Haven't Wigan had a habit of beating arsenal near the end of the season to help ensure their survival? Or did it just happen the once?
They did it last season (at the Emirates) and the season we got relegated (they were 2-0 down with 10 minutes left).
Wigan going down would be a shame, but how many times have we heard managers say that they would rather concentrate on the league and not the cup. Short term glory or long term safety. I don't see Wigan giving up any players, they will aim to bounce straight back and the money is there for them to cover next season.
And they get to play in The Europa League which should earn them more money. Mind you, the Championship fixture dates are not set up with that in mind. Look what happened to Birmingham a couple of years ago. At one point I think they had 4 games in hand on everyone else. In the end the fixture pile up knackered their attempt to get back to the PL.
I think a lot of our squad are under-rated and have had good footballing educations if not necessarily the top-flight experience. The point I was trying to make to Trumpets is that of course the current squad is not going to survive without a few new players, not sure if he got the message in the end. We won't be starting the new season with the current squad as it is. We certainly don't need quite a few of the players he suggested if not most of them.
A lot of Wigan fans I've spoken to would rather they won the cup and went down than stay up and lose the final. They said they could always bounce back and even if they stayed up they would be fighting for their lives again next season. But winning the cup and playing in Europe is something they probaly won't ever get close to again.
And I would agree with them, if given the choice I'd do exactly the same. And never mind bouncing straight back, it put priority on the Europa league.
Championship plus League Cup plus FA Cup plus Europa League?.... How many possible games. At least the PL is not as punishing and there are a few less cup games.
Me too, winning a major trophy would mean far more to me as a City fan than staying in the Premier League for another year. Same with Europe, it may never happen again so might they might as well go for it.
I can only assume that you pressed 'post' too early. We need at least a new keeper, cb, cm and 2 forwards and that's being generous
The way he was posting it seemed like he wanted to replace the entire team. 4 or 5 Signings would bee ideal.