Wardle on the Wigan performance

Chairman John Wardle has spoken out following the Wigan defeat on Saturday, labelling the display 'embarrassing'.

Wardle talked of the 'net £8.5 million' spent on transfers and that they would 'support the manager' in the January transfer window - although without any serious investment to the club any resource available will surely be limited to the bargain basement.

In addition, Wardle also issued a rallying call to fans by saying “Our supporters have always been tremendously loyal and I thank them for that. We must now all pull together and get behind the team in the coming weeks and months.”

It is rare for Wardle to actually publicly comment on matters, and it does strike as more of an attempt to re-assure fans that the board are working towards putting things right.

One thing Wardle didn't touch on was Stuart Pearce - giving neither a vote of confidence or laying out what was expected of him for this season. Personally, I think this was probably a deliberate ploy from Wardle to not add any fuel on the speculation which has again surrounded Pearce following Saturday's heavy defeat.

It wouldn't have helped Pearce whatever Wardle would have commented on as the press would have picked every comment to pieces in an attempt to generate a story.

For all the furore which was raised, and there were a lot of genuine questions raised about Pearce - namely his tactics and motivation abilities, I don't think the board at this stage are seriously considering making a managerial change - for above all alse there aren't any serious 'available' candidates out there (that we know of) who could come in and make a difference.