Talking football: The new era at Wigan Athletic starts here!

Certainly not any local journalists, anyway.

But Saturday's trip to the Den represents the beginning of another new chapter in the history of Wigan Athletic Football Club.

The Kolo Toure era.

There's been much talk over the last few weeks during the World Cup break, since Latics beat Blackpool - 48 hours after parting company with Leam Richardson.

The lack of matches has afforded a greater-than-usual period of reflection on that bombshell call, and the decision to hand the job to an untried (in management at least) rookie.

Much of the fanbase are still coming to terms with the departure of Richardson, to whom this club and town owe such a huge debt of gratitude.

Time will tell if the decision was the right one or not.

But from Saturday onwards, it's all about Kolo Toure - and getting 100 per cent behind the new man and his ideas.

Of course, it's not the first time Latics have pulled the trigger at this stage of a Championship campaign.

Uwe Rosler in 2014 and Gary Caldwell in 2016 were also unseated by Dave Whelan and David Sharpe respectively.

The replacements for both - Malky Mackay and Warren Joyce - turned out to be horrific appointments, with the club going on to be relegated at the end of the season.

That doesn't necessarily mean the initial sacking wasn't the right call.

While I thought Caldwell was unfortunate to go - a decision Sharpe subsequently admitted was a huge mistake - Rosler had clearly lost the dressing room and a change was necessary.

On both occasions, it was the poor choice of the successor that was the bigger problem.

If both seasons had ended with comfortable mid-table safety, the decision to change managers would have stood the test of time far better.

Which is why whatever our views on Richardson's departure, the whole fanbase has to get behind Toure right from day one.

Football fans had a very weird feeling on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

No World Cup action to gorge into!

The tournament will go down in history as one which should never have happened.

Or at the very least, should have happened elsewhere.

But the entertainment on the field has been well worth the four-year wait.

Gareth Southgate and England have been going along very nicely indeed.

They'll face an acid test of their credentials on Saturday evening with the small matter of Kylian Mbappe and France waiting for them.

Much of the talk has centred on whether Southgate will tweak his personnel and formation to combat the threat of Mbappe.

But the French will be just as wary of facing an opposition that can afford to leave the likes of Foden, Grealish and Rashford on the bench.

If the backline can maintain its solidity, England have no reason whatsoever to have any fear.

Finally, everyone at Wigan Today sends our love to the family and friends of Latics head of community Tom Flower, who tragically passed away over the weekend.

The warmth of tributes that have been paid to him since say everything about the kind of person he was, and how much of a legacy he has left in this borough.