Isn't it just the way it goes. You do your utmost to curb any optimism for the season and low & behold a signing of Clyde Wijnhard gets you thinking of the possibilities. No wonder at 2.45pm on Saturday, many were excited and expected a strong, successful performance against the Wanderers of Wycombe. Oh, how the Latics would let us all down - again - on a grand scale.
There are several ways to look at this game. Was it simply a severe off day for the Latics? Was it just what we should have expected, as the Latics haven't really looked totally convincing in any games so far? Or was it the missing Duxbury and suspended Hall that contributed to the missing links in a somewhat rusty looking chain? Who knows?
All I'll say is that, rather than getting too down about this one and rambling on, we'll say that the season is young and we're getting our lesser performances out of the way and early on. After all, this is still a fairly new team and Dowie isn't the most experienced of managers, despite the fact he has a wealth of footballing knowledge. I just hope that he saw what I did - we effectively had no central midfield. With Lourenco (who shone out through a poor team), playing as an inside forward it left a totally out-of-form Appleby on his own to grind it out in the middle. And well, with Appleby that never happened! It will take Dowie time - so we must fear not, especially with 40 games to go!!!
The game itself (seeing, as I have to report on it) saw the Latics struggle in midfield against a robust opposition. Never would we be allowed a minute’s piece on the ball, and therefore the fact that our passing let us down badly, we often found ourselves chasing it. Plus, when you go a goal down so early, not only do you chase the ball; you must also chase the scoreline.
The problem was evident for 90 minutes. Although the passing often found its intended target, the wrong option was always taken. When 3 options may be presented, ie. go wide, short pass, long ball upfront etc. the wrong one was often taken. As soon a pass reached the player, either poor control or an ankle biter from Wycombe saw the opposition back in possession. Fair play to the Wanderers for this!
However, despite the lackluste performance, it was refreshing to see that the Latics still created chances. Indeed, Killen was extremely unlucky to not notch up two goals, let alone one. But alas, it wasn't to be. And in typical fashion (and disappointingly so) by the time the Latics hit the 70th minute, heads were well and truly down. Maybe the introduction of Tony Carss would have suited, but Dowie must obviously thought we were 1-0 up, as he instead threw on John Sheridan. Interesting?!?!
The Latics first shot themselves in the foot after 3 minutes, when Pogliacomi picked up a back heel from Clegg. This free-kick resulted in the goal, although it wasn't directly from it. The ball was put into the box and on the rebound, Danny Bulman struck an effort, which skimmed along the surface and under the hapless Aussie. 0-1.
In response, the Latics should have been level just 5 minutes later, but for a bizarre decision to rule out a seemingly perfect goal.
A superb run from Lourenco created panic in the visitors defence. Backing off, he slipped a neat ball for Wijnhard to steam onto and send a drive a powerful, angled effort at goal. Talia could only parry the ball and Killen coolly smashed home the rebound, where others would probably have hit it over/wide. My views on the disallowance is this, Killen ran in from behind the last man when Wijnhard shot. Therefore, the linesman has looked up and seen him stood offside once the keeper parries it. This is when the flag goes up. Totally wrong and totally costly.
Killen was then unlucky again on 15. Eyres chipped in a ball for Baudet to head into the box. From 8 yards, the former Maine Road striker nodded a looping ball over Talia, but the keeper did just enough to get back and fingertip over.
So far, the Latics were creating the better chances but still our subdued side appeared to be playing with a lack of confidence. The chances continued to be few and far between, but when any real goalmouth efforts arrived, it was the hosts on the end of them.
Just before the half-hour mark, Killen was put into plenty of space on the right. After taking too long to shoot, the ball rebounded out to Appleby who slipped Lourenco into the box. The ball stuck to the Portuguese players toe, so in order to shoot, he cut his foot through the ball. The snapshot effort flew an inch wide.
On 31, it was again the hosts who broke forward. Lourenco looked very busy, this time slipped Berehall down the left. Amazingly for a CB, he placed a sweet ball into the box. Mayhem ensued, but after a scramble, Talia had somehow claimed the ball. Then on 40, Baudet headed just over.
Wycombe's only other real effort of the half saw them unlucky not to be another goal up. A neat ball in saw Berehall only just manage to clear his own bar - it looked like it was going in. From the corner, Faulconbridge at the far post placed a firm header but fortunately Pogi was there for this one.
The Latics had the opening exchange in the 2nd half, as substitute Corazzin (on for Killen) was sent through, again by Lourenco. This pass had just a little too much on it and Talia collected in time. From here on though, the Latics played the next half an hour with no real zest or passion. Wycombe began to get on top without creating and for the visitors, this was turning out to be the perfect away performance. They had soaked up any pressure, had nicked a goal and had accepted that they’d got away with a few scares. All that needed was a second goal and on 75, Low almost gifted this.
With his last contribution of the game, Low stumbled as he played a poor back-pass to Pogi, gifting Faulconbridge the ball. With the goal at his mercy, the former Wrexham player and Latics target put in a woeful effort. At the other end, Talia then had to save his own player’s header from a John Sheridan cross. But alas, a woeful 2nd half performance saw Wycombe take advantage of lowered spirits and pull a sucker punch.
As the clock ran down, the Latics defence began to fall asleep and on 85, they allowed substitute Richard Harris all the time in the world and all the space in Boundary Park. He coolly nipped passed defender after defender, cutting into the box from the left and then ripping a superb effort into the top corner from 10 yards. It was a wonderful solo goal in which most of the supporters left in the Chaddy End (how pathetic are some fans for leaving?) rose to their feet and applauded. 0-2.
The Latics were well and truly sunk and not even Lourenco’s late effort against the bar could raise some very dampened spirits. As mentioned already, Dowie has time to experiment and test out permutations in a new squad. A word of caution to him though… Performances like this will provide a lot more questions than answers. Maybe it’s back to basics, eh, Iain?