PART ONE: Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'If Monday night doesn’t convince the powers-that-be that growing our support over the long-term isn’t beneficial, then nothing will...'

Martin Tarbuck:

I can’t proclaim I was looking forward to Monday night’s game but, you know what? It was all right! Even what is considered a poor Manchester United side, understandably, looked a class above our raw League One youngsters. Aside from kicking them repeatedly, I’m not sure what else we could do. United could have been four or five nil up at half-time, were it not for the woodwork and the cat-like reflexes of Sam Tickle. However, we hung in there and went into the final quarter of the game with a chance, no matter how remote, of grabbing an equaliser. So it was such a shame the second came as a result of such a pathetic dive to seal it. I’ve seen it said there was some (minor) contact, but that was more than offset by Bruno Fernandes’ ridiculous reaction to a tiny toe touching him. Another lesson learned by our young bucks. Football is, as far as I am aware, still a contact sport, but when you are playing against Premier League opposition, I would always revert back to the wise words of MC Hammer, namely 'you can’t touch this', across most of the park but especially in the box. That’s not to give United full credit for the win, they were miles better than us. But then they should be, shouldn’t they? Even without the sycophantic Anthony Taylor giving them a giant leg up into the next round.

Off the field, there has to be some bricks and bouquets launched at the pre-match debacle. The ticketing shambles outside was as predictable as it was avoidable I guess. Conscious there would be a big crowd, I was dragged out of the pub to get there for 7.30pm, just as I was about to order a Guinness, and only just got in before kick-off. To be fair to the club, they haven’t had to deal with as big a crowd as this for a while, but the physical infrastructure should be there. There’s enough turnstiles, enough gates, even for the notoriously last-minute Wiganers. I’d like to give the club a bit of leeway as systems, contracts and physical infrastructure have been ripped up and nullified over the past few years, with all the turmoil. But then they seem to manage those huge rugby crowds that get announced with ease, don’t they? It is hardly going to be a problem every week, though, if we’re honest. For either club, now I’m back to being serious again. An impending change in the ticketing provider will help no end. And if I’m giving out bouquets, I’ve got to give the Wigan public credit for turning out in such great numbers...let’s hope some of them come back for a bit more. Of course, there’s always the chance many of them only came to see United, but I didn’t see anyone jumping up in the three home ends when they scored. So, again, fair play for showing the respect towards your hometown team, even if you do support the big club visiting town.

I know the East Stand move was an emotive subject. However, it has also led to a subsequent discussion as to whether to move the boisterous element of the home support to the North, and put the away support in the East permanently. I have a different view on this. I think we should retain the status quo and really go to town on the South Stand next season. There are basically a few hundred people rattling around in it most weeks, so we either need to close it completely or have a proper go at marketing it as a Family Stand for next year. I’m talking knockdown season tickets of £100 for adults and £20-£50 for kids. Family of four tickets for £200, and kids for a quid offers regularly. The way to get around this is to offer a free membership scheme, by going around the schools and signing up classes full of kids. If you are wondering how this would work, just Google AberDNA Junior. It is kind of what I thought the BELIEVE scheme would be when Mal Brannigan introduced it, before they launched it. Aberdeen do have a similar subscription scheme (just called AberDNA) but their AberDNA Junior scheme has 10,000 members. That’s 10,000 kids who get two free tickets per season, discounted tickets to any other game they attend, and a free tour of the ground with their school. Of course, this requires resources on the club’s side, and you’d question whether that can be financed or resourced, given we still have a skeleton staff. But if Monday night doesn’t convince the powers-that-be that growing our support over the long-term isn’t beneficial, then nothing will. We’ll never have a full ground, but we can certainly do more to make it fuller. We just have to work harder at it than other clubs, for all the reasons and challenges we face, both within our town and without. Of course, it is impossible for the club to do anything at all these days without offending someone, and I do understand the East Stand argument: football fans are creatures of habit. Commercially it made sense, both now and in future. The reality is much more emotive.

I’d liken it to a hotel, with 100 rooms in four blocks of 25, which is only 40 per cent full most of the time. The logical decision would be to shut two buildings and save money, and provide a more vibrant atmosphere in a smaller environment. But Bob in Room 24 won’t move, and Thelma in Room 47 needs ground floor access. Terry has been staying in Room 72 in Block 3 for 20 years and refuses to go anywhere else, and Audrey likes being close to the main hotel and its amenities in Room 97. Somehow, there has to be compromise for the good of the hotel (club) but there’s too much resistance to it, so we continue to have half empty buildings. I say that as someone who gladly went to the North Stand on Monday. I actually like moving seats and stands at cup games to get a different view of the game. But then I’m quite easy going, and recognise that, with everything we’ve been through, having to sit somewhere else for a cup game, is for me, the most minor inconvenience. Just my opinion though and I understand others feel differently. Every single thing the club does now, seems to generate a wave of exhausting fall-out in the wake of it, and trust me, things really aren’t that bad right now. The bottom line for me, is I’d like the season to play out with a quiet calm and dignity, on and off the field. In the past week, we’ve seen a Wigan lad, Callum Jones, 18-year old captain of our youth team, who should be in the prime of his life, going through cancer treatment. We also last week laid to rest a top Latics lad, Phil Highton, who like many whom we have lost in recent months, was only in his 50s. What would Phil, and many others who have passed, done to just watch their football team one last time? That is why, for me personally, I try not to get upset about the many grievances aimed at the club, and engage in the perpetual moaning and online tantrums. They really aren’t worth giving too much attention to. They mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, and I wish more of our support could tune in to that. As we are fond of saying: Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.

Red Ned:

The FA Cup tie against Manchester United on Monday was a great occasion for the club. And the team performed admirably in what was always going to be an uphill task. I've seen some slight criticism of the tactics and a feeling we 'didn't have enough of a go'. It was clear, though, that Shaun Maloney had set the team up to play in the fashion we were accustomed to in the Premier League under Roberto Martinez when playing the more elite teams. Try and keep it tight, stay in the game as long as possible, and try to hit your opponents on the break. To an extent it worked, largely down to United's lack of a top-class forward, but we did also have a few chances of our own to nick a goal. The downside to Monday was the absolute diabolical lack of organisation regarding ticketing and queuing to get in. The system used to get people through the turnstiles was painfully slow, and it seems a large number of supporters were denied entry with valid tickets, forced to try and address the problem via another large queue at the ticket office, and subsequently miss half the game. This is simply not good enough, and a major own goal in trying to attract floating fans to come back who attended the game, while also upsetting long-term supporters of the club. While we as fans are grateful to the new owners of the club for stepping in at the 11th hour, it is worrying they have yet to properly outline their long-term vision of the club. They also need to explain what legacy issues may remain from the last ownership, and properly communicate how the club's management will be structured going forwards. There also seems to be absolutely no communication from the ownership to, or via, the local press? Surely a healthy and open dialogue between both parties is vital to help keep fans informed and engaged with their local football club. The longer the owners remain deathly silent on how the club is to be run, the more supporters will start to ask questions. After the last two shambolic owners, supporters need to be able to trust the people entrusted to look after the club. No-one expects the owner to splash millions of pounds on new players, or be wasteful with his money chasing a pipedream. But they do expect careful planning, some investment in the team and, more importantly, the Academy. There is also a need for a transparent relationship as far as is practicable with the supporters who, after all, pay their hard-earned to attend the matches each week. Keep the faith.

Billy H:

On the way down to the DW on Monday night, you could sense it was a big occasion, with all the traffic, problems trying to park, and all the people milling around. Once parked up, the walk to the stadium had a sense of what drama was to come...could there be an upset, would we give a good account of ourselves, would United get their usual soft referee, or even the obligatory dodgy decision (more of that later). There was certainly a great buzz from all those walking towards the stadium, only to be greeted by huge queues at the turnstiles, which made me wonder whether I get in before kick-off. After a 20-minute wait, I finally got in with five minutes to spare, but I felt sorry for the fans behind me where the queue was at least 15 minutes long. Getting onto the concourse, the atmosphere was great, but going up into my seat, eventually finding family and friends, it was a relief to get in on time to watch the build up to kick-off. Looking around, it was such a joy to see all the stands full, the Latics fans in full voice, and an atmosphere you could cut with a knife. Once the players took to the stadium, I was like 'this is it, this is our time, and live on council telly, we're going to show the world who we are and what we're about'. After the impressive firework display, I thought we were just as impressive and, had we scored in our first attack within three minutes, it might have been a totally different game. I thought we stood off them too deep, didn't make any significant crunching tackles to let United know they were in a game (apart from the late Cal Mac challenge) and showed them far too much respect. Sam Tickle for me was Man of the Match, and it was just a shame he couldn't have saved the undeserved, dodgy decision of a penalty from Bruno Fernandes. Would we have got the same decision in United's box? I don't think so. We did have a few chances to score, but perhaps the occasion got to the players when the opportunity was there for the taking. But well done lads, you did us proud. So after all the excitement and drama of a big cup-tie, I'd like to think and hope we've converted a fair few casual supporters to come back to the DW for our next home game. Will we reach the 20k mark? You just never know.

George Chilvers:

I think we can hold our heads up high after that performance on Monday night. Despite all their perceived 'problems', which seem to consist of not doing too well in the Champions League and 'struggling' in eighth place in the richest league in the world, whose ownership crises surround which billionaire will take them over and not whether they will exist next week, Manchester United are still one of the biggest names in football, and we held out well. If only Thelo had managed to poke that one home in the third minute, maybe the dynamic of the game would have been changed, and who knows what could have happened. But as we all know, and the saying about the possibility of my aunt becoming my uncle, 'ifs' count for little. We allowed them to survive that little scare and, despite Sam Tickle's great display, they scored a good goal. And then Mr Taylor of the parish of Wythenshaw in Manchester saw fit to respond to Bruno Fernandes' terrible injury - that surely could have killed him (as Sir Alex might have said) - by awarding a penalty. I maintain strongly the Laws of the Game do not mean any contact is a foul (and hence a penalty in the area). The LOTG refers to trips and attempts to trip. Boot-on-boot is not, in my very humble and completely correct opinion, a trip. It's part of the game. Oh, Tommy Smith, Norman Hunter, Nobby Stiles, where are you? The penalty, of course, killed the game as a contest from then on, although interest was still piqued by the introduction of Cal Mac, whose feelings about United's tactics were very clear. The picture of him facing up to Garnacho within seconds of coming on will become a classic meme. So we can now roll out the cliches, of being able to concentrate on the league, but they are not just cliches but truisms. Yes, it's fun to take on a Premier League big name, but the bread and butter stuff, the stuff that defines our future, carries on on Saturday at Northampton. Personally, I wasn't affected by what I read was a ticket fiasco, but it is becoming too frequent. Is the contract with Fujitsu, I ask myself? I'm ever so grateful for Mike Danson and his company for taking us over when our very existence was in jeopardy. But I really would like to see some appointments at board level to allay our fears, and one of the first jobs for the CEO will be to get the ticketing system sorted. Monday was just another addition to the inability of the system to get itself sorted. Sorted for purchasing more than one away ticket, and sorted so the ticket operators don't have to wave a magic torch over your ticket, say 'beep' themselves, then open the turnstile by foot. It needs sorting very quickly.