The 12th Man: Including '˜An open letter to Paul Cook!

Hello Paul, I’m a Wigan Athletic fan.

I wouldn’t dream of claiming to speak for all Wigan Athletic fans, yet I still feel the need to write a few words about the past week.

You’ve probably noticed we reside in a 25,000-seater stadium and it’s barely a third full.

There’s not much we can do about that right now, but please don’t blame the ones who do turn up.

We can’t speak for the rest who aren’t there.

Just understand that it often makes it a difficult place to create an atmosphere and an easy place to hear dissenting voices.

Don’t ever mistake this for a lack of passion though.

The 8,000 fans who rattle round the DW are as good as any throughout the country.

Just look at the support we provide at away matches or come and join us in the pub before or after the games if you like, and you’ll see that fervour in abundance.

You know that this is a special club.

It is still that warm, homely, family club where you started your career, and that the spirit of Springfield Park, and the non-league underdog, will always be in our soul, even though football and time moves on.

We have had some special players and some special managers in the past, but the ones we remember most fondly are the ones who have been both.

Since you came here, you have done almost everything right, won over the fans immediately and set us up for what is shaping up to be a great season – the latest chapter in our history.

I have every faith you fit the bill.

I always feel it’s a dangerous route to go down when a manager starts criticising our own club’s fans but I, as just one fan, support everything you say.

Not because I blindly trust you, but because I’ve been through over 30 years of highs and lows that Wigan Athletic have enjoyed/endured.

And you are perfectly right.

We are second in the league and have very little to complain about right now.

The uproar after we lost our first game at home since March was something of an over-reaction, and it’s not something I can personally apologise for, as I tend to surround myself with more level-headed types.

But I do feel slightly ashamed it happened.

The perpetrators do not speak for me nor, of course, do I speak for them.

If it helps, however, they’ll probably turn on me now after reading this. I’ll just put my flak jacket on.

So, please feel free to ignore them, for they know no better.

They don’t know how lucky we’ve got it, nor indeed how lucky we’ve had it these past 20 or so years since we nearly got dumped out of the whole league.

The rest of us will continue to support you and the club in our own meek, compliant, happy-clapper ways, and try not to claim to pick the team for you.

You’re doing a great job, Paul. Long may it continue!

MARTIN TARBUCK

I think I will have to get a divorce.

Initially this may seem a little extreme but, when you think about it, this is actually the only sensible option.

I mean, we can’t just keep going on as we have been.

As I wrote last week, a lot of my in-laws are Bradford fans.

In fact it is worse than that. The wife is a Bradford fan.

So divorce it is. Sad really. End of an era. But what choice do I have?

This may seem like knee-jerk reaction…but isn’t that what we’re all about?

I mean, if it’s good enough for important issues like football, it’s good enough for the rest of your life, right?

And modern football is all about knee-jerk reactions.

Jamie Jones – yes, OK he has played really well since Christian Walton got injured at the Latics Open Day.

Yes, of course he has stepped up and filled in brilliantly. But that winning goal – he even got a hand to it.

Clearly he should never play again.

Paul Cook – admittedly he had done well in his short time here, having produced a team who have talent, play well most of the time, get good results and bounce back from defeats.

But then what about his team selection and tactics?

Obviously none of us fans were in the dressing room for the team talk, or in training all week.

It may be true that few, if any of us, have any experience in professional football – but we lost…

And so the selection and tactics must have been wrong. Right?

Ivan Toney – I mean how on earth is this man even a professional footballer?

The guy doing the half-time shoot competition on Saturday managed to get all four shots on target – surely he should have started the second half instead of Toney.

I mean, sure he is our joint second-top scorer…in a team with the wrong players being picked, and using poor tactics.

Surely anyone could be second top scorer in those circumstances couldn’t they?

The performance on Saturday was unacceptable.

We seemed to have few ideas in attack, and there were some worryingly big holes in defence, especially first half.

Very few players came out of the game with any credit.

I thought Gary Roberts deserved the man-of-the-match award, because he at least looked like he might be able to open up the Bradford defence.

But he didn’t. So it doesn’t count for anything.

Paul Cook admitted Bradford deserved to win. He was right. I think we can all accept an off-day.

We have to remember form comes and goes. But the real question is whether the players were really trying or not?

Did they really put enough effort in?

For a while it looked like Dunkley was going to be our Chey-viour – but it wasn’t to be. And it would have been totally unjust if it had been.

Latics were far too sloppy. Low on energy throughout and the final ball was appalling.

In fact the passing generally was very poor. Horrendous in places.

It leaves quite few questions about the team.

One question seems to have been answered, though.

Who is the new scapegoat?

Latics fans always need a player who they can take out their frustrations on.

We haven’t really had one so far this season, and it was concerning me a bit.

But the vacant position has now been filled.

Congratulations to Ivan Toney on receiving the first award of the season.

So we all agree the Bradford result will see the start of Latics slide down the division and inevitable relegation.

And divorce it is for me.

Oh, and on Tuesday night we won 3-0 and are now just one point off top spot again.

(By the way, I am actually all in favour of fans having opinions – even strong ones on the game and on their teams. The passion of the fans is what makes football different to almost any other sport I have experienced. It one of the reasons why I love it.)

(I also love my wife and hope she will stay with me...)

STUART GLOVER

Talk about a week of contrasting emotions.

Saturday was probably the lowest we’ve felt all season.

For the first time under Paul Cook it felt like we were outclassed and outfought.

Bradford were one of the few teams this season to come to Robin Park and have a go, and we didn’t know how to deal with that threat.

We had done well to stay in the game and a point looked to be a decent result in the circumstances.

But a classic sucker-punch saw us lose our undefeated home record in a game we really shouldn’t have been in danger of losing.

This is the second time we’ve lost after the international break and, although criticism of the club’s decision to postpone the Rochdale match has annoyed Cook, I think it’s valid to question if we needed to make that call.

Just as with Shrewsbury back in September, we looked out of sorts for most of the match.

Bradford looked fresher, hungrier and far more connected than we did.

Defeats happen and, as Cook himself has said, there’ll be others over the season.

But this always felt like it was avoidable.

When you think most of the side had had nearly three weeks between matches, it makes the decision to play an exclusively U-18 side in the Checkatrade against Accrington even more mystifying.

The manager made it clear he wasn’t happy with some of the criticism levelled at his side, and cited a negative atmosphere around the club – which surprised me.

There was the usual daft comments and anger that follow a defeat, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Maybe those comments were to provoke a reaction?

If they were, we got it.

Tuesday was everything that Saturday wasn’t – the line-up was attacking, and those changes made a big difference.

Part of the criticism on Saturday came over the lack of attacking talent or intent against Bradford, but that all changed against Doncaster.

Will Grigg and Ryan Colclough made a massive difference to the side, the latter making it a perfect hat-trick with his goalscoring exploits and getting to hospital in time for the birth of his baby boy.

Ryan’s had to be patient for his chance, but surely he’s due a run in the side now.

He offers Cook’s side something different and is genuinely a hard worker.

Grigg is also due a mention.

He may not have scored, but those elusive goals will surely come if he gets games.

We look a far better team when he’s in it because, even if he doesn’t score, his hard work pays off for the rest of the team.

Let’s not kid ourselves, though – Doncaster aren’t the same threat as Bradford are, and there’s still a worry we’re not beating sides around us.

But we bounced back in the right way on Tuesday. Continue that at Rotherham on Saturday and we’ll be looking good heading in to December.

SEAN LIVESEY

Paul Cook and his players answered the critics with a comfortable 3-0 win against Doncaster on Tuesday.

It was pleasing to get back to winning ways, as the moaners and groaners had been out in force since Saturday’s first home league loss to Bradford.

Bradford will be in the promotion mix at the end of the season, and they produced one of their best away performances.

It could easily have gone either way but, just when it looked as though it would end in a draw, the Bantams scored an injury-time winner.

All Latics’ fans were disappointed with the result, but some of the post-match comments about Cook and the team really do beggar belief.

Some so-called fans on social media have gone to extreme lengths and have been calling Cook clueless, spreading malicious rumours about the manager, and sending abusive tweets directed at individual players, which can only be harmful to the players’ confidence.

The fans are entitled to an opinion, but this type of behaviour goes beyond what is acceptable and can only damage the club’s prospects.

Some of the fickle fans were absent on Tuesday against Doncaster.

It made for a few more empty seats, but at least the atmosphere was less negative.

Cook had rightly identified the negativity at the DW during the Bradford game, and he made an accurate assessment of the current situation.

In contrast to Cook’s levelheadedness, his critics need to get a sense of perspective.

This is Latics’ best-ever start to a league campaign, they are second in the League One table, with the most goals scored and fewest conceded – and still some aren’t happy.

I’m sure, in the long term, Cook’s approach will be fully vindicated, and the progress which the club has made under his management will be properly recognised.

In the meantime, Latics come up against former player Paul Warne’s Rotherhamthis weekend, and could go top if results go their way.

But whatever the result, Cook won’t be getting too carried away, as there are still plenty of games to play.

IAN ASPINALL

It’s been a very strange week, with Paul Cook’s side reacting to a cloud of negativity following the 2-1 defeat to Bradford, with a 3-0 win over struggling Doncaster.

Our impressive home run in the league came to an unfortunate end, after Bradford deservedly beat us at home.

Bradford were the better team on the day, and are the best side to visit the DW, showing no fear and bringing the game to us.

At this point, things did start to look nervy, with our gap in the automatic places decreasing, and teams around us winning, including top-of-the-table Shrewsbury scoring a late winner at Rotherham.

Although Latics have been going well, this did not deter some from having a good old meltdown.

I can understand such frustration, as Latics did not play well.

Although we’ve been picking up points, we haven’t had a really strong performance since Scunthorpe at the start of October.

However, the negativity in the crowd is not needed.

We need to start getting behind the lads at home, as the atmosphere has been bland.

If the fans can create an atmosphere like away matches, it can make a big difference.

One thing I dislike is seeing players receive tweets post-match, saying they aren’t good enough...sometimes in a far more colourful manner.

Sometimes if you don’t have anything nice to say, it’s best not to say anything at all.

A lot of the players are young lads, so tweets of this nature can affect their confidence,. They are only human.

I’m sure the players would appreciate constructive criticism, as that can help them improve, but hopefully personal bad-natured tweets become a thing of a past.

Moving on to Tuesday, and the whole club dynamics changed again, with Latics comfortably brushing Doncaster aside.

With other results going our way, Latics closed the gap on Shrewsbury to just a point.

I was intrigued to see how we fared without Nick Powell, but Max Power played well in his absence, enjoying the freedom of getting forward.

Latics face another tough test at the weekend, and yet another Yorkshire based side, travelling to Rotherham.

The Millers have been in free-scoring form at home this season, with on-loan man Kieffer Moore leading the goal-scoring charts on 13 goals.

Rotherham should be pushing for the play-off places under ex-Latic Paul Warne, and our defence will face a challenging afternoon.

JAY WHITTLE