Jon Mellish – Welcome to Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic has always been a place where chaos has been more present than not, and less than two weeks into the January transfer window the eighth bit of business has been concluded in the form of Carlisle United utility man Jon Mellish. He leaves Mike Williamson’s side after spending five and a half years in Cumbria, where he cemented himself as a fan’s favourite.

Ironically, he arrives less than 24 hours after former-Latic Paul Dummett brought an end to his very short stay at the club to reunite with his former Newcastle United teammate at Brunton Park, and with respect to the former-Premier League full back he represents a considerable upgrade to the left side of our defence as well as in midfield.

That’s understandably a big reason behind us making this move happen. Two positions that we desperately needed to address this winter were our left full back and box-to-box midfield spots, and the arrival of the 27-year-old on a three-and-a-half-year deal does just that for a good period of time. In that sense alone it’s a very shrewd signing.

And you’ll have noticed I opened this article talking about Wigan being the home of chaos. Well, in Jon Mellish I think it’s fair to say we’re not going to see a dip in the extraordinary in his time at the club. An all-action, hard-working, shithousing, ‘for the love of the game’ type who has an awful lot to offer all over the pitch. I get the feeling this one could be a match made in heaven.

In this, and every ‘Welcome to Wigan Athletic’ article that I post this season, I’ll be taking a closer look at all aspects of the new signing’s game. Their profile, where they’ve played before and how they’ve performed, their suitability to our club and our style of play, and a report on their best attributes as well of areas of their game that could hold them back. As best I can I’m going to try and provide you, the valued reader, with the best possible idea of what to expect from our recruits.

And as there’s no time like the present, here we go. Jon Mellish, you’re up to bat. Let’s see what you’ve got!

PROFILE

STRENGTHS

I first identified Jon Mellish as a potential target for Latics at the end of the 2022/23 season when he won promotion to League One. The data from that season showed him as a real outlier when compared to other defenders when it came to his contributions to Carlisle going forward, and that’s largely because, even in games where he started at centre back, he played all over the place.

His work-rate is genuinely incredible. I know that footballers should run for 90 minutes and be more than capable of doing so, but let’s be honest, very few do. I’d go one step further to say even fewer do so at the intensity of Mellish, who appears to be one of those sadistic people who enjoy pushing themselves to a physical limit! He eats up ground for fun, and never gives the opposition an easy ride.

The addition of a player like that is crucial. The work he gets through off the ball, which often can’t be quantified through the statistics freely available to the public, is a real strength of his. When playing in midfield he gets through all the dirty work while still contributing in the final third. The same goes when he plays at left back, or even on the left of a back three too. When I say he’s all action, I really mean it!

He plays with the infectious energy and attitude of a kid in the playground, but has the best part of 300 senior games under his belt already, so his experience will be crucial. The character references from Carlisle fans suggest he’s the right kind of person for our squad, and with promotions and relegations under his belt there’s a lot that he’s seen that can be passed on. Mainly the promotion stuff, I hope!

On the ball Mellish is a tidy enough player, albeit not a technician like you’d call Luke Chambers or Matt Smith. Those two came through Premier League academies though, whereas Mellish earned his stripes at Gateshead. No disrespect intended – they’ve produced a top player with a different set of skills! The important thing to note is he’s played under Mike Williamson who wants to dominate the ball, so there is some level of technical understanding there.

He’ll still progress the ball a lot with his channel balls or his direct running with the ball, which he does very well. At 6’2″ he’s pretty hard to stop when he gets going, and we can expect some exciting work from him going forward I’m sure. He’s also very much a goal threat – scoring a hat-trick from defence last season – which I think you’ll all agree is that word chaos again!

Limitations

As I’ve touched on already he’s perhaps not the ideal fit to a Shaun Maloney side if you look purely at his technical skillset. He can be a bit clunky with his movements and his first touch doesn’t always set him up ideally to distribute the ball – in fact one comment from a Carlisle fan which made me laugh read: ‘His second touch is often a tackle!’

He’s maybe not the player we’d want receiving the ball in our own box from a goal kick, but he’s no different to Toby Sibbick or James Carragher in the sense that he’ll grow in confidence with time. An underrated aspect of his game – probably born out of those limitations – is he doesn’t appear unwilling to leather the ball forward should he need to either. I don’t mind that if it’s necessary!

And while I’ve spoken a lot about his front-footed, aggressive style of play being a positive addition to the Latics squad, I’d be wrong not to mention his ‘indifferent’ disciplinary record. To put it simply, he doesn’t take crap from anyone, and isn’t afraid to stand up for himself or his teammates when others come for them. Done in the right way that’s brilliant, but he has to temper it better than he can sometimes be guilty of doing.

The important point to make is at 27, Mellish no longer a young, feisty up and comer. The role he will play as a leader and an example setter is going to be crucial, and if he walks the line of shithousery well all will be good. With six yellows and one red card already this season he’s not too far away from a suspension, so that’s one to watch out for.

Potential Fit

I think we’ll see Mellish play as a left back or a centre midfielder initially, with there not being much need at all for him to play at centre back. With that in mind, and the fact it’s pretty obvious what he’d do for us at centre back, I’ll be looking at how we could line up with Mellish in his other two primary positions, starting with left back.

While he might look like a centre back shoved at left back in Shaun Maloney’s ‘world’s tallest back four’ there is an awful lot of attacking upside to playing Mellish there. In fact, I’d go as far to say he offers more going forward there than any other option we have available to us currently with his overlapping runs and direct approach.

When playing in central midfield I see Mellish as the left number eight, mixing his defensive responsibilities with his tendency to crash the box and affect the game at the top end of the pitch. He did this often for Carlisle, and in a similar way to how Baba Adeeko was playing in the weeks before his injury I think Mellish suits us well.

Final Thought

It’s another lovely bit of business from Latics, and this January window keeps going from strength to strength. So far we’ve seen four players leave us, but there’s no doubt we have a stronger squad now than we did two weeks ago and that’s all that really counts. With more expected in the next few weeks I’m really encouraged by the direction we’re going in.

Jon Mellish joining on a three-and-a-half year deal shows that he’s in it for the long haul too, and I expect him to play an important role in our progress. He’s the ideal squad player to have, both in terms of his talent and versatility on the pitch, and his character and experience off it. It’s another investment that improves us in the short term and the long term which I like.

Whether it be at left back, centre back, in midfield or quite frankly anywhere else we know what we’re going to get from Mellish, and in a squad riddled with inconsistencies that kind of certainty is great. A player who will run through a brick wall twice is what we need in those tough games, or tough moments in games. They just got that little bit easier.

Welcome to Wigan Athletic, Jon Mellish. Up the Tics!