Oooah Shaun Maloney! Cracking song for a cracking player and lesson one for new Latics boss Owen Coyle is that Shaun Maloney is not a right winger.
Our 2-2 draw with Doncaster at home represents two points dropped in the chase for promotion and the blame lies squarely at our new manager’s door.
Don’t get me wrong, I want Coyle to succeed as our manager and I want him to guide us back to the top flight but we seem to be labouring in performances and his tactics for the first half against Rovers left a lot to be desired.
We came out for our home game against newly promoted Doncaster Rovers with the same 4-5-1 formation that we adopted to face Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley. And this wasn’t the 4-5-1 with attacking wingers, and it left our two most creative players, Shaun Maloney and James McLean operating from deep with Grant Holt isolated on the front line.
Such was our defensive outlook that Doncaster quickly took advantage and started to play like the home side. Their confidence grew and they realised the game was there for the taking. Some school-boy defending then ensued and before we knew it the away side we’re 2-0 up going into the break.
There was a noticeable gulf in quality of the players and this shone through on occasion to create some good chances for the Latics in the first half but it was clear to see the players were stifled by the system adopted by their manager.
Perhaps more shocking was Coyle’s static appearance on the touchline offering no guidance to his players and no advice on any tactical changes for the duration of the first half. In short the new gaffer was akin to a chocolate fire guard sat on the bench. Only twice did we get an Owen Coyle meerkat impression on each occasion Doncaster found the back of the Wigan goal.
Thankfully the former Burnley and Bolton boss realised the error of his ways at half time and brought on Marc Antoine Fortune to offer much needed support to Holt up front. The second half was a different story and the Latics dominated through being on the front foot.
Meanwhile the best player in the division was left lost and ineffective on the right wing. Put bluntly, Shaun Maloney needs to operate through the centre of the field and this was none more evident than the strikers own decision to move central late on in the game leaving Emmerson Boyce to marshal the entire right flank alone. As clear a message to the new manager as Maloney could offer.
There isn’t a manager in the Championship who wouldn’t relish lining up with a the big-man-little-man combination of Holt and Maloney as a forward two and it was disappointing to note that Coyle needed 45 minutes to realise he needed more support for the lonely Holt.
In the centre Maloney can have true influence on the game, he can operate behind the opposition midfield and work holes through the heart of defences. He’s wasted out wide pumping in hopeful crosses for Holt.
This is a new squad of players and a new manager and it is going to take time to gel and get a slick operation rolling. Away defeats to Bournemouth and home draws with Doncaster are not the results of a well funded Premiership chasing operation.
There were some poor decisions from the new Latics boss against Doncaster but his half time amendments offer hope that he was aware of the shortcomings and hopefully suggest he’s learned.
The honeymoon period for Coyle will soon be over and the next two weeks home tests against Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest will push the new sides mettle more than Doncaster. We need more than home draws and we need to take the game to visiting teams.
Following a summer of productive and welcome transfer activity Coyle has built a squad capable of challenging at the top, let’s just hope he quickly gets his tactics in order to enable us to do just that.