Jerseybean

Media team strike again…. https://www.bcfc.co.uk

Scotty pre-match: https://youtu.be/M6wT9n0UNk8

Under the lights at Ashton Gate is always a bit special. Just saying NP is yet to win three league matches in a row. Just for giggles and not wishing to tempt fate, the quiz question is….what is our longest ever sequence of unbeaten league games? The answer is at the end. On Saturday Wigan we’re home to Huddersfield in a six-pointer encounter, which they won with an 82 minute goal, from a corner. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64520746 They’ve scored nine times from corners this season. Wigan Athletic Football Club was founded in 1932. They were elected to The Football League in 1978, and reached the Premier League for the first time in 2005. Their first major honour was victory in the 2013 FA Cup Final. After a total of thirty four unsuccessful applications to join the Football League, not to mention a rather controversial but headline-making application in 1972 to join the Scottish League Second Division. The Latics first ever League game took place on Saturday 19 August 1978 at Edgar Street, Hereford in front of a crowd of 5,674, with about three thousand fans travelling from Wigan. Interestingly, it was actually Boston that was meant to quality in 1978, since the Latics came second to them. However, the EFL ruled that Boston’s football stadium did not meet league requirements and therefore the buck was passed to Wigan, following a vote that saw them narrowly beat Southport for the spot. The Tics are no strangers to defeat, but there are some matches that still leave a bitter taste in the mouths of those who remember. Chief among these is the 2009 match against Tottenham, which is burned into the minds of many a hard-suffering Latics fan. A match that saw Wigan lose a staggering 9-1, with four of those goals being scored by former Wigan striker Jermain Defoe. More recently on 1 July 2020, the club entered administration, ostensibly because the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant impact to the club's finances. Due to going into administration, the club was handed a 12-Point deduction. Despite great form, Wigan were relegated from the Championship after a 1–1 draw with Fulham, https://news.sky.com/story/amp/wigan-athletic-football-club-goes-into-administration-12018790 Back in August it finished 1-1 away, which provided our first point of the season. In their last six games they’ve won one, drawn two and lost three, in their last two games they haven’t conceded. They currently occupy 22nd place with 29 points. We will be without Naismith and Conway and NP will likely make some changes given we have two games in four days. Mehmeti for Bell and Weimann in for Scott perhaps. Harry Cornick may be playing against Wigan for the fifth time this season. He has scored twice against them (x1 League x1 FA Cup.) Manager Leam Richardson was sacked in November, https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63583133 They then appointed former Arsenal and Manchester City defender Kolo Toure as their new manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal. The 41-year-old Ivorian had spent the past five years coaching at Celtic and Leicester City under Brendan Rodgers but this was his first role in management. In January they sacked Kolo Toure after 59 days as he failed to win any of his nine games in charge. The Latics took just two points from his seven Championship matches at the helm and at he exited they were bottom of the table, four points from safety. At the end of January they appointed their former winger Shaun Maloney https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Maloney as manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64439406 Maloney played for Celtic, Aston Villa, Wigan Athletic, Chicago Fire, Hull City and the Scotland national team as an attacking midfielder or winger. Excellent presser IMO from NP: In January they signed defender Martin Kelly on loan from fellow Championship side West Bromwich Albion until the end of the season and defender Omar Rekik also on loan from Arsenal until the end of the season. Kelly will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a serious knee injury on his debut for the club against Blackburn. Omar Rekik is a doubt having also been forced off during their trip to Ewood Park and missing the game against Huddersfield. Over the years we’ve won 13, drawn 10 and lost 6. Joe Willams, John Pender, Rob Newman, Scott McGarvey, Steve Johnson, Bobby Hutchinson, Richard O’Donnell, James Tavernier, Andy Webster, Nicky Maynard, Tony Dinning, David Cotterill and Jason Roberts and are among players who’ve played for both teams. The man with the whistle is (sigh) Keith Stroud, who will be assisted by Ian Cooper and Daniel Leach. The fourth official is Robert Madley They are owned by Phoenix 21 Limited, https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/wigan-agree-sale-of-club-to-phoenix-2021-limited-1615838413000 Famous fans include Richard Ashcroft lead singer for The Verve, Sky News anchor women Kay Burley, Stuart Maconie broadcaster, actor and journalist and BBC personality Paul Rowley. They are known as the Latics as it is a short form of the suffix Athletic. Hats off to any Wigan fans who make the 350+ mile round trip for the game. They are part of the Big Help Project whose mission is to feed the hungry, overcome poverty, free people from the burden of unmanageable personal debt, help people into affordable housing: https://www.bighelpproject.com the Big Help Project is a multi-award-winning national charity. The answer: Our record sequence of unbeaten league matches = 24; 9 September 1905 – 10 February 1906.

Spurs ongoing interest…..https://theboyhotspur.com/tottenham-want-deal-in-place-to-sign-19-yr-old-before-summer/

2-0

Correction to my OP it was 18 seconds not 40 seconds!

Everton hit the post 40 seconds later Liverpool score! Liverpool 1 Everton 0 after 38 minutes

One of the things I’m struck by is his approach is the polar opposite to LJ’s NP is concerned with getting the best out of his players and wherever possible sticking with the players who are performing well and recognizes that each opponent creates unique challenges Whereas LJ was fixated on selecting a team that he thought suited the particular opponent which led to constant changes and the weekly lottery I know which approach I prefer! I also appreciate and applaud his comments on Saturday and again here about not allowing people/teams to be comfortable at AG paraphrasing for far too long we’ve been a soft-touch and too nice.

Generally enjoy listening to NP and thought his comments ahead of Wigan were particularly intriguing….https://youtu.be/D7QKwI_h6EY

BBC account…..https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64627655

Update on all loaners…..https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/loan-watch-low-scores-first-pro-goal/

+ he’s heading to Jersey…..https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/community/neil-warnock-announced-headline-speaker-jersey-fa-awards-night/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bailiwick Express News - JERSEY EDITION&utm_content=Bailiwick Express News - JERSEY EDITION+CID_5b40f2d9213e6f487cd9281c52934f0a&utm_source=Email marketing software&utm_term=Read more#.Y-o9sS-nxE4

Also a trip to Plymouth next season is looking a distinct possibility.

Assuming we don’t get promoted ? which of these would you prefer facing next season? Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United Leeds United, Everton, AFC Bournemouth, Southampton.

In Cheltenham but looks decent: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/affordable-michelin-starred-restaurant-less-8129878?fbclid=IwAR1GmIYxQqOw8XrGGNAPoKdnXs8U2aUyhr5cmDu9X4i9dw94cDpcx5wMNCY

Ratings from yesterday https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-player-ratings-norwich-8138369?utm_source=bristol_live_newsletter&utm_campaign=bcfc_newsletter2&utm_medium=email

As per title he lasted three months! https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64616084

Enjoyed NPs grin as he spoke about players being welcomed to the Club but not being allowed to feel comfortable on the pitch - nail on head for me. Consistently under LJ too many were allowed to just turn up and turn out, NP has certainly turned that around and when he has spoken about changing the culture he has been careful not to criticize what went before. https://youtu.be/2naZbs0bOsU

Thank you for popping by again and for your excellent contribution to the opening post, enjoy your evening and safe journey home to you and Mrs Wolf.

Mehmeti was undisclosed but probably £1m and certainly not £5m