Blackpool blow hapless Wigan away

Roberto Martinez rang the changes last night as Wigan aimed to progress against Lancashire rival's Blackpool..

Only Diame and Scharner remained from the starting line up against Manchester United last Saturday with Wigan reverting to a more traditional 4-4-2 line up.

Concerns have been raised about so many new players taking time to settle and with five new signings in Amaya, Diame, Sinclair, Scotland and Mc Carthy starting plus King and Edman who have played very little for Wigan in the last 12 months, it was perhaps not surprising when Wigan fell behind to an early goal.

Ismael Demontagnac broke down the right and with Wigan`s defenders backing off him, he launched an unstoppable volley to send the home side`s fans wild with delight.

Latics tried to rally and Watson came close with a free kcik and Edman fired over following a partially cleared corner.

Blackpool looked far sharper than Wigan, first to every ball and closing the Latic`s midfield down. Wigan on the other hand looked lethargic and all too often their passes went astray as no one seemed to take on the leadership mantle..

Blackpool`s second goal was deserved due to their pressure but the blame for the goal must lie with stand in keeper Mike Pollitt who seemed to react slowly to a shot which didn`t seem to have any speed on it but sneaked in at the near post..

Latics seemed incapable of developing any sense of urgency with the exception of the ever industrious Boyce and Edman along with Sinclair . The rest of midfield were truly awful.

Scharenr was captain for the night but it wasn`t one of his best performances which was compounded when he upended Clarke in the area leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty.

Pollitt redeemed himself by saving well form Adam but with no Wigan player following up, Adam buried the rebound.

This sparked a cacophony of boos and a couple of hundred fans decided that they had seen enough and left

A shell shocked Latics tried to come back but Blackpool easily dealt with any Latics attacks from the ineffective Scotland and King.

Half time brought a renewal of boos form the Wigan fans and the player s could have been left in no doubt what the fans thought of their first half performance.

Latics started the second half the brighter, the industrious Sinclair drove Wigan forward but too often he lacked support and the attacks broke down.. With no noticeable improvement Latics brought on Rodellaga and Thomas for the ineffective McCarthy and the very tired looking Diame. Surprisingly Rodellaga played on the left wing

At the other end Blackpool looked dangerous with every attack and it was no surprise when a break form their own half left Watson stranded and Taylor -Fletcher rounded the defence and buried the ball past Pollitt.

This sparked another round of boos and a mass walkout by approximately a third of the large Wigan following much to the derision of the now euphoric Blackpool fans.

The score line almost got worse with Pollitt saving well from Latics old boy Brett Ormerod when one on one with the keeper.

Only Rodellaga looked in form coming back to pick the ball up from defence and then taking it forward and causing the Blackpool defence their first real problems.

In the end a bullet header from Amaya on his debut gave Wigan an undeserved consolation goal and sparked ironic chants of easy, easy from the Latics faithfully. Thankfully the full time whistle came just after thereby sparing us any further embarrassment.

Hugo Rodellaga. Did more in 25 minutes playing out of position than the rest did in 90 minutes put together
Was at fault for the second goal but made some good saves to keep the score down. Boyce tried hard and at least looked like he cared. Was caught out of position due to being forced to play an attcking role. Ditto Boyce Very slow and ponderous. Took his goal well but doesn't look ready for the Premeir League on this showing. A poor performance,Scharner isnt going to attract any offers based on his current performnces. Looked outclassed at this level. Looked shattered and delivered nothing going forward Delivered some good set pieces but otherwise absoluely awful. Started well but fell off after half time probably due to a lack fo effort from his peers. Last night was his chance to show Wigan fans his class and he failed Awful The only positive last night OK Roberto Martinez...4/10

Failed to motivate the team alst night nd worrying noises of a lck of team cohesion re emerging.

Has his work cut out with the squad, lets hope he cn sort the problems out We the fans pay good money and last night's dross was bitter pill to swallow.I won't boos but lets hope the palyers got the message. Whilst we were very poor lets not detract from an excellent tem performsnce from Blackpool who thoroughly deserved their victory

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