WIGAN MANAGER Roberto Martinez believes a a defensive injury crisis is to blame for his team’s relegation from the Premier League.
Martinez’s side, who clinched glory in the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday, saw their relegation confirmed after falling to a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal last night.
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A double from Lukas Podolski and goals from Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey proved too much for the DW Stadium outfit despite Shaun Maloney’s first-half free-kick. The Spaniard felt his side did not deserve to suffer the ignominy of relegation but accepted that they had conceded too many goals throughout the season, brought on by too much chopping and changing.
He told BBC Sport: “I never expected this. I know we were in a difficult position, but the players are an incredible bunch and they don’t deserve this.
“It’s a tough day for the football club. We had an incredible eight years in the Premier League and we need to build for the future. You look at the stats and they tell you we conceded far too many goals. Going forward we were magnificent but the number of injuries we’ve had in the back line is something I’ve never seen before.
“You keep making changes at the back and you suffer. We gave points away and that’s why we are where we are.”
Martinez had hoped his side’s cup heroics would give their fight for survival momentum, but despite witnessing that wish go unfulfilled, the former Swansea boss insists the club has a bright future.
“The FA Cup gave us a bit of hope of finishing the season on a high. It gave us a difference sense of confidence,” he added. “It’s great to win the FA Cup. It’s an achievement that will live forever. The relegation is something we can rectify. There have been many great things over the last few years.
“The club is on a fantastic financial footing. We are stronger than ever. It’s important we make our fans really proud. They supported us like they always do. It’s a difficult time. It’s a time to look forward to the future.”
sorry to see them go down , he’s a good guy too but over the course of a season you end up where you deserve to and as the cliche goes , the league table doesn’t lie
So deluded. How people think he’s a decent manager is beyond me. One week out of bottom 3 in last two years! People like big Sam etc don’t get any credit but its cool to like Martinez
Have to agree dave, they’ve been battling relegation for the last 3 seasons and still they talk about Wigan been a great team and they don’t deserve to go down, and Martinez is this great manager, just can’t understand it. Give him 12 months in the championship and c how good he is.
He has kept a very small club in the league until now while playing decent football and has a profit on transfers in that time.
Lets face it if he had a QPR type budget then Wigan would be miles clear of relegation.
That team will be torn apart now for spare parts. McManaman, McCarthy, McArthur will all be sold and the likelyhood was Martinez was going to leave any way. Whelan has the club in very good shape so they should manage a decent midtable finish in the championship next season and be able to build for the future.
Hopefully McCarthy will go to a prem club where’s he’s a regular, some team like Everton, stay for a few years & then move on to one of the top 4 teams.
Shame to see them go, play some good football. As previously mentioned, would much rather Stoke go down, can’t stand their style of play. But unfortunately that style of play gets you the results that are needed to stay up.
Wish Martinez well in the future wherever he ends up.
To be honest I can’t see Wigan being back in the Premiership in the foreseeable future, the Championship is far too competitive these days.
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sorry to see them go down , he’s a good guy too but over the course of a season you end up where you deserve to and as the cliche goes , the league table doesn’t lie
Wigan play decent football; I’d soon see them stay in the PL rather than a team like Stoke being honest.
So deluded. How people think he’s a decent manager is beyond me. One week out of bottom 3 in last two years! People like big Sam etc don’t get any credit but its cool to like Martinez
Have to agree dave, they’ve been battling relegation for the last 3 seasons and still they talk about Wigan been a great team and they don’t deserve to go down, and Martinez is this great manager, just can’t understand it. Give him 12 months in the championship and c how good he is.
He has kept a very small club in the league until now while playing decent football and has a profit on transfers in that time.
Lets face it if he had a QPR type budget then Wigan would be miles clear of relegation.
That team will be torn apart now for spare parts. McManaman, McCarthy, McArthur will all be sold and the likelyhood was Martinez was going to leave any way. Whelan has the club in very good shape so they should manage a decent midtable finish in the championship next season and be able to build for the future.
The league don’t lie and I’m a Pool fan.
This isn’t an article about swimming.
Hopefully McCarthy will go to a prem club where’s he’s a regular, some team like Everton, stay for a few years & then move on to one of the top 4 teams.
Shame to see them go, play some good football. As previously mentioned, would much rather Stoke go down, can’t stand their style of play. But unfortunately that style of play gets you the results that are needed to stay up.
Wish Martinez well in the future wherever he ends up.
To be honest I can’t see Wigan being back in the Premiership in the foreseeable future, the Championship is far too competitive these days.
The table doesn’t lie. If they didn’t deserve it I wonder who does he think did ? Probably any one of the 17 teams who finished above them !