There’s been a bit of a brouhaha over the recent signing of Yanic Wildschut from Wigan Athletic, who coincidentally, Norwich play tonight.
The response on social media to an interview given by Yanic to Canaries.co.uk left many Latics’ fans upset and annoyed at various things Yanic was quoted as saying, especially a comment about ‘playing in front of empty seats.’
That comment prompted an outpouring of anger with the term ‘snake’ being used to describe him. One Twitter user even advertised that he would be selling rubber snakes before the game to throw at Yanic if he comes close enough – they’re only £1!
So, to get to the bottom of all this and gain a Wigan perspective both of the transfer and the player, I asked my colleagues at Vital Wigan for the low down. This is the response I got from Barry:
‘I understand players have ambitions to play at the highest level possible and also to earn as much as they can from what after all is a short career, so when I heard that Yanic was open to a move away I was naturally disappointed because he was not only a firm favourite of mine and the Latics fraternity, but he was our main threat to opposition defences, but by the same token I understood his reasoning.
He handed a transfer request in the day before the deadline day to try and force the move, this upset quite a few of the fans, and also the hierarchy at the club I believe, but again I could understand why he had done it. David Sharpe though was adamant that he would only leave when our valuation was met and this appears to have been the case.
What did upset me though were the comments that Yanic made on an interview with the Norwich media team that appeared on the Canaries official website, he was quite disrespectful to the Latics and it felt like a parting shot, however he conducted an interview with our local paper, the Wigan Evening Post the following day and claimed that the piece had been badly edited and gave the wrong context to his comments, fair enough if true.
Here’s the article as quoted by the EDP
He is a real loveable character, a bit of an oddball, just sad the way it has ended with him at the Latics. He will get a mammoth amount of stick on Tuesday whether he plays or not, only natural as we will want to put him off his game, we need the points.
So what does Yanic Wildschut offer? He has blistering pace and very good ball control, he appears to glide when moving but leaves opposition players in his wake, he is extremely direct, though predominantly right footed he can and does use both to cross, pass or shoot with.
He is an attacking player, forget him coming back to defend, in fact you wouldn’t want him in your own half as he can be a liability, he can’t tackle, his positional sense isn’t very good, awful in the air and not the bravest player by any stretch of the imagination, but that isn’t what he is about.
He will bring an extra dimension to your team, when he breaks he will have Carrow Road up on their feet to a man, he gets two, three or even four markers but still leaves them behind, he is very strong on the ball and as I have already stated very direct, his runs create panic in the opposition, his final ball or option taken aren’t always the right one but he is still quite a raw talent, get that sorted and you’ll have yourselves a superstar.
Below is a great video that demonstrates exactly what you’ll be getting, show him love and he’ll respond, get on his back and his head will drop, don’t expect him to track back, let him do what he does best.’
Click To Watch
From my point of view, as a Norwich fan, I sympathise with the situation Wigan found themselves in as transfer deadline day rapidly approached. We’ve lost Nathan Redmond and Robbie Brady to the Premier League in the last six months or so and with Brady going to Burnley, we can see that money talks.
At this moment in time, City can pay more than Wigan in wages and that is part of why Yanic is here, not to mention a greater chance of promotion and Yanic’s own personal ambitions, hopes and dreams.
Football is business and for the players, they have to make the most of opportunities when they come along in their careers. Yanic wasn’t born in Wigan or Norwich and neither were Redmond or Brady. The only loyalty in football is between the clubs and their fans, something I always tell fellow Canary fans when they jump up and down at the sale of a player. That is just the reality of the situation.
No doubt, Yanic will get plenty of stick tonight and that’s all part of the game. As Barry says, if it puts him off his game or unsettles him then so much the better for them. Of course, it might make him even more determined to put on a show – fingers crossed.
Watch out for those rubber snakes, Yanic!
Thanks again to Barry at Vital Wigan for such an honest response.
Cheers mate and good luck for the rest of the season – after tonight, of course.
OTBC