Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'We fans bicker, we hurl abuse at players and managers, we even threaten not to come any more...and yet, here we are, still alive, still kicking, still refusing to go away quietly...'

Paul Middleton: Forget whatever new ride Alton Towers might launch in the post-pandemic era, there isn’t a rollercoaster in the world will beat Latics 2020. We were relegation certainties at New Year, and are now one of the form teams in all four divisions. We were a well run – if not exactly profitable – club, and now we’re in administration. We looked like we were doomed again with a 12-point deduction, then won so many games that we looked like we might coast it, and then conceded a last-minute goal and things are now no longer in our own hands. Off the field, things are looking increasingly positive, with more than one prospective bidder being able to show proof of funding to the administrator. There’s even talk about a deal being done by the end of July. However, before we get too excited, there’s absolutely no doubt those bidders are waiting to see what division we’ll be in next season. In League One, our value will almost certainly drop. It makes us more attractive to buyers looking for a cheap way into owning a football club, but much less attractive to anyone looking for a way into having an eye on the ultimate prize of PL riches. So, as it stands, we need to beat Fulham tomorrow, and hope either Charlton or Hull get beaten. It’s actually not as tall an order as it may seem. Charlton are away at Leeds who, thankfully, don’t seem to have taken their foot off the gas just yet, and Luton are at home to Blackburn who, mentally, may well have already gone on holiday with nothing to play for. Knowing our luck, and with the way results have been going, both will storm to victory where even beating Fulham won’t help. Regardless, you simply cannot fault the way the club and team have responded. Led from the front by a gladiator-esque Samy Morsy, putting eight past an admittedly woeful Hull outfit would be an outstanding result for any side. To do it with a team during administration, and where players don’t even know if they will be paid or not, is nothing short of miraculous. So, whatever happens tomorrow, just know this club, and this team, refused to take their fate lying down. It would have been so much easier for the EFL and Stanley Choi if we’d just slipped quietly under the waves and down into League One. But we haven’t. Instead, to a man, the club, players and fans have stood up and offered them all out, tops off if necessary. League One or Championship next season, it doesn’t matter. What matters is we still have a club. I’m too old to be jumping on another bandwagon at my age, so I’ll take Latics back in the Cheshire League, if that’s what it comes to. Latics is a club like no other. We fans bicker constantly at each other, we hurl abuse at players and managers alike, we even threaten not to come any more at the slightest hint of adversity. And yet, here we are, still alive, still kicking, and still refusing to go away quietly. Come tomorrow night, be positive, be hopeful, but be realistic. Relegation isn’t the end, it’s just a more difficult new beginning.

Martin Holden: All over social media, there are discussions about the point deductions and how that might affect us at the end of the season. The permutations are helping to create some of the greatest mathematicians Wigan has ever seen while, at the same time, causing anger and frustration. My biggest concern however this week can be summed up in two words...PREFERRED BIDDER...the most crucial two words in the history of Wigan Athletic Football Club. The administrators are obliged to market the football club for 21 days once they entered administration and that takes us through to tomorrow, which is also the last (ever?) game at the DW Stadium. At that time, all the serious bidders should have played their cards and the admins can then select the one they want to move forward with as the best option. The best option will almost certainly be the one that puts forward the most £££ to conclude the deal. I am not sure what effect all the efforts of those close to the club will have in influencing that decision, as the admins are there to realise as much as they can for the creditors. It really is as simple or complicated as that. On the pitch, we are left with a farcical situation of the matches ending otomorrow, players celebrating and commiserating, but all the while knowing it could all change once the EFL decide to act – whenever that might be. Then the fun begins, as there will surely be legal challenges all over the place, not only for Latics, but also for the Sheffield Wednesday and Derby Country situations which have rumbled on and on. Football is in a right mess now but, with the EFL controlled by the member clubs, there is little incentive for them to change. The time has come now for this structure to be changed and a more robust form of governance to be installed instead . What that is, I have no idea, but something needs to happen. The Wigan players and staff have been magnificent since all this started, we cannot fault any of them, heroes to a man . But if ever we needed a man-of-the-match performance then David Philips QC needs to come up with it now, working alongside the Preferred Bidder, to ensure firstly we have a place in the Championship, but more importantly that we have a club at the end of it all. Strap yourselves in, we are in for a rough one.

Statto: Well this squad and management have earned the right to be mentioned with the 2005 promotion-winning team, the 2013 FA Cup-winning squad, and all the other successful sides in the club’s history. Grit, determination, professionalism in the face of what’s going on off the pitch has made me never more proud to be a Latics fan. That first half against Hull was nothing short of outstanding – a complete football performance. The kick in the teeth against Charlton we will take on the chin, and come back stronger against Fulham. We probably still won’t know the final table come 9.30pm tomorrow, because the Championship and the EFL are a mess. We can’t worry about that, let’s just go out with a bang and see what happens after that.

Mike Goodman: I felt pig sick when Charlton scored that stoppage-time equaliser on Saturday, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to feel that way. It goes to show that one slip in concentration can mean you end up being punished but, in fairness I felt Charlton did deserve a point, even if the referee seemed a ‘little’ favourable to the home side. The players have been nothing short of magnificent since this whole debacle started three weeks ago, and it’s so cruel that the draw, and other results over the weekend, leaves us still fighting for survival. I think you could see just how desperate the players were to get three points and that nerves were kicking in a little which, given the magnitude of the game, you can completely understand. They say the table doesn’t lie at the end of the season, and we thoroughly deserve to be sat in 13th place after what’s been an incredible run of results, especially after going into administration. I was wrong earlier in the season to ask for a change in management, and gladly hold my hands up to admit I was wrong. Performances since the turn of the year have absolutely shown patience is key in football. What Paul Cook, Leam Richardson, Anthony Barry and co. have got out of the players in the second half of the season has been remarkable, and we’ve seen some fantastic performances. Regardless of what happens in the coming days, everyone who has played a part this season will undoubtedly go down in Wigan Athletic history, they’ve been amazing. It’s an absolute disgrace that, come 9:30pm tomorrow night, the season will be finished on the field, yet several clubs will still be waiting on news of our appeal of the pending 12-point deduction, as well as the potential points deduction Sheffield Wednesday may receive for breaching FFP. Both matters should have been resolved before the season ends and viewed as a matter of urgency, especially given the fact Wednesday were charged by the EFL for their FFP breach back in NOVEMBER. I imagine that as soon as the final whistle blows tomorrow, the 12 points will be deducted from our total, and we’ll shoot down the table. I pray we can get the three points against Fulham and results go our way to avoid finishing in the bottom three. I’m sure the EFL are hoping for that, too, because if we do end up in the bottom three, and then win our appeal against the points deduction, things could get very messy, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the EFL having one or two legal cases being brought against them for their role in all this. For the last time this season, though, it’s been a phenomenal effort by all involved at the club, and since July 1, there’s been so much go on which has made me even more proud to be a fan of this club. Players, staff and supporters have come together in a massive way and long may it continue. Up the ‘Tics!

Sean Livesey: How’s everyone’s nerves? Shot? Yeah, mine too. In the nearly three weeks since we entered administration I think I’ve encountered every emotion possible and, following Saturday’s last-minute equaliser for Charlton, I felt as deflated as I have throughout this. As the clock ticked to 90+2 we were four minutes away from picking up an absolutely vital three points that, if not mathematically confirming, would have gone a huge way towards confirming our Championship status for another season (dependent on still having a Wigan Athletic next season). As it was, a momentary lapse was enough to turn everything on its head again, leaving our destiny out of our hands. We should have known it wasn’t going to be a straightforward weekend on Friday evening. As many of us joined a zoom call with the Supporters Club, we found out West Brom had fallen to defeat against Huddersfield. Meaning Huddersfield, who looked dead and buried a couple of weeks ago, were safe. And after Brentford surprisingly lost to Stoke on Saturday, Fulham would once again have a sniff of automatic promotion. Gee...how much worse could it get? Well, if we didn’t get a draw in the Hull v Luton game, a lot more. Oh, and it did, cheers Kazenga LuaLua. So the permutations are simple for tomorrow night. Not as simple as we would have liked, but simple all the same. First and foremost, Paul Cook’s side must win. Not an easy task when their opponents are a Fulham side who score for fun and still have a slight chance of automatic promotion. Elsewhere, Latics need either Luton or Charlton to drop points as well. By no means impossible. Unlikely, maybe. But Latics deal in the unlikely. The lads tired visibly in the second half against Charlton, and it was a backs-to-the-wall effort for a lot of the match. How many of those lads will be ready for one last push tomorrow evening? Will we see some changes that may disrupt the flow of the partnerships across the pitch but could add some much needed fresh legs? Will Kieffer Moore – such a big part of all of the side’s great work since the resumption of the league even feature, with a bid from QPR having been accepted yesterday? Or will Joe Garner, who scored some crucial goals last season, get a chance to become the hero? There are so many variables to tomorrow night, and I literally have no idea how it will go. We’ve been written off so many times this season, but have bounced back each time. Be that being bottom of the league in January, going in to administration, or drawing with Charlton on Saturday...we’re still in there fighting. We’re not dead yet. Not by a long way. My heart tells me we’ve a chance, and all the amazing goodwill and energy generated to save the club over the last three weeks will get us over the finishing line. My head is slightly more pessimistic, but then it would be a very dull world if head ruled heart. Of course, survival in the Championship is only one part of the current strange world of Wigan Athletic. Survival of our football club trumps that and, if it meant we would have a club to support next season, I would be happily looking forward to trips to Portman Road, Bloomfield Road and the Stadium of Light. Whatever shape next season takes, and whenever I can go and watch my club, I just want to be in the Springfield Stand at 3pm on a Saturday, being able to watch a team play league football in the blue and white stripes. That has to be our overriding focus and, on that score, we got more information on Friday night, as the aforementioned Supporters Club hosted their ‘Night In’ event with Jonathan Jackson, Paul Stanley, the increasingly impressive Lisa Nandy, and a whole host of former players discussed what was happening, what had happened, and what the next few weeks may look like. Stanley, who has been more visible than Gerald Krasner of late, gave an important update and clarified a few things, while also offering hope for the future. We’ve got until tomorrow until the official marketing period is over with, and we should then have someone who would move to preferred bidder status. Wednesday could well be one of the biggest days in the history of Wigan Athletic and, although there are a lot of reasons to be down now, as Paul Cook quite rightly said on the pitch isn’t one of the reasons. Let’s put all our focus in to supporting Paul and the rest of the lads (remotely) and see where they can take us. They’ve been written off before, as have Wigan Athletic but that’s never stopped us. If we channel the spirit of the FA Cup win over Manchester City, with the heart of the Sheffield United relegation decider, and the guile of the side that sent down West Ham, we’ve a real chance. It’s going to be a difficult few weeks if not months, and we’ve a very real battle on for the future of Wigan Athletic. But let’s put all that to one side and get ourselves up for tomorrow night. We may not be in the stadium, but we’re with the lads in heart and soul.