[h=3]Wigan honour ex-Albion skipper[/h]1:00pm Saturday 23rd November 2013 in Albion By Andy Naylor
Paul Rogers has a busy role at The Amex
Paul Rogers finds himself in a rather unusual situation today – as the guest legend of a club he wants to see lose.
The former Albion captain turned business development manager is grateful for the invite from Wigan, if a little embarrassed by the label.
Rogers does not class himself as a Wigan legend. “I see that as somebody who plays 300-400 games for one club but it’s a nice invitation,” he said. “I had a good time up there, played something like 125 games over two-and-a-half years.
“I have kept in touch with people. It’s the same with most football clubs, the office staff, the admin staff, the backroom team to a certain degree are all the same people, the directors are still the same guys.
“We had some success. We won League Two when John Deehan was manager and I first went over there from Notts County, ended up in the Auto Windscreens final at Wembley, lost in the play-off semi-finals against Man City, so it was a buoyant time for the club, just after Dave Whelan first took over.”
Modesty prevents the unassuming Rogers from mentioning he scored the winner for Wigan in that Wembley final against Millwall, which might just have something to do with his legendary status at the club that Dave built.
The similarities between Wigan back then and Albion at Withdean, where he made all of his home appearances for the Seagulls, are striking.
“It was run on an absolute shoestring as well,” Rogers said. “Dave Whelan owned all of JJB Sports and yet we had to go to the secretary to get a ten per cent discount for one of his stores. And there was one card.
“He used to count the sandwiches. If there were 18 of us travelling to Plymouth the kit man would go to the JJB factory canteen and get 18 sandwiches, not 20 or 21.
“But he has run the club in the right way. He has been very prudent, was very successful with Roberto (Martinez).”
Wigan’s seven-year stay in the Premier League, the last four of them under Rogers’ former midfield colleague Martinez, finally came to an end last season.
When Rogers steps on to the pitch at half-time to be introduced to both sets of supporters it will be at an almost half-empty DW Stadium, which emphasises they were always fighting against the odds.
He said: “Unfortunately, the difference between them and us is our fan base. It’s huge.
“Wigan have never had that fan base. Since our move to The Amex we’ve had the crowd explosion and the local interest. Wigan had it to a certain degree but they moved from two-and-a-half thousand fans to eight or nine.
“They are competing against Liverpool, Everton, Man City, Man United and further afield Blackburn, Bolton. They are right in the middle of that North-West football hotbed.”
Rogers, born in Portsmouth but based in the north for a significant slice of his professional career, returned south from Wigan to become part of “another little revolution” with Albion under Micky Adams in 1999.
“It worked all right down here as well,” he said with typical under-statement after the key role he played in back-to-back promotions with Adams and Peter Taylor.
Rogers retired in 2003, when Albion were relegated from the Championship at Grimsby during Steve Coppell’s reign.
The 48-year-old, who worked in the City in his semi-professional days with Sutton United, has been employed by the club’s commercial arm ever since.
He said: “Obviously the first few years were a real struggle. We had some difficult times down at Withdean. The football at times wasn’t that inspiring and people did well to stick with it. Our sponsors have been very loyal in that respect.
“Now the product is changing all the time and also expectations change, that is the real key for us.
“People forget very quickly how difficult things were even two-and-a-half years ago. You can’t get instant success. You have to have a solid foundation commercially with the fan base and with the football. You don’t just switch things overnight.
“We were lucky we got on a roll when we were playing with Micky and Peter Taylor. We had the mindset of winners.
“Gus (Poyet) had that with his guys over the last three-and-a-half years and now Oscar (Garcia) has got to get that back. It takes time.
“Everybody has got to be patient with him. It doesn’t just happen. It’s difficult, you need a solid foundation to build.
“Wigan have done that. They were against the odds all the time. They did incredibly well to stay in the Premier League as long as they did but that took them time.
“Roberto was there for a long time and you get a blueprint of how you want to play.
“It takes time to bed in, so I think we have all got to be a little bit patient with timescales for getting promoted.”
Original article
Paul Rogers finds himself in a rather unusual situation today – as the guest legend of a club he wants to see lose.
The former Albion captain turned business development manager is grateful for the invite from Wigan, if a little embarrassed by the label.
Rogers does not class himself as a Wigan legend. “I see that as somebody who plays 300-400 games for one club but it’s a nice invitation,” he said. “I had a good time up there, played something like 125 games over two-and-a-half years.
“I have kept in touch with people. It’s the same with most football clubs, the office staff, the admin staff, the backroom team to a certain degree are all the same people, the directors are still the same guys.
“We had some success. We won League Two when John Deehan was manager and I first went over there from Notts County, ended up in the Auto Windscreens final at Wembley, lost in the play-off semi-finals against Man City, so it was a buoyant time for the club, just after Dave Whelan first took over.”
Modesty prevents the unassuming Rogers from mentioning he scored the winner for Wigan in that Wembley final against Millwall, which might just have something to do with his legendary status at the club that Dave built.
The similarities between Wigan back then and Albion at Withdean, where he made all of his home appearances for the Seagulls, are striking.
“It was run on an absolute shoestring as well,” Rogers said. “Dave Whelan owned all of JJB Sports and yet we had to go to the secretary to get a ten per cent discount for one of his stores. And there was one card.
“He used to count the sandwiches. If there were 18 of us travelling to Plymouth the kit man would go to the JJB factory canteen and get 18 sandwiches, not 20 or 21.
“But he has run the club in the right way. He has been very prudent, was very successful with Roberto (Martinez).”
Wigan’s seven-year stay in the Premier League, the last four of them under Rogers’ former midfield colleague Martinez, finally came to an end last season.
When Rogers steps on to the pitch at half-time to be introduced to both sets of supporters it will be at an almost half-empty DW Stadium, which emphasises they were always fighting against the odds.
He said: “Unfortunately, the difference between them and us is our fan base. It’s huge.
“Wigan have never had that fan base. Since our move to The Amex we’ve had the crowd explosion and the local interest. Wigan had it to a certain degree but they moved from two-and-a-half thousand fans to eight or nine.
“They are competing against Liverpool, Everton, Man City, Man United and further afield Blackburn, Bolton. They are right in the middle of that North-West football hotbed.”
Rogers, born in Portsmouth but based in the north for a significant slice of his professional career, returned south from Wigan to become part of “another little revolution” with Albion under Micky Adams in 1999.
“It worked all right down here as well,” he said with typical under-statement after the key role he played in back-to-back promotions with Adams and Peter Taylor.
Rogers retired in 2003, when Albion were relegated from the Championship at Grimsby during Steve Coppell’s reign.
The 48-year-old, who worked in the City in his semi-professional days with Sutton United, has been employed by the club’s commercial arm ever since.
He said: “Obviously the first few years were a real struggle. We had some difficult times down at Withdean. The football at times wasn’t that inspiring and people did well to stick with it. Our sponsors have been very loyal in that respect.
“Now the product is changing all the time and also expectations change, that is the real key for us.
“People forget very quickly how difficult things were even two-and-a-half years ago. You can’t get instant success. You have to have a solid foundation commercially with the fan base and with the football. You don’t just switch things overnight.
“We were lucky we got on a roll when we were playing with Micky and Peter Taylor. We had the mindset of winners.
“Gus (Poyet) had that with his guys over the last three-and-a-half years and now Oscar (Garcia) has got to get that back. It takes time.
“Everybody has got to be patient with him. It doesn’t just happen. It’s difficult, you need a solid foundation to build.
“Wigan have done that. They were against the odds all the time. They did incredibly well to stay in the Premier League as long as they did but that took them time.
“Roberto was there for a long time and you get a blueprint of how you want to play.
“It takes time to bed in, so I think we have all got to be a little bit patient with timescales for getting promoted.”
Original article