Wigan Look to Turn the Tide

Spain can claim to be a nation of winners. The World Cup, Wimbledon, Tour de France -this summer was one to remember. For Roberto Martinez, the summer will most likely end with his future as one of football's brightest young managers having been brought under serious doubt. Instead, the general surprise at the defeat by Blackpool proves just how far Wigan Athletic have come in a short time. A fact that should be celebrated in the wider sense.

Wigan Athletic are Dave Whelan's club. He fits the image, a straight-talking businessman who built his home town club into a Premier League regular. Yet, to his credit, Whelan has been anything but stereotypical. Whelan has looked outisde the box to keep his club competitive, taking an unorthodox approach to transfers under Steve Bruce and took a chance on Martinez who had caught the eye at Swansea. It is a chance that Martinez needs to take.

The challenge for Martinez is to take the club with Springfield Park roots to a rebrand of Latin football. Like a new bar trying to promote a bottle of Brahma to a punter wanting a pint of mild - it is a tough sell.

Wigan are a team containing South Americans combined with a southern European tactical outlook. They are finding life difficult as a Premier League club unable to attract the top quality signings who can rise above the hustle and bustle. To try this on a pitch and in a town dominated by Rugby League makes the job one step away from a losing battle.

The heavy defeats of the 2009-2010 campaign at Spurs and Chelsea were a strange quirk in a season that represented a success at Wigan. Survival is the only realistic target for the club as a business and that is constantly achieved. Not that many would notice or offer credit for. The lack of support and the size of the town in which it is based offers the media nothing to grab onto. Lazy journalists can no longer paint a picture of Wigan the way they once did. Instead the patronising is left to Burnley and now Blackpool.

Wigan are not a side that has the ability to blow-up due to the lack of resources, foresight or fight. Wigan are a team and a club that have been prepared to take a chance. You win some and must take the losses on the chin - no matter how heavy. What Wigan represent is a side who swim against the tide of playing an unappealing style of survival football. Stoke City can have great pride in their results, but never a brand of football that Wigan aspire to play under Martinez.

Back him or sack him, be relegated or survive, Wigan Athletic blaze their own enigmatic trail through the Premier League. They cause little stir in the London press with their low finishes, but they are a team and club in transition. It cannot be the quick and expensive approach adopted by others. There have been some tough days to take for their supporters and most likely more to come, but Wigan should give themselves time to evolve.