Would we have stayed up if...

My guess is no to both.

I do think things would’ve got better under Stendel. I find it laughable when people put things like ‘he was found out’ when he was trying to gel together a load of new inexperienced players in one go. I’d guess we’d not get enough points as I think the diamond system Struber introduced & playing Brown & Chaplin together up top was a big reason we stayed up but who knows. The big thing would’ve been who Stendel was allowed to sign & would the board have allowed him to bring his own men in like Struber did with Solbauer & Ritzmaier.

Lockdown definitely helped us in my opinion. Clearly there were many teams who came back with a lot more motivation than others who had little to play for & we were one that was full of motivation.

Without lockdown would Walton have gone from 3rd to 1st choice, would Palmer have gone from about 10th choice to first choice, would Styles have improved as quickly etc.

We went from a side whereby the team almost picked itself & we didn’t seem to have many options off the bench to a side that came back after lockdown with a load of players who all looked like they’d significantly improved & the 5 sub rule worked in our favour as we had a big squad full of motivation where as others had lost many players on the 30th of June.

 

As well as having time to train and develop during the break I think these younger, less experienced players also benefited by playing in empty stadiums.This must have taken some pressure and stress away from them, allowing them to focus on their own performances and team tactics.

 

you pose an interesting question -

I think that Luck has played a large part in our still being a Championship side -

90min + goal from Schmidt v Notts F - 90+ gaol from Odour v Brentford - Wigan docked 12 points - the EFL for the first time in their history getting it right.

I think Covid may have helped us as it gave us time to regroup and we have a Lucky manager in Struber.

 

Agree with much of this but don’t underestimate Struber’s influence. He’s got more than just luck going for him

 

-- As Struber is the Manager I back him 100%.
To quote Napoleon when appointing new Generals - 'He may be skilful but more importantly is he lucky?'

 

Leaving aside COVID changing the date the season ended, I think it still helped us to stay up. We regrouped and seemed to do better without fans watching. I don't think we would have achieved W4, D3, L2 in those final 9 games if the season had continued uninterrupted.

 

So 60 out of 64 people think we'd have gone down under Stendel.

Very interesting considering how many were upset at him being let go (myself included)

 

I still think he was treated badly but it’s worked out for us in the end.

A bit like Southampton when they sacked Adkins who had done a good job but then dropped on Pochettino

 

But Covid delayed the season long enough for Wigan's administration to have an effect on us and the 2019/20 season. Without covid we would have been relegated as

a. As we weren't good enough and the lockdown period gave us time to have a rethink

b. Wigan's administration would have taken effect in the coming season 2020/21.

So, yes covid did have an effect. In more ways than one

 

We have stayed up that`s all that matters and we wouldn`t have done it without either Stendel/Strubers points won.

I would have preferred to have done it without the Wigan deduction but that wasn`t to be.

Bring on the fixtures.

Red Army.

 

How many of the posters on here. Were saying the EFL should do this that and the other, Harp on about FFP to Wendy. Brum n Derby. Then sympathise with Wigan fans. Over COVID having a contribution. Wigan blew it after they went on a roll and thought they had enough points in the bag . Please Get over it. justice was partially done. Not luck.
Yoooooo reddddddds screw the rest.

 

We deserved to be relegated - because last season we were a shambles throughout the season - except after the lockdown when we were superb.

We deserved to stay up - because clearly other teams were cheating - not only Wigan but quite a few other clubs.

Stendel was a good manager - who liked a drink with the lads and was a fan’s favourite - he also tried to double cross the club.
So deserved to get sacked.

Which turned out to be great - every cloud has a silver lining - because we ended up getting hold of an extremely talented manager.

In Gerhard we trust.
Give him the tools and sit back and watch him do the job.
Concern now is .......... we need more tools and at present they are a bit slow coming.

 

Badly treated ??! , he was trying to leave

 

In terms of our recruitment.