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Paul Jewell stood on the touch line and watched his team go down 1-0. The Latics manager did not earn his money today, making just one change in the second half when things were clearly not working.
Substitute Josip Skoko would have offered a creative option in midfield and Johansson was brought on too late. There was no change of shape, system or tactics and the blame will no doubt be on the injuries to key players.
The team needed an impetus and there was none forthcoming from manager Jewell.
On the pitch, Jason Roberts was disappointing against his former club but strike partner Lee McCulloch was even worse.
Paul Scharner gave the ball away for the goal, and went from hero in mid-week against Arsenal to villan today. To be fair it was a poor ball from Baines to the Austrian international who was forced to play out of position.
Jimmy Bullard was impressive in the first half, but spent the second half thinking he was Frank Lampard and had the ability to shoot. Not a problem for Frank, but Jimmy kept missing the target when better options were available.
Play was predictable and ten-man West Brom wanted the game more, they defended very much in the Wigan mould today.
However, Albion were not one of the better sides to visit the JJB. A fully focuessed Latics side should have swept them away, espcially when the Baggies were forced to play half the game with ten men. Something is clearly wrong with the Wigan team at the moment.
The team is lacking in desire and passion and do not look like scoring goals. Outplayed by both Blackburn and Birmingham, Jewell must now sort out his troops or bring in fresh faces. The poor performances cannot continue.
On the positive side, captain Arjan De Zeeuw was once again fantastic while Gary Teale impressed in midfield. The Scottish winger offered the best hope of breaking down the Baggies defence and built up a good partnership with Chimbonda down the right side.
Things must improve for the visit to the Riverside next week. I've already written off the mid-week game with Leeds.
Player Ratings
Mike Pollitt 7, Pascal Chimbonda 7, Leighton Baines 7 (Andreas Johansson 6), Arjan De Zeeuw 8, Stephane Henchoz 7, Gary Teale 9, Graham Kavanagh 7, Jimmy Bullard 5, Paul Scharner 6, Lee McCulloch 4, Jason Roberts 5.
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