As Paul Jewell walked away from his first meeting with Dave Whelan, he must surely have taken the aspirations of the eccentric chairman with a pinch of salt. After obtaining promotion to debatably the toughest league in the world, high profile signings would join the club and the push into Europe would be on.
In a town dominated by rugby league Dave Whelan took over the club in 1995 and took them from the 3rd division to their current position, 2nd in the Premiership. But the storming start to the Premiership has not been due to the money, but the management.

Dave Whelan and Paul Jewell celebrate promotion

Not About The Money
The motivational skills needed to get the entire squad sweating blood at the JJB stadium against the likes of Chelsea should not be underestimated, and a canny knowledge of the transfer market has paved the road to consistant success. Chimbonda was bought from Bastia and cited as proof that the lower teams had to shop in the bargin basement of the transfer market for 2nd rate players. Now 11 games into his Wigan career and with 2 goals in the last 2 outings, he is forcing critics to swallow their words.

More than any player, the attacking nature of football under Jewell has been the source of much success. Playing with two upfront, attacking wingbacks and a pace throughout, Wigan are not the battling journeymen Everton of last season were. Whilst it is foolish to suggest that they may retain second place over the course of the season, the positive attitude goes a long way to safeguarding a premiership future, in stark contrast to Sunderland who appear resigned to defeat already.

Jason Roberts attributes his and several team-mates form to hypnosis, ?We?ve always done well after we?ve seen her,? Roberts, who has scored winning goals against Sunderland and Newcastle United this season, said. ?Things have been going well for us, and I?d like to think Marisa has been a part of it.?

Wigan Athletic’s Jason Roberts

West Ham’s Progression
It is only the record breaking start to a Premiership campaign by the Latics that has eclipsed West Ham’s progress. For year a club yo-yoing between the divisions, intelligent purchases (such as Berbatov-in-the-making Benayoun) a strong English core, the wise head of Teddy Sheringham and attacking football have led to the Hammers in mid-table. With a decent financial situtation Pardew believes the club is no longer forced to sell its assets (Defoe, Lampard, Carrick, Johnson) and can become a Premiership regular.

West Ham United’s Teddy Sheringham

Sunderland Struggle
Sunderland have made a less meteoric approach to the Premiership and under Mick McCarthy look as unadventurous as a Gary Neville haircut. Add to the melting pot a club posting record losses of 8 million and they become a prime candidate for religation. Unlike the other promoted sides, they are light on Premiership experience, and a host of young players are finding the learning curve a little steep.

Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy

So if anything can be learnt by comparing the fortunes of the promoted clubs, it is that to survive in a league with no easy matches, attacking play and shrewd boardroom spending is a must. Adapting a teams style to fit into premiership play is not enough, as Sunderland are proving, teams must undergo a revolution both on and off the pitch.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 9th, 2005 at 12:23 pm and is filed under West Ham United, Wigan Athletic. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.