The wonders of Wigan! Martinez's self-belief inspires his battlers to shock eclipse of Toon

By Chris Wheeler for the Daily Mail

Published: 16:30 EST, 29 April 2012 | Updated: 16:30 EST, 29 April 2012

One team were battling to avoid dropping into the Championship, the other to reach the Champions League, but yet again Wigan defied the odds with a stunning demolition of Newcastle.

Roberto Martinez’s side are not safe yet. But with the Barclays Premier League’s bottom two — Blackburn and Wolves — to play, the mercurial Martinez is within touching distance of winning his third survival battle in a row.

Here, Sportsmail looks at how he has taken a team who were written off in November after an eight-game losing run and transformed them into virtual world-beaters.

Spain relief

The pressures of football management may have proved too much for one Spaniard in the last week but, unlike Pep Guardiola, Martinez has never showed signs of strain during three years of almost constant fire-fighting at the DW Stadium.

That calm and determination to stick to his football principles, even when cracks appeared briefly in his special relationship with chairman Dave Whelan last month, have been vital in Wigan’s relegation battles.

‘I understand it with Pep  Guardiola,’ said Martinez.

‘I was born about an hour-and-a-half from the ground and know  Barcelona well. After four years non-stop that can really drain you.

‘There is pressure on me but I’m very lucky. I have a chairman who allows me to work and players who are a joy to work with.’

Martinez’s demeanour has been transmitted to his players who have found their self-belief just in time. ‘That run of eight defeats could have killed our season but the team we are now is because of the experiences we had earlier on,’ he said.

‘Since we beat Liverpool away from home, we’ve gone to a different level in terms of believing in ourselves. For ever the fans will look at this month as the one where we got our first points against Man United and how we played against these sides. I think it’s been a turning point in our entire history.’

Wide boys

After Wigan lost their eighth successive game at Wolves in November, Martinez switched to playing with three centre halves and two wing backs in Emmerson Boyce and Jean Beausejour.

The result is a system better suited to the players, and an expansive game that other teams find hard to combat. ‘They overload the wide areas and pull you around,’ admitted Newcastle boss Alan Pardew. ‘Wigan did a good job on us and you have to applaud them.’

Shaun again

Shaun Maloney’s first spell in the Premier League lasted just 18 months before the Scotland winger grew homesick at Aston Villa and headed back to Celtic.

The 29-year-old’s second stab at English football was going little better, with fitness problems delaying his full Premier League debut until just six weeks ago, but Maloney’s introduction has coincided with Wigan’s remarkable run of results.

But his coolly taken effort against Newcastle was his third in six games. ‘A couple of months ago a lot of people were writing us off,’ said Maloney.

‘We knew we had it all to do but we’ve given ourselves a good chance of staying up.’

True grit

As Manchester United found after Maloney beat David de Gea with a stunning strike this month, Wigan’s tireless work-rate means they are very hard to break down.

‘When the manager spoke to me about starting, the bare minimum that was required was just the work-rate,’ added Maloney.

‘I don’t know why it’s taken us so long for the penny to drop with what the manager was asking us. But once we decided to do that, it made us difficult to be beaten.’