Paul Cook admits Wigan got what they deserved against Blackpool
Posted Wednesday, February 14, 2018 by PA
Paul Cook reckoned he had never see his Wigan side give the ball away so often as they surrendered top spot in Sky Bet League One with a 2-0 home defeat to Blackpool.
Wigan were hoping to bounce back from a 3-1 loss at Southend on Saturday, but suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since Cook took charge last summer.
Armand Gnanduillet opened the scoring for Blackpool inside three minutes, with Kelvin Mellor doubling the lead eight minutes before the interval.
And it was the visitors who came closest to adding to the scoring in the second half, with Mellor seeing a header brilliantly tipped over by Latics goalkeeper Christian Walton in the dying moments.
Wigan boss Cook admitted: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen us give the ball away as much.
“From there we can go on and on, and the anxiety reaches out into the crowd – and that’s football.
“We’ve seen it time and again over the years, and one thing I’ve learned over the years is that those players need massive support.
“The biggest thing I can do as a manager is to keep supporting them, because they’ve set the bar so high.
“Unfortunately when they fall just below it, everyone is disappointed.
“I’m as disappointed as the next man, and the players are just as disappointed.
“But great credit to Blackpool, who have deserved to win the game.
“It’s a long season. We’re 30 games in now, some of the other teams are 33 games in, and only at the end of the season will we know how everyone has done.”
Cook had made only one change to his side from the Southend game, and his decision to field Sam Morsy – who went into the game on nine bookings – backfired when his skipper picked up a yellow card that rules him out of next Monday’s FA Cup tie against Manchester City.
“The thing with hindsight is it’s a wonderful thing,” added Cook.
“The team got put on its pants on Saturday, and this was a great chance to get back up and stay on top of the league.”
Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer could not hide his delight at his side’s magnificent performance.
“We got off to a wonderful start but we knew what we were going to be in for – a tough night against a quality team,” said the Seasiders manager.
“But our organisation, our game-plan, the effort from the players, the discipline and the desire were all first class.
“The players deserve all the credit.
“We can only advise them how to set up but they’ve got to go and carry it out. They certainly did that.
“We always looked threatening when we put the ball in the box.
“It gave us something to hold on to and to come here and keep a clean sheet is an unbelievable effort.
“It’s not often we’ve been two goals ahead so we were in new territory.
“I thought everybody just ran their socks off.”
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