In Conversation With Max Power.
With over 235 games for Wigan Athletic, 16 goals, 42 assists, 2 relegations and 3 League One title wins, spanning six seasons, it is fair to say that Max Power has played an important role in the recent history of the club.
We sat down with, Max and had a frank and honest discussion about not only his time with the Latics but also his motivation for the move to Saudi Arabia and how that is panning out, plus his hopes for his future in the game.
What really jumped out was his dedication to his family, his pride as a father and his drive to provide the best he can for them, this came through strongly in all the areas that we covered.
Max moved to Al-Qadsiah last summer, recruited by former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler who at the time was head coach at the Saudi 1st division club, unfortunately for Robbie, by October he had been replaced by former Real Madrid and Spain midfielder, Michel. “That’s football” says, Max.
Al-Qadsiah are currently top of their division and just one win, from their four remaining games, will clinch promotion to the top flight, Max says he is “hopeful that the team can achieve it, next season would be a dream to be lining up against Ronaldo, Benzema et al, the kids would love it”
Max is currently on the side-lines having undergone surgery for a hernia and groin problem at the end of November, a couple of setbacks in the recovery have seen him miss out on the action and he is now focusing on cheering the team on from the stands and having a good preseason to be fully prepared for what will be an exciting 12 months ahead.
The 3rd July 2015 is a Red Letter Day for Max Power, he left his boyhood club, Tranmere Rovers and signed on the dotted line for Wigan Athletic. Gary Caldwell was the manager at the DW back then, Max says “I loved playing for Gary, he was the first coach who made me look at the game in a different way”
“When I was at Tranmere, it was all about the result...you almost stop getting coached...when I came to Wigan, I had a manager who would sit me down, showed me little pointers to improve my game, I loved playing under Gary”
Max played alongside and under some great characters during his time with the Latics, when asked to ‘Pick One’ in three different categories a very amusing story emerged around a wrestle with one of the gaffers, well worth a listen to that one told by Max himself around 25 minutes in on the podcast below.
In the summer of 2021, Max returned to the club after three seasons away, he was instrumental in at least two other players coming in, his great friend Charlie Wyke and another former teammate at Sunderland Jordan Jones.
It is well documented about the training ground incident with Charlie Wyke, but something that Max hasn’t really spoken publicly about previously, I felt from what he said and how he said it, that he is still affected by that day and has an almost sense of disbelief in the way they (the Latics) were expected to carry on, he comments, “football is an ongoing system, an engine, the cogs that never stop for anyone, regardless”
As we move to talk about 2022/23 campaign, the final season that Max was with us, he says “a very difficult season for many reasons” and it certainly was. The conversation is very open and emotional, Max wants to tell his side, it’s taken him a year to talk about it, better to hear it from Max himself, including reflecting back to that confrontation at Blackpool with a supporter at the end of that particular game.
Looking to the future, Max has at least one more season at Al-Qadsiah, he is also close to completing his Masters in Sports Directorship, when asked where will he be in five or ten years from now, Max replies “never shut the door on anything” and finally, whilst talking about his two sons and their footballing ability, Max gives a shout-out to one of Wigan Athletic's unsung heroes, Latics Academy coach, Jay Cochrane and dreams about the possibility of two Powers in the Latics first XI, Max Jnr and Cruz the mini-Messi.
A brilliant listen, thank you for joining us on this special, Max.
©PWUPodcast
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