Oliver Norburn – Welcome to Wigan Athletic

It’s another important piece of January transfer business for Latics, and another player with League One experience through the door as we continue our transition away from an over-reliance on youngsters. Oliver Norburn is the newest ‘Tic, joining from League One rivals Blackpool on loan until the end of the season.

The 32-year-old adds vital experience to our young squad, and a great deal of quality to our depleted centre midfield positions which has been hammered by injuries in the past month or so. Norburn himself has had one or two fitness issues this season, but I’d like to think that’s all behind him given we’ve signed him to solve our injury crisis!

Norburn is a classic defensive midfielder, or a ‘number six’ as I’ll be referring to often in this article. He’s a good, honest hard worker who gets about the pitch well, puts a foot in when necessary but also has the ability to get the ball down and play too. He’s a leader, has international experience with Grenada who he qualifies for through his paternal grandfather, and knows what it takes to win at League One level.

He was born in Bolton, so I’m sure we’ve given him all the necessary jabs that requires! In all seriousness the addition of another local lad will only add to the team spirit, and his experience alongside our many young midfielders will be beneficial in the short and long term for them and us. I think it’s a signing that hints towards the Latics hierarchy realising they undervalued the importance of experience in the summer.

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. Ollie Norburn, you’re up to bat. Let’s see what you’ve got!

Profile

Strengths

The most important and impressive side of Norburn’s game is his defensive output and complete off-the-ball skillset. It’s an aspect of the game that our current number six options (Matt Smith, Kai Payne, Scott Smith, Baba Adeeko) don’t really excel in yet, so to bring in a proper old-school water-carrier DM is a lovely profile to add alongside our deep-lying playmakers (M.Smith/Payne) and our energetic ball winners (S.Smith/Adeeko).

The data over the last six or seven seasons at League One and Championship level shows him up as one of the very best defensive number sixes in the EFL. Norburn consistently wins the majority of his ground and air duels, makes lots of tackles, interceptions and recoveries and commits a (often importantly) high amount of fouls in good areas of the pitch for his team too.

There’s a real art form in stopping an attack at it’s source, and Norburn does this well when required. It’s actually an area of Matt Smith’s game that has improved – being aware of the game state and ‘taking one for the team’ is a crucial part of a number six’s game. Breaking up the play fairly is something Norburn does very well, but doing so unfairly can often be just as important.

Norburn also appears to be a good organiser and leader out on the pitch. Whether that’s marshalling his midfield partners or forward players in open play or commanding the defensive line at set pieces, Norburn is an on-pitch manager type which I like. In games where we’re leading late on he’s the exact kind of player we want on the pitch to help us see it out. Games like Shrewsbury and, ironically, Blackpool may have ended in wins had we had a midfield general on the pitch in the latter stages.

As you’d want and expect from a midfielder at Latics nowadays Norburn is also very accomplished on the ball. His passes tend to be safe and don’t always add attacking value to the team, but they keep the ball in safe possession and ensure we keep control of the game. The data suggests he’s similar to our current ‘no6’ options in terms of progressive passes attempted, but with a touch more accuracy.

His long passes are a lot more accurate than the average League One midfielder too, as is his success when dribbling – albeit that is something he doesn’t do much of. Post-Covid he ranks very highly when you ask scouting platform Wyscout to rank players based on all the data they deem important to DMs, so that’s certainly positive. The challenge for him will be keeping that up as he enters the latter stages of his career.

Limitations

There are some physical concerns I have with Norburn, largely down to the fact that he’s a 32-year-old midfielder who hasn’t played loads this season due to injury / lack of sharpness. He missed two months at the beginning of Steve Bruce’s reign at Blackpool in September, and has since struggled to displace Lee Evans and Albie Morgan in the Tangerine’s midfield.

He covers enough ground to get through the majority of his defensive responsibilities, but doesn’t appear the best option to cover big spaces in the way Scott Smith and Baba Adeeko both can for us. He’s very much suited to holding midfield, screening the back four and covering lots of short distances lots of times. Stamina wise he’s fine, but speed wise I’m not so sure.

Of course we can work around those limitations, and our build up structures (2-3-5 / 3-2-5) mean he won’t be caught in big spaces too often. I mentioned earlier how smart Norburn is with his tactical fouling and ‘game breaking,’ but I’d suggest we’ll probably be the most expansive system he’ll have played in which could put him in those situations more often, and if he gets booked early in games that lack of speed could prove troubling.

Norburn doesn’t really offer much in front of goal which is a shame as we need goals from midfield, but in that number six role he’ll rarely find himself in scoring positions. Equally he’s not the most creative midfielder either, and while what he does with the ball is sensible and important you would say he maybe lacks the vision and ambition with his passes of Matt Smith. Again though, we can work around that as we have done in Smith’s absence.

Potential Fit

I think it’s extremely likely that Oliver Norburn spends all of his time in a Latics shirt this season at the base of our three-man midfield, in that ‘number six’ role that the Smith’s (not Jonny) have occupied mainly for us this season. I think in terms of realistic options we could’ve got in January, not many if any suit that role as well as Norburn for the price.

From that deep-lying midfield position he has the range of passing to find teammates all over the pitch, as well as ensuring we keep good control of the ball. He’ll also enjoy the triangles of options the system creates, as he can decide to speed up the tempo with a lot of short passes if necessary, or use his good long passes to get the ball into less-populated areas of the pitch.

I also like the idea of Norburn dropping into this area of the pitch when we have the ball, allowing our right back to push onto the forward line and creating a 2v1 out wide. Norburn has the technical ability and composure to take the ball under pressure, and if the opposition winger doesn’t follow our right back we could work some really nice positions from this situation. Think of those Toby Sibbick underlapping runs against Northampton – that’s the pattern of play we’d be able to use regularly.

Final Thoughts

If a transfer encapsulated everything that we got wrong with our recruitment in the summer and how well we’ve gone about addressing that this winter, it’s this one. The fact that we went into this season without a midfielder over the age of 24 is bonkers, and I do really feel we’ve lacked an experienced midfield general in so many games this season as a result.

Step up Oliver Norburn, who not only adds a wealth of experience to our ranks, but also plenty of impressive qualities that will help take us from a slightly lightweight but easy-on-the-eye bunch to an efficient, proactive and sturdy side. The likes of Norburn and Jon Mellish are physically tough, hard working – well – bastards and we’ve lacked some proper – well – bastards in the nicest way possible!

The fact he’s on loan until the end of the season means we aren’t tied down beyond that point, but if we’re pleased with his work there would be the chance to sign him for free in the summer when his Blackpool contract expires. I’m hopeful he makes a good impression this term, and has as positive an impact on our younger players individually as he does on our team as a whole.

Welcome to Wigan Athletic, Oliver Norburn. Up the Tics!