Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - ‘A lot of concern exists about the direction of this group...’

Matt Auffrey:

For one brief moment in the chaotic world of Latics, all was well. Matt Smith had just dispossessed Lee Evans in Blackpool's own half of the pitch and, after several dribbles, fired into the net from 18 yards out to give us a 2-0 lead. The 41st-minute goal was a well-deserved reward for a lively team effort that had produced a variety of scoring chances up to that point in the match. I surely believed we had turned a corner and were well on our way to securing our first win in four league matches. However, the match would take a turn of its own, as we would fail to produce a crucial third goal and end up conceding two own goals in stoppage-time of each half. The single point at full-time marked a disappointing return given the way we improved our play in the final third and limited the impact of Blackpool’s best attacking players. The result served as an anomaly in many ways. For only the third time in 13 league fixtures, we scored two goals in a match. Yet, on the other end of the pitch, two of our most consistent players - Jason Kerr and Will Aimson - made critical mistakes that played a major role in our failure to achieve victory.

Many fans were frustrated with the manner in which we fell out of the match over its final half-hour. We invited too much pressure from Blackpool, and lost the cutting edge that allowed us to create so many stellar chances during the game’s first 60 minutes. Shaun Maloney expressed a clear disappointment with this dynamic as well during his post-match interview. The fanbase had good reason to be upset following the conclusion of Monday night’s fixture, and a lot of concern exists about the direction of this group. However, a glass-half-full view of the past few matches indicates that, after taking a few steps backwards, we are slowly making progress towards becoming a side that is capable of winning on any given matchday. Monday’s starting XI only played together for the first 58 minutes of the match, but still displayed a resolve that could easily become the foundation for a run of positive results. That’s not to excuse the glaring shortcomings from the past few matches. Our strikers have gone a full month now without scoring in a league match, and our exceptional defensive record has been compromised now that we have allowed two goals-per-match over our last three matches.

Returning to a site where we have experienced recent success could bode well for us this weekend as we start our FA Cup journey. Less than four weeks ago we travelled to Carlisle and pulled off a dominant 2-0 win in the Bristol Street Motors competition. Since that match took place, Carlisle have struggled in League Two, losing three matches (by a combined 8-2 score) and managing just a single 1-1 draw against Harrogate Town. To make matters worse, they recently lost striker Charlie Wyke to a serious ankle injury. Football can be a cruel game, and Charlie has certainly experienced his fair share of hardship over the past few years. I wish him a smooth and speedy recovery and hope we can see him experience more success on the pitch before he calls time on his playing career. Nonetheless, this Saturday marks a prime opportunity to get back to winning ways against a vulnerable side. Despite our wavering form at this same point last season, we still had no problem taking care of business during the opening rounds of the FA Cup. It’s a competition Maloney treats with the utmost importance, and our performance should hopefully come off as a reflection of that mindset. We’ve been smacked in the mouth a few times, but we continue to stand on two feet. The travelling fans are long overdue for an away day with proper post-match celebrations. I’m confident this weekend will provide the breakthrough we’ve so eagerly been awaiting.

Stephen Unsworth:

Well. Blackpool. Team sheet. Big tick. Excited. Half-time break, the Pope gets at the lads. Tells them to park the bus. Then 10 minutes in, takes the best players off to send a come and get us message to Blackpool. Their assistant manager accepts their challenge. That'll do it. After the match. The Pope apologises and He receives absolution because he's sorry. As fans there's no point getting upset about the things we can't affect. What we CAN make reference to is the quality of play is generally ending up with outcomes where we don't win. We don't often lose, we definitely don't win, and we end up with an atmosphere with the Vatican. Quiet, accepting. Our mood music is not good. We're not all in this together, and where we are now isn't relatable to the days of Paul Jewell, Paul Cook and Roberto Martinez. It's not a moan. I just would like the results to be different. Something to get passionate about. This is just so damn boring.

Tony Moon:

What was it Whitney Houston sang? … no, not 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'… it was 'One Moment In Time'. That’s all we needed on Monday night. Well, okay, two. Two moments. Both in injury-time, at the end of each half. Two moments that ruined what would have been a (largely) very good performance and excellent result. Thing is though, because of those two moments, our view of the performance and result gets all twisted and out of shape. Take away two of the four goals we scored on Monday, and things would be looking a little rosier right now. Of course, that didn’t happen and, and as some have opined, another five minutes more and the game might have been lost. Fair do, but then again, another 'Five Minutes More', and who knows what Frank Sinatra might have got up to (Google/YouTube it). There were plenty more signs of progression, if we’re willing to look for - or even acknowledge - them. But it’s all too easy to shout for the manager’s head…especially given his habit of using all the substitutes didn’t seem to pay dividends…again. Okay, hands up, I’d prefer him not to do it, but I presume he had a good reason to in every instance. Any road, back to those moments…those (not quite so) 'Magic Moments'…what was it Perry Como sang? All together now...'I’ll never forget, the smell of her sweat, from under her armpits...'. Timeless.

Sean Livesey:

Oh Wigan Athletic, why do you do this to me? Literally seconds away from a morale-boosting win and...well, you know the rest. Let’s look at the positives from Monday’s trip to the seaside. For the first 45 minutes, we were very good, very good indeed. Shaun Maloney’s side put in a performance similar to that at Bristol Rovers and at home to Peterborough. Latics should have gone in at half-time with a two-goal lead, but Jason Kerr’s own goal gave Blackpool a foothold in the game they didn’t deserve. If Latics had held on for the one minute of injury-time, the second half is a completely different prospect. As it was, it naturally gave Blackpool impetus, and they threw everything at it in the second half. Apart from Ashley Fletcher, who was even more anonymous than he was in his less than sparkling spell here a couple of seasons ago. Latics had chances in the second half - as they had in the first - but again our lack of a cutting edge, or rather players doing the hard bit and then struggling with the easier bit of getting the ball in the back of the net, cost us. Chief of these was Michael Olakigbe, who missed two gilt-edged chances. Either of these go in, and Latics would have been singing under the lights of the illuminations. As it was, it was another night where frustrations boiled over.

It’s been a frustrating return to action since the last international break, before which Latics had embarked on a seven-match unbeaten run, without conceding a goal. And the talk was quite rightly how we could built on that ahead of the next break. Instead, we’ve lost two games out of three, conceded six goals, and taken a solitary point. Maloney and his players will know that isn’t good enough. The performances against Mansfield and Blackpool were far better than at Cambridge, but the results needed to be better. There were some bright sparks from Monday...Dion Rankine is getting better with each match, and his performance capped off by a goal showed exactly why Latics pressed so hard to get him from Chelsea. And Luke Chambers' horrific injury has opened up the door for Luke Robinson, who made a welcome return from his own injury hell at Bloomfield Road. Annoyingly, it’s the best part of two weeks until we get back to league action, and how desperately we need a win at Carlisle in the FA Cup on Saturday. Get behind the lads, and I’m sure it’ll come.