Wigan Athletic head coach Shaun Maloney has gone on record to publicly challenge his players to display their worthiness to play in the face of their current struggle to find good form.
The Latics have lost five of their last eight league games and have only won twice which has seen them drop to 18th in League One despite brighter form earlier in the season in which they went six league games unbeaten.
Wigan’s Struggles and Successes This Season
In their most recent game, a home tie against 16th-placed Leyton Orient, Wigan managed just one shot on target as the O’s scored on the brink of halftime and then doubled their lead in the 92nd minute to seal the victory.
Wigan’s limpness in attack against Leyton Orient is a recurring theme with the Latics joint with Stevenage for the worst goals-per-match record in the league. When looking at their defensive numbers, you would be forgiven for thinking they are taken from different seasons.
Wigan have enjoyed the joint second-best defensive record in the league with just 16 goals conceded in 18 games. Their defensive departments appear to be enjoying a lot of success at the expense of production from the forwards.
Maloney Issues Challenge to His Squad
Looking ahead to Wigan’s next game, an EFL Trophy round of 32 away tie with Chesterfield, Maloney challenged his squad to earn their right to feature in the starting 11 during a press conference and made it clear that nobody will get there on merit alone.
“Honestly, I’m at a stage where I have to pick a team of players who deserve to be in it, it’s not about whether you’re a player who is on loan from a Premier League club, or even a player who’s graduated from our Academy.
You have to show every day in training and in your mentality that you deserve to play, you have to play. If they’re not playing just now, it’s because there’s been something in previous games that I don’t think is at the level that means they should start now.
So they have to show to me they are at that level, and that they deserve to be starting. Honestly, I am here to win. I will help them become better players, but I’m not here to just help them develop.
They have to show me they have a desire to win for our club. If they don’t do that, they won’t play.
And that’s not just the players we’ve brought in on loan…it’s everyone…whether I’ve brought you in for a fee, a free transfer, or you’ve been here for a number of years.
You have to show that intent…if you don’t match a run, if you don’t win your duel…whatever position you’re in, you won’t play. I’m not here to just hand out games as a charity.”
Looking Forward
With the Latics’ next league game being an away tie to fierce rivals Bolton Wanderers, Maloney will need to galvanise his squad quickly to focus on the task. Otherwise, Wigan, who maintained eight straight years in the Premier League until the 2012/13 season, could soon find themselves in the fourth tier of English football for the first time since the 1996/97 season.
Only a two-point gap currently separates Wigan from the relegation zone. But, with 28 league games still to play, everything could change in the remainder of the season.
If Maloney is to be the man to keep the Latics up, however, he will likely need to bring change quickly. His hope will no doubt be that this latest interview can be the spark needed to turn his sides’ form around.
He will also surely be hoping that the home fans of the Brick Community Stadium can begin to look upwards in the league rather than down, the direction Wigan have been gradually trending in since they fell from the Premier League.