One in one out...

[Filo]

He played against us once for Bournemouth and absolutely ran the game, since then I’ve followed his career and he’s played in the premiership a few times.
One of the best performances I’ve seen against us

he's never played in the Premier League

CORRECTION: he's played 3 times in the PL


75 Championship games

130 L1 games

4 international caps

[selby]

  I would hope that any new signing would undergo a rigorous medical assessment before signing, and would be available to play immediately if required.
  We do look all round a slightly fitter squad this season under the new regime, just because we are a first division club does not mean that we cannot be one of the physically fittest, that should be an ambition of the players themselves, and the management, to be as good as they can be.
  The standard of Grants new signings, from what I have seen of them look to be quality, whoever he does fetch in it looks as if we can be confident in his ability to get good players, who fit in with the way he wants the club to go, and the style of play he likes to play.

[Filo]

Had a coumpound fracture of the leg against Reading in the year Wigan were relegated to L1

[Alan Southstand]

Do we really need another player with a fitness question mark hanging over his head?

[Donnybax]

Do we really need another player with a fitness question mark hanging over his head?

if he didn’t have a fitness question mark he wouldn’t be signing for us

[RoversAlias]

Some of those players may, by Christmas time, show they aren't worth a new deal or might not suit McCann's style or his personality. We've already seen this maybe with two on that list - McCullough and Mandeville.

So long as by Dec/Jan those clearly worth new deals are offered them I don't see the issue.

But surely the ones that have significant value need to be tied up otherwise we’re just going to lose them for free.
December/January will be too late, as other clubs will have already been in touch offering them deals

How many players sign pre-contracts with new clubs in November or December of the previous season!? I can't imagine it's many.

It's alright saying we need to get the players of significant value tied down now but looking at that list, besides Rowe, Wright and the goalkeeper I'm struggling to see who we desperately need to make sure we keep. Mason maybe, but what if say Andrew gets another season-ending knee injury right after we sign him to a new 2 year deal? What if Butler and Coppinger's performances fall off a cliff because they hit that wall that comes to all players eventually with age? You'll have people moaning we wasted valuable budget money on then just like people did when Ferguson extended Evina's deal, and Mandeville's etc.

Basically what I'm saying is, it's far too early to be panicking about this. In 3 months time I definitely think we need to be sitting down with those who have proven valuable. But right now, as set as our best XI may appear it can and will change as the season wears on.

That list Jonathan posted, if accurate, has 14 players on it. 3 are already out on loan, 2 are in their mid-to-late 30s, 2 more have barely ever played for us at this point (Andrew and Taylor) and 3 more look like being fringe players this year (Lawlor, May, Lund). That leaves Marosi, Rowe, Wright and Mason who in my opinion are probably the only four we should be thinking about sitting down with to talk about extensions before Christmas.

[drfchound]

I can’t imagine that for one minute the club are not aware of this list of players that are coming to the end of their contracts, and more to the point, are considering what is going to be done.

[drfchound]

He played against us once for Bournemouth and absolutely ran the game, since then I’ve followed his career and he’s played in the premiership a few times.
One of the best performances I’ve seen against us

he's never played in the Premier League

CORRECTION: he's played 3 times in the PL


75 Championship games

130 L1 games

4 international caps

Apparently, being an international footballer doesnt make him a good player.

[NickDRFC]

Being a backup international player for a nation without a significant amount of depth doesn’t make someone a good player.

This guy has 4 caps for Wales. Doesn’t make him a good player but if he is half the player that our last Welsh international central midfielder was I’d be delighted to sign him.

[pib]

He played against us once for Bournemouth and absolutely ran the game, since then I’ve followed his career and he’s played in the premiership a few times.
One of the best performances I’ve seen against us

he's never played in the Premier League

CORRECTION: he's played 3 times in the PL


75 Championship games

130 L1 games

4 international caps

Apparently, being an international footballer doesnt make him a good player.

  Still hammering this?

It doesn't, necessarily.

[steve@dcfd]

GM will make the decision, he signed 2 young players who have made a difference. He’s signed Crawford who had an injury and noe has a similar injury and not available to play. He’s signed Tayls we wait see if he will be the player GM says he would be.

We need another midfield player he’s the right age, right height and played at a good level. But we can’t take a risk on a player who cannot play consistently,  the manager will make the decision.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Lack of recent appearances is a point worth pondering to be fair, but there's nothing to say he won't get over it, many have done.  It is a bit of a risk but do you have to take risks to get quality at this level?

[NickDRFC]

https://www.wiganathletic.com/teams/first-team-player-profiles/midfielder/shaun-macdonald/

Judging by this article, if he does come I’d expect it to be a few months loan at most as it sounds like if he proves his fitness he’d be a valued member of Wigan’s squad.

[dickos1]

A broken leg doesn’t mean he’s prone to injury it’s not like someone has a dodgy knee or ankle.
Players break bones all the time and it has no bearing on what player they are afterwards

[RoversAlias]

A broken leg doesn’t mean he’s prone to injury it’s not like someone has a dodgy knee or ankle.
Players break bones all the time and it has no bearing on what player they are afterwards

Agreed. This player is clearly well thought of and if it is him it's exactly the type of midfielder we are crying out for.

When we signed Tommy Rowe, he hadn't played in a long time at Wolves due to injury. I'd say that gamble paid off as he has been one of our most important players for two years and is now team captain.

[drfchound]

He played against us once for Bournemouth and absolutely ran the game, since then I’ve followed his career and he’s played in the premiership a few times.
One of the best performances I’ve seen against us

he's never played in the Premier League

CORRECTION: he's played 3 times in the PL


75 Championship games

130 L1 games

4 international caps

Apparently, being an international footballer doesnt make him a good player.

  Still hammering this?

It doesn't, necessarily.

In your opinion.

[Alan Southstand]

Hang on, the lad in question has had 2 injuries, one of them was the break then he got a knee injury (according to someone on Twitter).

[Yorks Rover]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Lopes

Wigan Midfielder.. worked with GM before?

[elmsallrover]

What makes him different from any other player we've already got..

[wing commander]

      Reality is if we are wanting to sign a really good player who is fit and firing on loan then we are going to have to get very lucky indeed because they are just not available..

   We have to accept that there is always going to be a risk involved with quality loan signings,the lad in question  (if it is him) is only available on loan because he hasn't played for a while because of injury and needs game which he's not currently going to get at his parent club..It's a bit like Lukes situation in reverse..We either get lucky or we don't on whether he gets fit enough and more importantly stays fit whilst he is here...But at this time of year it's the chance you have to take if we want to strengthen...

[DRNaith]

Does this need to go to the Rumour Mill before Barnsley poach him?

[Alan Southstand]

Barnsley will be after a striker!

I see what you're saying WC, but it may turn out to be false economy for us. They may well, of course, set up an agreement with Wigan that we don't pay if he doesn't play, but......other than the financial side, we need someone who is going to be fit and able to play 2 games per week. Something that some of our, so called, fit players seem to be struggling with!

I don't readily accept that the quality players are not there - what is Kane, after all?

[RedJ]

Barnsley will be after a striker!

I see what you're saying WC, but it may turn out to be false economy for us. They may well, of course, set up an agreement with Wigan that we don't pay if he doesn't play, but......other than the financial side, we need someone who is going to be fit and able to play 2 games per week. Something that some of our, so called, fit players seem to be struggling with!

I don't readily accept that the quality players are not there - what is Kane, after all?

An unproven kid, when you get right down to it. Equally risky, really, as he could either be a Matt Mills or a Rodney Kongolo for us.

[dickos1]

Way people are going on you’d think he hasn’t played in 5 years or something.
The reality is he’s had two totally unrelated injuries and has played plenty of games previous to that without being injured all the time.

[Alan Southstand]

He's played fewer games than McCullough over the last couple of years!

Look, Dickos, if it is the lad we think it is, I sincerely hope he is over his injuries and we can look forward to an improved midfield. The point is though, is it the best use of the resources he has to work with? He has the qualities that we don't possess currently and I can see why the manager would be interested. But, and it's a big but, this could backfire on him, if the lad suffers a setback

[dickos1]

But it’s not as if he won’t have been playing football, he won’t be coming here and it will be the first time he’s kicked a ball.
He’ll have been playing in all the pre season games, the reserves, in training,

He’ll have a detailed medical beforehand, we will only be signing him if he’s fully fit

[RoversAlias]

We sign a prospect like Kane on loan, everyone moans he's too young, unproven.

We sign (if it is MacDonald) a proven, experienced player on loan, and everyone moans he's had too many injuries.

There's always something. Always a reason to be negative no matter who it is.

When we signed Rowe, he'd been injured ages so people moaned. When we signed Marquis, people moaned saying he has never scored enough goals in his career. Seems to have worked out okay with those two.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

There's plenty of players who've had serious injuries and continued to have good careers, including Billy Sharp. It's an occupational hazard. It's not even a debate.

[dickos1]

Exactly
If you only signed players who’d never been injured then you would have a team full of kids

[sedwardsdrfc]

Got to understand they type of injury to know if its a real risk or not. Sounds like MacDonald was just unlucky it happens.