He wants the players and the supporters to show their love for Wigan Athletic and just how important his club is.
We’ve had a difficult season, perhaps the biggest so far in our history as Martinez seeks to transform the team from perennial relegation battles into something a bit more special. The green shoots are there for everyone to see.
The team has a good solid young spine running through it. The players are hungry and at the right time in their careers to offer plenty to Wigan Athletic. Roberto Martinez is a very bright young manager with and equally bright future ahead of him in the game.
Although there are still two games to go, the Latics manager invited the Wigan Athletic fans’ websites into the inner sanctum for a second time this season as he sought to give his reflection on what has been a very important season for the club.
Once again, I am sure all the supporters are very grateful to have such a forthright young manager in charge of the club who isn’t afraid to offer supporters an insight into the working of their club.
It’s taken quite some time, but once again, spread over the next four days will be the full transcript of the interview here for all to read.
Part II
Steve Gohouri is another player who has really impressed recently?
Yes the reason for that is that he has had a difficult time at Monungladbach and he never played for seven months. He is a physical player and if you see him close up, he is a real gifted player in the physical sense.
It has taken us probably fourteen weeks to get him upto his level. When he came in, we got him straight away up to the intensity of the Premiership and he got injured a couple of time which is a sign of soft tissue.
When he played against Portsmouth, he was perfect, he was ready. I then felt that after playing two games in five days, we were risking him to get another injury so now he has had another ten days of working and he will be ready for the last two games.
His best position is as a centre half, but if he could choose he would play on the left side of the centre defence.
Where does that put him in the pecking order with Bramble and Caldwell?
Football will decide. That is where we need to be wealthy in terms of talent in our squad and football will make the decision. That is then when you are in a very strong position.
In the past, I know we have had eleven players and everyone could pick the first team. That is a sign of weakness as when you get an injury or you lose a player because you sell him and all of a sudden you are very, very exposed.
What we are working towards is having a squad of 15, 16, 17 players who all offer something different and take us to a different level. That will allow us to play in a different way depending on the opposition and allow them to compete for their places in a healthy environment.
Steve has been a bit of fresh air in that respect. The hunger he has got to be successful is unbelievable and he wants to go to the World Cup. He qualifies for Ivory Coast and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t go and I have been very pleased with his attitude.
Which areas have you been thinking about strengthening the most?
Well, I think it is fair to say that we have a very good core now but we need to strengthen a little bit everywhere. We need to find a squad where everyone is capable.
I am looking at goalkeeper, at the back, in midfield and also up front.
That was going to be one of my questions actually, the goalkeepers, do you think the four we’ve got here now are going to be the four we’ve got here next season?
No, I think we all know we need to improve in that department. Obviously, Chris Kirkland has surprised me. Everyone was talking about injury prone, and he is somebody who can easily be out of selection. But he has been through major impacts and he has always been there. I think the example was at West Ham, where he had seven stitches in his face and he has stayed there in goal.
I think Richard Kingson has been frustrated because he has been playing really well for Ghana but it is a position we need to strengthen for next season.
Is Mike Pollitt retiring at the end of the season or not?
Hopefully not, because you always assess players and their fitness levels and the way they enjoy their football and it would be hard to guess Mike Pollitt’s age when you seem him training and working. He is a huge, huge character, and an important character in the dressing room.
Especially when you look at we had twenty-two different nationalities this season and that brings you a huge clash in cultures. If I can persuade him to stay on, I would love to have him here next season.
We do have another character who is wondering if he is staying or not, Mr Scharner?
Well Paul Scharner I think has been quite clear with his feelings. I think Paul has loved every single second at Wigan Athletic and I think he probably feels that now is the moment for him to move on.
He says this at every transfer window. I have brought this to show you, (Mud Hutter from August 2009), even then he was talking about not being at Wigan and wanting to play in Europe. So every transfer window we go through this with him. Do you think his mind has been elsewhere?
No I can understand that and I think it would be very unfair to judge him on the last third of the campaign. I think for Paul, the first two thirds of the campaign he was really focussed and he performed at a very good level. I remember, for example, Chelsea at home is as good an example as I have seen him play and in being effective.
I think there have been some games, especially at home where he has been impressive. Probably his levels have dropped a little bit towards the end of the season.
I think Paul is a very, very honest man and you don't normally get that level of honesty in footballers. I think he probably feels now htat he needs a fresh challenge. He has enjoyed every single second here, but after almost four and a half years it is probably time to move on.
I understand what you are saying about him being honest, but he could of just kept his mouth shut for these last two games and then wandered off on his own way?
Yes, but that is what makes individuals. Again, that is a culture thing, sometimes you know that Austrian's don't behave the same way as the English, and Spaniards, and that is where the trick of getting a football club represented by so many nationalities, sometimes requires you to be a little bit loose. You have to understand that if he was from Chorley then I would agree with you!
But sometimes because he has a different background, sometimes you need to look at other aspects. I am looking at how professional he has been, what he has been giving over these years to Wigan Athletic, and overall I think he deserves a lot of credit. He is someone who I respect a lot, because as a professional he has been as good as you can be.
So you will be sad to lose him then Roberto?
Well I have said that before. I think the football club, Wigan Athletic, has got to be bigger than any one individual. We need to start believing that. Yes we don't want to lose players, but we don't want to lose players who are fully focussed on Wigan Athletic and want to improve, and they want to win games for ourselves on a daily basis.
If you get a player who you feel the time is right for them to move on, then we should be big enough to replace them. But at the same time that doesn't mean that we need to be negative towards these characters. I think that we need to be able to look back and say, what they have done for Wigan Athletic, this is the moment to applaud him and thank him.
I remember his very first game when he came on and scored in the Carling Cup against Arsenal. Monday (against Hull) could be the last time a lot of supporters see Paul in a home shirt?
I know he has had a rough time of it recently, but he is a lovable character and I think he will be missed.
No, I agree, when you are part of the family of Wigan Athletic, it is hard. We need to extract ourselves from the emotion of the moment and say that Paul Scharner has been here for four and a half years and we need to recognise what he has done for the football club.
He has played over 100 games in the Premiership and he has been a fantastic servant. We need to look at the overall deal and we need to keep that in mind for Monday.
Has the Premier league surprised you? Has it gone as planned or has it been a big wake up and you have had to change things?
No, I mean you don't take things lightly. Obviously I let a lot of people down at Swansea because we had something special going on and they believed in what we were doing. I can understand that I let them down in that respect.
Wigan Athletic is Wigan Athletic and so in that respect I didn't think as much. You never make decisions lightly, I knew the Premiership inside out and I had watched every single game Wigan Athletic had had over the past three seasons.
If I am honest with you, it is harder to win games in the Championship than it is in the Premieship from a tactical point of view because there is a control element.
In the Premiership, tactically you can control things a lot easier. In the Championship the ball spends a lot more time in the air, there is more 50/50 and it is more a physical league. It is harder.
Where it has been a tough job has been starting from scratch, bringing players in, and getting the dynamics right. With all the issues I have been mentioning, for example having 22 nationalities, having players who probably needed to move on, and finally getting a squad playing like we have got now,.
Do you still think Scotland and Gomez can make it in the league?
Yes, what they have got is the right approach and the right characters. Moments of form will help us to aprreciate them, but they are the right characters to be part of this squad.
I have been very unfair with them because I put them under massive pressure straight away and I haven't been able to handle them in a different way. Jordi and Jason will give a good service to Wigan, I am sure of that.
They have done that this season with their standards on a daily basis. This is something that the fans don't see, but sometimes as a squad, you are as good as your daily work.
This daily work is from the coaches and the staff, from everyone through to the youngsters. Some of the youngsters have been training with the first team and I have been very impressed. It has given me great confidence for the future.
We need to put a lot of effort on the youngsters when they come.
There is a question there, have you ever considered beinging in perhaps a defensive coach? I know we were speaking before that although our goalscoring hasn't been tthat different over the past four years, this year, is has been the goals against that have just been screaming up!
Well I can guarantee you that the reason we have achieved what we have has been because of the staff, their committment, and having the link with Wigan Athletic.
When I am looking at the staff I am looking at something that can affect injuries. You look at this season, and we have had nineteen injuries, throughout the season. That is a fantastic return as the average in the Premiership is between fifty and fifty-five injuries. That is a lot of players out of selection.
That is where you can help with your daily work and things you can control. The staff have just been fantastic in that respect.
As a team we need to improve in many aspects, but this is not down to the staff. For example you have looked at the goals we have conceeded. We conceeded nineteen goals in three games. If you take out those goals the average goes down so much.
We have also conceeded nineteen goals from set plays which is not anyway good enough. We were also playing on a pitch that wasn't anywhere near good enough for the way we want to play for three games. There are many little aspects that we can do a lot better next season.
But the most important thing is what we have achieved this season, and from where we started.
CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR PART III