Cowley repeated the same Wigan mistake

THERE have been plenty of occasions this season – particularly since the January signings arrived – on which we have defended the Cowleys against the accusation that they do not have a clear plan or approach.

Even in Town’s previous poor performances against Cardiff and Swansea, we were at least able to identify the intended plan while acknowledging that those plans had been poorly executed. That was not the case against Wigan on Saturday.

Cowley pointed out that Wigan ‘trapped’ Town out on the right, and their heatmap confirms that, with a tell-tale pair of red splotches just inside the Terriers’ half showing the area where Town kept running up against a dead end.

He also lamented that playing Karlan Grant as a No.9 left them with ‘no point of reference’ – meaning that hitting it long or expecting Grant to bring others in with his back to goal was not an option.

Those two bits of phrasing from Cowley rang a bell.

This is the Town boss after a frustrating game in December: “It’s really easy, you watch the first half, they just cracked us. They trapped us on the left, we’ve got no point of reference so we can’t even kick, so all we’re doing is trying to build, but we’re getting caught up on our weaker foot and it’s so easy to stop us at the moment.”

That game was the 1-1 draw at Wigan, when injuries meant Town fielded a side made up entirely of right-footed players. including Florent Hadergjonaj at left-back, and Mounie being ill meant Grant started at centre forward.