The life of a Wigan Athletic football fan is not always easy at the best of times but the optimism for the new season felt by many has dwindled since the departure of French wing wizard Charles N’Zogbia.
Wigan Athletic staged somewhat of a ‘Great Escape’ towards the end of the 2010 -2011 Premier League season with a dramatic win coming against West Ham United and a fantastic final day victory over Stoke City ensuring another season in the English top flight.
With survival confirmed the Latics manager was in demand, with Aston Villa making an approach. Although the initial approach was accepted by the Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, Roberto Martinez showed his loyalty to the club by signing a new contract to remain at the DW Stadium.
It’s true that a small minority of Wigan fans would have loved to see the back of Roberto, but in general, fans of Wigan rejoiced at the loyalty shown to the club. Martinez already had legendary status among most Wigan fans but this elevated even higher and optimism for the forthcoming season was clear to see with figures released showing that season ticket sales were up by 50% at one point in the close season. This figure was also affected with the permanent signing of Ali Al-Habsi whom became a fans favourite at the DW last season.
Martinez’s act of loyalty seems a long time ago after the sale of Wigan’s French international midfielder Charles N’Zogbia to Aston Villa. Pessimism has again engulfed the message boards and football forums with many concerned about the ambition of the club and with another difficult season predicted. It is clear to see why the fans enthusiasm for the new season has dwindled.
N’Zogbia is a direct player who excites whenever he gets on the ball. He beats players with considerable ease and is always looking to hurt opposition defences. At the end of last season every time he seemed to touch the ball something happened and one may say in comparison to Antonio Valencia, in his time at the DW, I can comfortably say that I would prefer N’Zogbia in my team emphasising the club’s loss.
So which players are being linked with joining the Martinez revolution at Wigan to cover the sale of N’Zogbia? The Paraguayan attacker Nelson Valdez is the first player on most Wigan fan’s lips. From the games I have seen he does not seem to have the flair, which N’Zogbia has an abundance of, but works hard, scores goals and can play as an out and out striker or drift into a wide role and would fit into the 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formation adopted at Wigan.