Football Season Review

Wigan needed a swift response after suffering two relegations in three years and the Latics did not disappoint, as they won the League One title to return to the Championship at the first time of asking. The Latics, lead by Gary Caldwell, who was having his first full season in management, initially struggled a bit and it was clear that Caldwell was looking for a way to get his men to fulfill their full potential. Their football got gradually better as time elapsed and it did not take long for Caldwell to figure out that his side function best in a 3-5-2 formation, which became his preferred system in October and was rarely changed between then and the end of the season. As expected, Will Grigg chipped in with a lot of goals and ended as their top scorer, but the Northern Ireland international certainly needed some help, and there is a big question mark over where Wigan would have ended had Caldwell not done such a great job in the transfer market and brought in the likes of Yanic Wildschut, Sam Morsy and Ryan Colclough, who all played important roles in the Latics' promotion. Wigan were showing constant signs of progress after surviving their rocky start and lost only two games between the first half of December and the end of the season, with the second of these defeats being a meaningless final round home defeat to Barnsley. All in all, the Latics were viewed by some as a Championship side stranded in League One before the start of the season and they have definitely justified such perceptions. They are going straight back to the second tier and are likely to aim for more than just mere survival next season.

Player of the Season: David Perkins