Latics to open Martinez talks

The Spaniard, who has been at the DW Stadium for two years, helped Latics remain in the Premier League with victory over Stoke on Survival Sunday. His efforts for the North-West outfit and previously at Swansea have attracted the interest of rival clubs and Wigan are now eager to secure his long-term future. Villa parted company with Gerard Houllier on Wednesday evening and Mark Hughes left Fulham on Thursday, with Martinez subsequently mentioned as a possible contender for both posts. But chief executive Jonathan Jackson is keen to retain the services of the former Latics player, and revealed talks involving Martinez and chairman Dave Whelan will take place in the near future. "Clearly Roberto will be linked with other jobs because of how well he's done here, but we all want him to stay," Jackson told the Wigan Evening Post. "Roberto has done fantastically well for this football club and we'd love him to remain here for many years. "We've all been fully focused on what was going on at the end of the season, and ensuring we remained in the Premier League. "Now we can look forward, and that (Martinez's future) will be one of the main topics on our agenda. It will be something we'll be looking at over the next month or so." Jackson accepts that there may be a time when Martinez looks to pastures new in the future, but feels that the respected young tactician is still in the middle of his project with Wigan. Jackson added: "Personally I think Roberto will end up as manager of a very top club in the future. If and when that happens we'll have to prepare for that. "But it's been well-documented that he's got a five-year plan at this club, which involves overhauling the youth development side of things as well as establishing Wigan as a Premier League side that not only survives every year but pushes on towards the top 10. "We're in the middle of that process now and I think he's enjoying the challenge."