Wigan Athletic v Ipswich Town 
Saturday 17th December 2016 – 15:00
DW Stadium
Jamma's Opening Thought
Following our latest fruitless away day against Birmingham, there remain more questions than answers surrounding Ipswich Town in 2016/17. Why is it that whenever there is a match with ‘nothing between the two teams’ we always come out on the wrong side? Why do Town only seem to start playing once they have given themselves a mountain to climb? And, most pressingly of all, where do we go from here to salvage our season? Taking these increasingly difficult questions in order, we are all well aware, four years into his tenure, of Mick McCarthy’s favoured strategy of setting out to defend a point as opposed to taking the game to the opposition. Interestingly, he said as much in his post-match interview on Tuesday night, admitting that ‘we should be keeping it tight and pushing for a late winner, not trying to salvage a draw’. Comfortable 3-0 wins of the like against QPR have been the exception rather than the rule under Mick and, coupled with the competitive nature of the Championship, that means that the vast majority of matches are going to be decided by fine margins. Previously, it has been controversial refereeing decisions – see disallowed goals against Wolves and Norwich or contentious penalties against Reading – or pieces of individual brilliance – Tom Lawrence’s stunning strike at Hillsborough one instance of a match-defining moment which has gone our way. In more recent weeks, though, the difference tends to have been caused by defensive errors. At St. Andrew’s, as on plenty of other occasions in 2016, these lapses meant that we left ourselves with an uphill task just to get back into the game. Which brings me on to my next question: why do we tend to have to go behind in a match before we see the Blues’ true capabilities? This probably ties in with McCarthy’s mentality above, of playing it safe to start with, before looking to exploit any opportunities to convert a point into all three. When the first part of that plan doesn’t succeed, we are inevitably left chasing the game, more often than not involving the introduction of our more forward-thinking players from the bench. Brett Pitman, Freddie Sears and Jonny Williams all had an impact against Birmingham, and there surely has to come a point when Mick takes more of a risk from the start.
As for my third and final question – ‘where do we go from here?’ – the most immediate answer is ‘to Wigan, for a potentially crucial match in the context of our season’. As Graeme Mac said on BBC Suffolk’s coverage of the Birmingham clash, we would probably not have expected Wigan away to be such a big game at this stage of the campaign. Given that it pits the lowest-scoring team at home against the lowest-scoring side on their travels, the smart money would perhaps be on a not-all-that-appealing 0-0 draw. But, then again, given Town’s form for bucking the trend, who would bet against the Latics reversing their record of 5 goalless games from their last 6 outings…? We could really do with improving our return against the bottom 6, October’s victory against Burton the only bright spot amongst four draws. Wigan certainly won’t roll over either, and will be viewing this as an opportunity to draw another team into the mire at the bottom of the table. But, whereas a home win would close the gap between the two sides to just 4 points, a rare away success for Ipswich would give us some breathing space, and once again have us looking up the table with optimism heading into Christmas
To those heading up to Lancashire, enjoy your trip, and hopefully bring back an early Christmas present of 3 points. To those not making the journey, last-minute Christmas shopping may end up not being such a bad alternative. And to all Tractor Boys and Girls, I wish you a very happy Christmas and a prosperous 2017. Come on you Blues!
The Opposition – Wigan Athletic
Founded in 1932, the club has played at the DW Stadium since 1999, sharing the stadium with rugby league club Wigan Warriors.
They previously played at Springfield Park for 67 years.
Wigan Athletic played in the lower Leagues until 2nd June 1978, when they were finally elected to the Football League after 34 attempts and near misses over the preceding 46 years, including one controversial but headline-making application in 1972 to join the Scottish League Second Division.
They gained their first Football League promotion under the management of former Liverpool player Larry Lloyd in 1981–82, when a points tally of 91 saw them join the former Division Three for the first time, beginning a 10-year spell in English football's third tier, until they were relegated for the first time in the club's League history in 1992–93.
Wigan struggled in the fourth tier of English Football, finishing well down the table, and average attendances fell to 1,845 by 1995.
Local entrepreneur Dave Whelan acquired the club in 1995, providing funds to move into the JJB Stadium, now named the DW Stadium in his honour.
Through Whelan's business connections in Spain, he attracted three Spaniards to the club – Roberto Martínez, Isidro Diaz, and Jesus Seba – who became known as 'The Three Amigos'.
Whelan appointed John Deehan as manager during the 1995–96 season. Deehan took the Latics within two points of a play-off place in his first season, and the following year Wigan Athletic became Division Three champions.
In the summer of 2001, highly-regarded young manager Paul Jewell took over the reins. His first season in charge saw mixed results, but Jewell's second season in charge was far more successful. Wigan Athletic went on a run to the quarter-finals of the League Cup, and won the Division Two championship, securing promotion to the second tier of the English Football League for the first time in their history.
After losing their first ever game in Division One, Wigan Athletic confounded expectations to go unbeaten for the next 17 games and finish seventh in Division One.
The following season , in the last home fixture, the Latics won promotion to the top division of the English football for the first time in their 73-year history by finishing second in the League.
The club's first ever Premier League season (2005-06) saw a 10th place finish, which remains the club's highest ever league placing.
Over the next four seasons, Wigan struggled for Premier survival, with a number of managers taking the helm over this period.
Wigan appointed Roberto Martínez, then manager of Swansea City, as manager prior to the 2009–10 Premier League season.
At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, Wigan fell to the bottom of the league by the end of February. However, despite remaining in the bottom three for the majority of the season, the Latics managed to retain their Premier League status on the last day of the season.
In the 2011-12 season, Wigan reached the FA Cup final for the first time in their history and went on to beat Manchester City 1–0, with a goal in injury time, earning a place in the following season’s Europa League. Unfortunately for Wigan, this season also ended their eight-year spell in the Premier League and they became the first team to be relegated and win the FA Cup in the same season.
On 14 June 2013, Dave Whelan revealed that a deal had been agreed with Owen Coyle to become the new manager of Wigan Athletic, replacing outgoing manager Roberto Martínez, who left for Everton. Coyle left the club by mutual agreement on 2 December 2013 having won seven games out of twenty-three. Uwe Rosler replaced him on 7 December.
On 9 March 2014, Wigan beat Manchester City in the 6th Round of the FA Cup to reach the semi-final at Wembley for the second successive year, where they played Arsenal, and lost on penalties after normal time and extra time resulted in a 1–1 draw. After finishing 5th in the Championship, Wigan lost their Championship play-off semi-final to Queens Park Rangers.
Rösler was sacked in November 2014 with the club in the relegation places, and was replaced by Malky Mackay. Whelan resigned as chairman on 3 March 2015, remaining as owner but handing over the chairmanship to his grandson David Sharpe. The following month, with Wigan in danger of relegation to League One, Mackay was sacked and replaced by former Wigan captain Gary Caldwell, yet the team ended the season with relegation.
Over the following summer the club underwent a transformation, with the majority of the playing staff that had been relegated leaving and a raft of new signings arriving.
The club soon found themselves challenging for promotion in the play-off places by mid-November. Following an impressive run of form in the second half of the season, in which the side lost only once in 23 matches, the club effectively sealed promotion at the first attempt.
In October 2016, Caldwell was sacked as manager and replaced by Warren Joyce.
The Gaffer – Warren Joyce
Past Match - Video Highlights - Trev
A look back to a couple of seasons ago, when Town came back from Wigan with all 3 points:
Media Watch - K L Blue
Mullet's Blog:
http://www.twtd.co.uk/blogs/21620
Tommy Smith:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38288349
Last Monday's verdict:
http://www.sudburymercury.co.uk/sport/m ... _1_4812598
MM on the transfer window:
http://www.greenun24.co.uk/ipswichstown ... _1_4818880
Form Guide
Wigan Athletic Last 5 Matches - Currently in 23rd place with 18 points
Wigan Athletic 0-2 Newcastle United
Aston Villa 1-0 Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic 0-1 Derby County
Huddersfield 1-2 Wigan Athletic
Barnsley 0-0 Wigan Athletic
Ipswich Last 5 Matches - Currently in 17th place with 25 points
Birmingham City 2-1 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 1-1 Cardiff City
Bristol City 2-0 Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town 3-0 QPR
Ipswich Town 0-2 Nottingham F.
Fixtures of Interest
BRISTOL CITY VS PRESTON N.E.
CARDIFF CITY VS BARNSLEY
NOTT. FOREST VS WOLVES
Q.P.R. VS ASTON VILLA (SUNDAY)
The Don Cup Competition
Sorry chaps, usual Christmas time rush in my trade, late nights. I'll get the Cardiff and Wigan captions scored and added to the Fulham preview.
Have a go at this:
Match Referee – Keith Stroud
Final Thought – Bluemike
Following Tuesday night's disappointing result at St. Andrews, this game takes on even more significance as we are definitely now starting to look down rather than up!! It could even be argued that even at this relatively early stage of the season this game could be billed as a six-pointer and a must win affair. That may sound a bit dramatic and I don't really see it that way myself but I know of MANY who see it exactly like that. Being nine points off the play-offs and only five above the drop zone, how can you really argue with it?
I said a while back we would most likely try to limp along until the January transfer window and then maybe bring in one or two. I think the time has gone for maybe – it is now essential we bring in fresh blood or we will be in for a long hard second half of the season. A Murphy-type striker is a must, while I suppose a good box-to-box midfielder who chips in with goals would not go amiss either, but would they be played even if we had one? Some have said a big no thanks to a Murphy return. While that may not be the long-term solution, I would jump at the chance of a return of a fully fit Murphy to dig us out of this hole we find ourselves in. We just miss his strength, power and presence at the top end of the pitch. Nobody is bullying defenders as he does.
Next up is a trip to fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic, who, like us, find scoring goals hard to come by, so this should be a classic. At least my insomnia could be cured for a few hours. I hate saying it is a must win but I do feel it is at the very least a must not lose. We have to keep teams below us from picking up all the points. Yes, it has got to that stage at the moment. God knows why but I believe we will nick this one by the only goal of the game to give us a little respite over the festive period.
On that note, I would like to wish all my fellow Town fans, especially those here on Tractor Boys, a very happy Christmas with your families and loved ones. I hope you all have a fab time and lets also hope that Town can add to the celebrations at this time by getting some decent results. Now that would be a present worth having. *****MERRY CHRISTMAS*****
WIGAN ATHLETIC 0 IPSWICH TOWN 1
..We've just been laughing at your posts ever since.