The Roberto Martínez effect

Saturday 21st May 2011 - Six sides battled it out to remain within the Primera Division. One side lost that battle - Deportivo La Coruna. The next day another Spaniard had he's own relegation fight on his hands in England. A one-off match; winner takes all and even that might not be enough. This time five teams were vulnerable but two could fall through the trap door, a seasons worth of games boiled down to ninety minutes of football. Wigan survived, Martínez was a hero !

Roberto Martínez was born in Balaguer, a small town in Catalonia. In 2009 the census came back with a population of around 17,000, a little more than what can be expected at the DW stadium on match day. He signed for his hometown club and learnt his trade through the ranks for the 3rd division club until the team he supported as a child Real Zaragoza came calling. Following in his fathers footsteps of playing for both Balaguer and Zaragoza, he made a number of appearances for the B side but only one for the first team of the Blanquillos in his three years at the club. He then returned to his local side, it was here he got his first taste of management as he ran a football school for the club as an alternative to military service alongside his first team duties.

In 1995 he joined Wigan Athletic who at the time were in England's 3rd division, with chairman Dave Whelan then owner of JJB Sports owning four shops in Spain. The general director was based in Zaragoza and played a key role in bringing the midfielder to the Latics. Roberto couldn't have asked for a better start as he finished the season as the Fan's Player of the Year and the club's leading goalscorer. His next season wasn't bad either as the side gained promotion, six years in total the Spaniard spent at Wigan. A short spell in Scotland with Motherwell followed, where he met his wife, and then to West Midlands side Walsall, both times rarely making an impact. A move to Wales revitalised his career once more as he joined Swansea City. He wrapped up his playing career with a year at Chester City having spent three seasons at the Swans.

In 2007 he was offered the Swansea City managerial position, his first appointment at just 33 years old. In his first full season he won promotion to the Championship gaining 92 points over the season, the highest ever by a Welsh club in the Football League. In 2008/09 they finished 8th in the Championship. It wasn't just the results that were good, a style of football was pushed onto the club which is still evident to this day. Quick passing and possession based football when in the ascendancy, with high pressing looking to win the ball back quickly when without the ball; sound familiar ! His win percentage for the club only being bettered by current manager Brendan Rodgers who has taken the side into the Premiership for the first time. Martínez certainly left the foundations for which Rodgers has built on, with an indifferent Paulo Sousa in between. Roberto was critical of players that wanted to leave for more money or other clubs but this came back to bite him.

In 2009 he joined Dave Whelan once again at Wigan, obviously Swansea fans were not best pleased, some going as far as to label him 'El Judas'. Whilst he certainly owed Swansea for giving him his first opportunity as a coach, he had left them in good condition. He also felt that he owed Whelan as much if not more for bringing him to England in the first place. The lure of the Premier League being the deciding factor. Wigan had previously been in the Premiership for four years prior, two under the tenure of Paul Jewell and two under Steve Bruce. Average attendances at the side have dropped 3,400 since their first season in the top flight as the recession has took hold. Four out of there six seasons they have been bottom of the attendance statistics, with only Portsmouth and Blackpool ever having had marginally less. With a town that is more known for its Rugby and neighbouring giants Manchester United and City, it's an uphill battle for it to improve. Despite having the lowest win percentage of the three managers at the club, Roberto last season achieved Wigan's lowest amount of defeats in one season since being in the top flight. Going against the media clichés for a team in their position, "keeping a team organised" or "playing scrappy football to get results" neither have been applied here. Just being in the Premiership is a success for a club of Wigan's size.

The money has hardly been flowing either, using the figures from transferleague.co.uk Martínez has both a smaller gross and net spend than he's predecessors. Under Jewell they had a gross spend of £27.05 million, whilst Bruce had one for £27.01m leaving Martínez trailing behind having just spent £15.8m. At a club like Wigan where players will come and go in order to survive, then buying low and selling high has to be part of the realistic ambitions. In terms of net spend Jewell parted with £9.25m, Bruce spent £0.65m and Martínez was £7.95m in profit. Roberto clearly benefiting from Manchester United's decision to part with £16m for Antonio Valencia (in the interests of fairness - 2 years in charge of Wigan at the top each - I haven't included the recent signing of goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi believed to be for a fee of around £4 million). It's not just at his own club where he has had less money, when comparing the last two seasons net spend of -£7.95m against their relegation rivals of last year he also scores favourably. With Blackpool (£4.175m), West Ham (£17.7m), Wolves (£25.4m) and Birmingham an unbelievable (£36.525m). It's clear to see why Aston Villa wanted to take the Spaniard to the Midlands this summer.

But is it shrewd business moves on Roberto's part or has he been assisted by a number of good signings from Steve Bruce. Perhaps it's a bit of both with top players Hugo Rodallega, Charles N'Zogbia and Maynor Figueroa having arrived before Martínez took charge but all benefiting from his style of play. The signings of current captain Gary Caldwell (free) and young highly rated Liverpool target James McCarthy (£1.2m) shows it wasn't just his ability to attract his wife that he learnt whilst in Scotland. The signing of Argentine striker Mauro Boselli (£6.5m) last summer suggests he has some learning to do in the mid-range transfer fees (although looking at Boselli's record in Argentina it's clear to see why he made the signing). Martínez has himself admitted that 'loan signings' will be key this summer whilst youngsters will be keen to fit into the passing system as United's Tom Cleverley did last season. "Getting young local players into the squad is my ambition; youngsters born in Wigan being in the squad will show a great sign of improvement." The progress of youngsters such as Callum McManamen, Lee Nicholls and Jordan Mustoe, all from the Merseyside area not to far away, show a willingness to build for the future.

So what does the future hold for Señor Martínez ?

Well another season at Wigan is the immediate aim having turned down Randy Learner's advances and once again a realistic finish for Wigan is just to stay in the Premiership. Talk of five-year plan where Wigan aim to crack the top ten is both ambitious but achievable. Next year will be crucial to Martínez in terms of profile, if unsuccessful then he would be relegated from the potential pool of top young managers. His friendship with Dave Whelan is so good that he allowed him to speak with Aston Villa. Whelan has said that he would allow Martínez to leave for a top club, whether that's in England or Spain only time will tell. He is clearly happy in Great Britain and doesn't seem to be looking for a path home. It's difficult to see a club of a top six stature taking the punt on a manager from Wigan, so he may have to move to another league. Perhaps opportunities may present themselves at Tottenham or Everton in the coming seasons only time will tell. A move to one of the Old Firm in Scotland would seem to be a good fit for all parties.