Wigan Join The Fixture Catch-Up

Well this was a little weird, we just had a Premier League sunday without a Dugout Discussion, strange times. At least Sky let you all take in the mighty Leicester City instead. Oh how he jokes…

Anyway, amongst all the hubbub of the weather and all games being postponed left, right and centre, one bit of news may have crept through the wires that some of you didn’t pick up on, so I thought I’d bring it up to light. A couple of days ago Wigan rescheduled their fixture to host Bolton (the first game to fall foul of the weather this season) for Tuesday February 16th.

That now means that both the Latics and the Trotters are set to have a double gameweek alongside the already reported Stoke and Manchester City tie in gameweek 26…

Wigan head into their schedule with a fixture list of reasonable interest, but not exactly shining either (EVE, sun, STK, BOL, TOT). What can be of interest is they will have 4 home games in 5, and despite Wigan still being somewhat hit and miss they have invariably been more impressive in their home fixtures.

Standouts are the obvious really; Hugo Rodallega is a great shout for budget striker of the season so far, and with a keen eye for goal as well as being main penalty taker and a friend of the bonus judges (I often think of him as the cheap Rooney in that respect), he would certainly seem a fine prospect.

Charles N’Zogbia is the other grand candidate because (at only £5.5m at the moment too) he has returned a couple of goals and an assist in recent weeks while plundering the love from the bonus judges week on week. If he can keep his form up and stay at the club (there were recent rumours of a move to Birmingam City) then to expect something from Charlie Insomnia wouldn’t be out of the question at all.

Looking at Bolton it’s always hard to get excited, but with Owen Coyle coming in to shake up the system and (at least) 2 more double gameweeks on top of this they make for good budget options. The fixture list isn’t too swell (BUR, liv, FUL, mcy, wig, bla) though it does begin to lighten thereafter – and the aforementioned other doubles to come at some point too.

Bolton aren’t the best defensively but Gary Cahill won’t set managers back too many pennies (currently £4.9m in FPL), he also is another friend of the bonus judges, and push comes to shove a shout for a goal too. In midfield, Marks favourite Matty Taylor will keep popping his head around the corner with him being on penalties and us knowing the talent he does have – even if he’s had trouble showing it so far this season. Perhaps Coyle could help out there.

Up front Kevin Davies is always there and there abouts when it comes to the goals, his penchant for yellow cards are constant worry though if you expect to keep him for a more than short stretch. Ivan Klasnic however has shown a keen eye for goal, and with 5 goals in his last 6 starts shines strong as a good budget option if you are so inclined – and again confident Mr. Coyle will be a fan.

So then, another fixture to add to the double gameweek calendar – I have even lovingly updated the season tickers for you to represent these changes. Let it be known to all managers that as we head into the upcoming gameweek 22 there will be 18 teams with (at least) one double gameweek on the cards for the remainder of the season – so there’s going to be plenty to mull over, and we perhaps might even have to begin to get selective on which ones we back.

We, of course, here at Fantasy Football Scout will be the first to let you know as and when some of the currently unplotted fixtures get added to the schedule.