauled off in second half. (MEN)
A promising debut. Mature display against a good winger. (AVS)
Showed inexperience but dealt with situations in a reasonable manner. Struggled to get close to Kilbane at times and poor positioning could have been more costly. Not ready yet. (Grob)
Out of position. Not his fault but he’s obviously not a right back. (Tokyo Blue)
Not a RB and did OK considering, totally wrong game to play him in though. (bluemoon)
Few errors but looked pretty solid on the back. Offered little going forward. Looks like centre back, not right back, to me. (NQD)
Richards: 7, 5, 6, 5, 5, 5, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5.2 (av: 5.6)
Half decent given the dross that surrounded him but he tried his best in both penalty areas. (MEN)
Solid display, breaks well from defence and generally uses the ball well. (AVS)
Showed he’s got a lot to learn. Definitely not ready to replace Distin like some think. Camera and Heskey gave him a torrid time. Should have dealt with the 3rd goal a lot better. (Grob)
His worst game for us yet. Everyone has an off-day. Sadly they all had one together. (Tokyo Blue)
Much better RB than in a central position. Looked lost at times today and his worst performance in a City shirt by a country mile. (bluemoon)
Was alright but they seemed to have problems with Dunne on communication. (NQD)
Dunne: 5, 5, 3, 4, 5, 1, 5, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4.1 (av: 4.1)
Quite what he was trying to do with the cross for the second goal only he knows. Not his assertive best. (MEN)
Terrible own goal - completely at fault. Made other mistakes and seems to have become Pearce’s hoofer in chief. (AVS)
Bizarre own goal but was exemplary after that. The own goal was a total balls-up though. (Grob)
Had a lot of responsibility today but was woeful. Heskey reacted quicker to the cross for the first, Camara got away from him for the 3rd, 4th goal was shot across him, 2nd was there for all to see. (Dr Spectrum)
What was he thinking for the own goal? Why didn’t he just head it away from goal? (Tokyo Blue)
Didn’t lead by example. Own goal was truly awful and he looked lost without Distin. (bluemoon)
Absolutely shocking. One of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from any player. He was partly to blame for all of the goals. Can’t get worse than that. (NQD)
Jordan: 3, 2, 4, 3, 1, 3, 3, 1, 4, 4, 5, 4.1 (av: 3.1)
Not having his best spell for the club and unlikely to keep his place in front of returning Thatcher. (MEN)
Slow, poor positioning, poor decisions. Whoever thought we’d be glad that Thatcher was unbanned. (AVS)
Produced one of the worst performances I have ever seen in a City shirt by any player ever. Jason Van Blerk was better. Thatcher’s place in the side is as safe as houses. An absolute disgrace. (Grob)
Out of his depth. (Tokyo Blue)
Words escape me, worst performance I’ve seen for a long time and I’ve seen some pretty bad ones! (bluemoon)
Very very poor overall. 3rd goal was his fault. He doesn’t seem to be improving at all. Plays in too high level. (NQD)
Sinclair: 5, 5, 4, 5, 5, 7, 5, 4, 5, 5, 6, 5.3 (av: 5.1)
Ended game as right back as Pearce searched for an answer to onslaught. (MEN)
Still tries hard but appears to have lost “it” this season. (AVS)
Mr Annonymous again. Produced nothing. We might be able to turn him into a handy right back though. (Grob)
Good cross for Corradi’s header, and I use the word “header” in its loosest sense. (Tokyo Blue)
Tried in the 1st half, but dissapeared into the 2nd half. Poor again. (bluemoon)
Some positive runs and at least TRIED to bring ball forward and create chances. MOM. (NQD)
Johnson: 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 5, 6, 6, 5, 4.5 (av: 5.4)
Couldn’t fault the youngster on his effort and more senior colleagues owe him apology. Remains a bright prospect. (MEN)
Clearly has potential but was lost in that poor team. Harried their players well but was guilty of some poor distribution. (AVS)
I only saw him touch the ball about 10 times. Tidy enough but Wigan away is not where he should be making his debut. He shouldn’t have been subjected to that. (Grob)
Something to build on. Not out of his depth. (Tokyo Blue)
Again it’s not the game he should have been starting in, but the manager would need to take the blame. Played one very neat ball through to Vassell, other than that, did very little. (bluemoon)
Looked bit lost but whether that was down to bad management or lack of ability to read game well enough remains to be seen. Seems comfortable with ball on his feet and created good opportunity for Vassell. (NQD)
Hamann (Dickov 45): 4, 4, 4, 2, 3, 2, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4.1 (av: 3.7)
Won a couple of free kicks in first half but his contribution was negligible and he went off at the interval. (MEN)
Absolute disgrace, would like the guy to fuck off and never dirty the shirt again. No pace, no enthusiasm, can only pass 5 yards sideways and is an ugly bastard with it. (AVS)
Woeful. Thats all I can say. (Grob)
Would the German chainsmoker on 40k a week please kindly make some kind of contribution to the team? (Tokyo Blue)
What a fucking joke this cunt is, the sooner Dabo comes back the better! (bluemoon)
Shocking again. Doesn’t seem to be able to take control of the game at all. Is this the same Hamann who played for Liverpool? (NQD)
Barton: 7, 7, 6, 5, 7, 6, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5.4 (av: 6.0)
Stood out for his work rate alone and some dangerous set pieces but fighting a bit of a lone battle (MEN)
Was trying to do the work of at least 5 men and it showed. Seemed to be everywhere and his set pieces have improved lately. (AVS)
Worked his fucking bollocks off, the only one who showed willing and his dead balls were good again. Our best player. (Grob)
Was he playing? I only noticed him when there was a set piece. Only the one good one in 90 minutes and that just isn’t enough. His effort was decent but the required skill is just not there, I’m afraid. (Tokyo Blue)
Only player who looked like he gave a fuck!!! (bluemoon)
Covered a lot of grass like he always does but again lacked composure on ball to really create something. Was unable to get upperhand of players he was playing against who were supposed to be worse than him on paper. (NQD)
Samaras: 5, 5, 4, 3, 5, 4, 5, 3, 4, 3, 4, 4.5 (av: 4.1)
No physical presence whatsoever and that’s not the way to play against Wigan. Hardly in the game at all. (MEN)
Partly at fault for first goal, will never be a winger. Ever. We can all see that. (AVS)
Was stuck on the left, nothing went right for him but at least he tried. (Grob)
Not his fault. (Dr Spectrum)
He might be a decent striker but he’s not a left mid. Not his fault he was playing there but he was a fish out of water. (Tokyo Blue)
Out of position once again, looked like a lost puppy! Kept trying but when you don’t have the ability to do the job of a left winger, then you’ll always struggle. Once again the blame lies with SP. (bluemoon)
Played out of position and saw very little of ball but on the other hand when he had the ball couldn’t do anything with it. (NQD)
Corradi: 5, 5, 3, 3, 5, 2, 5, 2, 4, 3, 4, 4.4 (av: 3.8)
One great chance wasted in first half and Wigan’s sprightly forwards made his contribution look even worse. (MEN)
Still often holds the ball up well and wins the ball as much as can be expected in a poor long-ball team but on the rare occasion he gets a goal opportunity he invariably fluffs it. (AVS)
Worked hard but it was like flogging a dead horse kicking long balls to him all game. Should have done better with that header. He’s not a bad player, he’s just not the right player for us. (Grob)
Not the right way to utilise him, but he had his chances and didn’t come close. (Dr Spectrum)
You have to score your chances otherwise you lose. It’s as simple as that. (Tokyo Blue)
Shouldn’t be playing upfront on his own, doesn’t have the pace. Missed another good opportunity today. Corradi is the new Sibierski! (bluemoon)
Awful performance again. Way too slow. Can’t target his headers. Missed our best goalscoring oportunities. (NQD)
Subs:
Dickov (Hamann 45): -, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, -, 5, -, 5, 4.4 (av: 4.4)
At least looked ready to burst a lung for the cause. (MEN)
Dickov was Dickov. He’s not good enough. (Grob)
Not good enough but at least his effort is there. Watch and learn Herr Hamann. (Tokyo Blue)
Fucking awful again, did nothing to pose any sort of goal threat. (bluemoon)
Ran around like he always does but with very little effect. At least he created some pressure to Wigan defenders. (NQD)
Vassell (Mills 60): -, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, -, 5, -, 5, 4.3 (av: 4.6)
Will be all the better for the outing and must start next week. (MEN)
Was stuck on the right when we needed some pace upfront to help stretch the game. Did ok though. (Grob)
Cross shot that nearly reached a team-mate. Still not match fit so won’t be too hard on him. Yet. (Tokyo Blue)
Played out of position and considering lack of training etc, did OK, should have done better with the oppurtunity created by Johnson. (bluemoon)
Played out of position. Didn’t do much apart from missing an easy chance. (NQD)
Subs not used:
Hart, Onuoha, Laird