PART 1: Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - ‘I don’t feel like we are in decline...we are just rebuilding and back at our natural level...’

Martin Tarbuck:

Several years ago, I got into an online spat with a very well known Manchester United fan and football finance expert. He had called Wigan Athletic a 'fake club' and accused us of financial doping. I, of course, took him to task on this, always keen to defend the name of the good ship HMS Wigan Athletic. I’ve started looking at this phrase again in our current climate, and you could perhaps say I have learned to understand this opinion. You’d like to think many of our supporters have learnt this too, after two successive near extinctions in recent years, when we suddenly couldn’t pay our bills. Seems it may well be the smug Cockney Red wasn’t actually that far from the truth. Essentially, for the best part of 20 years, we were financially doped. I won’t use that word again, I promise. But the bottom line is nearly every bit of our success in the past 20 years was achieved by a rich owner subsidising huge losses as part of a vanity project. First, Dave Whelan, then the Whelan family, then a few random foreigners, all pumped money into the club every single month to fund a football team that was playing better football, at a higher level, than we would otherwise be able to watch if the club only had the money it self-generated to pay the wages. Of course, we are not alone in this. The Championship, in particular, is a hotbed of financial ruin, as clubs financially stretch themselves to try and get to the land of greed, and there is no end to the number of clubs that regularly find themselves in difficulties. Nor should we feel guilty about the time we had getting up to the Premier League, winning the FA Cup, playing in Europe, and winning all those League One titles. It seems those days are over now and, whereas some of us can recall the club that existed before that, or have a basic understanding of football economics, it seems others are losing their minds on a daily and weekly basis that the party isn’t still going. Don’t get me wrong, we will lose money this year and next, and the owner will have to put money in, unless we get a big sale (and I hope not, until next summer at least, but that might be wishful thinking on my part). Reading between the lines, it would seem we will lose £10million this year, almost wholly due to the wanton overspending of the previous board and ownership. Without opening old wounds, I’m not joking when I say I believe Al Jasmi put up £10million to buy and run a football club and, for some reason - and I can’t name names - it seems certain people appeared to also hear the words 'per year' after they’d finished planning how to spend the first 10 million. This year is all about getting rid of the 'run off' from that, and next year we will probably only lose £2-3million, which is the average for a League One side. And guess what, we will be an average League One side, which is exactly what we were a few years before Mr Whelan decided to chuck £100million at us.

We might think we are more than that, but we’re not. When you look at our commercial and matchday revenue, it is woeful. By far the lowest in the Championship when we’ve been there, and many League One clubs bring in more. In the long term, you get the football club you deserve, and I’m afraid 8,000 home fans gets you an average League One club. I know money is tight, and the night games in particular are a bit grim with the much easier iFollow option, I know people can’t always travel midweek or work shifts, or don’t want to keep the kids out late. It isn’t about individual circumstances, it is about our collective effort. I guess what I’m saying is that there are a dozen other clubs in League One who would get the same if not better support than us, if they had been on the journey we had been on. Indeed, some clubs lower down, who haven’t been on the journey we have, get comparable crowds. Those with a bit of resurgence like Stockport, Wrexham or Notts County as examples. Again, I’m not pointing the finger at anyone here, I’m just dealing with facts and numbers. The three named above had all been in non league and in decline for several years, and are now on the up. Can you say that about us now? Probably not. I don’t feel like we are in decline, we are just rebuilding and back at our natural level. We don’t have a financial advantage any more, but we have a great Academy, the off-field stability will hopefully come, and we can grow ourselves back up in a different way.

I hope at least some people reading can agree with this before I make my critical point. There’s a marvellous scene in Fawlty Towers, where a disgruntled guest complains about the view to a bedraggled Basil, who replies: “What do you expect from a Torquay hotel room? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon?' and so on. We’ve just won two home games 1-0. Yes, they were hard work. Yes, they were dull and dreary and, if it wasn’t for a moment of individual brilliance in each game, you’d really wish you hadn’t bothered. But to many fans, it seems it isn’t enough. We hear the same fans, over and over again: 'It’s the worst game I’ve ever seen' (since the last one). Or my favourite: 'The worst game I’ve seen in 50 years!' Really? Are you sure? You’ve been continually watching Wigan Athletic for 50 years, and the last few games are really the worst games of association football you’ve ever seen us play? Different levels, but I was at Spurs when we lost 9-1. At Bristol Rovers when we got beat 6-1. We also lost at home to Mansfield Town 6-2, and I’m pretty sure they beat us at Springfield Park 4-0 the year before. There’s also been more 0-0’s than you’d find in a tin of spaghetti hoops. Games where an actual goal wasn’t even scored, and they were worse apparently than a goal where Thelo bangs in a worldie or Charlie hooks home a ridiculously late injury-time winner. Please, please, please, for the good of the club, stop over-reacting and making ridiculous statements like big cry babies. How about we all get on with supporting this young, inexperienced, cheap side full of loans and free transfers wearing the shirt. Because you know what? The players and the managers are doing fantastically well. The only reason you think they’re not is because you’ve been spoiled with the Wigan Athletic of recent past. You’ll know this, if you really have been going 50-plus years, because you’ll have watched the Kenny Swain season along with 1,500 others at Springfield Park, and you’ll have watched endless heavy defeats or drab 0-0 draws. You’re just choosing to forget them and demand we play like Brazil 1970 every week, or we’re 4-0 up at home to Newcastle at half-time (you probably complained that day because we didn’t score in the second half). It’s not when we’re top of the league and romping our way through the divisions or to cup finals this football club needs your support. It’s when it is struggling and rebuilding it needs your support. Anyone can support a club during the good times and, as we’ve seen above, not many want to watch us through the rough times. But these are not rough times, we are a work in progress and, for those of us who are genuinely lifelong fans, we know this, and don't have any special entitlements. We are entitled to watch our football club. We’re not entitled to the moon on a stick. We’re not Real Madrid or Manchester City, and if that’s what you’re expecting, then we’re probably not going to be the club for you going forward. If so, is there any chance you can go quietly, rather than constantly polluting the internet with your continually negative views, which serve no purpose other than to massage your own ego?

Sorry if I’ve gone in hard this week. The constant abuse Shaun Maloney is taking is getting beyond personal. A man who has done everything he can to save this club and continues to work miracles behind the scenes. If you want rid of him then, if you get your wish, there’s every chance Gregor Rioch would go too. We probably wouldn’t have a club today without those two. So, I’m not sure you’re quite thinking this through, Mr Angry Man. We don’t know what the future holds, but what is the point of a future, if whatever this football club is just a punchbag for you to vent your considerable spleen at, and nothing is good enough for you? And if it is good enough for you, then I’ll see you Saturday, and the week after, and for as many years and seasons as we’re all fit and healthy to do so, until the day we end up on that black screen before kick off. Are you with me yet? You’ve got a choice: Spend your remaining days, moaning and whingeing about every single thing the club does, on and off the field, or get supporting this fine football club as it moves into its next phase of its life.

Greg Farrimond:

This season has been somewhat of a slog so far, hasn’t it? Not many of our matches or performances have been for the purists (the trip to Horwich aside), and the football has been pretty dreary and negative at times. But...so what? To be in the top half of the table at this point, despite everything we dealt with over the summer, not least the points deduction, is a huge achievement. Now I get the frustration after certain games. I’ve certainly felt it more than a few times, when you feel by gambling or committing just that bit more (or even at all) may have seen a more positive scoreline. We’ve seen when we attack we are a match for most. In some cases, it’s probably true. Take Northampton, for example, we probably could have won that. Equally could have lost, though. Even some of the wins have been a tough watch, the last two especially! I think if we had that freedom all season, without the shackles of the points deduction and other restrictions, Shaun Maloney may well be executing a less risk averse strategy. But as we said last summer, the mission for 2023/24 was to get through it, and he’s well on course for that. Now I’m not going to go into one of those 'just be thankful we have a club' lectures. Of course we are, and of course it’s also fine to come away from sleep-inducing, dull games and call a spade a spade. I just think a hint of perspective is needed when looking at the bigger picture, and also some longer memories when recalling all of our objectives at the start of the season. Social media is never a good way to assess the opinion of a wider fanbase, so I’ll try not to buy into a lot of what I think is over-zealous criticism and unfair questioning of Maloney’s position by some. However, it is frustrating that people seem to think this season - so far - has been something of a let down. It was always going to be frustrating. We were always going to have patches of good and bad results. Grinding out results where we can to get us over the line was always going to be the order of the day. I do like this squad of players, some real nuggets of genuine quality, but overall it’s a decent League One side. Maloney has recruited well with the resources available, and has maintained a good level of discipline, with players sticking to the task at hand and the game plan, no matter how negative it may be perceived at times. The atmosphere at the moment is pretty dour, and I get that with the football being the way it is, but we’re also two wins in two and unbeaten in the league since Boxing Day. There’ll be other rough patches before the season is out but, if we can grind out a few more results like we have recently, we’ll be home and dry in a position as good as, or better than, we’d have hoped before a ball was kicked. We’ve all joked about craving that boring season with nothing to play for after 15 years of ups, nearly ups, nearly downs and downs. Well, this is it, and unfortunately it also brings some not brilliant football matches. The manager, the team and the club need a proper summer of rebuilding and a clean slate attached. It’s only right they’re afforded that time and patience to rebuild - something we knew was a lengthy job and no quick fix.

Charlie Keegan

Cometh the hour, cometh the 20-year-old centre-back to win Latics another home victory right at the death! Charlie boy. What a player. But, Charlie Hughes’ latest contribution on Tuesday night wasn’t the only spectacular goal the Wigan Athletic faithful witnessed at the DW this week, as Thelo Aasgaard delivered the goods - yet again - with another strike worthy of the full three points on Saturday. Now, in truth, neither game was a brilliant display of exciting football from us - or from our opponents, for that matter - but we have walked away from the DW double-header with six points, two goals, and two clean sheets. Isn’t that what football is all about at the end of the day? Latics have now propelled themselves up to 11th place in the table - with a little help from game postponements elsewhere, meaning we have had more opportunities to pick up points than some below us. We are now eight points above the drop zone, having started the season 28 games ago on minus eight points. Four or five more wins in our final 18 games, and safety would be all but confirmed. Shaun Maloney, I take my hat off to you. The moment of magic in the 110th minute would not have been possible without Callum McManaman’s fight and determination to spur us forward at the end. From the second he walked onto the field, you could see he was up for the fight and was hell-bent at serving up an assist for the winner. Once he received the ball out right, I think every Latics fan knew the routine that would take place, with his chop-suey style that has been present since his first spell at the club turning the defenders inside out. Latics longest-serving Academy graduate assisting one of our latest starlets. What a script. Now, from one Callum to another. The calf injury has passed, but the conversation to leave has arrived. Callum Lang will most likely be departing us after over 10 years since joining from Liverpool’s Academy at the age of 14. Lang, to me, has joined a list of players I will always hold in high regard due to standing alongside us through our darkest times, and giving everything he has for the badge. Has it worked out as we would hope this season? No, but that doesn’t erase the history Lang has with us. Wherever he ends up, I hope his move is an instant success as I want to see him playing at his best again. One hell of a player when he is. Latics welcome Stevenage to the DW on Saturday for the first time in history! Our overall record against them is 0-1, after their 1-0 victory at the Lamex in October, but I have a feeling we are in for an exciting game this time around. Steve Evans’ men will make us play at our best if we are to get anything out of this game, and we have seen a few times this season how good we can be when we rise to the challenge. I’d take a draw, but give me something exciting to watch like a 2-2, not a 0-0 please!

Tony Moon:

Simple this week: Saturday - I'm gonna give you the most boring game of football, ever. Tuesday - hold my beer! Who cares, three points is three points, and this season, that's all that matters. Hope the ref's bruised ego has healed.