Wigan's Troubles Mounting - Football (Soccer) News And Picks

Wigan's Troubles Mounting
By Tim Robertson
Posted: 9:00 am PDT 2007-01-25

West Ham have taken all the headlines, but they are not alone in crashing back to earth after a fantastic first season after promotion in the Premiership.

Wigan defied all the pundits to finish 10^th in the Premiership last year, having been in the hunt for Europe throughout the first half of the campaign.

They got off to another decent start this time around, but a club record-equaling seventh successive defeat - 2-0 at home to Everton on Sunday - has left them two points above the relegation zone.

Manager Paul Jewell took the good times with a pinch of salt last season and won't be panicking now, but he has a growing list of problems.

Three key players - Arjan de Zeeuw, Paul Scharner and Henri Camara - are in the treatment room, while forward Lee McCulloch has rocked the boat further by submitting a written transfer request on what Jewell described as a "tatty piece of paper".

McCulloch's situation seems particularly odd - with Rangers known to be interested, the Scottish international is taking the advice of an agent - John Viola - who does not yet represent him. This is exactly that sort of off-field distraction that Jewell can do without as he attempts to figure out what has gone wrong with this team.

He has always been given the resources to compete by his wealthy chairman Dave Whelan. But attracting players to Wigan - even once they had established a foothold in the top flight last season - is a major problem.

This is a rugby league town. It will never be fashionable, and nor will its football club.

Jewell was hoping to have brought in battling midfielder Papa Bouba Diop from Fulham (yes - the Cottagers are selling yet another top player) by now, but having agreed a 4 euro million fee for the player, the deal has stalled over personal terms. Interpret that as Diop's reluctance to join a club seemingly locked into a downward spiral.

Another of Jewell's targets is West Ham striker Marlon Harewood, but while the East London club would happily part with the 27-year-old, they don't want to see him join a relegation rival.

Facing such obstacles, Jewell has to get creative - hence this week's story that he is planning a move to sign South Korea international striker Lee Chun-soo, who plays in the K-League for Ulsan Tigers.

The 25-year-old former Asian Young Footballer of the Year failed to make the grade in Spain in 2003 with Real Sociedad, but Jewell feels he has matured enough to deserve another crack at Europe.

It's among the biggest challenges that the well-travelled Jewell has faced in his career, but Whelan is backing the Liverpudlian to get the Latics through their problems.

"It's not easy," Whelan said. "It's panic buying through this break, but we do not want to buy players we don't really want. Paul is working hard every day. It's just not easy to get players to come to Wigan.

"One of the reasons is we're not recognised as a premier team, and we have to accept that. We have to establish ourselves."

A 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth in the FA Cup has spared Wigan a fixture this weekend. That gives them more time to prepare for what looks like an increasingly vital clash against this season's overachieving new boys, Reading, who they play next Tuesday.

Steve Coppell's team lie eighth after beating Sheffield United 3-1 at the weekend, and will be clear favourites on WagerWeb.com at home.

But then there are no easy games - not when you slip into Wigan's position.

"At present we've a problem," Whelan added. "It's so tough at the bottom of this division, and everybody knows that. We're all fighting for our lives.

"Once we get the injured players back I think we could be okay, but these are hard times."

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