PART ONE: Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'For too many weeks now, I have been given false hope...'

Alan Rogers:

Harold Wilson supposedly said that a week was a long time in politics. Well, a week seems a much longer time if you are a Wigan Athletic supporter because, as usual, it's the hope that kills you. And the period of time between just before the PNE game until after the Bolton game was an emotional rollercoaster.

Before I get into my thoughts about our current situation, let me take a step back. A few people have asked me why I bother being a fairly regular contributor to this column. Well, it's certainly not for the money! And - contrary to popular belief - it's not an ego trip! In fact, I'd prefer this to be an anonymous thing, but I understand why we can't do that.

Anyway, there are two reasons I started pestering Mr Kendrick with these scribbles - opinions and facts. Obviously, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions, but I got fed up - and still do - with people at the game screaming out unsubstantiated opinions.

I tried arguing but, in the heat of a game, it's very difficult. So, I would wait until things had calmed down, looked at the stats from the game, and then pointed out why certain 'opinions' were wrong - because you can't really argue with facts. Definitely a bit pedantic, but just my small way of trying to put things right.

Of course I couldn't just write about opinions every week, so I sometimes try to slag off the opposition...especially the opposition manager, and normally the referee is a fair target. I also like the occasional moan about the pies and cost of a pint.

In regard to our own team, I've always probably been a bit biased. I rarely, if ever, criticise individual Wigan players. It's not my place to put extra pressure on them. I will, however - if needed - criticise the team as a whole. But mainly I try to always find something positive to say about the squad.

I've always tried to treat the manager the same way as I treat the players, and not get too personal. However, I've noticed in recent weeks I've probably been more critical of Ryan Lowe than I would expect to be. I'll come back to that point in a minute…

But first things first...the highs against Preston versus the lows against Bolton. Was there really a great deal of difference? Well of course there was. We beat Preston in a fantastic game, didn't we? Or did the amazing win cloud our judgement just a little bit? Well, maybe we need to dig a bit deeper.

We played a Preston team who made seven changes and, for periods of the game, looked like a team of strangers. But they still had 70 per cent possession compared to our 30 per cent. Preston made 558 passes against our 235. In fact, if it hadn't been for a deflected goal and a fantastic save towards the end from Sam Tickle, then it probably would have gone to penalties again. But we won in the end, so it all looked good through our rose-tinted glasses.

Moving on to the game against Bolton, and I spoke to a mate who's a Wanderers fan, who was moaning as usual. 'We're on a bad run,' he groused, 'teams have worked out how to beat us and it's killing us.' Anyway, just for comparison, Bolton had 69 per cent possession on Saturday compared with Wigans 31 per cent. They made 534 passes compared with our 242. And the figures from the last two games have been reflected in far too many games this year.

As I said at the beginning, we can all have our opinions, but you can't argue with facts. I suppose we should be grateful that it was an improvement on the game against Cardiff, when they had 82 per cent possession against our 18 per cent, 731 passes compared to our 166, and 18 corners to our solitary one. Shocking figures.

So we obviously hadn't worked out how to set up to beat Bolton, and it was a very disappointing afternoon. We didn't even get a yellow card...in our local derby! I guess we have to look at what happens next...or maybe what doesn't happen next.

Unlike several others, I'm not going to blame the ownership team for our current situation, ie being one point above the relegation zone. The Dansons saved us from oblivion when they really had no need to get involved. They've steadied the financial ship and made several other positive changes. Also, they've probably done more for women's sport in Wigan than anyone else in recent years.

'But they could spend a few bob and get us out of this league!' Course they could! But we knew from day one that wasn't going to happen. It's a brave new world and we have to learn how to live in it. The one thing that I will hold against them is that they should never have sacked Shaun Maloney and replaced him with Lowe.

Next on the apparent ‘blame list’ is Gregor Rioch. Once again, we've had certain quarters throwing mud - and worse - at him. And I'm not really sure why? He's proved to be a loyal servant to the club, helping to build one of the most successful Academies in the country, and fighting to help keep our club alive during dark times. Apparently, he's being blamed for the players we sign and also the ones we don't!

It's my understanding that the manager goes to Gregor with either a player in mind or, more usually, the kind of player he wants. Gregor and his team then look at that particular player or search for the type of player - all within the budget of course. As far as I'm aware, Gregor does not force players onto the head coach and his staff.

To maybe illustrate my point, Ronan Darcy was signed for a Maloney-style team. Darcy didn't fit in Lowe's team, so he's been bounced around all over the place. I must add one thing that Rioch did get wrong was being involved in removing Maloney and replacing him with Lowe.

And so, onto the players. At certain stages earlier in the season, I was quite excited about this group of players. Unfortunately, something has gone radically wrong. Individually there are some great players, but they need to learn to play together as a team. For the most part they give their all each week but they need help.

Finally, we must look at the head coach and his staff. I've made my position clear - I think Maloney should have been given more time, and I've also said I didn't think Lowe was the correct person to replace him. I stand by that, but I also want what's best for the team. If Lowe can suddenly make it all click into place, that would be brilliant.

To summarise, I think it's fairly obvious the board has no interest in removing Lowe. They have a plan - I firmly believe it's data driven - and they will stick by it. I think this is why they probably remove themselves from getting too involved in the actual emotional footballing side of the business.

The only way they may even consider acting is if we drop into the bottom four and, even then, I still think they may stand by Lowe. One reason I say this is because we've had a lucrative FA Cup run, with the big pay-day still to come. And the income from the cup will offset any shortfall in supporter income. I guess the main focus is on balancing the books.

Yet I look at this from a different perspective. Just use the FA Cup money to pay off Lowe and start afresh. I'm sorry Ryan, but people just see you for a couple of hours on matchdays, and sadly the vast majority seem to have made up their minds.

I went into the Supporters Club before the game on Saturday feeling a bit fed up. Everyone was buzzing after beating Preston, and were making arrangements for the Arsenal game. My family went to book on the coach. Unfortunately, I can't go because I have an operation scheduled the week before the game and will be unable to travel (nothing serious but it has to be done!).

I was feeling a bit left out and sorry for myself. By the end of the game, the shoe was on the other foot. I feel sorry for all the fans who will be travelling. If Manchester City can put 10 past Exeter City, then how many will Arsenal score against the team that played against Bolton? God help us.

Martin Lally:

It’s really tough to know where to begin…

The disappointment of that third derby loss stings harder than a Leighton Baines thunderbolt free-kick on a cold day straight in the face! It would be easy for me to go in on both the players and the manager, I mean everyone else is but there is more trouble afoot than that.

I have stated for some time that we would know where we stand come the conclusion of the Bolton game, and the harsh reality is that we sit one point above the relegation zone, and the threat of League Two now hovering.

We also sit nine points outside of the play-offs, which is simply crazy, in what’s turning into a crazy season. As they say, there is so much football left to play. However, football is a sport built of consistency, and at the minute we are consistently dropping points, and we are on a bad run of form that isn’t turning around.

Bolton really aren’t that good and, despite a lacklustre effort of humour aimed at me from some of their brethren, other fans messaged to say that it wasn't a good result for them, because it papers over the cracks of a severely disappointing season. Tet they sit fifth, seven points off an automatic place...you can’t write it! Or is the league simply that poor this year that, outside of Cardiff City, it is anyone’s to lose?

On the plus side, the young kid Bettoni is superb! He gets better every week, and I love watching him. He really was the only one on Saturday that looked like he could cause problems at any time, and that raw energy and talent is superb! No wonder he's already being touted for a move to the Championship after such a short spell of brilliance.

Many, I know, have had enough. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I said last week, I’m going to back them, so off to Doncaster we go on Saturday. It already looks like a six-pointer, and it’s only mid-January. Joe Taylor is a good signing, and I suspect he will claim a starting space - but we have to get him in positions to score.

The fanbase is divided, some are more vocal than others, and the season is looking bleak. But it could turn at any time. It feels like we have hit rock bottom, but who knows what’s round the corner? Come League Two or the dream of the Premier League, it’s a rollercoaster ride with Wigan Athletic. They are our extended family, and I will always remain on the journey.

Up the deflated and bruised Tics!

Tony Moon:

Do you remember when we took photos, with a camera that was just a camera, that used film, and you had to get ‘em developed, and then you had to pass ‘em round if you wanted to share them? Shame they faded over time. Mind you, not as quickly as the gloss from the PNE FA Cup win, and the joy and celebrations on show in the post game photos on the pitch.

I don’t profess to know anything about coaching, so I’ve no real idea what was wrong with us (again) on Saturday, but I hope the manager and his coaching team do. Likewise, I hope the sporting director knows where the manager and the coaching team might be going wrong.

Billy Haggerty:

It's derby day. It's the bragging rights. It's the one we want to win. No, it's the one we MUST win. It's a blood and thunder game. It's a flying into tackles game. It's a game played with passion, fight and pride. It's the 'Bolton get battered' song sung in full voice. It's the walking out of the ground proud with a great big smile on your face. It's the getting home pleased to watch the game highlights and hear the interviews. It's the browsing on social media seeing all the positive posts. It's the logging onto Vital Latics to post some match reviews and say how well we played.

We got absolutely none of these at the weekend. Derby day is not about bottling it. It's not about leaving your passion in the dressing room. It's not about playing like a team of strangers. I's not about thinking your opponents are Barcelona. It's not about gifting your opponents the midfield. It's not about switching off. And it most definitely isn't about watching your Latics team going out on derby day scared to attack a team that was supposedly low on confidence and there for the taking.

Sadly we got all of this. We were told by Ryan Lowe, the club, and the players that they owed the fans after the last derby game. It was talked up that this time it would be different and that we would 'give it a go'…

'Give it a go'? We didn't lay a glove on them. We had 31 per cent possession with zero shots on target. If that's Lowe's promise of 'giving it a go', then it's no wonder we're one point off the relegation zone.

Unfortunately, things will only change once the owners and hierarchy in the club start seeing crowd numbers fall, but by then we could well be in a relegation fight. And on current form, this team doesn't have that fight in them.

There is a small slight positive in this piece - we won't have to suffer another derby humiliation this season or a false promise from Lowe in that they'll 'give it a go'. Which is something, I suppose.

George Arkwright:

Well, there goes that dream. For too many weeks now, I have been given false hope. A brief period of optimism stemming from a somewhat decent performance, only for it to be dashed moments later by a dismal, uninspiring mess of bodies on a field for 90 minutes. Yet again, the rise and fall is harsh and abrupt.

After Preston, and the subsequent FA Cup draw at the Emirates, I naively felt as though we could have possibly turned a corner. It felt as though we had finally cracked the code...the precise formula that would turn the languid, tepid football that we’ve been playing into the full sum of the quality that we have.

Two derby day victories and then the most gigantic of all giantkillings would’ve gone a long way to turning our season around; discussing moments last week, this would’ve been the moment we’d all remember. Evidently, we had not.

I will choose not to dissect a game in which we offered so little as, to put it simply, I am bored of writing about the poor performances we seem to produce in most games. I am bored of discussing the shortcomings of a manager who seems unable to react, embolden or compromise to avoid failure. I am bored of discussing the continual statistical collapse of our players, and unfortunately it feels as though this apathy does not only resonate with the fans, but seemingly in the complete lack of decisiveness or even visibility from the board and the owner.

In his latest interview, the manager claimed the players had crumbled because of the occasion, and that the derby day atmosphere had gotten to them, as they hadn’t expected such a reception from their home support. He also implied that something for the fans to cheer about was the introduction of our new loanee striker.

This level of condensation is simply unacceptable and making trite, derivative statements such as this imply that he either does not want to accept that there is systemic issues in the squad, or does not care to address them.

I want to be optimistic. There is simply no point in supporting a football club - an entity design with the explicit purpose of filling our Saturdays and entertaining us - if it does not fill our weekends with entertainment. And for much of our season, since Ryan Lowe exclaimed that League One was unprepared for how positive and front-footed our team was going to be.

We have unfortunately offered very little in the way of overarching quality. We have heard very little in the way of open and honest discussion on the state of the club from the people in charge and, in the face of continued poor results, we have nothing to cling onto but the same tired interviews week in, week out.

The majority of our players seem like they have quality in them and yet set up in a way that completely negates any creativity, to the extent that we have barely mustered two attempts on goal against Bolton in the three games since Ryan Lowe’s tenure began. This is echoed in the vast majority of our games, which speaks either to a dogged, misplaced adherence to our formation or, more worryingly, a lack of capability to coach in any other way.

Our strikers were completely isolated as our midfield buried themselves in a flat line adjacent to the defence. Our wing-backs were run ragged...being forced to defend physical, imposing players that continuously had the better of them, which in turn allowed little, if any contribution to the attack.

And when it was evident that our initial game-plan was not working, we seemed totally incapable of changing shape mid-game, with substitutes essentially acting simply as fresh legs instead of substantial formational tweaks.

My main concern is that, on occasion, we demonstrate a clear capacity to produce performances of real merit — most notably in our recent showing against our esteemed manager’s former club. This seemingly implies that there is some sort of differentiation between the majority of the tactical set-ups that are being planned, and the games in which the manager is the most motivated to win. We simply let most teams roll us over and push us aside, and the players seem completely devoid of the confidence or the understanding of a contingency game-plan in order to counteract it.

I asked for faith, for belief, from the fans last week. I have been asking it of the manager all season. And frankly, I am unsure I have received an ounce of what is owed in any game, other than Preston. I think that as of now, the fans have more than earned the right to have little faith in the leadership and the management staff. They have shown absolutely nothing that implies we’re on the right track.

There is never any communication directly from the board either in support or in derision of the manager. The players are evidently not the right ones for the system the manager is choosing to play. The manager doesn’t seem capable of coaching his team to success, and we’re bringing in players on loan instead of purchasing and building foundations for the future. It all feels like an inevitable, blind slide downwards with no end in sight.

I appreciate there are always going to be things that the fans won't understand about the nuance of running a football team. But in a moment of great division between the supporters and the club, it has never been more important to provide a clear vision of the future. If not least to confirm the fears we all have, but potentially to galvanise the fanbase even slightly in what looks to be a very difficult second half of the season.

We need action. We need passion. We need communication and we need results. This club only exists because of the fans, regardless of who put their hands in their pocket. We are owed an explanation, we are owed accountability, and we are owed a lot more than we’re currently receiving.