Looking Forward

Wigan Athletic  (Home)

Premier League

Sunday 19th February 2006

Paul Jewell has done wonders with his group of players who took Wigan up and the additions he has made have been ones who have given the side something different rather than big names who are signed for the sake of it.  Such has been his success with the side that he has had his name thrown into the hat for the England manager's job.  Backed by chairman Dave Whelan, he has produced a system which has made it difficult for teams to play against and they have achieved results against the teams who might have been the ones they were expected to be around in the table.  However, they have failed to beat any of the top seven, except West Ham United, but I am sure that their aim was to pick up points against the bottom and middling teams to ensure they stay in the Premiership.

At the back, Aussie keeper John Filan has made way and Mike Pollitt has made the leap from desperate straits at Rotherham United to near the top of the Premiership.  He has shown he is a good stopper and having the advantage of height, he is good on crosses.  However, his work on angles sometimes seem to need honing and with a Spurs side needing to take all three points today, he could be busy.

The defence contains promising England Under-21 left back Leighton Baines, who likes to overlap as does Ryan Taylor on the other flank, although he has not been a regular this season after signing from Tranmere Rovers.  The established partnership of Stephane Henchoz and Arjan De Zeeuw have been the defensive rocks that Jewel has relied on this season.  While they are not the most pacy of defenders, their reading of the game covers some of that, but with Keane and/or Defoe available, their pace might cause them problems.  One other option for Spurs would be to switch Lennon and Mido, so that Aaron could use his pace against the two central defenders, who might be expecting the big figure of Mido.  Pascal Chimbonda has been a fine signing and has shown some solid defending and a turn of pace to get back and cover if he gets caught out of position, added to which he gets forward to help the attack and is good in the air at set-pieces.  All of which has limited the chances former captain Matt Jackson has had in defence, although he has been called on when required and has done well, having had top flight experience with Luton Town and Norwich City.  Paul Scharner has made the headlines since signing by scoring goals, although he was brought in to stop them !!  The Austrian international has added more experience to the side, but been a player Jewell is easing inot the line-up.

In the midfield area, the vastly experienced Republic of Ireland international Graham Kavanagh, who possesses a range of passes, is good at free-kicks and also can unleash a fierce shot on goal.  Kavanagh is also one who enjoys to get stuck in.  Another former Tranmere man Alan Mahon was signed from Blackburn and he is a stylish wide midfielder, who can provide the passes through a defence to open them up.  Former Norwich City midfielder, Damien Francis is a strong runner with the ball and also adds height to the attack.  His tackling is solid and although not a regular, he is usually in the 16.  Winger Gary Teale has been used frequently this season after signing from Ayr United in 2001 and is a player with ability to beat defenders and put in dangerous crosses. Madcap Jimmy Bullard has shown that West Ham could have used his all action style in the middle of the park and he has had a very good season at Wigan.  He tackles, runs all day and gets forward to score the odd goal too.  Australian Josip Skoko has gone on loan to Stoke for the rest of the season and Swede Andreas Johansson has only had a few opportunities to play for the Lactics, prompting rumours that he might return to his mother country, so he might not be one under consideration by Jewell for this game. 

Henri Camara has had to eat some humble pie after taking an age to return from Egypt after Senegal's African Nations Cup campaign.  He is a nippy striker, who knows where the goal is and can take a half-chance effectively and might feature, as former West Ham and Leicester forward David Connolly is injured.  Scots striker Lee McCulloch might be fit to play and add some height up front, although his physical approach is one that has attracted the attention of referees.  On loan form Liverpool Neil Mellor has scored a few goals as he gets some first team action.  In the absence of the suspended Jason Roberts, he can hold up the ball, but he is also good in the air and good on the ball too.  David Thompson is another ex-Liverpool player on loan at the JJB, although he has arrived via Blackburn.  His career has been injury hit, but he is a player who is willing to both take players on and also to try shots from any distance.

PREDICTION : -  Tottenham Hotspur  2    Wigan Athletic  1

For more information on the opponents and their history, including full result history of matches between the two teams, click here.

Coverage

TV :  
Sky Sports 1
For coverage in all parts of the world, check here and here.

Radio :  
BBC LONDON Digital Radio & Sky Channel 902(live coverage)
BBC LONDON 94.9FM (live from 2pm) 
BBC Radio Five Live (live coverage)  606/939 MW

If available on BBC radio, it can be heard in these countries on these stations ...
Australia (Melbourne) SEN  -  116 AM  Live Transmissions: TWI, Saturday. 12.45 & 1500 matches
Australia (Syndey)  Radio 2  -  1611AM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 12.45 Match
Singapore Media Corp Radio  -  93.8 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
South Africa  SABC (Radio 2000)  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
Uganda  Radio 1 (English) 90.0 FM, Radio 2 (Lugandan) 87.9 FM  Live Transmission: TWI, Saturday, 15.00 Match
North America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Carribean)  Sirius Satellite Radio  Live transmission: Saturday - 12.45, 15.00 (TWI) & 17.15 (BBC) Sunday - 14.00 & 16.05 (BBC) Mon, Tue, Wed - Various times (BBC)

Internet :
www.spurs.co.uk   Live webcast  - subscribers only
Planet football - http://play.www.planetfootball.servecast.net/downloads/sky/spurs-pl04-kean0.ram (free - only available when match is on)

Robinson

Stalteri
Dawson
King (c)
Lee

Lennon
Murphy (Keane 75)
Carrick
Davids (Huddlestone 86)

Mido
Defoe

Unused subs: 
Cerny
Kelly
Gardner

Pollitt

Chimbonda
Henchoz (Jackson 46)
De Zeeuw (c)
Baines

Bullard
Scharner
Kavanagh
Thompson 

Camara (McCulloch 90)
Johansson

Unused subs: 
Filan
Mahon
Teale

Tottenham Hotspur

Mido 24
Defoe 68

Johansson 10
Johansson 67

   
Mido (dissent) 39   

       
Kavanagh (shirt pulling) 84

Wigan showed exactly why they have done well this season and surprised Spurs by not having taken many points off the top teams so far.  Their passing was better than Tottenham's and their willingness to close down and work for each other were their obvious strengths, but they are a solid unit, who deserve their Premiership place.

Tottenham failed to match that work-rate and also failed to dictate the pace of the game, leaving Wigan to take the lead twice and have more chances than a lot of teams have had this season.  Spurs failed to trouble Mike Pollitt in the Athletic goal very much apart from the two goals and goals still seem to be a bit of a problem.  Some of that might have been a result of playing both Murphy and Davids from the start in midfield, as neither is fully match-fit.  Neither was able to speedily track back and both suffered from giving the ball away far too often against a side who made it hard to get it back.

Early on, Murphy struck a volley into a Wigan player and Lennon also took a ball on the full, but it went wide.  Just when it looked like Spurs were going to be able to take the game to the visitors, they broke away to score.  A direct move from a Pollitt kick saw Scharner flick the ball on and with Camara looking well offside, the linesman kept his flag down and that let Johansson in behind our defence to put the ball away past Robinson.  It was a soft goal and one which the officials had a hand in allowing.  This new ruling is nothing more than a recipe for contentiousness.  FIFA must either return to the easily understood version of the law or do away with offside altogether.  At least you would know where you stood then.  Preferably onside !!  As Martin Jol said after the game, the rule is "rubbish".

Spurs once more failed to make the most of Aaron Lennon's pace on the right.  His pace was not exploited as he did get enough service and what he did get was not placed in front of him to run onto, but either made him stop or move backwards to get the ball in the first place.  His low cross into the six yard box was fallen on by Pollitt and in the 14th minute, a slip by Henchoz let in Defoe, who fired in a shot, but it was too close to the keeper, who managed to kick it away with his legs.  When Tottenham did get in threatening positions, they tended to waste them.  One such came, when De Zeeuw dragged Mido down just outside the area, earning a free-kick, but no card from Rennie.  Twenty yards out, it was just right of centre and a good position for a strike on goal, but Murphy decided to take a quick shot and the ball hit the wall and the chance was lost.  Mind you, Carrick later put one ten yards over without troubling the goalie.

But the Spurs equalising goal came out of nothing.  A throw-in was returned to Stalteri and he put a low, hard ball into the area.  "They won't score with just three in the box" the bloke behind me said.  They only needed one.  The ball wasn't a particularly good one, but Mido got a flick on it at the near post and it went across the face of Pollitt and in at the far post to make it 1-1.  His joy was clear to see.  And it could have been doubled as Lennon crossed three minutes later for the Egyptian to power a header that left the keeper rooted to the spot, but he directed it a yard wide.  From where I sat, it looked an easier chance than the goal.  Mido was the centre of attention for about ten minutes, when he also collected a yellow card for disputing a throw-in.

Spurs had a half-shout for a penalty when the ball was crossed in by Lee and it struck Chimbonda on what was his face if you believed his reaction of clutching his face ... which was a common feature of Wigan's play this afternoon.  Our Korean looked keen to get forward, but the stories in the papers that Spurs would go back for Matt Taylor of Portsmouth look entirely understandable, as while Lee gets into good positions, he has to check back onto his good foot to cross every time.

Half-time saw only one change and that was Henchoz off and Matt Jackson come on for him.  It made little difference to Spurs, as he was just another tall central defender and one who had little trouble in dealing with the high balls we played.  An early break saw Davids stride forward and just released the pass too firmly to set Lennon in on goal.  At the other end, Camara tried an overhead kick that carried little power and some shoddy defending allowed the Senegal striker to wriggle past Davids and King to fire wildly over after the Dutchman had dwelt on the ball too long and had it taken off him.

With 66 minutes on the clock, Wigan went ahead for the second time, with a slick passing move between Johansson and Camara being finished confidently by the Swede to give Robbo no chance.  Talk about Tottenham making it hard for themselves !!  But then just as the bloke behind me was regaling all with his Wildean appraisal of the side ("You're all a bunch of tossers"), they proved him wrong.  A long ball from the Spurs back line found Mido's head and as it dropped in the box, De Zeeuw missed it, but Defoe didn't.  As Pollitt came out, he lifted it over him and the ball hit the net.  It was all done at such a speed that it showed his touch and reading of the game to it's best effect.  Sven in row 1 of the West Stand must have taken note.

It was ironic that Keane had been warming up just before the goal and when he did enter the fray, he replaced Murphy, who had been less than impressive, but hopefully, when he is 100% will provide a better supply in the midfield.  Mido then spearheaded the attack, with Defoe and Keane playing off him and Lennon swapping to the left wing, where he did see some more of the ball and gave Chimbonda a hard time.  It was still not a tactic that was used enough to be effective.

With Robinson fielding a long shot from Camara that lacked a great deal of power and Keane setting up a stretching Mido, who got hold of the ball, but could not keep it down, both sides were going for the win.  Keane had a good run up the left brought to a halt by Kavanagh dragging him back by his shirt and this was no worse than three other fouls he had made, thus bringing into question why had hadn't been booked earlier.  But then, in my opinion, Mr. Rennie does not apply the laws consistently.  An elbow in Davids' face by Camara was allowed to go unpunished, while his raised foot at Chimbonda brought a free-kick.  Another foul on King was brought back for a free-kick, but Defoe had the ball in space and was ready to move forward on goal.  Frustrating, but then we all pay our entrance money to see Mr. Rennie don't we ??

Spurs were trying to force a winner, but their final ball was poor, while Wigan had the better chances at the end.  A long cross found it's way to the back of the box and the ball fell to substitute McCulloch, who cracked a shot in, but Robinson had made himself big and his dive blocked the ball even though there was an offside flag on the far side.  Not that Robbo would have known that.  Then with a couple of minutes to go, a cross from the right wing went right across goal and Stalteri got caught out, as Scharner got in front of him to head on goal, but Robinson palmed the ball out for King to complete the clearance.

In the end, Spurs must have been happy with the draw.  being behind twice is not an experience they have had often and they showed good character, but it is worrying that there is still some way to go and games are running out to achieve what Jol wants to this season and get into the Champions League.  Some more mobility and some more accuracy in their passing is required to maintain the push they have made so far.  It is not beyond possibility that a European place is within our grasp, but the draw are killing us at the moment.

MEHSTG TOP MAN : -  JERMAIN DEFOE

Sterling Performance

Alan Fisher

This match showed that Spurs need to buckle down and fight for the right to play sometimes.  With games coming up against teams like Blackburn, Everton and Bolton, the need to get stuck in and work hard will be required.

Having a fully fit team will help.  With all the players we have in midfield, surely we don't need to play TWO midfielders who are not sharp enough for the full ninety minutes.  If they aren't, then start with Huddlestone and then bring on one of the others later in the game if needed.

And neither full back is filling me with confidence at the moment.  Both have been out of the team for various reasons, but Kelly should come in for Stalteri and as for replacing Lee, we have a shortage of takers to fill in on that side.

We need to start picking up wins soon, as these draws are killing our Champions League hopes.

Tony Michael

There were a large number of circumstances resonating around this game which took me back to 23rd December 1995.

A win would have taken Spurs third.

We were only playing Bolton.

Nayim's appearance on the Jumbotron brought a big cheer from the fans and distracted the players.

In the end it finished 2-2.

Spurs never got as high in the table again (on a regular basis).

Let it not be the same this time.

East Stan

Taking a leaf out of Alex Ferguson's book, having just watched that could the number of misplaced passes have had anything to do with the fact that watching the match on Murdochvision - and on a big screen at that - I still had trouble seeing what team a player was from ? I realise I should be grateful to the ref for not finding another reason to book Mido but isn't it up to him to ensure the teams play in different colours.  It would have helped if Wigan had worn their away strip.  Was it easier to distinguish live ? Thinks: I AM clutching at straws.

Elfrid

P.S. I have just finished reading My Father and Other Working-Class Football Heroes by Gary Imlach and for once the blurb on the cover is not wildly OTT. A good read and honourable mentions for Eddie Bailey and Arthur Rowe.

Ed : - I was surprised when Wigan came out in their home kit, but I am not sure it detracted from the way they played and how we played.  We seem to have a problem finding white shirt in recent weeks.  Nice to hear about our former player being fondly remembered too.