10th January 2000
10th January 2000 ATHLETIC'S Scott McNiven has emerged as a £500,000 transfer target for Liverpool. Anfield coach Sammy Lee was at the derby match with Wigan on Friday night — and 21-year-old McNiven was the man under the microscope. There was an army of talent scouts at the JJB Stadium as Athletic produced a superb display to beat the leaders 1—0. It was assumed that most had gone to see what Wigan had to offer after their 24-match unbeaten run.
But the real attractions were McNiven, who had a faultless game at the back, and his fellow defender Andrew Holt. Holt was again being watched by Glasgow Celtic, who had already made previous trips to see the 21-year-old. The Scottish side were represented by director of football Kenny Dalglish — a sure sign that their interest has become serious. Meanwhile, McNiven, a former Scotland under-21 international, has caught the eye of Liverpool's renowned scouting system after a series of quietly impressive displays. Both players have made tremendous strides in the last year and could present Athletic with a real headache. The Boundary Park club couldn't refuse any big offers, but they would hate to lose such talented youngsters, especially two at the same time. McNiven and Holt would be rated in a similar price bracket, with Athletic wanting at least half a million for each.
That
would be no problem for Celtic's Dalglish or Liverpool's Gerard Houlier,
both of whom are empire building after taking over at the legendary clubs.
Athletic are in resurgent mood following their televised win, which also
earned them £10,000 from Sky. After
being bottom of the table well into October, they are now 10 points above
the relegation places and 12 short of the play-offs. Manager
Andy Ritchie said: "The lads are buoyant because it was a good performance
and we thoroughly deserved three points. "Everyone
played their part, we played good football and it paid off in the end. "I
thought John Sheridan was superb, as he has been ever since he came here.
He makes us tick and, if you ask me, he should still be playing at a higher
level." Athletic are back in action tomorrow
night when they entertain Stoke in the Auto Windscreens Shield. Admission
prices have been slashed for the second-round tie, with adults paying £5
and juniors and OAPs just £1.
Formidable
Latics stun table-toppers with TV delight
CAN
life get much sweeter than this for Athletic? It
seemed everything was against them at the JJB Stadium as they prepared
to put on a live television show for the watching nation. Wigan,
after 24 games, were the only unbeaten team in the entire Football League.
No fears, said Athletic, they have to lose some time. Wigan
were easily the second division’s top marksmen and had found the net in
every game bar one. That’s fine, we’ll just keep a clean sheet then. Wigan
have a magnificent new stadium and a home record to match it — won 10,
drawn two, scored 24, conceded six. OK, thought Athletic, so we’ll rise
to the occasion. And rise to it they
did. Showing consummate efficiency and unquenchable spirit, Andy Ritchie’s
battle-hardened troops brought the leaders crashing down to earth with
an almighty bump. Lee Duxbury’s winner
— timed to near perfection after 86 minutes — was due reward for his side’s
indestructible desire to prove themselves to a wider audience. Whether
or not Athletic deserved to win is open to debate. But, to put it simply,
they wanted it more than their high-flying rivals. Not
a tackle was shirked nor a tactical challenge met less than head on. They
had a plan, they executed it superbly and, as the high-fives went up at
the final whistle, they had every right to celebrate.
Athletic
have now lost only three times in 16 league games, including one defeat
in nine away from home. They have kept
three consecutive clean sheets for the first time in almost two years and,
if they stay in this mood, have power to add one or two more. Once
again, Shaun Garnett and the fast-maturing Mark Hotte were a formidable
barrier at the heart of defence. Andrew
Holt was strong at left-back and Neil Adams industrious on the right, while
Scott McNiven had an absolute blinder to stand above them all. There
were fascinating personal duels all over the pitch, with Athletic winning
most of them. Wigan’s Andy Liddell was
always dangerous, but 15-goal Simon Haworth was kept in check and old boy
Stuart Barlow — who sprung from the bench when Carl Bradshaw was injured
after 21 minutes — had only one real sight of goal. The
pace of this North-West derby began by bordering on the frantic. The
flow of the game, though, was still entertaining as two passing teams strived
for quality. The only man to bring any
sense of order was Athletic’s kingpin, John Sheridan.
Time
appeared to stand still whenever he had the ball, sometimes because Wigan
stood off in fear of what he might do but usually because the veteran’s
poise bought him that vital extra second. While
all around him was racing at a 100 miles per hour, Sheridan played at his
own, more leisurely pace. There can
be a certain serenity about his game and, like a chess grandmaster in a
kerplunk tournament, speed of thought will always give him the edge. A
vital element in Athletic’s revival has been the consistency of Ritchie’s
team selections. There has been only
one change in six games and that was enforced when Hotte was banned on
Boxing Day. So it was that Athletic sent
out the same players who had beaten Bournemouth four days earlier. And
they quickly set out their stall against a Wigan side who were surprisingly
wobbly at the start. Chief wobbler was
goalkeeper Roy Carroll, who was lucky to get away with a fourth-minute
mistake when he whacked a clearance straight at Mark Allott and saw the
ball rebound a couple of yards wide. Wigan
had few such worries at the other end and Athletic goalkeeper Gary Kelly
— who would emerge as one of his team’s biggest heroes — was soon beating
away Liddell’s near-post drive. After
18 minutes, Athletic came within an ace of taking the lead.
Steve
Whitehall’s corner was met firmly by Holt and Carroll scrambled the header
off the line before Allott’s follow-up was blocked. Adams
fired over moments later to emphasise Athletic’s message — they weren’t
just here as sacrificial lambs. It was
end-to-end stuff and Wigan were next to go close, Haworth forcing Kelly
to re-adjust skilfully when his shot took a deflection. Identifying
which side were the unbeaten leaders would have been no easy task as the
game moved into the second half. Although
Haworth should have done better when misjudging a couple of crosses, Athletic
were still largely in control of their own destiny. Yet
the hallmark of a successful side is to grab any advantage on offer. And,
had it not been for Kelly, Wigan would have done precisely that when Duxbury
misjudged a pass in midfield. The hosts
set off on a rapid break which ended with Barlow’s darting run and powerful
strike. Kelly, however, stood firm to keep the scoresheet blank. Gradually,
a more measured approach was taken and the match took a turn for the worse.
With organisation and discipline still their best assets, the visitors
didn’t have to fight quite so hard to keep a lid on Wigan’s attacking enterprise. And
finally, dramatically and to the obvious shock of the home crowd, Athletic
snatched their winner.
After
substitute Matthew Tipton — who could earlier have scored with one of his
first touches — was fouled wide on the right, Adams stepped up to swing
over the free-kick. Duxbury charged
in diagonally from deep and, with unerring accuracy, planted his header
high beyond Carroll. One might have
expected Athletic to spend most of the second half sitting back, happy
with a very good point. That they didn’t
— that they had the courage of their convictions and truly believed they
could end Wigan’s wonderful run — was most heartening to see. Ritchie
wondered before the game how far his side had come since that horrific
start to the season. This performance
gave him the answer — they are a side totally transformed. Away
from home, at least, gone is the timidity which held them back for so long. They
are quicker in the tackle, sharper on the ball and, surely most important,
stronger in the mind. So can life get
much sweeter than this for Ritchie and his men? Only time will tell. One
win, no matter how illustrious, brings no guarantees at all. But,
for now, Athletic can bask in the glory of a result which makes the boldest
possible statement. They are fast becoming
a force to be reckoned with.
Ritchie:
We didn’t give them an inch
A
JUBILANT Andy Ritchie said Athletic’s work rate and energy were the crucial
factors in their shock victory. “I don’t
think Wigan expected us to work as hard as we did,” claimed the manager. “The
key to it was pressure — we didn’t give them an inch. Some people think
you have to just defend against teams that are flying high, but our plan
was different. “If we had sat back, they
would have got on top of us and we couldn’t afford to let them do that. “We
controlled the first half without putting anything away and it’s always
at the back of your mind that a team like Wigan might score. “But
we defended really stoutly. The centre-backs were excellent and the wing-backs
made it hard for them by pushing on a lot. “The
fact that we have beaten Wigan is immaterial, really. The three points
were always the most important thing and I think we deserved them. “We
have played away from home very, very well ever since I became manager.
We are bucking the trend a bit because we used to be the whipping boys
in away games.
“We
just keep telling the young lads to believe in themselves. We have been
doing that for weeks and it has paid off. “To
be honest, I still think Wigan will be lifting the second division trophy
at the end of the season. “They have
quality right through their squad — and that’s something which makes this
result all the ore pleasing.” Wigan
boss John Benson accepted his team’s first league defeat of the campaign
with good grace. He said: “It was always
going to come, but you have to look at the situation overall and we are
good enough to go on another run. “Oldham
made it very difficult for us. They did everything right. “They
were very well drilled and knew exactly what they were doing, so one goal
was always going to win it. “I felt for
my players because there were a lot of people watching on TV and they didn’t
do themselves justice.“The club record has
come to an end, but we were never really thinking about that. Maybe we
can all start talking about something else now.”