All Greek to me: Wigan disaster as seen by another Sixsmith

Image: Mrs Logic

There are not that many Sixsmiths about, but even if you leave aside the one who used to be on telly (Martin?), the surname does not end with our own big Pete. Step forward Phil Sixsmith, his younger brother, who lives in Greece, a place that makes Sunderland (and the UK)’s crises seem positively benign. Phil dearly hoped his latest visit home might offer a rousing afternoon at the SoL …   

Certain fish and chip shops in the Wigan area serve a local delicacy that consists of a bread bun cut in two, dipped in the juice from the bubbling mushy peas pan – pea wet as it is rather alarmingly called – with a potato and meat pie between the pieces of bread.

Served with a generous portion of chips, it has a fat and carbohydrate content sufficient to fuel Bradley Wiggins over at least half a dozen Alps.

 

For the first 40 minutes of the match on Saturday, the Wigan players must have wished they’d gone back for seconds as they were forced to chase a slick, efficient, enterprising Sunderland side all over the pea wet green turf of the Stadium of Light. One goal was poor reward. Brave goalkeeping and a dreadful miss from Bardsley had frozen the scoreboard, but we weren’t worried. Second half would be a breeze.

 

What followed was 50 minutes of misery.

 

A brainless penalty. A break which allowed Martinez to reorganise and a Sunderland side rapidly going downhill as confidence deserted the team and we began to rely on speculative balls from pretty well anywhere.

It’s easy to say Wigan defended with gusto but Sunderland made it oh so easy for them. Technically good footballers resorted to the obvious pass time after time as the players around them seemed incapable of getting into positions which challenged the opposition to do something risky and maybe make a mistake. Whenever the ball was crossed from the flanks, it was exactly the same approach, Kick it fairly hard to somewhere around the six yard box and hope for the best.

 

 There may have been some point in this if the penalty area had been full of Sunderland midfielders making speedy and devilish runs onto the ball, but they were marooned 30 yards out, watching and waiting. And that’s exactly what our centre half and goalkeeper ended up doing in that farcical last minute, lying on the ground and watching the simple finish which would make the pie butties taste even better in Scholes.

 

As to the Bruce Out debate, I don’t see anywhere near enough games to have a valid opinion, and by the time this hits the website, a decision may have been reached anyway.

For what it’s worth, my participatory background is in running and cycling, sports where you take total responsibility for your own performance and don’t have the luxury of blaming people who weren’t directly involved at the time. Ring any bells?

6 thoughts on “All Greek to me: Wigan disaster as seen by another Sixsmith”

  1. ….and the first time O’Neill doesn’t get money for a player, the toys fly out of the pram and he buggers off in the huff

  2. Sadly for SB I think he has taken us as far as he can and we need someone to move us up to the next level. The trouble is that when you are a lower mid table team like us and things go wrong you become a bottom third team. What we want is to become an upper mid table team( eg like Everton and Villa ) so that when form dips …which it inevitably will…you only slip into the lower reaches of mid table but don’t get involved in the relegation mix.
    So….Bruce out? Maybe….but be careful what you wish for. According to one bookie Lee Clark is third favourite.
    Bruce out? ……Maybe but only if we can get O’Niell or Hughes

  3. ARENT WE BEING A LITTLE IMPATIENT HERE? REMEMBER WE HAVE TO JUDGE HIM AFTER 10 GAMES. HOW MANY GAMES HAVE WE PLAYED? OH BO****KS!!!!

  4. Well it is official. the season tickets in the draw and will not see the light of day until SB is away. I am now officially a SB Outer. His inept managerial style may be suited to SAFC (Sidbourne Athletic Football Club). As I once again witnessed at the weekend it is all huff and puff, The simple fact remains we should have been 6 up at half time but again it only takes a limited footballing eye to see the team is poor in Attack and equally in Defence. We are predictable and easily read, simple as that.
    The fact that reports say he has 2 games to save his job, So great he wins the next 2, but what about the others that follow. He loses the next 20, then what? He has 2 games to save his career again. Sorry but SB has to go now and no matter who they bring in , it needs to be now

  5. We have two goalkeepers injured. That will be his next excuse, if we are unfortunate enough to have to endure him for another game that is.

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