Martinez (long read)

[King Binny]

May 2011:

Roberto Martinez entered the room and made each of the fan-site representatives feel right at home, as he held a question and answer session with fans on Monday.

A simple handshake for everyone around the table was enough to realise how much the jovial Spaniard cares about the core of Wigan Athletic.

When the fan favourite returned to his rightful home just under two years ago there was a buzz of enthusiasm and this certainly hasn’t been lost.

Martinez’s coolness and composure in the technical area rubs off in his everyday surroundings. The man oozes confidence and makes people hang on to his every word.

That is the main reason he is loved by so many, be it Wigan fans or neutrals around the country and indeed the world.

His message to the fans was simple: “Be very very proud.” To this he added: “Walk around with the passion for this club deep in your heart.”

Martinez epitomises the spirit and determination of every man, woman and child involved with the Latics. He is a true gent and is destined for the very best, whether it is with Wigan or not, I’m sure the fans will agree that he has undeniable talent.

The Spaniard made it quite clear how the intense support from the Latics fans in the final two games of the season helped push the squad into securing safety in the Barclays Premier League for the seventh consecutive season.

He was in disbelief that the noise coming from the away end at the Britannia Stadium in the 1-0 win was only from 1400 people.

Martinez said: “We have to start next season with the same belief that we can carry on surprising people.”

It is safe to say that Martinez’s positive and optimistic character has rubbed off on the squad that he has developed.

There were clear cultural differences between players in the squad within the first five months of the season and this was summed up in the 6-0 and 4-0 home defeats to Chelsea and Blackpool.

Despite this the boss was quick to jump to his players defence as he said: “It was hard at the start but, towards the end of the season we have developed something really special.”

This has coincided with the constant good form of the likes of Charles N’Zogbia, Hugo Rodallega, Ben Watson and Ali Al Habsi to name just a few.

The united dressing room that has been created by Martinez put confidence in the manager.

“I had absolutely no doubts that we would stay up.”

After the strong end to the season and remaining unbeaten for the final four games, Martinez is of the belief that the club only need to add players if any are sold.

He said: “At the moment I am very happy with the squad, I don’t think there is a real weakness.”

Despite this he made it clear that the club has a long list of targets should any of the key personnel part company with the Latics.

Martinez also added: “Financially we have no need to sell any of our players, but we have been searching for players since January just in case.”

The key to keeping the current crop of players will be down to keeping them all happy, and the first and seemingly happiest of the squad is Ali Al-Habsi.

Martinez sees the Omani keeper as his priority transfer target but is worried about whether the club can get him permanently.

“He’s been so good at improving with us that is makes it difficult now.”

Al-Habsi quickly became a fan favourite and that was addressed clearly by his manager.

“The way he reacted to the fans (against West Ham and Stoke), makes him look like he’s been at the club for 15 years."

Al-Habsi at the age of just 29 is the second most senior player at the club this season as the squad has an average age of just 24.

The only other player older than him is veteran stopper Mike Pollitt who according to his manager has improved more than ever.

Martinez says he has the view of keeping Pollitt at the club in a coaching role and he is already on his way to getting his badges.

In terms of bringing players in, many Latics fans on the forums have been eyeing up Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen, in a bid to bring in some experience and put bums on seats so to speak.

Martinez’s plans however are unlikely to include either of these players as he said: “Players on big wages can cause negativity amongst the rest of the squad; if a big name comes in and underperforms it would be a bad investment.”

The gaffer is certainly under the impression that experienced players nearing the end of their careers are away from being assets for the club.

His positive attitude to the players in the squad at the moment is an indicator that not many players will be brought into the DW Stadium this summer.

The five year plan for Wigan is to eventually get the club into the top ten and further on into the Europa League places.

The building blocks are all in place for the club to become even more successful than it has been.

The young talent in what the club calls its ‘development squad’ has been around for three years now but under former manager Steve Bruce it didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

This has shifted dramatically with Martinez in charge and his view that the ‘talent and energy of the young players is going to be the future of this football club’ gives those in the reserves and youth team a great incentive to perform to their highest ability.

Players like Callum McManaman, Lee Nicholls and Jordan Mustoe have been at the club for a while now and seem to have developed into first team quality players. Some of them may need loan experience to toughen them up for the Premier League, but others are more than ready.

Martinez said: “Callum McManaman is ready, but because of the importance of the results in the last two games it would not be fair to throw him straight into high pressure games.”

Martinez hinted that McManaman will play an important role next season as he attempts to breed through local born players back into the club.

The job that Graham Barrow and Dennis Lawrence have done with such players could allow this goal to be completed in the near future.

Martinez added: “Getting young local players into the squad is my ambition; youngsters born in Wigan being in the squad will show a great sign of improvement.”

Wigan have really improved with young players which has led the reserves to beating both Arsenal and Manchester United this season. It meant that the reserve team was the fifth best in terms of points, only beaten by Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool.

If more young players continue to make it into the Wigan first team, the average age could fall even lower which will mean the Latics will have a lot of assets on their hands.

As it stands the front men of the club are, Hugo Rodallega, Conor Sammon, Victor Moses, Franco Di Santo, Charles N’Zogbia and £6 million flop Mauro Boselli.

Martinez currently imposes a 4-5-1 tactic which sees one striker playing a central role, or so it would seem.

He revealed that the three forward men are all seen as strikers and therefore having the options is essential to the positive rotation of the team.

With Mauro Boselli returning from his successful loan spell in Italy with Genoa, (for whom he scored a crucial last minute goal against bitter rivals Sampdoria) Martinez may face a selection headache.

However, the manager has encouraged having a larger squad and that competition for places can only be seen as healthy.

In the curious case of Boselli, the physicality of the league seemed to intimidate the striker but Marinez’s said: “Mauro is a natural goal scorer, if the key moments became goals, everything would have changed.”

But Martinez was right, everything did change and the hottest talent in South America moved on loan to Genoa, meaning there was a space for another striker.

Enter the six foot, army tank sized frame of Conor Sammon.

Dubbed as the most improved player in the Scottish Premier League over the past two years by his current boss, Sammon made a positive impact for the Latics, including the crucial and well taken goal that drew the side level against West Ham.

Martinez seems to have full faith with Sammon, who provided an alternative strategy for the final run-in.

Martinez said: “Conor brings something very different to the team. For his goal against West Ham, he showed great decision making, the coolness to finish and incredible power and strength.”

With all of these features rolled into the Irish striker, Sammon could be one to watch next season and he has got everything it takes to become a top striker in the Premier League.

The Latics made use of their two loan signings this season to great effect.

Bringing in Tom Cleverley from Man Utd proved a masterstroke as his movement on and off the ball offered the team great options in midfield and to top it off he brought in four league goals as well.

He’s been so impressive this term that he’s earned himself a call up to the England under21 squad as they take part in the Under 21 European Championships in Denmark.

The fans of Wigan would love to see Cleverley in action for another year but, his quality on the pitch means that Man Utd will be very reluctant to let him go.

Martinez believes that Cleverley is more than ready to play for United and any other club for that matter.

He said: “I hope there’s a chance of getting him back and you never know what will happen with their (Man Utd’s) squad.”

Cleverley will always be welcome at Wigan that’s a given, as the fans have taken to him in their hoards.

The midfielder has now become one of England’s brightest young stars and Wigan should be proud that they have helped him become such a talent.

Martinez’s message is clear, be proud of the club, be proud of the players and no matter what other people say, let it galvanize the fans at the club.

 

[King Binny]

Dated May 2010:

Roberto Martinez always ends his column in Wigan's match programme with the same phrase. Sin miedo. It is Spanish for 'no fear'. His players will take that message on to the pitch at Stamford Bridge tomorrow when they try to deny Chelsea the win that would clinch the Barclays Premier League title.

For Martinez, however, the words mean much more. They are also aimed at the people who thought his plan to implement a passing game when he arrived from Swansea last summer was a one-way ticket to relegation. The same people who thought he was wasting his time thinking Wigan could beat a team like Chelsea.

'At Swansea, I signed off with another line,' says Martinez. 'A Por Todas, which means "we need to go for it - we can't waste any time". Here it's completely different. From the beginning they told me I was crazy trying to play good football at a club like Wigan. That we needed to survive and beat the teams around us. Forget about the top eight, it's just damage limitation against them. We needed to change that mentality. 'The message is quite clear. No fear. We're going to be brave, come out and enjoy our football.'

On the wall behind him in the canteen at Wigan's training ground is a print of his players celebrating a goal in their 3-1 win over Chelsea in September. John Terry looks utterly dejected, Wigan ecstatic, next to the words: "Overcoming adversity is a path that never ends".

It is a reminder that Wigan have already beaten tomorrow's opponents this season, not to mention Liverpool and Arsenal as well.

Before Martinez took over, they had never won against any of the Big Four.

The 36-year-old has managed it three times in seven months and if that doesn't give Manchester United hope that the title race is still alive, nothing will. Not surprisingly, Wigan are talking about launching a Sin Miedo brand of clothing.

'Before this season it was 34 games without beating one of the big clubs,' says Martinez. 'With those stats, it would have been too much of an ask to go to Stamford Bridge and get a result. Now it's a different situation. I can see a real belief in the squad.

'When I hear people saying Wigan have nothing to play for - that it's going to be straightforward for Chelsea - obviously those people don't know football. This is one of the biggest occasions we're going to be involved in. It doesn't come any bigger than having a say in the title in the best league in the world.'

Martinez is proud of his achievements at Wigan. He inherited a team that had lost key players in Antonio Valencia, Wilson Palacios, Emile Heskey and Lee Cattermole, and kept Wigan in the Premier League. He did it with a single-minded attitude and an insatiable appetite for work.

When Wigan played at West Ham a fortnight ago, Martinez spent hour upon hour analysing every one of his opponents' home games this season.

After they suffered a crushing 9-1 defeat at Tottenham in November, he began to pore over the evidence on the coach journey home and watched a DVD of the game 10 times.

'It was eight times in a row, then I watched it twice after that,' says Martinez, who will spend this summer in Johannesburg covering the World Cup for ESPN. 'I tried to see it through every player's eyes because there were many issues at that moment.

'It was difficult to sleep that night. In football you need solutions. Once you find them, then you can sleep.

'Looking back, we have been able to beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal because we've been through that experience. It was the difference for us staying in the Premier League, I've no doubt about that.

'We've had real lows and disappointments but the style we play our football has never been in doubt. Never.' So what does Martinez's wife Beth (they met while he was playing for Motherwell and got married in Swansea last summer) think about her workaholic husband?

'She thinks I'm crazy,' says Martinez. 'When I'm finished with work I watch football to relax. I love to see other teams' problems on a football pitch. 'It's fantastic to switch off watching the eastern European leagues, Croatia or Ukraine. South American football, too. They play in a very different way to us, with a real freedom and enjoyment on the ball. I just relax watching that. Not many people follow these leagues, but they're fascinating to me.'

Wigan owner Dave Whelan promised he would not sack his young manager even if they were relegated. He rewarded the team for staying up with a holiday to Barbados, although Martinez and his players have decided to delay it until an international break next season. Whelan has enjoyed a close relationship with Martinez since signing the Spaniard in the mid-1990s as one of Wigan's 'Three Amigos' alongside Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz, helping the club begin their climb from the bottom tier of English football.

He admires the high standards the manager sets for himself and his players. It is a work ethic Martinez inherited from his father, also called Roberto. Having moved all over Spain during his playing career, Martinez Snr limited himself to managing lower league teams within a 20-mile radius of the family home in Balaguer, Catalonia, so his wife could open a shoe shop.

A young Roberto would shadow his father at training sessions and trials and afterwards talk tactics.

'None of them were professional teams,' says Martinez, 'but his standards and the way he managed, it could have been Barcelona. He's just such a special figure in that respect with huge standards. It wasn't just an influence on me, it was a way to live. Football is his life, his passion. When we had a good result the whole week was happy and when we had a bad result the whole week was miserable. That's the way it should be in football.

'It doesn't matter what league you're in or what club you manage, the standards should be exactly the same as managing the biggest club in the world.'

When Roberto Jnr was offered the chance to join Zaragoza at the age of 16, he made the first of two deals with his parents.

'Zaragoza was two hours away but my dad said going there was the worst thing I could do. He said I would think I was a player, start drinking and smoking and leave my studies.

'I told him, "I'll never drink, I'll never smoke and I'll finish my degree in physiotherapy". So that was our deal, if you like. That's why I've never tasted alcohol. When I arrived at Wigan in 1995 and went out with the boys they would try to force us to drink. I said no. My get-out clause was a promise that I wouldn't drink until my wedding, which was last summer.

'My best man and everyone were waiting and said I had promised them all my life I was going to drink, so I had to have a glass of champagne. It was awful. I don't need drink to celebrate. I can be happy with a coffee or an orange juice.

'I've never smoked either. My dad always said that to be a footballer I had to look after my body and there were things I had to give up that people my age were not prepared to. The physiotherapy degree helped me to know my own body as well.

'When I arrived in 1995, lifestyle was the least of the worries among the boys, but now it's changing. It's our job to tell the players what's right and wrong. With youngsters you have to be strict, it's black or white, no grey areas.

'When you're a professional and you've played 300 games, it's very difficult to change your lifestyle. I give responsibility to the players. If a player thinks he has to do certain things to perform, I accept that. But the moment he crosses the line he lets himself and the club down.'

Martinez's second deal with his parents on moving to England and joining Wigan was that he would study a post-graduate course - marketing and business in Manchester - and learn English.

His mother, Amor, also made sure her son was never short of footwear. Martinez is known for walking the touchline in his trademark brown shoes. On this occasion, however, they are black.

'I always wear brown shoes for games,' says the Wigan boss. 'It's not superstition. I was born on Friday 13th so I always felt that superstition and me didn't go together.

'But if football's involved, it's brown shoes. I would say it's my uniform. Other days it's different depending on what I'm doing or wearing. I might wear brown during the week but not the matchday shoes.

'I've got two pairs per season. Half a season for each. Then I throw them out, although I gave the last two to a charity auction.'

Martinez experienced final-day drama twice as a player. In 1997, Wigan won the Third Division title on the last day of the season from Fulham. Six years later, he helped Swansea save their Football League status by beating Hull.

'That's the worst relegation in professional football because the whole club changes,' he says. 'The status, a lot of people are made redundant. That day we had to win.

'This one is completely different. It's got a much higher profile, the whole football world will be watching, but we've got nothing to lose.

'In a way nobody expects Wigan to get anything at Stamford Bridge. When it's down to you to win a game to win the title, it's clear the opposition have a secondary role.

'You can understand why people have written us off. I don't see it as disrespectful to Wigan. Obviously Manchester United think they're going to get three points against Stoke as well.

'We're quite happy to allow people to think we're not going to perform or have a say in the game. I think we'll be able to surprise many people.'

Heskey's late goal at Stamford Bridge two years ago gave Wigan an unexpected draw against Chelsea and handed United the advantage in the title race. Martinez believes history could repeat itself. When we beat Chelsea earlier in the season it wasn't an accident,' he says. 'Until then, we had that mental block and felt we just couldn't get over the line against the Big Four. That day, all of a sudden there was that football arrogance you need.

'That's what we'll to do this time. Try to be ourselves, enjoy the occasion and play in the manner we have this season. We need to be attack-minded and make sure we can score a goal and that allows us to be stronger defensively.

'But it would be crazy and, from a football point of view, very stupid to go there and try to do something we haven't done all season.

'We've got absolutely nothing to lose and that's probably the best position you can be in. If we do that we've got as good as chance as anyone to cause an upset.

'You have to remember that Chelsea are in fantastic form and are three points away from winning the title. But we need to make sure we have no fear whatsoever. Sin miedo.'

 

[Judge Jules]

Brown shoes, eh? Right, that's it, Ryan will be agin him from the get-go.

 

[Hansern]

You'd think some would actually want him to fail.

 

[Buddha]

Cheers Binny. Adds some balance to all those proclaiming the world is about to end.

 

[King Binny]

Dated August 2009:

Fans no longer come round to his house to drink coffee and offer their opinions, but Roberto Martinez is painfully aware of the challenge facing him as manager of Wigan Athletic.

Martinez kicks off his first Premier League campaign at Aston Villa today without the core of the team that have kept Wigan in the top-flight for the last four years under his predecessors Paul Jewell and Steve Bruce.

No Emile Heskey, Amr Zaki or Mido in attack, no Antonio Valencia on the right wing, and no Wilson Palacios or Lee Cattermole in the heart of midfield. Those are big gaps to fill, and the Spaniard knows it.

‘It doesn’t get any harder than this,’ said Martinez. ‘In any club, if you lose the principal players it’s going to take you time to get over that.

‘So we’ve got a new squad, a different way to play and a different philosophy. The next six months are going to be a real challenge.

‘I think the fans know it’s not going to be easy, but only through the tough times can you grow. If we are together and show patience we’ll be able to get to the next level.’

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has promised the man he first brought to the club from Real Zaragoza 14 years ago that he will keep his job even if the club go down.

But 36-year-old Martinez refuses to contemplate the worst case scenario, or compromise the footballing beliefs that saw his Swansea side play their way out of League One.

‘You can’t go into a competition accepting defeat,’ said Martinez, who has brought Jordi Gomez and Jason Scotland with him from South Wales. ‘I wouldn’t be happy accepting we had to take a step back to move two forward.

‘It doesn’t matter how tough the challenge is, you need to find a way to compete on the pitch, and the aim this season is to stay in the Premier League. Unless we do that nobody at Wigan will be happy.

‘It’s quite clear I’ve got a strong belief about how to play and win football games.

‘It’s a little bit of a process and you need to develop your level of performance first. We’ll work towards that, it’s not going to be straightforward. But I’m not someone who enjoys playing well and getting beaten.’

Martinez knows his place in Wigan’s history is already assured. He was one of the Three Amigos brought over from Spain at the end of Whelan’s first season in charge, with Wigan floundering in the bottom tier of English football and playing at their old Springfield Park ground.

Together with Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz, he helped Whelan realise his dream by pointing Wigan toward the Premier League’s promised land with promotion from Division Three.

The three Spaniards shared a semi-detached house on Poolstock Lane, just a couple of miles from where Whelan was to build his £30m new stadium for the club, and Martinez recalls how fans would drop by to air their views.

‘When we got back home from training there would be six or seven people knocking on the door, coming in for a coffee and telling us how they saw the game at the weekend,’ he said.

‘That made the difference in understanding the British way to live and Wigan Athletic.

‘We were coming from a different culture and we wanted to find out about the fans and the city. We didn’t want to be in a bubble.

‘In 1995 it was a big decision for us to come over. You didn’t get too many foreigners in the lower leagues in British football.

‘Once you came the decision had to be wholehearted and the only way you could do it was to understand the club, the town and what the fans think.

‘We haven’t changed a lot as a football club. The Premier League and glamour it brings is the biggest difference, but we’ve kept that family touch.’

Even so, Martinez admits he was not sure at first what to make of Whelan’s vision of taking the club into the Premier League and building a new stadium.

‘I didn’t believe it because in football you’re used to them trying to sell you something that is impossible to achieve,’ he added.

‘But straightaway we saw the sort of man he was. He’s a unique person. He’s got the golden touch in every respect. He does everything with the reason of winning in his life, and in sport it was the same.

‘Things weren’t easy at all. But that determination to get the club into the Premier League and build the new stadium was quite remarkable.

‘You don’t get many chairmen who 10 years down the line achieved what they said they would.’

 

[King Binny]

Dated Feb 2007:

Roberto Martinez was officialy unveiled as new Swansea manager yesterday, claiming he was born for the job.

The former Swansea captain, 33, replaces Kenny Jackett and takes charge for the first time against Rotherham tonight.

He said: "I've always wanted to be a manager since I was a little child but it is difficult to become one because you are either born one or not - and I always felt I was.

"My father, Roberto Sr, was a manager in Spain and I've been brought up with that Saturday pressure. If my father's team won on a Saturday the whole family would have a fantastic week, if not we would all suffer and I have always had that mentality in my football ever since.

"I've been fortunate in my career I've always done what I've set out to do but it was still a big decision. I had to give up my life because that's what playing meant but this was just too big to turn down."

Martinez left Chester, where he still had one year left on his playing contract, to sign a two-year-deal but has been unable to persuade Chester coach Graham Barrow to join him as assistant manager.

Dated Jul 2008:

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has strenuously denied that Roberto Martinez is in the running to become Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant manager at Manchester United.

Carlos Queiroz, the current number two at Old Trafford, has indicated he could soon leave Old Trafford to take charge of the Portugal national side.

Reports claimed Swans boss Martinez was in the frame for a move to the Barclays Premier League champions, but Jenkins said: "It's nonsense."

He added in the Swansea Evening Post: "We haven't heard anything and I know for a fact there's nothing in these stories."

Queiroz is the leading contender to succeed Luiz Felipe Scolari, who stepped down after Euro 2008 to move to Chelsea.

The former Real Madrid manager was in Lisbon yesterday for discussions with the Portuguese Football Federation.

 

[King Binny]

Dated Feb 2009:

Roberto Martinez, the last of Wigan's original Three Amigos still plying his trade in Britain, will take his dark suit, white shirt and trademark brown shoes on to the FA Cup catwalk at Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

'Always brown shoes,' insists the fashion-conscious Swansea manager.

'No matter the colour of your suit, you wear brown shoes. But your belt must match your shoes. You can wear black shoes when dressing smart, though not with a suit.'

The stylish Martinez's penchant for brown footwear has become so celebrated in west Wales that, at the end of each season, he gives them away to a good cause and buys another pair for the following campaign. There is an element of superstition in the ritual.

'The only time I ruined my shoes and had to throw them away was in the FA Cup at Havant last year. The pitch was terrible and we lost. So this year against Histon I wore football boots instead. If the surface is really bad and my team cannot play their usual silky football, I wear boots.'

Never a sombrero, though - he's Spanish.

Tell that to the Wigan supporters who dug out their old holiday hats from the attic when owner Dave Whelan brought the so-called Three Amigos to the North West in 1995.

Tell that to the media who christened them after the Steve Martin film of that name. Tell that to the Swansea fans who turn up at themed 'Spanish' nights in their ponchos and Mexican hats.

Swansea's Six Amigos - there are half a dozen Spaniards in their cosmopolitan squad - are as baffled now as the Three Amigos were 13 years ago.

'We could not believe we were posing with sombreros which had nothing to do with Spain,' recalls Martinez.

'We did not know what was going on. We wondered why we were dressing up as Mexicans. Sometimes you have to go along with other people's perceptions.

'Someone brought the film on the Wigan team bus. Now if it had been about bullfighters - but I have never been on a horse riding across a desert in Spain.'

He has never been in a bullring either. But a group of Swansea supporters have commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of Martinez in full matador gear. Authentic but for the logo Umbro emblazoned on the tunic. Olé!

These were crazy, difficult days for Jesus Seba, Isidro Diaz and Martinez at Wigan. They had met their El Guapo. One on his own would not have survived. Together, they did - to varying degrees it is true - and built so strong a bond of friendship that they still regularly communicate on the telephone.

Seba is currently playing for Endesa Andorra, a third division side in Spain, having recovered from a serious heart condition that required a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. 'Izzy' Diaz, who also had brief spells at Wolves and Rochdale, is director of football at Barakaldo.

'The way I feel towards them is not the same as another friend,' says Martinez.

'It was very close and unique. We were the first Spaniards post-Bosman. It was not easy. Just walking into the town centre at 5pm was a culture shock. Everything was dark and shut. No one lived there.

'We used to go training, have a proper three-course lunch and go for a siesta. We would get up, go out and find everything was shut. But we continued to live as Spaniards. We found an Italian restaurant owned by a Spaniard who provided us with food according to our own timetable. We had a real job finding proper coffee.'

Martinez, at just 35 the youngest manager in the Championship, glances across his office to a small espresso-making device in the corner. Coffee is important, indeed vital, to a Spaniard.

'It is a lot easier now. We have got someone to look after the (Spanish) players 24 hours a day. He is always available on the phone. He arranges things like getting the kids to school, to buying a packet of rice. Whatever.

'But the City Centre is open. You can buy Spanish products there 24 hours a day. I think some of the players still have a siesta. You can't force them. They need to find their own way.'

Martinez is still here, 14 years on, as much because of having fallen in love with British football as with Beth, from Motherwell, 'the only good thing I got from Scotland'.

'We do not realise how good our football is and not just the Premier League,' he says with a revealing use of the first-person pronoun.

'The structure, the 92 professional clubs, the way the people get attached to clubs, the way they travel to away games, the way they get affected by results. This is all unique. I love it. I don't feel Spanish and I don't feel British. I just feel a happy person enjoying my football.

'I remember watching my first game, a pre-season friendly at Wigan, and scarcely believing how technically poor the players were. Then I trained with them and realised they were technically fantastic. They were being told to play percentage football, chasing the chance to score rather than finding it.'

His self-confessed fascination with the British game does not mean he swallows all its philosophies. Far from it. There is no doubt, for example, where he stands on squad rotation.

'It is a big, big debate here. Many managers select a first XI on the first day of the season and, unless injury or suspension intervene, they don't change it. I don't agree with that.

'The players should select themselves by what they do on a daily basis, not on a match thing. I have a squad of 24. For me, any one of them is a first choice depending on form and partnerships needed on the day.

'A player cannot perform at the same level after 3,000 minutes. After that, the body needs a rest. If not, you risk an injury and your work intensity drops. That's why Rafa Benitez rotates his players.

'Tinkering and changing is the only way to achieve consistency with results when playing in so many competitions. We did it last year and this season, though not at the same level as Liverpool.

'You can't compare me to Rafa. He is the master. I admire him so much. He is unique. He is the king of tactics. He knows how to win football games.'

But a certain similarity, other than nationality, reveals itself in both men's passion and intensity.

'Everything revolves around football and Swansea City,' says Martinez.

'It's my life. I don't see it as a job. It is a passion. If it were a job, you would have to take a day off. I don't have days off. I never switch off.'

Like Benitez, Martinez knows how to win football games. Or at least how not to lose. Swansea are unbeaten since November 21, including that Cup victory at Portsmouth.

Roy Hodgson and Fulham should beware the man in the brown shoes.

 

[King Binny]

Dated Oct 2009:

When Rafa Benitez welcomed his friend and fellow Spaniard Roberto Martinez to Premier League management during the summer, it was hard to imagine that within weeks the master would be studying the pupil.

Yet, that is what has happened ahead of Liverpool's first Big Four confrontation of the season, against Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge today.

Liverpool's players spent part of yesterday at Melwood looking at a DVD of the way Martinez's Wigan dismantled Chelsea 3-1 last weekend.

'I watched a recording of the game and my staff compiled clips for my players to analyse,' said Benitez.

'Wigan had a very good gameplan and made it difficult for Chelsea. Yes, we can learn from it even though our players are different to Wigan, more technical and not as physical.

'I know Roberto, so I knew what he was thinking for that match. We have looked at the way Chelsea defended, how they attacked, how they were at set-pieces. And we have used it in our training.'

Benitez has made it a priority to make sure his side are not overrun by the Chelsea machine headed by Michael Essien and Didier Drogba.

The canny Liverpool manager, who masterminded Chelsea's first home defeat since 2004 last October, is putting huge importance on the return of Javier Mascherano from a hamstring injury after missing the Champions League defeat at Fiorentina and may also use Steven Gerrard in a deeper role.

'This game is ideal for Mascherano,' said Benitez. 'Chelsea like to pass the ball along the floor and Mascherano is a worker. He can regain a lot of the ball.

'We have used Stevie close to Fernando Torres in away games as we thought they could be dangerous. But we have to look at what happened against Fiorentina.

'It won't be a problem for Stevie. He is pleased to play as a second striker or a midfielder.'

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Shut up Binny

 

[King Binny]

IT didn’t take long for Mark Wright to realise he had signed someone with a bright future. In the summer of 2006 the former Liverpool defender was manager of Chester City when he secured the services of Roberto Martinez on a free transfer.

The Spanish midfielder, who had been released by Swansea City, made a big impact on and off the pitch at the then League Two club and was appointed captain.

Martinez was in the twilight of his playing career but Wright could see a manager in the making.

Six years on Wright isn’t surprised that the Wigan boss is a leading candidate to be appointed as Kenny Dalglish’s successor at Anfield.

“Roberto was an instant hit when we signed him at Chester,” Wright said.

“He was on the list that came around and my assistant Graham Barrow knew him from his days at Wigan.

“As soon as I met him it was clear that he was a leader and I made him my captain. He was just great to have around – always talking with the players and helping to motivate them.

“He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever come across and he knows his football inside out.

“I knew he would be management material. He always wanted to play in the correct manner and he knows how to handle people.”

Martinez moved on from Chester after just seven months after being offered the chance to return to Swansea City to take over as manager.

He left with Wright’s blessing and the ex-Reds centre-back has watched with interest as his stock has risen.

Martinez led Swansea to the League One title in 2008 and the following season they narrowly missed out on the play-offs in the Championship.

In the summer of 2009 he made the switch to Wigan and over the past three years has successfully kept the Latics in the top flight on a shoestring budget while playing an attractive brand of football.

Martinez oversaw a remarkable end to this season as they won seven of their final nine league games, including victories over Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal.

“Roberto didn’t want to leave Chester but he was given a great opportunity to go and manage Swansea,” Wright said.

“He’s an honourable man and he was reluctant to go – that’s how sincere he is.

“He did exceptionally well at Swansea. He got them promoted and put all the pieces in place for them to continue moving forward after he left.

“Since going to Wigan he’s done a great job on limited resources. At a club like Wigan it’s not easy – you are constantly trying to put out fires.

“He could have left last season after they stayed up by the skin of their teeth but he stayed loyal to them.

“They had a tough start to this season but the way they finished it was incredible. The way they beat all the big boys has enhanced his reputation and put him in the frame for bigger jobs.”

Some fans have voiced fears that Liverpool would represent too big a step up for the 38-year-old.

However, Wright, who made 210 appearances for the club between 1991 and 1997, has brushed aside concerns that Martinez would struggle to handle the extra pressure and expectation levels.

“I’ve got no doubt that given time Roberto would succeed at Anfield,” he said.

“He would do things the right way. It would be the type of football fans want to see.

“He’s not defensively minded, he would sign players with pace and flair. That’s the way he’s been brought up.

“What I can assure you is that Roberto is a strong character. He knows how to conduct himself in front of the media.

“Of course he hasn’t been at a big club like Liverpool before but I don’t think that would faze him.

“I don’t know what way the owners are going to go. But if they decide to appoint an experienced director of football with a younger manager working under him then I could understand that.

“They are obviously speaking to other managers as well. Brendan Rodgers must be in with a shout after what he’s done at Swansea and Paul Lambert at Norwich is another up and coming young manager.

“But I can’t speak highly enough of Roberto. If they decide he’s the right man then fantastic. I certainly think he has got the credentials and the character.”

Martinez held talks with principal owner John W Henry in Miami on Thursday but Fenway Sports Group are set to interview other candidates next week.

Wright believes Liverpool are right to take their time to ensure they get the best man for the job.

“This is a huge decision and you can’t rush it,” he added.

“I’m sure the owners will assess all the options and make the right call.

“My sister lives in Boston and while I’ve been over there visiting I’ve been to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park.

“The way that’s run is very slick and professional. These guys are out to turn Liverpool around.

“Sacking Kenny must have been a very tough decision for them to make.

“He’s Mr Liverpool and every current and ex-Liverpool player holds Kenny in the highest esteem.

“He has done so much for the club and will always be a Liverpool legend.

“But that decision was made and now the club has to move on. This will be the start of a new era.”

 

[Shadey]

Nothing in this mornings 'bbc gossip' web page about Martinez becoming our manager..

 

[rurikbird]

I like Martinez more as a person, but I have more confidence in Boas in terms of defensive organization. If it's indeed Boas vs Martinez, that's a very interesting choice. 2 young managers, a pragmatic against a romantic. I think they are both team-builders, which is why I would prefer any of them to a team-polisher, like Capello.

 

[Judge Jules]

Very interesting stuff from Mark Wright there - I now feel more confident about the prospect of Martinez at LFC than I did before reading that.

Rurikbird: I think your comparison of the two guys as managers is accurate as far as it goes, but after Villas Boas' failure at Chelsea it seems to me that appointing him to the Liverpool job at this stage of his career would be an unjustifiable risk. If it has to be one or the other of those two, I'd most definitely prefer Martinez.

 

[King Binny]

SO MUCH for conducting your business behind closed doors. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan’s love of the limelight has led to him giving the nation a running commentary on Liverpool’s pursuit of Roberto Martinez.

Whelan is clearly desperate to get his hands on the £3million compensation but despite the self-publicist’s claims to the contrary Fenway Sports Group insist they have yet to decide upon Kenny Dalglish’s successor.

Martinez remains a strong candidate following “productive” talks in Miami on Thursday and the two parties will meet again next week.

The Spaniard may or may not get the nod but some of the negativity surrounding Liverpool’s interest in him beggars belief. Phone-ins and social networking sites have been packed with fans writing him off before he’s even got the job.

His CV has been used as a stick to beat him with – too young and too inexperienced.

There is no impressive haul of trophies. As a player the highlight was winning the Third Division with Wigan and as a manager his only honour is leading Swansea City to the League One title. It’s true that he hasn’t ever ‘done it at a big club’ and that Anfield would represent a quantum leap from life at the DW Stadium.

For some Martinez’s face simply doesn’t fit. He’s not Dalglish and he’s not Rafa Benitez.

Yet just as those two legendary figures needed a show of faith as they built their management careers so does Martinez.

The attraction for FSG is clear. He’s an intelligent young boss renowned for playing attacking football.

There would be fresh ideas and no baggage.

Swansea and Wigan are both in much better shape than they were when he arrived.

FSG are less interested in what Martinez has won compared to what they believe he’s capable of going on to achieve.

It would be a gamble but also a bold move which could reap rich rewards.

 

[King Binny]

Roberto Martinez has always signed off his Wigan Athletic programme notes with the words sin miedo ("without fear"): he will need every ounce of that creed if he emerges from his encounter with Liverpool's American owners as the man to take over at Anfield.

In so many ways, he fits the criteria which Fenway Sports Group has laid out for a manager, and the name of his club happens to be quoted regularly by one of the sportsmen to whom John W Henry ascribes great value – the "Moneyball" king Billy Beane, whom he tried and failed to sign at the Boston Red Sox. Wigan are to the Premier League what Beane's Oakland As are to baseball, Beane is fond of saying. It is not just Martinez's net spend of –£3.5m over three years which will catch the Americans' eye but the way he has introduced a style of play and a philosophy which runs right through the club.

This is enshrined on various inspirational signs which litter Wigan's training ground. "Courage, Possession and Arrogance," is his favourite. A consistent playing ethos, running from youth ranks to first team, is precisely what the Americans want and they will also learn from the Spaniard next week about how he has effectively imbued Wigan with a corporate philosophy. His judgment on strikers (Franco di Santo, Conor Sammon, end of story) isn't all it might be. But he has fashioned a youth system, drawing from his observations of Villarreal and Espanyol, as clubs whose creed – as he told me a year ago – is "developing young players, giving them the right football education and human locations to give them the chance to get into the first team".

It was hard to put the mental image of 38-year-old Martinez out of mind yesterday as managing director Ian Ayre detailed the qualities Liverpool are looking for. "Experience and ability, methodology, style of play, character traits..."

It is easy to imagine that the Americans see something of Theo Epstein in this Spaniard with the lucky brown shoes. Epstein, remember, is the 28-year-old they appointed to be the general manager of the Boston Red Sox in November 2002 and who within two years had taken that side to a World Championship. But the Red Sox side Epstein took over was strong and settled back then, at the time when Henry was settling in as owner. They had names like Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, a batting champion in Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra, a very productive shortstop. Epstein did not have to build a great side because the Sox already had one. He instead used his intelligence, applied the "Moneyball" strategies of Beane, of whom he was a devotee – and delivered two championships.

Contrast that scene to today's Liverpool where a playing resource which looks what it is – the product of two appointments made in acts of crisis management – is just the start of the task. The bigger picture is the one etched out by Ayre yesterday: of a club desperately seeking to keep up with Manchester City, Chelsea and the other monied classes. FSG have had to hollow out the management and impose a new, top-down structure.

The extraordinary aspect is that Liverpool remain right up there, with only Manchester United, as the global commercial powerhouses of British football, despite the paucity of recent success. Look at their Warrior kit contract – at £25m a year more than double the deal City have just struck with Umbro. But Liverpool, still desperately bereft of their 60,000-seater stadium, feel vulnerable. "Liverpool and Manchester United dominate the landscape but that doesn't last forever," Ayre said yesterday. "That is why it is so critical and so important and it is why progress is so important. Nobody is looking for average, mediocre progress. We are looking for progress that will get the football club back where it needs to be."

Such is the toughest job spec in British football. It seems too much for a manager who has only known about holding on to Premier League status – even if he knows no fear.

 

[doctor_mac]

Very interesting stuff from Mark Wright there - I now feel more confident about the prospect of Martinez at LFC than I did before reading that.

Rurikbird: I think your comparison of the two guys as managers is accurate as far as it goes, but after Villas Boas' failure at Chelsea it seems to me that appointing him to the Liverpool job at this stage of his career would be an unjustifiable risk. If it has to be one or the other of those two, I'd most definitely prefer Martinez.

I'm with you JJ. I do actually like Martinez, and I think the comparisons to Hodgson's appointment are nonsense.

Hodgson played pragmatic, survival footy that wasn't transferable to a big club. Martinez has been attempting to play big club football at a minnow. His brand of footy is certainly going to be more appropriate at Anfield. He appears to be an obsessive, driven character, without being someone who is a social retard at the same time. I'm happy to give him a chance. The sacking of KK was wrong, but as I said before his sacking, we could do worse than Martinez, and that is something I still believe.

 

[King Binny]

Before this season, Wigan had never won at Liverpool, had never taken a point off Manchester United and had lost all nine away games they'd played at Arsenal. That all ended as Roberto Martinez's men battled their way to safety.

 

[Judge Jules]

Not sure I like the sound of "arrogance" as a key word. Otherwise that's more encouraging stuff.

 

[King Binny]

Alan Pardew came to the DW Stadium on the back of six successive Premier League wins, without a goal conceded in more than 400 minutes of football and Newcastle United looking eminently capable of staying ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in the race for fourth place, yet by the time he left it was his rival manager, the one who supervised a miserable run of eight successive defeats in mid-season, whose praises were being sung by the aforementioned DW.

"Roberto Martínez is a brilliant manager and one day he will get one of the top jobs in Europe," the Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan, said. "I don't want to lose him but it is inevitable he will climb the ladder and when that time comes he will leave with my blessing. There have been tough times this season but everyone in Wigan has been behind Roberto. We have not had one fan crying for his dismissal."

The exact opposite of an owner like Roman Abramovich, Whelan is prone to gush any time a microphone is shoved in his direction but even Pardew used the word brilliant to describe Wigan's four‑goal first‑half display.

"For a team fighting relegation you couldn't say they lacked confidence, could you?" the Newcastle manager said. "They overload the wide areas and pull you around but I don't want to say too many negative things about my team because I think that's unfair on Wigan. They did a brilliant job on us and you have to applaud them. You always think you can get the game back when you have won six but chasing the game gave them the opportunity to score two more and then the game really was gone. If you can call that complacency, I don't think it will happen again. It's all about the next three games now and I believe there will be a reaction at Chelsea."

Surprisingly, in view of the fact that Wigan's first three goals all came from the flanks, and Newcastle even attempted to match up the home wing-backs towards the end of the first half, Martínez played down the significance of the formation that has now accounted for Manchester United, Arsenal, and Newcastle in recent weeks.

"Players win games, not shapes or systems," he said. "Getting to a better position in the table brings a psychological benefit, we have probably gone to a different level in terms of believing in ourselves but we know if we don't get more points it will be a disappointing feeling."

Wigan will get more points if they attack Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the way they went at Newcastle. Their opening goal fully illustrated their use of space and width, with a wonderful crossfield pass from Shaun Maloney on the left releasing Emmerson Boyce on the right, for a cross that Victor Moses nimbly headed past Tim Krul.

Moses scored a second two minutes later when Fabricio Coloccini failed to intercept Jean Beausejour's searching cross from the left, before Beausejour and Franco Di Santo combined slickly on the same wing to send Maloney behind the Newcastle backline to beat Krul with a cool finish. Newcastle probably imagined things could not get any worse but in first‑half stoppage time they did, Di Santo trying his luck from 25 yards and finding Krul's top corner with the sort of perfect strike that underlined the confidence running through his side.

Newcastle improved considerably in the second half, when Papiss Cissé twice hit the woodwork and Hatem Ben Arfa demonstrated on several occasions that he could mesmerise the entire Wigan defence with the ball at his feet but when no goals resulted Pardew withdrew his talented French playmaker and effectively switched his attention to Stamford Bridge.

Could Chelsea's passage to the Champions League final and the possibility of the fourth‑placed team having to settle for the Europa League after all have subliminally affected Newcastle's concentration? "Well, it got talked about but so did about a million factors," Pardew said. "I don't know it if affected the players but it is something that's hanging over all the teams who are looking to finish fourth."

April is supposed to be the cruellest month but Martínez now has reason to think otherwise. "When I arrived at this club we had never beaten a top‑four side," he said. "Now we have beaten Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle – and for me it was a victory at Chelsea no matter what the scoreline said – so it has been a massive, massive month, one the fans can look back on with immense pride. I think it has been a turning point in our entire history."

Earlier in the season when they lost to Newcastle 1-0 at St. James Park:

"Wigan have been in the Premier League for a long time because we've developed a pattern of play," he said. "Anyone can have a lucky win but you cannot have a lucky stay in the Premier League. I feel that, unless we play very good football, we will not achieve our aims.

"I know football is cruel but it surely can't be that cruel to us? I'm sure our rewards are just round the corner. We've got a young squad but my players have got great concepts about football. The way they want to play, the way they want to get on the ball, makes me look forward to every day at Wigan. Now I just hope football can give them something back."

 

[gkmacca]

Got any long quotes from earlier in the season when Wigan were crap?

 

[King Binny]

Not sure I like the sound of "arrogance" as a key word. Otherwise that's more encouraging stuff.

Chanced across this while doing the reading:

"I don't really want to speak about what I achieved at Swansea, because it wasn't just me it was a whole lot of people," he says. "It was a team effort, a group of people working together, and that's what makes me feel so proud. When I arrived we were mid-table in League One and there was very little to spend, so I felt we had to be a little bit creative.

"I felt that all we could change was the way we played, so that is what we did. We changed the system, put more emphasis on retaining the ball, picked up a few results and developed a winning mentality. I can't take any credit for getting Swansea into the Premier League, that's all down to Brendan Rodgers, but I think you could see at Manchester City the other day that Swansea still play with a lot of confidence. Not many other teams will go to Eastlands and put 500 passes together. I don't think anyone else passed so well in the opening weekend, and despite the result at City [Manchester City won 4-0] I think Swansea's self-belief, call it arrogance if you like, will serve them well. They will certainly be a tough proposition for anyone at home, and from a footballing point of view I could think of better times for Wigan to be playing them.

"I believe they will surprise a few teams this season, I've just got to do my best to make sure they don't surprise us. On the other hand I am not surprised to see players such as Angel Rangel, Ashley Williams and Nathan Dyer performing in the Premier League. We always knew they had potential, that's why we brought them in."

 

[rurikbird]

Not sure I like the sound of "arrogance" as a key word. Otherwise that's more encouraging stuff.

I get what it means. I think. Arrogance means assumed superiority. You don't look around for evidence, you simply assume you are better than the other team and you try to play as if you are and hold yourself to that high standard. That's a quality all winning teams have, a certain arrogance shared by Barca and Man U and Bayern and Juve and us too - when we were winning. It's possible to be humble and arrogant at the same time, because those feelings can be pointed at different targets - humbleness towards your goals and very high standards you want to reach and arrogance towards your competition and other people's expectations. In short, it's about setting higher standards, which is the first step to improvement.

 

[rurikbird]

Also, those key words were hanging at Wigan's training grounds. What kind of message does it send to a poor lower-table club, when their manager tells them they should be not humble, but arrogant? It teaches them to be confident, to shoot above their place in the food chain. I don't think you need this sign at Man U's or Bayern's training grounds - it's already embedded in their culture.

 

[gkmacca]

Latics fans always stress how he is obsessed with controlling every single aspect of the club at both senior and youth levels. That surely makes him the antithesis of what FSG is looking for.

 

[rurikbird]

My personal opinion (which I don't mean to impose on anyone) is that Boas is a slightly less risky choice out of the 2. He's had experience managing the top clubs in 2 countries. Martinez simply does't have that experience. Boas's most recent experience was largely negative, but it's experience nonetheless. A smart person will always learn from negative experience, so if you believe Boas is smart and capable of self-education, there is a good chance Chelsea experience made him better as a coach, not worse.

To be fair, Martinez also went through similar negative experience in trying to rebuild a team to fit his vision (or fit his vision to the realities of the team or both) and we can attest that he learned from it. Unlike Boas, he did turn his team around in the end, although Whelan being more patient than Roman possibly had something to do with it.

In the end, I have complex feelings about this choice. If we are choosing between Martinez and Boas, I feel that Boas is objectively the less risky choice. But Martinez, in a sense, promises a higher reward. If we can model 2 alternative futures, one in which Boas is chosen to be the next manager and one where Martinez is, I have a feeling that Boas overall has a slightly bigger chance of success. However, if both managers in our alternative futures are successful, I feel that I would love Martinez's team more. Maybe much more. If Boas's vision of the future is fully realized, I think we will get a team we can all admire. If Martinez's vision is realized, it would be a team we would love passionately. I will accept the choice no matter what it is.

 

[juniormember]

Latics fans always stress how he is obsessed with controlling every single aspect of the club at both senior and youth levels. That surely makes him the antithesis of what FSG is looking for.

Different situations call for different methods though, surely.
I'm just pulling these numbers out my arse, but say Wigan have 30 members of staff, including scouts and all youth levels, as well as reserve team, etc. All staff of varying quality, but not enough to be a part of larger clubs. No proper infrastructure to speak of.
You might insist that you be involved in all major decision making, and the direction in philosophy that youths get trained through, the types of players scouts should go after, etc.

Then you get a job offer from one of the biggest clubs in the world, with well over 100 members of staff, mostly hand picked by the club (such as former youth and now reserve team coach Borelli who's already been doing well instilling the Barca type training, mentally and physically, at youth level), you've also been told there's a high profile, successful DOF coming in to work on many aspects at the club, including player recruitment.

You'd be mad to then go and insist to the chairman interviewing you that you refuse to work under such conditions, as they're worlds apart.

It's like running a small time operation selling electronics in a street corner, where you're involved in everything done, products, placement, advertising, communications, etc.
Then you get a job offer at Dixons/Wallmart/whatever. You would not be insisting on full control of everything when there's a structure in place already and it simply wouldn't work.

People are being so hard on Martinez.

 

[the count]

Different situations call for different methods though, surely.
I'm just pulling these numbers out my arse, but say Wigan have 30 members of staff, including scouts and all youth levels, as well as reserve team, etc. All staff of varying quality, but not enough to be a part of larger clubs. No proper infrastructure to speak of.
You might insist that you be involved in all major decision making, and the direction in philosophy that youths get trained through, the types of players scouts should go after, etc.

Then you get a job offer from one of the biggest clubs in the world, with well over 100 members of staff, mostly hand picked by the club (such as former youth and now reserve team coach Borelli who's already been doing well instilling the Barca type training, mentally and physically, at youth level), you've also been told there's a high profile, successful DOF coming in to work on many aspects at the club, including player recruitment.

You'd be mad to then go and insist to the chairman interviewing you that you refuse to work under such conditions, as they're worlds apart.

It's like running a small time operation selling electronics in a street corner, where you're involved in everything done, products, placement, advertising, communications, etc.
Then you get a job offer at Dixons/Wallmart/whatever. You would not be insisting on full control of everything when there's a structure in place already and it simply wouldn't work.

People are being so hard on Martinez.

good and interesting point JM

 

[King Binny]

WIGAN skipper Gary Caldwell has told boss Roberto Martinez: “You do NOT turn down the Liverpool job.”

Caldwell, 30, always felt it would be inevitable that Martinez’s stint at the DW Stadium would be short-lived.

The former Swansea boss is in talks with Kop bosses John W Henry and Tom Werner about replacing Kenny Dalglish.

And Caldwell reckons his manager HAS to take the job if it is offered to him.

Caldwell summed it up, telling the Daily Star Sunday: “If the opportunity comes to go to Liverpool, you take it. We all understand that. I’m sure he would take it.”

Spaniard Martinez has had to battle in the Premier League with the smallest budget of any top-flight club.

And his team have not only survived for two years under his guidance – they did so in style this term.

Nine wins from their last 12 games – including victories against Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, confirmed Martinez as a hot property.

His decision to play with three at the back and skipper Caldwell as the central figure in that system suffered from some early teething problems.

But in the final months of the season it came good and Caldwell ended up playing the best football of his career.

Now Scotland national boss Craig Levein has admitted he’s thinking about copying that style in the months ahead – because Caldwell was so effective in that pivotal role.

Caldwell himself knows the man who originated the plan is destined for bigger things and hopefully that will follow for Scotland, too.

On Martinez’s role in Wigan’s great escape, Caldwell said: “Roberto Martinez has a great future ahead of him. When you beat Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal in the space of a couple of weeks it gets you recognition and hype and he deserves it.

“Nothing fazes him. He stays very calm. Having worked with a lot of Scottish and British managers, you see the tea cups being thrown and stuff.

“But he’s from Spain and it’s a different culture and mentality and he remains very calm.

“At half-time during games it’s me, Shaun Maloney and James McArthur going mental and he just tells us to sit down and relax, goes through things calmly and that helps us to get results.

“He has what it takes to manage a club such as Liverpool.

“If that big job comes now then he has to go and show he is good enough.

“Having worked with him and knowing his tactical awareness and the thought he puts into training, then who knows what he could go on and achieve at a big club like Liverpool with their resources?

“Only time will tell. We all live in the real world and you need an opportunity in life.

“It’s been great for me to play under him. That’s what appealed to me and I wanted to go to a club that would play to my strengths. I get that at Wigan.

“Roberto moved to a three at the back system around November time in a game against Blackburn. We drew three-all.

“It took us a long time to get it as good as it got. Not many teams play 3-4-3 and it was a bold move.

“It took hard work on the training pitch from the summer time. The system suited us.

“When we signed Jean Beausejour to play at left wing-back that helped with the balance. It suited the strengths and weaknesses of the players.

“A lot of good managers couldn’t cope with it.

“A few said Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t really know how to stop us the night we beat them.

“They couldn’t stop us. It was a great credit to the players.”

 

[gkmacca]

Different situations call for different methods though, surely.
I'm just pulling these numbers out my arse, but say Wigan have 30 members of staff, including scouts and all youth levels, as well as reserve team, etc. All staff of varying quality, but not enough to be a part of larger clubs. No proper infrastructure to speak of.
You might insist that you be involved in all major decision making, and the direction in philosophy that youths get trained through, the types of players scouts should go after, etc.

Then you get a job offer from one of the biggest clubs in the world, with well over 100 members of staff, mostly hand picked by the club (such as former youth and now reserve team coach Borelli who's already been doing well instilling the Barca type training, mentally and physically, at youth level), you've also been told there's a high profile, successful DOF coming in to work on many aspects at the club, including player recruitment.

You'd be mad to then go and insist to the chairman interviewing you that you refuse to work under such conditions, as they're worlds apart.

It's like running a small time operation selling electronics in a street corner, where you're involved in everything done, products, placement, advertising, communications, etc.
Then you get a job offer at Dixons/Wallmart/whatever. You would not be insisting on full control of everything when there's a structure in place already and it simply wouldn't work.

People are being so hard on Martinez.

Maybe true if it wasn't for the fact that Martinez has made it very clear that he sees having full control as crucial no matter where he might manage.