Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'Bitching and moaning helps no-one bar the teams around us...'

Caddy from the 5:

WEMBERLEE..WEMBE.. oh no! Well, it would've been great seeing the old girl we practically lived in for a time in the halcyon years gone by, but it wasn't to be and good luck to a well-deserving Sutton in the final. Social media went into a predictable meltdown after the loss in a trophy that no-one is, or was, interested in up to the semi-final. All of a sudden the result was worse than the Arsenal defeat in 2014, and some of the abuse - aimed mainly at Tendayi Darikwa - was quite simply disgusting. How dare a man miss a penalty, eh? SOME of our fans are complete fools and need to get a grip. Not making the final in the Pizza Cup, that's been nothing but a distraction all year, is small fry to not getting promotion. Of course we'd have all loved a day at Wembley. But it would have involved missing another league game in the process, which incidentally is Horwich at home - a far, far bigger game than the stinking EFL's free day out for its cronies. I'm not one of those who say 'but look where we were 12 months ago, it's all a bonus' people. This squad was built for promotion THIS SEASON. I've no doubt about that, and I've even less doubt it'll achieve its aim - just look at the table! We're hardly in the mud, are we? There's a massive game this weekend at MK Dons, who are flying, and that's way more important than Tuesday. That's where we need to be at our best, and another performance like Rotherham will do, thank you. I saw posts this week saying we've played twice a week since Christmas and, coupled with suspensions, injuries etc, we're doing a damn fine job at the moment. Are we playing great football? No. Are are we winning games? Yes. And that's all that matters! After MK, we've another two very winnable games that could even see us go top of the league. 'But Darikwa is useless for missing a penalty in a meaningless cup'... The best thing about Tuesday was he was nowhere near the worst player on the pitch that night, but typical Wigan have to have a scapegoat - and he's it. I've said it before, when we're on King Street bouncing about singing about promotion, no-one will care about ANYTHING that's gone on this season. It'll all turn to next season and, with Talal and Mr Al Jasmi's backing, THATS when the real hard work of at least staying in the Championship will start. Let's all just get on board for the last 10 or so games and get these lads over the line. Bitching and moaning helps no-one bar the teams around us. Right, I'm off for a 'Bow and an argument with anyone who disagrees.

Matt Auffrey:

There have been many different fan reactions in response to Latics’ recent exit from the Papa John’s Trophy. There’s been sadness we won’t be going to Wembley, disappointment we lost in a penalty shoot-out, and anger we lost to a lower league side. After I processed each of these emotions following the conclusion of Tuesday’s match, I acknowledged two new feelings that started to develop: relief and enthusiasm. As exciting as this season’s cup runs have been, there’s no denying they have put a great strain on our squad. We’ve played 15 cup matches so far and you never know if the next one will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Now, without distraction, we can focus on the one goal that was always going to be the greatest determinant of this season’s success: promotion. The return to the league fixture list this Saturday leaves us little time to be upset before we must refocus. MK Dons are in the best form of any League One side at the moment and were one of the most impressive sides to grace the DW this season when they beat us 2-1 last October. There’s no stating how great of an impact this match will have on the league table and both teams’ aspirations towards automatch promotion. With the games in hand Latics have on this weekend’s opposition, a draw in Milton Keynes may be as good as a win. “We’re in for a tough away match with automatic promotion on the line against the league’s form side who looked very strong in our first match-up of the season.” If this pre-match breakdown sounds familiar, it’s because it’s nearly identical to how the Rotherham match was described several weeks ago. The anticipation for our trip to South Yorkshire was nerve-racking, yet we put on an inspired performance and (to no one’s surprise) were one poor foul decision away from taking all three points that evening. With most of our starting 11 well-rested for Saturday, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t take the game to our opponents from kick-off. Regardless of what your expectations were for this season last summer, you’d be hard pressed to find somebody that isn’t content with our current position in the league table and prospects for automatic promotion. However, that doesn’t mean we should aim for anything less than a League One title. I’d personally get a lot more joy from seeing us lift a trophy at Shrewsbury in late April rather than a trophy at Wembley in early April. Some may see every remaining match as a cup final, but I just see it as an opportunity for a great football team to continue doing what they’ve already been doing all season: winning football matches. Forget the opponent. Forget the stakes. Forget the pressure. If we just remember to be the best version of Wigan Athletic, we have no reason to worry at all.

Will Heyes:

Like so many others, I was disappointed and gutted after watching Latics getting knocked out in that penalty shoot-out against a tough, well-organised Sutton United side, who successfully picked our pockets with a disciplined performance. They themselves were on a run of only one defeat in their previous 17 games. I said they would be no pushover and it proved to be, as Latics huffed and puffed, but could not blow the Sutton house down. I cannot understand why extra-time was not played? I really believed Latics would have prevailed in the extra period. However, it was not to be Latics’ day, and the rest is history. Having watched a number of the Latics’ recent performances, something is missing from those fluent, free-flowing games we saw earlier in the season. Too many games? Maybe? At times, Latics to me look tired and leg-weary, with signs of battle fatigue. Yes, I know they have been unlucky with all those postponements and extra cup games before and since Christmas. This has added to the extra workload as they are always playing catch up with the other sides around them. It won’t be until the games in hand have been played, before we really see where Latics are in the table. However, there is no time to reflect on what might have been. Latics have to pick themselves up for a difficult fixture at MK Dons on Saturday, who appear right now to be the main threat for the second automatic promotion spot. The Dons are on a roll and have good reason to believe they can grab that promotion spot for themselves. This is in effect a six-pointer for both sides, a win for Latics will enable them to put more distance between themselves and the Dons, while making the prospect of overtaking Rotherham for top spot is still a distinct reality. A loss for Latics and the Dons will be snapping at our heels, and Latics will have to start looking over their shoulder. A draw would not be a bad result! The disappointment of not reaching Wembley will soon pass. Latics now have to refocus on the bigger prize, which was always the main objective at the start of the season - promotion to the Championship. Their destiny is in their own hands, but they really have to start raising their game and upping their performances, otherwise they are going to struggle to cross that finishing line on April 30.

Statto:

Can’t complain about going out to Sutton on penalties despite the strong team we had out. I just don’t think we did enough to win the game in 90 minutes. Despite churning out results in the league, apart from Sunderland, our performance level hasn’t been too good recently. That said, we are still in a fantastic position, and to get something at MK would be a great result. One positive from the Sutton game was some nice play by Jamie McGrath - enough to see why we signed him. Maybe not a starter yet, but certainly an impact player for the rest of the season.

Emma Peters:

Every week I find myself criticising the officiating in the EFL. Every single week I come away from games thinking 'they were the worst officials we've had this season'. And every week I'm still surprised when the officials manage to out-do themselves. Saturday's game against AFC Wimbledon was possibly the most uneventful game of the season to date, with the only talking point being referee James Bell distributing a red card for a foul on Stephen Humphrys, before swiftly retracting it and ordering a free-kick to the away side. Answers on a postcard please? Wigan managed to just about grind out a scrappy 1-0 win with a goal from (yes, again) Will Keane, but for the first time this campaign I noticed several of our key players really starting to look like fatigue was setting in. Naylor, Lang, Power, Humphrys and even Whatmough looked to spend much of the game struggling to get going, made marginally more difficult 10 minutes from time when Max Power was helped off the field of play and down the tunnel with an injury to his right arm, which turned out to be a badly dislocated pinky. Having made all three substitutions - one early on into the game when Glen Rea fell foul to a knee injury - Latics were left to battle out the remaining minutes with 10 men. But a win is a win and three points is three points, leaving us in second place, four points below league leaders Rotherham and three clear of MK Dons (until they won their game against Cheltenham in midweek, bringing them level on points with a slightly worse goal difference - and who we play this weekend). Special mention for this game goes to Tom Bayliss for delivering a man-of-the-match performance off the bench on about three seconds notice. A midweek game against Sutton seemed to be the perfect opportunity to further lift the spirits in the WAFC camp with a potential trip to Wembley on the cards. Gaffer Leam Richardson took us by surprise when team news was released and he opted to field the strongest side we had available, and Latics looked to be favourites to win their semi-final clash against the League Two outfit. However, we didn't. As bluntly as possible, we were outclassed in the initial 90 minutes of play, falling a goal behind just shy of the half-hour mark until a good little bit of play between Tom Pearce and James McClean brought us level. And that was about the most exciting thing we did all game. We were nowhere near clinical enough, we looked sloppy and confused, and in the end it cost us. Finishing the 90 minutes level and straight into a penalty shoot-out in front of the travelling supporters saw skipper Tendayi Darikwa and second-in-command Max Power both miss their spot-kicks, giving Sutton their pass to the final at Wembley. There's been a lot of critisism around individual performances, team selection and overall effort during the game, and I get it. But Sutton deserve the credit. They executed their game-plan perfectly and were the better side for the majority of the game. I find it hard to pick on anyone missing a penalty, it's a lottery at the end of the day, so I can't join in with the moaning on that front. But we should have been better. That isn't to say I think we should have won the game. We have no right at all to walk into a game against any opposition expecting victory - and I think some of our fans would do well to bear that in mind. Bottom line is, we deserved the loss and the Wembley dream has been put back in its box for the foreseeable. So focus now turns to the remaining 12 games of League One and first up, MK Dons. Not much I can say about this other than I've just got wind the referee is Bobby Madley. Make of that what you will and congrats to MK…

Tony Moon:

The world’s caved in, we’ve lost in t’ cup,

(Though we’ve won t’ last two in t’ league).

But that don’t matter a single jot,

When you’ve got 'Tics winning fatigue'.

'What’s that?” I hear the readers say,

Is it some new strain o’ flu?

Nah, it happens when we lose a game,

And social meeja turns blue.

The worst is all that folk can see,

They lose all sense and reason.

They focus just on t’ last result,

And forget abaht t’ rest o’ t’ season.

A team of 'rubbish players',

And a 'manager with no clue'.

These are genuine thoughts I’ve read,

And worse, in t’ last day or two.

Some fans have memories like Goldfish it seems,

When it comes to remembering stuff.

It seems that our current position in t’ league,

With three games in hand aren’t enough!

Of course, if we lose t’ game on Sat’day,

Then they’ll say it’s as good as all done.

The remaining 10 games ‘ll mean nothing (I know it’s 11, but 11 doesn’t scan)

They’ll assume we’ll stay down, every one.

So good luck to the players, and t’ Manager too,

Though most fans think Leam’s our supremo.

A proportion of t’ fanbase (on Vital and Twitter)

Could play extras in t’ next 'Finding Nemo'.

Jarvo:

If you ask me, this season has been terrific. Broke people’s expectations etc. But I cannot get behind this ‘at least we still have a club’ sentiment. I understand what we went through last year was tough, and we should be grateful we have a club. But to pin everything down to this after every bad performance is lingering on the past, and something I can’t get behind. Anyway, onto Tuesday’s game, and my personal opinion was to go all for it and try and get to Wembley. I understand much of the older generation have already experienced going to Wembley, but I know for a fact people around my age haven’t experienced it with their mates, and only really watched it when they were about 12. From the team selection, I can understand Leam had the same thought about trying to get to Wembley, and I can’t and won’t fault him for that. However, the performance was sloppy, some players looked half-bothered, which is gutting with what was at stake, and in the end it cost us. However, what’s happened has happened, and we shouldn’t linger on it for any longer. Onto Saturday now, which I consider the biggest game of the season. If we win, not only is automatic promotion massively in our favour, but the title race will well and truly be on. Regarding the team news, I’d like to see the usual culprits featuring (if fit). The likes of Amos, Whatmough, Naylor, Power have all been instrumental to our success this season and, if they can go till the end of this season without picking up a serious injury, we’d have a great shot at success. The defence I’d like to see would consist of Power, Whatmough, Tilt and Pearce. I’ve just spoken about consistency and how vital Whatmough and Power are so I won’t touch on them again. However, I feel Tilt would fit this kind of game. Against Rotherham, he was unreal. Whether that was because he was operating in a back five or against his former club, I don’t know. But after Watts’ poor performance on Tuesday, I feel like Tilt deserves the opportunity there. As for left-back, Pearce is my personal favourite over Bennett. He played well on Tuesday and provides pace on the attack and good crosses into the attackers. However, either him or Bennett will be fine, as they’re both easily Championship level. As for the two in the middle, Naylor has to feature for obvious reasons, and then it has to be Bayliss. This isn’t just because he is the only fit midfielder beside Naylor, but because of how well he’s recently played and settled in, providing a different aspect to our game. He likes to run at defenders and cause issues, something Naylor isn’t too keen on doing. As for the three behind the striker, I’d like to see McGrath on the left, Keane down the middle, and Lang on the right. I feel McGrath has warranted a start after the Sutton game and deserves some more games to get to match fit and find some form. However, I’m sceptical whether Leam would agree. Keane down the middle is self explanatory, top goal scorer, up there with player of the season, it’s a no brainer really. Then it was between Edwards, Massey or Lang on the right, and for obvious reasons it’s got to be Lang - another contender for player of the season, and someone who to put it simply wins us games. Up top, it has to be Stevie. He’s been so clear of Magennis this season and plays to the style I like to see. Ball on the floor, running at defenders, and none of this hoof-ball nonsense. A proper striker who properly cares about the club. If we win on Saturday, I think that could be us up. However, if we lose, it opens a whole new can of worms for ourselves - and something I definitely don’t want to go through.

Sean Livesey:

Oh dear, so despite the hype there’s no triumphant Wembley return this year. I couldn’t make the final (if we’d have reached it) so maybe wasn’t as invested in the semi-final with Sutton as the rest of the fanbase. I’m disappointed for everyone who was looking forward to a return to Wembley, though. The performance clearly wasn’t good enough, but I’d be surprised if anyone had the Papa John’s (RIP Freight Rover Trophy, you with da angels now) at the top of a list of priorities this season. Indeed if we had gone out against Shrewsbury, as many expected us to back in November, people wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. I realise it’s different once you get so close to Wembley and have it ripped away from you. There were some ridiculous hot takes on the internet after said defeat - ‘that Leam’s useless and he’s always been useless’, ‘Darikwa should never play for this club again’, ‘I hope we don’t get promoted now’. I’m paraphrasing, but that was the general gist of the reaction. Twitter’s a mad place if you ever lose a football match. If you had no idea of our league position and what our last 18 months as a football club have consisted of, you would think we were second bottom, not second in the league. Wiganers are best at lots of things, and Wiganers are most definitely the best at toys out of the pram. This isn’t to say that criticism is out of bounds. We’ve not been at our best for a number of weeks now, and it’s perfectly fine saying that. However, hurling abuse to the captain for missing a penalty and calling Leam Richardson not fit to burn should definitely be out of bounds. Anyway a win at MK Dons on Saturday and not many will remember Tuesday night. It’s going to be tough, though. MK are in fantastic form at the minute, even beating Rotherham last week with 10 men. Injuries and suspensions are hitting us hard at the minute, so it’s going to be another changed side that takes to the field at Franchise FC Stadium. But it shouldn’t hold any fear for us. We’re due a good performance again. Maybe it’ll come on Saturday. I don’t want to constantly refer back to last year, but it’s important to keep it within context. We’re second with two games in hand, we reached the FA Cup fourth round, and the semi-finals of the EFL Trophy. Yes, we shouldn’t have lost against Sutton. But if we’d have been offered this at the end of last season, you would have absolutely jumped at it. Give the lads the support they need to get over the line, they need it now more than ever.