Wigan Athletic must look back at Cardiff City spell with jealousy: View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic signed former Cardiff City stalwart Joe Bennett on transfer deadline day in August 2021 after the defender left the Bluebirds at the end of the 2020/21 Championship campaign.

Following the left-back's impressive exploits in South Wales, and in the Championship, the Latics will have been hopeful that Bennett would be able to be an influential player during the 2021/22 League One season.

The Latics were crowned 2021/22 League One champions, following a remarkable campaign which saw them win 92 points, as hot-shot Will Keane earned the golden boot by scoring 26 goals.

Winning a trophy in his first season at the DW Stadium was an ideal outcome for Bennett, but the former Middlesbrough man did not contribute as much as he would have liked to have done towards the club's title success under Leam Richardson.

Bennett's underwhelming spell with the Latics

The Latics may have claimed glory at the end of the 2021/22 League One campaign, but Bennett was unable to make his mark in Greater Manchester during his debut season.

The former Cardiff man arrived in the third tier with a wealth of Championship experience under his belt, so the DW Stadium faithful may have expected him to be a useful asset in League One.

However, he made just 11 appearances and 10 starts towards the Latics' title winning effort, but in that small number of games, he was able to provide one goal and two assists.

The goal Bennett scored that campaign was a memorable effort too, as he struck a free-kick home to establish a 1-0 lead against Accrington in April 2022.

Richardson's men went on to win that fixture 3-0, which helped them on their way to winning the league, and despite less inspiring form coming throughout April, the Latics sealed the deal with a 3-0 win over Shrewsbury.

In fact, prior to their triumph in Shropshire, the DW Stadium side endured a run of five consecutive games without a win, and Bennett played in four of these games.

But for most of that campaign, the full-back struggled for first team minutes, as Richardson often opted to deploy Tendayi Darikwa, a right-back by trade, in the left-back slot in a back four, while when using a back five system, James McClean performed the role of left-wing-back.

Bennett occasionally earned first team minutes as a left-sided centre-half that season, but often that slot was taken up by either Kell Watts or Curtis Tilt.

Following the Latics' return to the Championship, the ex-Cardiff man may have hoped for a more successful 2022/23 season, as he knows the second-tier well from his time with the Bluebirds.

But 2022/23 was an equally disappointing campaign for the full-back, who earned a place in the Latics' starting 11 just nine times that campaign, and was unable to help the club avoid relegation back to League One.

Sadly for Bennett, his most memorable moment that campaign was the red card he received during the Latics' 1-0 win over Birmingham City in August 2022.

He went on to join Oxford United prior to the 2023/24 League One season, and helped the U's claim a spot in the play-off places with 16 appearances in the regular season.

The Latics will look back on Bennett's spell at Cardiff with jealousy

Bennett is somewhat of a modern day legend in the Welsh capital, who played 177 times for the Bluebirds, and was part of Neil Warnock's Cardiff side who earned automatic promotion to the Premier League in 2018.

The Cardiff City Stadium faithful will look back on his exploits during the 2017/18 campaign with fond memories, as he produced a return of one goal and four assists in 38 appearances, which helped guide the Bluebirds to the top-flight.

He went on to make 30 Premier League appearances in the 2018/19 season, and was ever-present for the 2019/20 Championship campaign as well as a regular feature during 2020/21.

The Latics will view Bennett's performances in South Wales with jealousy, as he never came close to emulating such success during his time at the DW Stadium.