Interim manager John McGreal says you could see the Blues’ quality coming through as they finished their 1-1 draw at Wigan strongly and be believes the players are starting to enjoy getting on the ball again.

McGreal was in charge of Town for the second time following Paul Cook’s sacking last Saturday and says the display against the second-placed Latics was in stark contrast to the performance in the 2-0 loss at Charlton on Tuesday.

“I think it was a little bit night and day, to be fair,” McGreal. “I thought for 20 minutes again, we started OK but then gave away a little bit of a sloppy set-piece goal, things that we’ve been working on.

“It’s been tough to try and get the work on the grass, a lot’s been in the room to try and get the details on the tactical side.

“It just shows you that when players do knock off, there are opportunities for the opposition and that proved to be the case because just after that they had another corner and we defended it well. It was just one lapse I felt in that first half, in a tight game.

“You’re coming in and you’re thinking ‘We have to play’. Tons of endeavour, lots of effort. Again, a little bit of quality needed and I thought, especially in the second half, we saw a lot more of people taking a pass, taking a ball under pressure and you could actually start seeing the guys’ quality coming through and we finished the game really, really well, to be fair.”

Speaking after the Charlton game McGreal said there was a need to show character against a very good Wigan team.

“Their stats are ridiculous for their second half goals,” he continued. “It’s off the scale. You wonder then whether they’re then going to up the tempo, but our guys were there standing toe-to-toe with them.

“The goal came at a great time for us. I thought we’d just started to get into good positions, but weren’t overly showing quality.

“It was a great time to score a goal for us and I thought afterwards we sat ourselves in, it was a great shape throughout the game, we protected Christian [Walton] really, really well, the back eight as such, but knowing we had on the counter the two lads that can run the channels, and if not hold the ball up. And I thought we were able to do that.”

Asked about moving to two up front, Macauley Bonne and Joe Pigott, he said: “I said that the other night, they needed a bit of a shock. The fans coming down and not having to see only one shot on target, it’s criminal for a team of our quality.

“So I had to shake the pack to go two boys up top to get the balls in the box if we could. In the first half we didn’t but you’re thinking ‘OK, tons of endeavour, a lot more hard work’, but I thought in the second half, I think Kyle [Edwards] had a brilliant chance where the lad blocked it when we would have gone 2-1 up.

“It just shows you when you get the ball in the opposition’s box, there’s a little bit of panic and we were able to do that. I was really pleased with the way the boys finished.”

What did he make to the front two’s performance? “I thought they were a little bit sloppy in the first half. Things we had worked on, little round the corner balls from JD [Janoi Donacien]’s side that he was putting in to the main striker just bounced off one or two times and we weren’t able to gain the territory.

“I thought the guys started the second half well, to be fair, but you’re just getting towards 55 minutes, 60 and we still hadn’t got towards the goalkeeper, so we had to make the change.

“And I thought the two changes [James Norwood and Sone Aluko], they came on and it was a fitting reward to get the boys the result. They came on and, again, added more value, added more quality and finished the game strongly.”

Regarding Norwood, returning after his spell in the Town wilderness, scoring the goal, McGreal admitted it was inevitable.

“It had to be, he told me straight away, ‘I’d told you I score goals’,” he said. “I said ‘I know that, son!’. He’s been telling me all week.

“I only know what he does on the pitch. I’ve come up against him numerous times at Colchester and he’s always been a thorn in my side, he’s always seemed to score against me. And he’s said to me all week ‘I’ll score at the weekend’.

“I said, ‘Relax, let’s get you in training first, see where you are in training’ because other than a couple of U23s games but I think his last game was Gillingham [at the start of October].

“We had to look after him but I thought half an hour was there for him to come on and he’s been able to do that.

“It just gives us something different. We felt that we could get at their back four, that was the main when we looked at the tapes. We were here the other night, we felt we could get at the back four, and it proved the case.”

On Norwood he added: “He’s just sitting there as calm as you like. He does what he does. He scores goals, he tells me his record is really good. Now it’s up to the other guys. We need goals, not just from that forward line because if Macca [Macauley Bonne] doesn’t score then we’re looking at who else is going to bring goals to the team.

“That’s another part of what we’ve been working on. We’ve been working on set plays because set plays are a big chance to score goals and I thought we were unlucky at one or two occasions from set plays. We need goals from other members of the team, not just the strike force.”

Asked whether it was important to get the point on the board and also that his period as interim manager didn’t start with two defeats, the former centre-half said: “It’s not about me, this is not about me whatsoever at all, looking after the football club while they’re making decisions. I’ve stepped in, I wasn’t going to turn the club down for what they’ve been for me.

“I live in the area, I’ve got builders in and out the house who are massive Town fans, so I’m not going to turn my back on the Town, there’s not a chance.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the club. We need to get the club in the right position. You can now see the guys’ shackles breaking off, they’re now landing on the ball and taking a touch and getting their heads up and stuff. Brilliant.

“So when the next guy comes in, I’m trying to get the team, me Kieron [Dyer] and Reg [Rene Gilmartin], get the team to a level where they’re fearless, they can now go on and dominate the game and dominate the play because there are tons of games left to make things happen.

“All we’ve gone in to do is to try and steady the ship, try and get a couple of good results, which I did say at the very beginning. It didn’t work Tuesday, but they’ve reacted in a brilliant way, that’s all I can say. The guys have been brilliant.”

Does he expect to be in charge at Barrow on Wednesday? “I’ll speak to [CEO] Mark [Ashton], Mark’s always in contact and until that goes I’ll try and prep the team the best I can, but you just don’t know.

“A day in football is a long time in football and a lot of things can get done in 24 hours, as we all now know with Zooms and different things. We’ll just have to wait and see to see what Wednesday brings.”

Did McGreal believe Town should have been awarded a penalty in the first half when Kyle Edward was tripped in the box? “From where I was, it looked it but it looked as if he was running towards the touchline. I need to look at it again. You think it was, do you. There were bodies in front of me and I just couldn’t see, so I’d have to look on the tape.”

Regarding the first-half incident involving Conor Chaplin, he added: “I spoke to the ref, he said he tripped him up or something, so the referee was about to give him a yellow card but the linesman over that side went ‘No, it was literally a coming together’ and he said ‘What I did was I took my yellow card away and I didn’t book him, I listened to my linesman’.

“I think it was literally as they were walking he tripped him over because something was going on with the number three, [Tom] Pearce, and there was a little bit of mouthing off.

“Especially when you’ve got the Wigan fans in that corner and you’ve got our fans right next to it, there’s going to be a bit of noise and a. bit of volume. So I thought the referee handled that decision really well.”

At the end the Town fans warmly applauded the Town fans, again in contrast to the Charlton match.

“I totally agree and I thought we finished the game with a bit of quality, which was lacking hugely on Tuesday,” he said.

“The endeavour was there, the work-rate was there and they’re now in a position where they’ve scored a goal away from home against a top-two team.

“They’re a top-two team, Wigan, we’ve got to try and get to that standard but the pleasing thing for me now is that the noise levels have raised throughout the week, now they’ve continued that throughout the week and now after the game, there’s a bit of noise in there, which is great.

“It shows you they’re now starting to enjoy getting on the ball, playing football because that’s what the club’s about. We’ve got things to do, so we can’t stand still, we’ve got to keep ourselves moving.”

Regarding centre-half Toto Nsiala’s absence from the 18, McGreal says that had nothing to do with the incident at the Valley: “No, just my decision.”

Wigan boss Leam Richardson felt Will Keane’s disallowed goal ought to have stood and claimed Chaplin should have been red-carded for a stamp in the incident towards the end of the first half.

“I think on reflection of the week we've had - going through in the FA Cup, winning in midweek, and not getting beat today - it's been a good week,” he told Wigan Today.

“We're obviously disappointed we didn't win, but the lads have been going well. I'm disappointed we conceded from a set-piece, because that's so unlike us.

“In the first half I thought we controlled large parts of the game. In the second half, it was more even, but all the big chances fell to us.

“Will Keane's goal, we obviously get to see it afterwards, and it is onside, which is disappointing.

“We know the officials have lots of decisions to make, but we do feel they've got the big ones wrong today.

“Their lad should be sent off, we all know that, and I'm sure the FA will look into it. It's a tough job, I certainly wouldn't like to be a referee, but it is disappointing.”

Photo: TWTD

ArnieM added 22:17 - Dec 11 The emphasis from JM is to get the ball forward as quickly as possible . But as a team we are now having to adapt to a different style again…it ….takes…..time, and this is what you get when you chop and change things at the club. It'll happen again when the new man comes in. People wanted change. I get it. It had never really got going under Cook. But we have to accept that with every change in staff/ manager/ players at the club, there will be a settling in process. We just have to suck it up…..I honestly don't think promotion was ever really viable this season, given the huge changes that have occurred at this club. Maybe that's just me feeling that, and it certainly doesn't mean I didn't want promotion this season.I just didn't think it likely. Cue , unbeaten run of games for the next 6 weeks 👍🥂

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markchips added 22:24 - Dec 11 Bazza8564 thank you for your summary. I think we all know the unlikelihood of a positive end to the season but we live in hope that the new man can get something extra out of these players and may have the contacts to bring in a few stronger players to compete more completely in this division.
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Bazza8564 added 22:32 - Dec 11 i like ArnieMs summary, momentum is everything, we win wednesday and we have some big home games coming, a run is possible. i also agree that 352 532 is a more logical formation, norwood has to be involved for me and Burns and either penney or coulson will give us options wide and stop us pumping long balls endlessly
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shakytown added 22:58 - Dec 11 hopefully Cooks 4231 has now been thrown in the rubbish pile where it belongs.
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DifferentGravy added 23:01 - Dec 11 Thanks Bazza - not sure why you get marked down for giving a synopsis from someone who actually attended the game. Especially since Mathie pointed out some similar defects on the radio.
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pg888 added 02:30 - Dec 12 Having the benefit of a VPN and I follow i can disagree strongly with people who say Wigan were not a threat! We were incredibly lucky not to be 3 down before Norwood came on he changed the game completely! Literally showed why he should be first choice no matter any personal opinions on the man The only way is up from now with Penney at lb to add a bit of balance
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Monkey_Blue added 06:53 - Dec 12 The biggest improvement with McGreal's post and pre match interviews is he's not paul Cook. It's refreshing to not have a manager give interviews that contain meaningless nonsense, contradiction and ar4e covering.
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brendenward35 added 07:14 - Dec 12 I've not been impressed so far with the contenders for the managers job. I'd give JM a few more games to see how he does. Charlton players were sulking very few supporters expected a draw against Wigan so I'd sit back and see how the next few matches go before deciding
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Jonaldo added 09:02 - Dec 12 I agree with McGreal to an extent. We did improve after Norwoods opportunist goal. But before then we were lucky it was just 1-0. We were vulnerable to crosses with neither centre half attacking the ball. Burgess nearly cost us a goal with some very sloppy play as well. Would be good to know why Toto was left out. He has been dominant winning headed balls, so interesting that Toto was left out if they have been working on that!

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BlueRuin69 added 10:16 - Dec 12 I was happy with Morsey and Evans. We need to be more solid even if not always pretty, need fighters like Norwood and Chaplin to. Draw great result at Wigan. How many times are we beaten by teams that grind out result. McGreal is doing well in his short time in charge, give him the Job.
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Marinersnose added 10:23 - Dec 12 Orraman having listened to his interview I felt exactly the same. Stark contrast to our previous managers. No sprouting nonsense or trying to be funny.
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barryblue added 11:07 - Dec 12 I agree with many on here that it was refreshing to listen to McGreal, it all made sense and was a good listen, I do hope it works well for him but I think there is no doubt they want their own man in, but none of the names or those available are remotely inspiring. But whoever it is, i think there is no realistic chance of us making the play offs, its now at least 8 teams too far ahead of us, we would need a run akin to what Mansfield have done, i think thats 8 wins in 9 for them, and what the hell is Nigel Clough doing in that league, he is easily a championship manager, also Rooney is doing well at Derby, they had to play some kids because of covid, as if he didnt have enough problems

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Cheshire_Blue added 17:31 - Dec 12 At long last a manager I would have faith in to succeed and who I think is up to the job.
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therein61 added 18:54 - Dec 12 Norwood made his point after scoring pointing to his name on the back of his shirt while backing away from his team mates i can see why after being left out for so long but he hasn't helped himself off the field for various reasons, so with hope(because he can certainly get a goal or two) he will get his head right and come back into the fold(as Bonne since his q.p.r statement is looking lost!) and bang em in and take us upwards but then who knows who's been in his ear with the window approaching.

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JewellintheTown added 09:15 - Dec 13 Three cheers for McGreals builders! Keep the pressure on, lads.
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chepstowblue added 13:00 - Dec 13 We're clutching at straws if we're thinking this was much better. If we're comparing it to Charlton then if course it was, but if anybody thinks this was a performance anything other than bog standard, or the level required to surge up the table then I despair. There was little or no football played, more combative certainly, but we rode our luck at the death with a perfectly good goal ruled out and Keane missing the best chance of the game. I've never had wool pulled over my eyes, I shan't start now.

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