Martinez puts Pep into step of Latics
Martinez and his relegation-threatened Wigan side faced a seven-match sequence, featuring games against Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle, that had all but the most ardent Latics supporters expecting a similar fate to that suffered by Wolves — relegation long before season’s end.
Instead, an incredible run of 15 points from those available 21 climaxed in an amazing 4-0 humiliation of Newcastle at the DW Stadium on Saturday, thus ending a six-game winning run and placing a major dent in the Geordies’ Champions League dream.
In the week that Guardiola brought an end to his glorious Barcelona reign, his countryman Martinez cemented his own growing reputation as one of the Premier League’s rising superstar managers.
And, while the Wigan supporter who suggested Martinez was a viable candidate to have taken over at the Nou Camp may have been a little wide of the mark, the coincidental timing between Martinez’s rise and Guardiola’s fall was not lost on the man himself.
“I don’t know if it’s more draining being in charge of Barca than Wigan... I’ve never tried it!” joked Martinez. “But if it is more draining than this, Pep has done really well to last this long.
“I understand it. He is a perfectionist and a 100% guy. I know that football club well. I was born probably only one-and-a-half hours from the ground and I know it is not just a football club it is a way to live for many families.
“He has been so successful, but he is not there for the job but to win things and be as good as he can be and after four years non-stop that can really, really drain you.
“And if he feels a little bit that he needs a break or that he can’t motivate the players any more I think it is such an honourable way to leave a fantastic job. If you don’t feel 100% you cannot get 100% from the players.”
Comparisons between Barcelona, the world’s self-styled greatest club, and Wigan, a team who, by rights, have over-achieved to even spend one season in the English top flight, are absurd.
Yet Martinez could be describing himself when he talks about Guardiola’s philosophy and approach to the job.
Having turned down — inexplicably, so it seemed at the time — the managerial reins at Aston Villa last season, Martinez now sees his club level on points with the struggling midlands outfit.
It has taken some eight months for his players to fully accept that Martinez philosophy and bed in, for centre-forward Franco Di Santo to fulfil his promise and for the deeper lying striker Shaun Maloney to gain the fitness and eye for the Premier League that has made him such a prominent influence in recent weeks.
But, make no mistake — victories over Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and this humiliation of Newcastle were no late season aberration.
“When I got into the side, the manager spoke to me about starting, the bare minimum that was required at the time was just the work rate,” said Maloney, whose first start in mid-March coincided with the beginning of this current run. “A massive part of the reason we’ve had these results is the work-rate of the team.”
Victory in the visit to Blackburn next Monday will all but ensure Wigan need not take anything from their final home league game of the season against Wolves to survive.
A repeat of the first half against Newcastle — with two well-taken goals from Victor Moses, ending a run of 411 minutes without the Geordies conceding, followed by efforts from Maloney and Di Santo — and any team in the division will struggle to cope with the Latics in this mood.
For Newcastle, whose Champions League hopes are now fast fading, a midweek visit to Chelsea does not offer an immediate respite.
“We just have to keep going — we can still do well at Chelsea,” said defender Fabricio Coloccini. “The Champions League is like a dream for us. We still have a chance to fight for it.”
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