Paper Talk: Double Swoop/Jewell joy at victory

Last updated : 15 February 2005 By Wigan Evening Post.
Emerson Thome
The Latics manager has made no secret of his desire to bring Akinbiyi to the club, but after having one bid rejected, wants to know what price Stoke have put on the striker's head before making another.

As for the possibility of the loan deal, Jewell was on the phone over the weekend trying to grease the wheels.

He wouldn't idenitify his target or the player's position, but he could be after cover for the centre of his defence as Emerson Thome faces an injury lay-off.

Thome lasted just 12 minutes of the win at Crewe before pulling a hamstring muscle, and with his recovery expected to be measured in weeks, that leaves Latics with only Matt Jackson and Ian Breckin to play in the middle.

Revealing the latest on the Akinbiyi bid, Jewell said: "I am hopeful of getting him and I would like to bring him here. Ade's honesty and work-rate is unbelievable and he is a real handful to play against.

"When the lad was at Leicester a few years ago he got abused by the media and a lot of supporters but he never hid.

"He's bounced back from that experience and that impressed me.

"Whether we get him I don't know because there are other clubs interested, but he is one I'd like to bring in.

"Our first bid was rejected by Stoke so I spoke to their manager Tony Pulis on Friday and asked him to come back to me with what price they're looking for. He has to wait and hear what their directors in Iceland say."

Turning to the other piece of business he hopes to do this week, Jewell said: "I spoke to a manager over the weekend about loaning a player.

"That manager is thinking about it and we'll wait to see what he says."

While not one to overload his squad, Jewell acknowledges that he could do with some extra bodies to aid Latics' promotion push.

The injury to Thome is an untimely one, the Brazilian having established himself in the first team over the last six weeks.

Jewell said: "Strangely enough, Emo's problem is with the same hamstring he injured against Crewe earlier in the season. It's not an injury you want to rush him back from because if it goes again, he could be out for a while.

"We will have to monitor him but at this early stage of the week, I would say he has to be struggling for the weekend."

Jackson and Breckin resumed their partnership at Crewe when Thome went off, skipper Jackson having been dropped from the starting line-up.

Jewell said: "It was a tough decision leaving Jacko out, but being the professional he is, he took it on the chin, although he was disappointed.

"He came on when Emo was injured and did extremely well – I didn't expect anything else of him."

* Fans have until 5pm on Friday afternoon to buy their tickets for the Leeds game. The visitors have sold 4,300 of their allocation so far.

Jewell joy at victory

Paul Jewell
Wigan Athletic boss Paul Jewell has praised the determination shown by his players in the victory against Crewe.

The promotion hopefuls had to cope with playing into a gale force wind in the second-half at Gresty Road but managed to run out worthy 3-1 winners.

Two goals from Jason Roberts either side of a Nathan Ellington penalty saw Latics collect their third successive away win in the league.

With automatic promotion rivals Ipswich and Sunderland also winning, the top three stay the same, although the gap over fourth place widened to eight points.

A jubilant Jewell said: "I told the lads that this was the type of game where promotion can be won or lost. Whoever fancied it the most would win the game, and we rolled our sleeves up and had a right go.

"The pitch wasn't great and the wind was terrible – they are all excuses if you want them, but we battled through to get three points.

"I remember very similar conditions when we played away at Mansfield the season we won the Second Division championship. We battled through a horrible night then and ended up getting promoted, so perhaps we can take heart from that.

"A lot of people asked me questions about the character of our team in the run-up to this game.

"We were described as having a blip and I had to remind people that we had only lost one of our previous five games."

Latics were ahead inside three minutes on Saturday through Jason Roberts, but were pegged back just before half-time by an Andy White equaliser.

Ellington restored the lead with a 67th minute penalty after Gary Teale had been fouled by Anthony Tonkin before Roberts added his second of the game nine minutes later.

Jewell said: "We scored early on and looked like we were going to overrun Crewe in the first 25 minutes, because they couldn't get out of their half.

"But we didn't make the most of the situation and they equalised just before half-time which was a kick in the teeth.

"I got into the lads at half-time and during the second half we bounced back well.

"We got the ball down on the ground, got it down the sides of the strikers and we looked a threat on the break.

"Jason's goals were two great finishes and while Nathan has been a bit low on confidence recently, he looked a different player once the penalty went in.

Tealely was a handful on the wing and he's as quick as anyone in this league.

"With the penalty, I had an Arsene Wenger view to be honest.

"I thought Tealely got across the lad well and if he touches him in the box, he's entitled to go down.

"I don't think it was a dive and there was a gust of wind at the time which might have added to it!"

Nicky Eaden signed a new one-year contract before the game, Jewell rewarding him for winning the battle with David Wright for the right-back position.

He said: "Nicky is a 'steady Eddie', someone who doesn't get the headlines or doesn't get his name sung by the crowd too often.

"At the moment he's responding to the challenge of David Wright coming here, and he's someone I'm keen to keep here."

On the recruitment front, Jewell confirmed he'd held talks with Stoke manager Tony Pulis about Ade Akinbiyi before the weekend.

He hopes there can be some progress made with that deal this week, while he's also got his eye on other targets.

Jewell said: "I spoke with Tony on Friday and now it's a case of waiting for them to get back to me. There are one or two other people we are trying to bring in and hopefully getting three points at Crewe might persuade them to join us.

"I think the squad is good enough at the moment but there are always going to be twists and turns, injuries and loss of form.

"I want people to come here and push the players already in the first team – I'm no different to any other manager on that score."