Who put out Will Grigg’s fire?

It really wasn’t long ago that half the world was blaring out the Wigan striker’s name; but where has Will Grigg’s famous fire gone?

The Northern Ireland man lit up League One last season with an unparalleled 25 goals, shooting Wigan Athletic back into the Championship, but things seem to have gone slightly downhill since then.

Grigg was banging them in left, right and centre throughout all of last season, while Wigan fans couldn’t stop singing the famous song that hailed his magnificence. This season however, his fans have somewhat paused in their admiration for him as their club sit 22nd in the table.

This is certainly not all his own doing, but the misfiring forward may be hit with some of the blame with only five league goals in 27 matches this campaign. He perhaps hasn’t seen as much game time as he would have liked, but during those games that he has started, he hasn’t produced the same red-hot affect that he used to impose. He hasn’t given his beloved admirers worldwide the excuse to go absolutely crazy, or to bounce up and down throughout the stadium and the bars outside like they used to when he found the back of the net for fun.

However, the fact that his goals have won some vital points this season, in addition to the fact that he is the club’s top scorer so far, really does highlight the utterly dismal position that they are in right now. To make matters worse for poor Grigg, their defence really haven’t been that bad, but they are the lowest scorers in the league.

There are many reasons for the goal-shy forward failing to perform this season, the most obvious of which being that he has of course climbed up the Football League. The Championship certainly has no room for time-wasters, and Wigan of all clubs learned that when they were relegated from that same league just two years ago.

His team mates may also face some criticism for not supplying that killer ball to a man who once scored goals literally just to hear fans go completely bonkers for a few minutes. Then again his confidence must be near an all time-low, having failed to get any game time in France during a memorable journey for his country. Maybe it’s because boss Michael O’Neill was scared to drop his formidable frontman Kyle Lafferty, or maybe it’s because Grigg was born in England, but to this day I still can’t get my head around why the poor fella didn’t get a single second on the pitch at the Euros.

His and his team’s sheer disappointment this season really emphasises the gap between League One and the Championship, while the 4-0 thumping at Old Trafford again reinforces the quality above them.

Let’s hope this temporary lack of goals is just another striker hitting a dip in form, like good old Peter Crouch failing to hit the back of the net for quite some time back in his heyday. The Championship, nay, the world, needs young Will back to his best, and Wigan Athletic certainly need it as soon as possible!