Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - ‘If this is a price we have to pay...then so be it...’

Alan Rogers:

After watching Saturday's game I decided to dust down the old laptop and make a belated 12th Man seasonal debut. Actually, I decided to offer up a few words because I'd got fed up with people asking my wife if she'd finally put me in a care home, because I had been uncharacteristically quiet in recent weeks! In truth, the main reason I've not had much to say is because, well, I simply haven't had much to say.

I made up my mind to be a bit calmer this year, choose my words a bit more carefully...and then Mr Young made another appearance...Alan Young, actually...a disgrace to the name! It simply defies logic that the same officials keep popping up on the Wigan Athletic timeline, causing upset and controversy. Some of his decisions at Lincoln on Saturday were baffling to say the least.

When you look at the penalty incident, he was quite obviously looking straight at the goalkeeper, but when he turned and saw their player lying next to Christian Saydee...he blew for a penalty! I think that probably the only two things he got right all day were the two red cards. I don't think for a minute Saydee intended to do what he did, but it didn't look good. The only positive thing I can say about good old Alan is that he was equally incompetent with both teams.

Anyway, enough of the negativity, let's concentrate on the recent performances - starting with Saturday. It's much more entertaining this season isn't it? In the end the result could have gone either way at Lincoln, but so much effort and passion from the Wigan lads bodes well for the rest of season. And of course the away fans...as usual, they never stopped chanting and singing throughout the game. If only we could bottle that enthusiasm and energy and uncork it back at the Brick…

Moving on to the home games, well it's actually been enjoyable. Faster movement, more urgency, and a few more goals to celebrate. I'm not going to get into the old Maloney-versus-Lowe argument, because we'll never know how Maloney would have dealt with the extra funds Lowe has been allocated. Let's just be happy Lowe and his staff seem to be on the right path to building an exciting, entertaining team.

It hasn't all been sweetness and light of course - a few injuries to key players and a couple of dodgy away results have slightly dulled expectations - but on the whole, it's not looking bad! It's always a balancing act between not just winning games, but winning them in a way that's enjoyable on the eye and we seem to be on the way to sort of achieving that balance.

Actually, having looked at things in a glass half-full manner, it wouldn't be the Wigan way if I didn't finish off with a couple of negativish comments (I know that's not a real word, but it sort of sums up my comments)!

First of all, playing a more aggressive, attacking game seems to come with a price. Last season's virtually impenetrable defence seems a lot more leaky this season. Strange really, because Morgan Fox seems to have been a great addition to the squad. Maybe we are really missing James Carragher. However, if this is a price we have to pay to watch more attractive football, then so be it.

Finally, I can't get used to the dug-out move. I know it's a petty point, but it just jars with me. Plus, it didn't end well for the only other manager who tried this...!

Matt Auffrey:

International break weekends have long epitomized ‘dull’ over the 15-odd years I have followed Latics from abroad, as our league fixtures have frequently been postponed over these periods. As an American, international football hardly registers on my radar outside of the major competitions.

Needless to say, I was happy the potential void in last Saturday’s schedule was filled with our trip to Lincoln. And I can confidently say that any and all viewers of that match got their money’s worth out of it. There were four goals, two red cards, an abundance of scoring chances for each team, and at the centre of it all was one of the most incompetent refereeing performances we have witnessed in some time.

Playing in a league with no VAR can be a blessing. There are less disruptions and the game is able to maintain the authentic feel that mirrors the product that made me fall in love with the game years ago. You hope the assortment of controversial decisions given one way or another over the course of a season either play out in your favour more often than not or, at worst, do so at a 50-50 frequency.

We just happened to fall on the wrong side of that ratio at Lincoln. We were no strangers to Alan Young’s shocking decisions prior to last weekend. We are almost two years removed from Young’s debacle of a showing during our 1-0 loss at Stevenage in 2023/24.

During that match he awarded a dubious first-half penalty to the hosts and dished out a total of 12 yellow cards to Shaun Maloney’s side - including one to the gaffer himself! After a promising opening half-hour at Lincoln, which produced a Paul Mullin goal and numerous other scoring chances, Young flipped the match on its head by awarding the Imps an absurd penalty from a corner kick.

The match would end in a draw with both sides staking claim to potential match-winning goals in stoppage time. The referee did his part to make himself the focal point of proceedings at Sincil Bank. Yet we did not allow the referee’s ineptitude to negatively impact our own performance.

We pushed an in-form team to the brink of defeat on their home pitch. We bounced back from conceding two goals within a three-minute stretch of the first half to regaining a foothold on the match and equalising shortly after the restart.We kept our composure during a key 10-minute stretch where we were down a man and took the reins again after our opponent's own red-card offence. The 90-minute performance made me proud of the lads and left me excited for our next match. We sit 14th in the table right now, but this group’s ceiling is at a much higher level than what we’ve seen from teams over previous seasons.

However, we’ll need to remain patient with this group as they battle through a tough month of league fixtures. Doncaster visit the Brick this weekend having won five straight matches across all competitions. They defeated Bradford City last weekend to take sole possession of the ‘hottest newly-promoted team’ title through these early stages of the season.

We have proved we can go toe-to-toe with in-form teams over our past few league fixtures, but it’s time to transform draws into wins. Christian Saydee will be missed over the next few matches as he serves his red-card suspension, but it will create an opportunity for Dara Costelloe and Mullin to form a new strike partnership at the top of the pitch.

With a big trip to Horwich approaching on the following Saturday, a win over Doncaster could be invaluable for our confidence heading into the biggest derby day of the season. The challenges will continue to grow as the month goes on, but I believe in our prospects under Ryan Lowe’s leadership. Bring on Saturday!

Lowey:

I think it’s fair to say our points total is a little disappointing and not what we necessarily deserve from the performances we’ve put in so far. However, carry on playing the way we have been, and we will certainly finish much higher than where we are now.

Now it’s easy to blame referees, but we’ve had two absolute shockers so far. If you thought Oliver Langford was bad the week before, step forward Alan Young! Prior to the game, his name sent shivers down our spines from our previous encounter at Stevenage, and he didn’t disappoint by awarding a penalty for what you see at every corner every week. There should be a handful of penalties every week based on that criteria.

I’ve no doubt that without his intervention, we'd have won that game. He does have form - check out when he forgot to add injury-time in another game, and instead played it at the start of the second half! Yet he’s still in a job.

Anyway, the next three games don’t get any easier, but will act as a further marker as to where we are this season. And please God, a fair crack of the whip from the merry whistle-blower!

Martin Lally:

They say a leopard never changes its spots. What’s also true is that Alan Young still doesn’t seem to like Wigan Athletic that much! I was at the infamous game in Stevenage two years ago, and I thought I would never see a worse or more diabolical officiating performance...but how wrong was I?

I have commented in past 12th Man pieces about the standards of refereeing in League One, but as soon as I realised Mr Young was going to be in charge at Lincoln, I knew we would be up against it. And it’s hard not to focus the entirety of this week's effort on the dynamics of poor decision making.

Making the perfect start is so important, especially in these tough away days, and let’s be honest that first goal was simply outstanding. My lad's initial reaction was ‘I’m just glad Sam didn’t do that when the window was open’! But it was a great assist, and will add to the growing confidence of Paul Mullin, who is already a fans favourite.

I’m defo in the fan club as he always gives 100 per cent, he’s clever, chatting to the referee, and has the ability in this team to get 20 goals this season, in my opinion. He was so close to a brace with the chance minutes after the opener, the only good save I thought the Lincoln keeper made all day, he looked well off it.

Then it was back to 'Show Young'. That penalty was an absolute shambles. There are three fouls in the box on different Wigan players, but it’s obvious his peripheral vision has focused on a duel that he had already spotted three corners ago.

You simply can’t referee like that, because it totally broke the momentum of the game, and that was also apparent with the second goal. James Collins is getting the plaudits for a run off Matt Smith, but we had become that hyper vigilant to the fact Young would penalise us, that again concentration slipped and we are 2-1 behind in a game we should have been 0-4 in front. Total dynamic change within the game caused by simply poor officiating!

I was astounded at half-time that we were losing a game in which we were so much in control. I get Lincoln fans are playing the ‘bad for both teams' card but, upon review, the more significant decisions definitely went against us. I’m still fuming!

Callum Wright was outstanding all game - he’s been great without taking the headlines for a few weeks - and again the second goal was worked fantastically, we totally deserved to be at least level again. Not content with the chaos of the first half, Young was at it again after the break, well this time his band of merry men were getting involved.

Chatting to exiting Tics on the way out of Lincoln, views were mixed on the Christian Saydee red card, but for me...I can see why, but not a red! I get Saydee catches Tom Bayliss high, and I know it won’t get overturned, but I won’t have from anyone that it was an intentionally out of control challenge that should have led to a red card. It was a strong yellow for me. It is nowhere near as deliberate as the Anthony Gordon challenge on Virgil Van Dijk at Newcastle recently, and that needed VAR to resolve!

The bigger problem is that Saydee has been outstanding. He is the anchor to all the good work that is happening around him as we press forward, and the true winners in this are Doncaster, them up the road, and Wycombe in the Carabao Cup. Because we will certainly have to change our current playing style to fill the gap left by his suspension over the remainder of the month...Horwich especially!

I saw the Lincoln perspective that perhaps they could have nicked it 10 v 10 at the end, but the neutrals would surely tell you the way Wigan cut Lincoln open again and again throughout the day, we should have been out of sight well before a couple of goal line scrambles.

On to Saturday, the massive positive is it won’t be Young again, but one can only live in hope. The tough run continues, the standard of football is high, and the lads are doing us proud...UP THE TICS!

Sean Livesey:

Alan Young, a name to strike fear into anyone interested in watching a decent match in the lower depths of the EFL. You just knew as soon as he was announced, it was going to become all about him and, as with Stevenage 24 months previously, he became the centre of attention. The head of the Bedfordshire FA no less, at least this time he wasn’t in charge of a team bordering his own governing body, but his decision making was no more understandable.

Latics went ahead early through the continually improving Paul Mullin and, as with most games over the last few weeks, could and should have been further ahead. Then just before half-time, when Latics were still well on top, came the Lincoln penalty that arguably changed the game.

The referee - the aforementioned Alan the Younger - doesn’t even look at the challenge he supposedly gave the penalty for (Christian Saydee’s tussle with the Lincoln attacker, who wrapped his arms around Saydee’s neck and back), instead he looks directly at a passage of play that even Stevie Wonder would know wasn’t a penalty.

He then sees two players on the floor and blows for a penalty. No-one from Lincoln, let alone Latics, knowing what it’s given for. That flipped the game on its head, and Lincoln were soon in front from another defensive lapse.

After half-time, Saydee showed his class with a floating cross converted by Callum Wright for his first goal in a Wigan shirt to draw the sides level, and there only seemed to be one possible winner. Then came the red card which, in the myriad of ridiculous decisions from Young, many thought it was yet another attempt to get one over on us.

Sadly, this was one decision Young Alan got correct. It also means we miss Saydee for three crucial games, none more so than that trip over the Hill in just over a week’s time. Following Saydee’s dismissal, it was also time for Lincoln to see red meaning that, as with Stevenage in that horror show two years ago, Latics ended up with 10 as did their opponents, but this time we managed to get something from the gam.

As with the last three away games - Luton, Rotherham and now Lincoln - it should arguably have been more. We seem to have cracked it at home, the key now is to replicate that form on the road, as we get set to face {checks notes} 'them men'.

We know what happened last time we travelled over to Horwich. It was a high point in an otherwise disappointing season for Shaun Maloney. Ryan Lowe’s first match up against ‘them men’ saw stoppage-time heartbreak. We’ve come a long way from then, but so have Bolton.

Before then, it’s the small case of Doncaster Rovers at home. Expect Dara Costelloe to come in alongside Paul Mullin, and he can’t be far away from a goal. He’s run his blood to water the last few weeks, and could have sealed all three points at Sincil Bank on Saturday if it wasn’t for the underside of the crossbar. What a time to stake your claim with Saydee out until later in the month. Bring it on!