FM 2008: Official Wigan Athletic Thread

Wigan Athletic Football Club was formed in 1932 and gained election to the football league, beating Southport at the end of the 1977/1978 season. In 1995 local millionaire Dave Whelan took control of the club and said that he wanted the club to reach the Premier League in 10 years.

Two years after Dave Whelan took charge the club won the old Third Division Championship and won the Autowinscreen Shield in 1999. The old home of Wigan (Springfield Park) was to see its last season in the 1998-1999 season to pave the way for a 25,000 all seater stadium called the JJB Stadium, linking in with Dave Whelans ownership of JJB. The First game was in August 1999 against the Treble wining side of Manchester United.

Wigan reached the play off final in the 1999-2000 season and lost to Gillingham 3-2. Wigan had to wait three years to win promotion to Division One but when they did go up they went up in style, winning the league with 100 points. The manager to lead the club to this great achievement was Paul Jewell. Wigan then finished 7th in their first ever season in Division One and finished Runners Up in only their second season in the second tier of English football. The club won Promotion to the Premiership in May 2005, The club had met Dave Whelans aim to reach the Premiership in 10 years, a remarkable achievement.

Many tipped Wigan to be Relegated in their first season in the Premiership but the astounded critics by finishing 10th and reaching the Carling Cup final. Their second season was much tougher with the club narrowly avoiding relegation on the last day, surviving by only one goal on goal difference.

First Team Squad 2007-2008

1. GK Chris Kirkland

2. DF Ryan Taylor

3.

4. DF Andreas Granqvist

5. DF Fitz Hall

6. ST Antoine Sibierski

7. ST Henri Camara (On loan at West Ham)

8. MF Kevin Kilbane

9. ST Emile Heskey

10. MF Jason Koumas

11. MF Michael Brown

12. GK Mike Pollitt

13. GK Carlo Nash

14. MF Denny Landzaat

15. ST Julius Aghahowa

16. MF Luis Antonio Valencia

17. DF Emmerson Boyce

18. MF Paul Scharner

19. CB Titus Bramble

20. DF Salomon Olembe

21. MF Tomasz Cywka

22. ST David Cotterill

23. ST Marcus Bent

24. MF Josip Skoko

25. DF Mario Melchiot

26. MF Rachid Bouaouzan

27. MF Tomasz Kupiz

28. MF Peter Moore

29. MF Lewis Montrose

Transfer Budget

Can have up to £12.25m if you tell the board you can avoid relegation.

A good team to be if you want a challenge in the Premier League.

Going into the new year of first save im 6th in the premier league. Have signed Gonzalo Pineda, Victor Anichebe (on Loan) and Nacaer Barazite. Its looking good going into the new year

Hi guys, not many people using this thread.

I am as wigan, currently in my 1st season.

I am just outside the relegation zone think it is by 4 points.

Does anyway know any good youth players that are going to come through my academy?

I really want to stay up this year and then start building the team around the likes of David Cotterill and Cywka(spelling) who both look half decent.

Ill update again soon

Cheers

Dan

tell me about it, wigan aint that popular by the looks of things. Cywka doesn't really come to anything i have found but Tommy Amos has a chance if the right training is given to him. Cotterill gets quite good and with the right signings the team can do really well. Vagner love is a quality signing for wigan if you can still get him. Have managed to get wigan into champions league after finishing 2nd in 2nd season!

When I finish my Liverpool game, I normally make a hash of things with Wigan, so when I start I'll update here

going to give wigan a shot, and use the 12million budget to bring in all these cheap kids with good potential i keep reading about and see if they keep us up and make some profit. breno, alex, saivet,banega,ignashevic on a free, any other suggestions on who to target?

vagner love might take alot of my budget, and might try and get him in january as on my other save he was on the market for 2.5m. alot of the sunderland guys swear by billy sharp, any one know how much he'll be?

Not sure on Billy Sharp but ive tried to sign him in the past only for him to sign for a relegated fulham!? but i rate him and would be a good addition. Signed Vagner Love and just survived in first season Vagner got 22 goals which was joint top goalscorer for the league.

Just signed Ateuro Vidal, Waldo Ponce and Luis Jimenez. Hopefully progress next season

mates, check out my thread, i've won the crown in my first season and am on course to winning for the 2nd time with a 7 point gap. =)

just thrashed FC kobenhvn 7-1 in the Euro cup knockout stages. was THE BEST performance i saw from my players! totally elated! but i'll resign at the end of the 2nd season to take on another challenge!

Hey all, i have just joined wigan at the start of the january in the first season without any patches. They are stuck rooted to the bottom and need some help. 9 points off safety. Any players recomended?

Much appreciated

Is anyone still playing as wigan?

I'm currently now in the 3rd season and back in the prem after almost saving them last season. Sitting quite happy in 9th place. Had a dip in form recently, lost about 5 in a row, but starting to pick up again.

Hoping to get into Europe this season aand have a good FA cup run so we shall see what happens.

My current team is:

GK preston edwards/David de gea

RB stephen carr/justin hoyte

LB andrew taylor/jordan stewart

CB Mateo musacchio/andy webster

CB Craig cathcart(loan)/brian mcclean

DM owen garvan/bocundji ca

RM Christian wilhelmsson/gunter hack/tomasz kupisz

LM daniel carvalho/alvaro recoba/ christian cristea

AM Pablo piatti/tomasz cywka/lauri dalla valle

ST Stabcu/marcus bent/aiman napoli/agahowa/krisztian nemeth(loan)

What do you guys reckon?

Just started up a Wigan game last night. Looks a tough challenge too...

Had 12.25m to spend and so far i've bought,

Marek Sapara (Rosenborg) 1.2m

Pierre Wome (Werder Bremen) 1.9m

Bocundji Ca (FC Nantes) 1.1m

Marlon King (Watford) 5m

Anduele Pryor(Vitesse) FREE

Jonathon Evans(Man Utd) LOAN

So i've spent about 8mil already. I missed out on Ignashevich (free) who went to Espanyol and Derek Boateng (575k) who went to Villa. Boateng would be an ideal signing but other premiership sides like Everton, Man City, and Villa want him too which makes it virtually impossible to get him.

The squad needs improvement everywhere and i've addressed some areas but there's still a glaring hole in the Centre Defence spots.

Taylor and Kirkland are probably the only players worth holding onto in the short-medium term. I'd also try and sign Valencia permanently . He can be a very very good player in this game & 4mil is a bargain quite frankly.Not sure whether he wants to move though..

All in all, it looks like a tough road ahead. I'd be rapt if i had've signed Ignashevich in addition to the others cause it wouldve sorted my CB problem. Dang it!

Yeah it is a tough challenge mate.

not bad signings but i don't believe wome is any good but thats my own opinion. I have also go Ca but he doesn't seem to play that well, garvan is much better imo.

I would say piatti and aquino are must buys and if you can, get daniel carvalho, i got him for 1.3m and thats at the start of the 3rd season so he must be cheap at the start.

I have carvalho on the left wing with piatti as an att mid just behind the fron two of aquino and stancu, does rather well. But stancu doesn't seem to be any good yet for a starter.

Yeah, i know Wome isn't the best but i found it tough getting players who were interested in moving to Wigan.

I just had to get someone decent in the LB spot cause Olembe is useless. Wome's got pretty good physical stats though which i like in a FB.

Ca is capable of being a v.g. player for the premiership, but i don't think he has a fixed PA so he could be crap in some games...

Carvalho was pretty good in 07' so i'll definately have a look at him.

I've heard about those guys, Piatti, Stancu, Torje, Dszudzsak, etc. who are almost like cheat players (i guess D.Boateng is too hehe...) Im trying to avoid signing em' cause otherwise i'll end up winning the premiership in 3 seasons & it won't be much of challenge...

But anyway, yeah, its a good challenge which at least gives you some funds at the start to improve the team and without setting unrealistic expectations on the teams performance.

By the way, how much transfer money have you been given for the 2nd and 3rd seasons?

Have started again with Wigan with the updated patch. Am currently in february in first season and have signed Sergey Ignashivich, Gonzalo Pineda, Ivan Campo, Andreas Isaksson, Dentinho, S.Castillo for permanant transfers while loaning Leto and Chad Evans. am 13th in the league. My best result came at Old Trafford so far with a 2-1 win, was quite comfortable in the end but going to Man Utd is never easy.

I've been playing FM 07 forever and just got '08 this week. This game is MUCH harder. I'm pulling my hair out with Wigan.

I've lost 3 on the trot with 2 goals scored and 9 given up.

I've signed Cabanas, Matt Hill and Perrier-Doumbe.

I'm really frustrated. Of course, IRL my Latics are second rate, but we're not THIS bad. Granqvist is atrocious for me on this game.

Update:

Started again with 8.0.02 database. Defense is much improved with Edman at leftback.

I've loaned Ever Banega at DM to pair with Michael Brown and rotating with Scharner. IMO, Scharner's stats on the game aren't as good as they should be as IRL he's a much better player than on the game.

I've bought Stancu(felt like cheating hee hee). I'm going to plan to wean him in against fellow bottom feeders in the EPL and in the early rounds of the cup ties versus the poor teams. I'll use him as a substitute striker in the regular games.

I also bought Pablo Piatti and will use him similarly to Stancu(cups and easy matches) though with Wigan I won't have many easy matches.

Just started as Wigan, hoping to make a long term file out of it, my squad about half way through the first transfer window:

GK: Kirkland

DL: Hill/Sepsi

DC: Boyce/Bramble

DC: Granqvist

DR: Melchiot/Taylor

ML: Dzduszak/Bouaouzan

DMC: Scharner/Landzaat

MC: Piatti/Skoko

MR: Koumas/Valencia

FC: Stancu

FC: Heskey

Hoping to bring in Eddie Johnson, Breno, Samaras (loan), Soldado (loan) and possibly Jay Demerit in. What good centre backs will go to Wigan first season? Got Luiz Jimenez coming in next season as well.

Finished 8th with Wigan So I think that gets me into the Intertoto Cup which is a massive achievement considering I wasn't sure whether or not I'd stay up first season.

Squad:

Kirkland/Sommer

Hill/Sepsi

Coda/Boyce

Radoi/Granqvist

Taylor/Kaebi

Scharner/Landzaat

Dzudzsak/Barbosa

Piatti/Koumas

Brown/Jimenez

Koumas/Valencia (if I can get 4mil together to keep him)

Johnson/Stancu

Where can I improve to guarantee me European football next season, and to push for the top 4? I'm thinking central midfield and upfront, potentially left back as well.

just finished 1st season on 8.0.2 game. thought i'd do it without buying any1 so did so and scraped survival on the last day by 1 point. BUT, i did win the FA Cup in superb fashion, coming back from 3-1 down against liverpool at anfield and winning in 5th round, then battering bolton 4-0 in the quarters, steaming past chelsea 3-0 in the semis and then just beating man utd 3-2 in the final. heskey had an extremely influential season and will be the forfront of my attack next season. anyway, with not spending any money and selling ryan taylor for a decent 5million i now have 22million (before next season's budget and need to strengthen all aspects of my team). has any1 any ideas? i was thinking i needed a pacey striker to join heskey upfront, a better left winger, a brilliant keeper and maybe a couple of good full-backs for each side. any help appreciated

Try Cassio or Felipe for the goalkeepers they can become world class, Leonardo for Ajax reserves is fantastic at start of game in left mid, do not know where he will be now in your 2nd season. Striking wise, tough one to call.

left winger try abdou razack traore 1.8 mil at most

striker wise.. see if thil is in your game .. also robert from monterrey is brilliant

I took over in January 2008, with the team in about 12th position in the Premiership. I think the previous was sacked because of a 4-0 League Cup loss to Hartlepool...

Anyway, Emile Heskey scored 24 goals and placed second in Euro Striker of the Year (behind Rooney.) Finished 2nd in the league to Man Utd by about 5 points, and won the FA Cup.

The board's expectations for the 2nd season were to qualify for Euro Cup. In the off-season, I signed 3 players. Valencia from Villarreal for 4 million pounds - inexplicably the fans think he won't gel with the team, even though he played the whole previous season on loan... I also signed Harry Kewell from Liverpool for 850k - a bargain. My third off-season signing was Alexis Sanchez from Udinese for 8.5 million - he was rated very highly by my scouts.

In August I signed Pablo Piatti for 1 million, and Archie Thompson (Australian striker) for 500k.

I have a remaining transfer budget of 4.13 million. Sitting 4th in the league, it's currently September 08. I'm about to play my first Champs League game v Barca. Heskey hasn't scored this season, and Aghahowa is injured for at least another 2 weeks. I've brought Camara up from the Reserves and he's doing reasonably well.

I think I need to sell a few players. I have Kewell, Valencia, Koumas, Kilbane, Bouaouzan and Piatti (and even Sanchez) who all play across attacking midfield. Then Brown, Skoko, Landzaat, Scharner, Olembe and Taylor can all play midfield. But then my defence seems bare - I don't think Taylor is up to scratch. Andy Webster and Granqvist are decent in central defence, but beyond that... Melchiot isn't that great.

I've signed Francisco Guillermo Ochoa to join at the end of this season. He's my replacement for Pollitt - I've found Kirkland makes stupid mistakes whenever I play him and Pollitt is brilliant.

Who should I sell?

Oh, one other thing - I don't have a decent left-back. I just put in bids for Fausto Pinto and Juan Krupoviesa. Krupoviesa seems really good, have a look here: Krupoviesa

Thanks in advance

*bump*

I STRONGLY suggest you loaning Fraizer Campbell for an entire season. He scores alot of goals for me. Way more than probably any striker I've ever had for Wigan.

rodrigo palacio (ST) and claudio morel rodriguez ( DL )from boca

palacio is my goal scorer and morel is my corners taker who make brilliant assist for my team

Just started a game as the mighty latics. Bought in:

Gonzalo Pineda DL 2.1mil

Balazs Dzsudzsak ML,MC 140k

Vagner Love FC 9mil (hefty price tag but worth it)

In November sitting comfortably in 4th place. Vagner Love has bagged 9 in 9. Took him a while to get going but is killing it now. My aim is for Europe or atleast top half.

Nice work.

I'm currently 3rd placed, and I will be 2nd if I win my game-in-hand. It's mid-January. Heskey is scoring consistently once again, but Alexis Sanchez has dropped off in recent matches.

And, just over a year into my game, I'm still to address the left-back problem which is so obvious from the beginning. Any ideas?

Oh, I'd just like to add that I'm mainly searching for defensive qualities in my left-back, because Ryan Taylor provides plenty of attacking options from the back but I need someone good defensively. So, heading, marking, tackling, concentration and strength are the main things I'm looking for.

Actually that's the main reason I'm reluctant to dispose of the ageing Mario Melchiot - even though my assistant thinks Ryan Taylor is better, stats-wise Melchiot is a better pure defender and I don't want to concede too many goals.

As an aside, I recommend that if you are having any degree of success you dump Frank Barlow as an assistant - he's not good enough for a club having any success at all.

Iv just finished my first season with wigan which ended very successfully as i ended up in 7th place. the main reason for this was solidifying the defence with Jay DeMerit for £4.2 mill and Josip Simunic for £3.4 mill . Simunic at times was imense but could also on other occasions be awfull. I also bought young left back Joe Mattock for £700k. My best signing by far was striker julien estaban for £1.7 mill. He managed to form a good partnership with Marcus bent and scored 21 prem goals each. I also bought Evander sno for £3.4 mill who had a slow start to the season bt was awsome second half and came second to Estaban as young player of the season.

My team was:

GK Kirkland

DL Mattock

DC Simunic DeMerit

DR Melchiot

MR Valencia

MC Sno Scharner

ML Koumas

FC Estaban Bent

SUBS Weaver Brown Grandquist Agahowa olembe

Iv also had estaban for westham in the 2nd season where he scored 23 prem goals and the 3rd season he scored 26 prem goals.

I aslo offloaded Taylor for £7 mill as i didnt rate him

Wadderz, I've found Taylor an excellent set piece taker and attacking threat as well as a tidy left/right back, but 7 mil is a good price. Granqvist and Andy Webster (who I think starts on loan at Rangers or something) are my central defenders and both are great.

And I think I must surely be the only one who is selling Kirkland in preference to Pollitt. Pollitt is rating at an average of 7.45 a match, the highest in the team, and he is the lowest paid in the senior squad. He loves me now for giving him the chance - I'm on his favoured personnel and he wants a Manager Release Clause in his contract.

Half way throuh my first season Dave Whelan accepted a £19 million offer for Ryan Taylor from blackburn who at the time were languishing down in 16th when i was 3rd. What a complete idiot. Anyways in my third season and the team is:

GK Kirkland/Costil

DR Hutton/Potenza

DL Pineda/Gareth Barry

DC Steven Taylor/Andy Webster

DC Gabriel Tamas/Titus Bramble

MC Gareth Barry/Nuri Sahin

MC Demy de Zeeuw/Brown

AMC Guilherme/Koumas

AMC Valencia/Nicola Pozzi

AMC Dzsudzsak/Cotterill

SC Vagner Love/Heskey/Nicola Pozzi

ive taken over wigan in my 5th season, had a my first 4 seasons with man city (won the league twice), wanted a new challenge so thought id try wigan. They have been relegated to the championship, i have no money to spend and my wage bill is over budget

can anyone think of any players in 5th season that would be good to get on loan etc.

maybe an idea on how to reduce my wage bill to attract some nmore payers?

thanks

Thanks goodness I noticed this thread...

I'm about to start as Wigan, as it looks to be a good challenge. I hope I'll have good fun with it!

I presume its good fun to play?

I want to start a game with Wigan too. This thread was dead.haha

My new FM game with an updated DB is loading up as I type this, where I plan to be Wigan. New kits, logos and facepacks downloaded.

Amr Zaki :>

Update - I just won the league and the League Cup, losing in the final of the FA Cup. Ryan Taylor selected at left-back in team of the year and for England.

Alexis Sanchez was young player of the year and is being chased by Inter...

i started as wigan last night i hav 8.0.0 i signed mariappa, evans(loan) ,marlon king, pineda,samba, dudu cearense and leonardo from ajax i am happy with my signings

do you think i will stay up

ryan taylor was sold under my nose for 7.5 million so i had dat money to add to my 12

I've just started as Wigan as I've had fun with low-mid table teams in the past.

I'm playing a 4-4-1-1 which is working well in pre-season.

My team:

GK: Kirkland

DR: Ryan Taylor

DL: Claudio Morel Rodriguez (signed for 1.7 million from Boca)

DC: Ignashevich

DC: Boyce/Bramble

MR: Valencia (definitely going to make his move permanent)

ML: Aaritalo/Kilbane

MC: Koumas

MC: Scharner

AMC (with farrow to FC): Arshavin

FC: Heskey

I'm 10 games into the season and I am currently 8th. Won Liverpool 3-2 but lost to Arsenal 2-0.

I bought Lita for 9 million.......Hes got 13 goals in 10 games for me so a good signing. Fraizer Campbell is on loan as well as Almunia.

I have a good reserve striker caled Cotteril who will join the first team soon. My defence is doing well but im looking to get an anchor man in the Jan transfer window on a free.... Any Ideas? (sharner is injured for 8 months)

Kilbane isnt getting match fit so I moved him into the reserves till he is.

Any good free signings for Jan?

Hey guys im doing a wigan game (addm updated, 8.0.2 patch), am in my fourth season and the club has done as follows -

07/08 - 18th and Relegated

08/09 - 1st and Promoted

09/10 - 6th and into Uefa Cup

10/11 - currently 4th and have won League Cup and still in Fa & Uefa Cup

i have only just discovered this thread and seem to have a different squad which has cost a fair bit although this was offset with big sales like Valenica for £20m to Man utd and Taylor for £11m to West Ham

Squad as follows with player price in brackets -

Gk - Ochoa (18m) or Carroll (free)

Dr - Jiranek (4.2m) Ben Glasgow (100k) Boyce

Dl - Abdou Traroe (11m) Edman, Figeroua

Dc - Sorondo (4m) Delpierre (8m)

Mc - Segundo Castillo (free) Enzo Maresca (free) Cattermole Palacios

Amc - Merida (1m) Maurico Molina (1m) Zaki

Aml/R - Lovenkrands (4.2m) Walcott (10m) Saivet (9m)

Sc - Altidore (free) Sahar (free)

Hey guys I'm in my second season with Wigan. I was surprised to see the problems some people were having. In my first season i didnt make many signings and finished 11th. Now I'm 7th and the team is looking good.

1st season I only bought A.Traore from Arsenal for 1.5 mill he is awesome, Chris Samba for 2.5 mill, Fraizer Campbell on loan (signed for free 2nd season) And picked up Breno and Martin Taylor (on Emile Heskeys instruction) in January. I sold Ryan Taylor for 4 mill to Arsenal. You should keep Kirkland he is class!

My team now is:

GK: Kirkland / Keenan

DL: A. Traore / Mattock / Babayaro

DR: Martin Taylor

DC: Samba / Breno / Boyce / Bramble

CM: Landzaat (is captain and scores loads) / Papa Bouba Diop / Brown / Hamann

RM: M. Petric (couldn' sign Valencia!!) / G. Bonin

LM: Koumas / Kewell (free at end of 1st season) -Both class!

FC: Heskey / L. Donovan / Campbell / Camara

Tried to sign Vagner Love but he wasnt interested. Also I'd heard about Eddie Johnson but didn't know anything about him so typed him in on the search engine and the only one that came up was from Bradford so signed him. And he was pants! By the time I'd realised he was from America Birmingham had already bought him! Dammit! Also tried to buy Jozy Altidore but ran out of money and missed out on him. I bought Landon Donovan instead and he's been pants so far. Fraizer Campbell is awesome though and is a must buy! I also have Joe Mattock and Dan Gosling.

You must keep Kirkland and Heskey, they have both been awesome for me. Kirkland is 8's and 9's every week!

Hope this helps

About to start a game as Wigan on the weegie update any idea on where to strengthen I will have Kapo who was awesome on my girlfriends game for Birmingham. I take it the defense needs improving?

leandro gioda

magallon

ian harte

instant prem quality defence

yea ryan 12. You'll stay up no problem

Hi guys im in season 2011/2012 and although league isnt great as im 7th i am through to the Champions League Semi against AC Milan!!! Merida And Altidore are amazing, Def Recommended!!

Signings this year have been Julien Faubert £12m, James Vaughan 17m and Arturo Vidal for £10m these are all at least 5 stars rated by my scouts

Hi guys im in season 2011/2012 and although league isnt great as im 7th i am through to the Champions League Semi against AC Milan!!! Merida And Altidore are amazing, Def Recommended!!

Signings this year have been Julien Faubert £12m, James Vaughan 17m and Arturo Vidal for £10m these are all at least 5 stars rated by my scouts

Hows Jozy Altidore developed? If possible can you post a screenshot of him?

Julien Faubert is a good little player, where are you playing him? FB? WB? MR?

Arturo Vidal is very well known and a beast in defence.

Good luck with your wigan save and against AC Milan

I'll try an remember to post a screenie tonight but PES 2009 has arrived and of course England are on!!

i can tell you that he has won the young player of the year first year, and was second in players player of the year second year - he averages near a goal a game!!

Faubert is a full-back although i encourage him to come forward...

Back to reporting on my game, i beat Milan in the semi's but lost to Liverpool 5-2 in the final..... coupled with only coming 6th in the leaghue this has led to a mini-exodus of players albeit with excellent Runumeration -

Ochoa went to Man Utd for £22m and Walcott went to Lyon for £30m plus a 35% sell on clause

so far i have brought Sankhare for £22m, Cristian Rodriguez for £9m and im desperately trying to get a replacement keeper i have bid £12m+ for Gordon, Mandana, Robsinon and am getting rejected - it is getting desperate now as season has began and my only keeper is Allan McGregor!! suggestions please!!

Pele? Costil? Riou? Neuer?

Im gunna start as my last save: How long did it take for your 1st season to finish?