Like government ministers, football managers are frequently pragmatists but both professions still house some rare individuals who, preferring not to simply muddle through, refuse to compromise unswerving principles.
Westminster types call them conviction politicians, whereas Premier League followers talk of purists. Few such conviction coaches, bar perhaps Arsène Wenger, remain as dedicated to their beliefs as Roberto Martínez.
Wigan Athletic's bright young Spanish manager earned admiration for staying loyal to his club by rebuffing an offer to take over at Aston Villa last summer and, now, Martínez is declining to fumble for a Plan B in the wake of six straight league defeats.
The latest was rather harsh, with even Alan Pardew, Newcastle United's manager, admitting that the Premier League strugglers were "faster and crisper", and Yohan Cabaye, scorer of the superlative 81st-minute winner, conceded the Tynesiders had been "lucky".
Almost everyone agreed Martínez's men had outpassed and outmoved a Newcastle side who not only stand fourth but remain unbeaten. "We dictated the game," Martínez said with a sigh. "We were the better team. I'm very disappointed but I'm very proud of the way we played."
Noting the almost evangelical light in his eyes, someone inquired if he would have swapped that performance for a scrappy win. Martínez shook his head before trying to explain that implementing the strategy needed to win wars sometimes involves losing a few battles.
"Wigan have been in the Premier League for a long time because we've developed a pattern of play," he said. "Anyone can have a lucky win but you cannot have a lucky stay in the Premier League. I feel that, unless we play very good football, we will not achieve our aims.
"Although I think we can play a lot better, more performances like today will, eventually, get us a lot of points. In many aspects, and for long spells, we were perfect. The only thing missing was that we couldn't hit the back of the net."
The principal culprit was Hugo Rodallega. Although he missed a couple of decent chances, only brilliant goalkeeping from Tim Krul and stalwart defending on the part of Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini and the underrated Ryan Taylor denied the dangerous Victor Moses on an afternoon when Wigan's Ben Watson and David Jones generally eclipsed Cabaye and Cheik Tioté in central midfield.
"We know we are not far away from getting positive results," said Martínez, who lost Charles N'Zogbia's creativity to Villa during the summer, when Tom Cleverley returned to Manchester United following a loan stint at the DW Stadium. "Now we need to be even more stubborn about staying with the things that we do.
"I know football is cruel but it surely can't be that cruel to us? I'm sure our rewards are just round the corner. We've got a young squad but my players have got great concepts about football. The way they want to play, the way they want to get on the ball, makes me look forward to every day at Wigan. Now I just hope football can give them something back."
