LONDON: Wigan manager Roberto Martinez refused to confirm his future lies with the FA Cup winners after his side’s 4-1 defeat at Arsenal confirmed their relegation from the Premier League.
Martinez’s team will be back in the Championship for the first time in eight years next season, but whether their highly-rated boss will be with them remains to be seen.
Wigan have become the first club to win the FA Cup and be relegated in the same season, but Martinez’s stock is still sky-high thanks to their epic upset against Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday.
The Spaniard is one of the favourites to take over at Everton following David Moyes’ impending move to Manchester United.
And the prospect of life in the second tier may persuade Martinez that now is the time to move on after he rejected approaches from Aston Villa and Liverpool over the last two years.
But for now he is playing his cards close to his chest.
“If I am honest with you it is so fresh that we have been relegated and I dont think it is the time (to talk about the future,” he said.
“Now is not the time for individuals. When you walk into the dressing room after this match it is heartbreaking.
“In the summer, as always happens, there will be assessments and whatever happens will happen.”
It was understandable that Martinez was unwilling to focus on his own situation at such a delicate time for his club.
Just three days previously he had secured the first major trophy in Wigan’s 81-year history.
But that incredible Wembley triumph had left his players running on fumes and they collapsed in disastrous fashion in the second half at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
Shaun Maloney’s superb free-kick in first half stoppage-time had given Wigan hope after Lukas Podolski’s early opener.
But Wigan’s sloppy defending, their Achilles heel all season, returned to haunt them again as Theo Walcott, Podolski and Aaron Ramsey were allowed to score far too easily. “I know from the outside you could see relegation was possible but I never thought for a second it would happen,” Martinez said.
“I was confident this team could win the last two games, so it is difficult to describe the feelings. It comes as a shock.
“I don’t think you get many managers saying they are proud of their players when they get relegated.
“But we don’t deserve to be in the bottom three. You will never see a better group of players than these in the way they play and represent the club.
“The FA Cup is an achievement we will never lose as a club. It’s just a real shame it happens in the same season as relegation.” AFP
