Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'Being a Wigan fan is brilliant, it’s never plain sailing, and I doubt we’d want it any other way...'

Caddy from the 5:

After the big disappointment of last Saturday, we knuckled down and got the job done on Tuesday against Fleetwood, giving ourselves a little cushion from the teams in the play-offs and still with at least two games in hand. So no need to press the panic button at all. And with Rotherham playing MK Dons on Saturday, we’ve a chance to close or lengthen the gap on one or the other. Back to Saturday, if I must, we blew it plain and simple. Nearly 21,000 fans inside the stadium including 5,000 deluded and as arrogant a set of fans you’ll ever come across - well bar Newcastle...what is it with the North East and how many fans you’ve got? Try turning them into titles and trophies instead of a region that’s just laughed at for being perennial failures season after season. Anyway, did they deserve to win? Probably. Are they better than us? Absolutely not. Look at the table, that’s where your billion fans have got you, they might make the play-offs, though, where they blow it as usual. But hey ho, they’ve got loads of fans... Tuesday was far better. Vintage Wigan? Nowhere near, but job done. There’s 13 games left, and it’s all about the points now and that’s gonna be made harder with suspensions coming into it as well. But I’ve still absolutely no doubt we’re going up and still with a shot at winning the title (again). Hopefully a win against Wimbledon on Saturday will cement our second place, and then all eyes will switch to Tuesday and the potential trip to Wembley for the Pizza Trophy. Never boring is it? Being a Wigan fan is brilliant, it’s never plain sailing, and I doubt we’d want it any other way. But I’ll tell you this, there’s probably 80-plus clubs in the Football League that would swap with us although their jealousy, because that’s what it is, will never let them admit it. Always remember: 'We’re little Wigan, and we’re taking the you know what...” Final word for anyone who can to please donate to the Joseph's Goal walk in two weeks, organised again by Jimmy's Chinos (Mudhutter). It's a charity very close to Latics fans' hearts, and I’m sure you’ll find all the links on their social media, thank you. Right, I’m back in training for the said walk and trying to keep well hydrated during the training, so I’m off to Azderz for a crate of 'Bow…

Matt Auffrey:

The past few weeks have served as a great reminder that there are few things in the world that are more unpredictable than Wigan Athletic. The most optimistic fan could not have foreseen Latics scoring three unanswered goals en route to victory at Wycombe last week. The most pessimistic fan could not have foreseen Latics suffering a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of an out-of-form Sunderland team last weekend. This past Tuesday’s performance against Fleetwood was more in line with expectations - that was until James McClean and Fleetwood’s Joe Garner decided to put on a mixed martial arts exhibition during the final seconds of stoppage time. Yet, through the emphatic away victories, the demoralising home defeats, and the reoccurring ‘professional performances’, Latics still find themselves second in the league table. We’ve occupied that position throughout the entire month of February and now the early days of March. If losing to Sunderland three times in a season is the price we have to pay for automatic promotion, then I hope Sunderland get promoted with us so we can continue the trend next season. We’re set for game number three of four consecutive home fixtures this Saturday, and Latics should be favorites to win against an AFC Wimbledon team that sit right outside the relegation places in 20th position. However, with Tendayi Darikwa, Graeme Shinnie and McClean facing suspensions, we’ll likely be breaking in a new left-back that has just recovered from injury, and a new left-winger that has nowhere near as many goal contributions on the season as our Ireland international. Shinnie’s stellar performance against Fleetwood should give us confidence that more players are ready to come off the bench and have a significant positive impact alongside the rest of the first team. We did well to build our squad depth during the last transfer window. Now, it’s time to truly put it to use. As important as football is to many of us, let us not forget there are some very serious conflicts going on in the world at the moment that are affecting the lives of millions. Many of us carry stress from different areas of our life - work, family, money, health, and now, war. Wigan Athletic can be unpredictable on the pitch, but our support and love for one another as a club doesn’t have to be something that wavers. Let us continue to be positive for all things Latics as we build on what is shaping up to be a very special season.

Statto:

Typical Latics, saving probably our worst performance of the season against Sunderland for a 20k crowd. We were off the pace and never got a foothold in the game. After going behind without touching the ball, Sunderland’s game-plan was to frustrate and game management, and we had no answer for it. The Fleetwood game performance was a little better. Yes, it was against a less organised and less-in-your-face team, but it’s three points and we move on. If you were to have put on a pound on a player from each side seeing red, it would of course been Jimmy Mac and Joe Garner. Whether a 96th-minute playground WWE effort deserved it or not is another question. Stay Safe.

Emma Peters:

I was going to start this week with a look back at the Sunderland game but, before I get into that, there's something more important to address - Chaz! With everything being fairly quiet surrounding his recovery, it would have been safe to assume 'no news is good news'. But it was still a welcome surprise when Charlie Wyke provided us an update that seemed to be brimming with positivity. There's no doubt at all we've been missing the presence of the No.9 up front, especially in recent weeks, with the bloated backlog of fixtures looking to be upping the ante. And it would be a perfect end to the campaign to know Charlie will be making his return to full fitness as a Championship player with the 'Tics next season. It goes without saying, of course, that enormous credit has to go to the Latics medical team. It's relatively comforting to know it's safe to die at the DW as long as Doc Tobin is knocking about! Anyway, Sunderland... didn't really go to plan, did it? We were rubbish, they weren't. Result was fair. But as Leam says, it's all about how you respond in the next game, and what a response! Not sure Jimmy Mac fully understood the assignment when the gaffer said "we'll come back fighting", but he tried, bless him. Two first-half goals on from Keano (pen) and Maca Chan himself was enough for the lads to see out the game comfortably and leave with all three points, which would have been the perfect way to bounce back from the weekend, until the sixth minute of stoppage-time, when ex-Wigan man Joe Garner took the opportunity to go (literally) head to head with the hot-headed Irishman, which saw him wrestled to the ground and "held down like a wee boy", resulting in both chaps receiving their marching orders. It was only a matter of time before the Derryman lost his cool, given the relentless abuse he receives week after week. And whether his reaction was the right one or not, it was nice to see Chairman Talal Al Hammad publicly support him on Twitter the following day. It can, and has, been argued McClean may not have acted in the best interests of his team-mates, as his three-match suspension coincides with new-boy Graeme Shinnie and skipper Tendayi Darikwa also sidelined for the fixtures against Wimbledon and MK Dons, having totted up 10 bookings apiece. Add into the mix Max Power and Callum Lang walking a very fine line - with both on 9 yellows - we shall have to hope the right-sided scouse pairing remember to behave themselves for the foreseeable!

Tony Moon:

A trio for Leo, (search Wigan twitter !) it’s havanas all round,

Cos another away win has triggered that sound,

Of Tics fans serenading their wonderful team,

And of course not forgetting the manager, Leam.

They’ve carefully weathered the February storm,

Though the Mackems were next, and their fans, lacking gorm,

Cos they think they’re the biggest, the bestest, of all,

Oh dearie me, how the mighty can fall.

Well, it didn’t go well, we have wobbly wheels,

And the ref he went deaf from all their daft appeals,

But a drubbing it wasn’t, no matter the score,

Just a blip on the route to promotion, I’m sure.

So on to t’ Cod Army, let’s see how it goes,

But a Fisherman’s Friend sucks next t’ Uncle Joe’s,

And who would ha’ thowt that there’d be a late brawl,

Between Garner and Jimmy Mac? Oh, All of us! All.

Cos Garner’s just Garner, he does what he does,

But Jimmy loves t’ Tics, he loves playing for us.

But it gives him a rest for the forthcoming matches,

So Gwion can show us his skills (well, in patches).

Cos we’re still up there, see, points clear, games in hand,

Even though there were some who were sure we’d get panned,

Oh, we’d drop like a stone, cos we’re not very good,

Mid-table at best, or the play offs, touch wood.

But nope, we’re still there, in t’ top two, sitting proud,

With our wonderful following, getting giddy, and loud,

Cos it’s clear to see, yes it’s clear as day,

That up to the Championship, t’ Tics are on t’way.

Sean Livesey:

We’ve not had many crises this season, if any at all. I suppose not winning on a Tuesday was an irritant more than anything else. But after each defeat this season we’ve managed to bounce back and once again Latics did that on Tuesday night against Fleetwood. Sunderland was probably the low point of the season so it was important to bounce back in the correct fashion and Leam Richardson’s side did just that. Although it was only two goals, Latics could have and indeed should have scored more against Fleetwood. But at this stage of the season, three points are three points and, with all the sides below us winning and Rotherham drawing with Shrewsbury, it could be a very important three points when we reach the end of April. I know we’re past the point of constantly comparing this season to the events of last year, but it’s an important point to remember – especially when we look at how close we are to Rotherham. That side has been together for three or four years now, we’ve been together since August. So to be just seven points behind them with two games in hand is a remarkable achievement. Yes it’s not been pretty in recent weeks, and the Sunderland game was a depressing afternoon, but we bounced back again and I would back us to do the same again. I keep hoping our blip has now passed. Rotherham and MK Dons in third don’t seem to have had theirs yet, so hopefully that is something to come. We’re going to be missing some key players over the next few weeks, with James McClean, Graeme Shinnie and Tendayi Darikwa suspended, and more players walking a disciplinary tightrope. If we can get through those next few weeks unscathed in terms of results we’ll be looking in a great position.