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Merry-go-round

Whelan won't force Martinez to stay at Wigan

‘We didn’t burn him!’

WIGAN CHAIRMAN Dave Whelan admits he won’t force Roberto Martinez to stay with the FA Cup winners as they prepare for life outside the Premier League.

Martinez’s side were relegated on Tuesday after losing 4-1 to Arsenal and the Latics manager refused to commit his future to the club in the immediate aftermath of the Emirates Stadium defeat.

The Spaniard is a hot property thanks to his team’s epic upset against Manchester City in the FA Cup final last week and he is reported to be high on Everton’s list of potential replacements for Manchester United-bound David Moyes.

Whelan will have a meeting with Martinez after Wigan’s final match of the season against Aston Villa on Sunday to discuss the future and he won’t stand in the 39-year-old’s way if he wants to leave.

“We’ll have a meeting after the final match and he’s so honest he will tell me then whether he is staying or going,” Whelan said yesterday. “He has had numerous offers. There’s clubs bigger than Everton looking at Roberto every season because he’s a quality manager.

“We have a partnership, we have complete trust in each other, that’s how we operate. Of course we would love him to stay but what he decides I will accept. Whatever Roberto says I believe and I know whatever I say to him, he will believe that.

“I’ve always said to Roberto, we’re very honest with each other, if you want to leave Wigan and go to a big club, you just say and I will release you immediately.”

Wigan, back in the second tier for the first time since 2005, have become the first team to win the FA Cup and then be relegated in the same season. And Whelan admitted the Cup triumph only partially made up for the financial impact of relegation.

“The FA Cup is monumental and historic but to be in the Premier League is so important commercially and financially,” he said. “What made the difference this season is that Lady Luck deserted us. We had the most horrendous luck with injuries – sometimes eight first-choice players out with injury. We accept that overall we were not quite good enough but we also feel hard-done-by.”

Whelan also conceded he would find it hard to refuse the opportunity for some of his players to leave if they are approached by top-flight clubs.

The likes of Callum McManaman, Shaun Maloney, Ireland’s James McCarthy and Arouna Kone are all likely to attract offers and Whelan won’t stand in their way if the price is right.

“Some of the players who want to stay in the Premier League will definitely want to move,” he said. “I can’t blame them for that because it’s such a fantastic place to play.

“And if the players come and say I want to go and we get the right offer, I will not stand in their way. Roberto is of the same opinion, we’ve got to be fair with players and the players have got to be fair with us.”

© AFP, 2013

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