Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'If we can’t dream about climbing up the football ladder, then what’s the point?'

Alan Rogers:

It can definitely be said that the international break is something of a mixed blessing. If you are a team who are flying high, then you want to play as often as possible. Every delay is frustrating. Whereas, if you are struggling with injuries or are on a run of bad performances, then the break can be a welcome relief. As far as the Latics are concerned, I guess we are somewhere between the two. We are playing fairly well, but it gives us a chance for persome of the injured players to recover. But once again, perhaps the biggest problem with the disruption to the league schedule is the loss of revenue. Watching a match on a mild, autumn Saturday afternoon is vastly preferable to turning out on a cold Tuesday evening in November. And that's just for the home supporters. Probably the biggest losers are the away fans. I know Gregor Rioch and others have raised concerns about the situation, but it's unlikely to change any time soon. And of course another casualty - if you can call it that - is that we really don't have much else to talk about (actually we could talk about the national team, and perhaps mischievously ask if Thomas Tuchel will sing the national anthem, but let’s leave that alone for now...)!

However, I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's fairly easy to scribble a few words about Wigan Athletic when we have just won 4-0, so we should take the rough with the smooth. By that, I mean we should also try to write something when the football well is fairly dry. But that's never really the case, is it? There's always something football-related to discuss. The problem is, we perhaps need to make it Latics-relevant. So how do we approach this? Perhaps this week we could look at the past, the present or maybe the future? This conundrum sorted itself out when I read an article about Premier League ownership. I'm a bit out of touch when it comes to that subject, but I was surprised to discover that almost half of Premier League clubs are owned by Americans, either individuals or conglomerates. So what, you may say? The Premier League sold its soul to the devil a long time ago. Well the interesting issue here is that once they get to owning 14 clubs, then they are in the majority and, in theory, they could win a vote on many issues. Once again, so what? And why should this concern League One Wigan? Well, I suppose it all depends on our future ambitions. Is it even feasible to dream of life back in the Premier League? But if we can’t dream about climbing up the football ladder, then what’s the point? We know that in the current climate we have to be realistic in our short-term ambitions, but what about five years or even 10 years into the future? And that brings me back to the ownership of the Premier League.

I worked in America quite extensively before early retirement, and I quite soon learned that the investors are king. Doesn’t matter what industry we are talking about, it’s all about paying a big dividend to the investors. And if the US owners ever gain control of the Premier League, then we will definitely see changes. We think the kick-off times are bad now...wait until we are pandering even more to the US viewing audiences. And if you don’t believe me, look at the announcement from Wimbledon this week (the tennis club, not the former Plough Lane residents). From next year, tradition will be ripped up and the 2pm final time will move to 4pm. The reason for this? Apparently, to 'maximise the overseas audience, the US in particular'. So we are going to have to be careful what we wish for. started by moaning about the cancellations and changes in kick-off times in League One, but it’s only going to get worse, especially if we dare to climb up the league. We’ve known for a long time that no-one really cares about the fans who go every week and, as I mentioned above, that isn’t going to change any time soon. So I guess we should probably relax, sit back and celebrate the little wins. I could write a list of 'little wins', but I guess they would mean different things to different people. Hopefully, starting on Saturday, we can get back to winning ways, putting smiles on the fans' faces.

Matt Auffrey:

The second international break of the season has come and gone in a fairly pedestrian manner. Without any earth-shattering updates to grace our newsfeeds over the past two weeks, the most sensible thing to do right now is to look forward. Our next batch of league fixtures doesn’t feature some of the most prominent names in the division, but a closer look reveals plenty of challenges still await us. Although our next opponents, Cambridge, sit at the bottom of the league table, we must remember we’ve failed to win at their ground over our last two visits despite having the ‘better team’ on paper. This Saturday’s fixture is followed by a midweek visit from Mansfield Town, who are currently the division’s form team, having won five consecutive league fixtures. A tough trip to Blackpool is in the works for the following week before we travel to Carlisle for our first round FA Cup fixture to kick-off November. A visit from a currently in-form Wycombe side will likely serve as our final league fixture before the next international break that will inevitably postpone another weekend home match.

A bird’s eye view of those next four league fixtures indicates that a seven-point return should be satisfactory for the lot. We will inevitably concede a goal at some point over this next stretch of games. The best case scenario is that that moment happens at the end of a match where we will already hold a multi-goal lead. Cambridge haven’t scored over their last 340 minutes of League One action. There’d be nothing more ‘Wigan’ than allowing the team with the longest ongoing goal drought in the league to become the first side since September 3 to score on our staunch defence. Nonetheless, we should go into Saturday’s match and every subsequent fixture with the utmost confidence. Our squad is as healthy as it has been all season, which means we should not only put out a strong starting XI, but also bring on a host of subs who can impact the game from the moment they step on the pitch. Seeing some of our most notable summer signings, Toby Sibbick and Tyrese Francois, not only feature, but play big roles in the recent win at Carlisle was a treat to watch. If we can integrate more of these experienced, high-potential players into the first team set-up sooner than later, not only should we make progress within the league, but our remaining cup competitions as well. This group has proven they can take control of matches and limit the opposition’s chances over long stretches of play. If we can create more scoring chances - whether through set pieces or from open play - I think we can establish ourselves as one of the toughest teams in this division. I’m excited to see how our play develops over the coming weeks. Saturday could mark the start of a special run. Keep the faith!

Billy Haggerty:

Well seeing as there's been no 'proper' football for a week or so, I thought I'd pen something a little different, and hopefully raise some awareness on what most men - myself included - put to the back of their mind. As a healthy - or so I thought - 60-odd-year-old man, I had an old army friend of mine tell me he'd recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and advised me to go for a check up. Even though I had no symptoms, I had a check up and, after several tests, unfortunately I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Now having finally got my head around the diagnosis, I was trying to think of ways to bring something positive from this news, so I've decided to try and highlight the awareness of the need to get yourself checked out early. The recommended age for early screening is between the ages of 50-69 years old - earlier if there's a family history of prostate cancer. No doctor's referrals are required, and it's a simple PSA blood test. Now like me and probably most men, I kept putting it off until I heard from my pal, which kickstarted me off in getting myself checked out. I thought I'd be given a clean bill of health, as I had no symptoms and felt healthy(ish), and when my results came back positive it was a total shock. But now that's worn off, I'm just really glad I took the test and it's been caught at a very early and treatable stage. My advice, for what it's worth is 'don't put it off'. Get tested if you are in that age bracket, and try not to do what a lot of us tend to do (well most of us) and put it off till another day. On a final note, while trying to raise awareness, I also wanted to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Care, who've been very supportive of me. As a result, I have signed myself up for the Kilimanjaro Challenge, attempting to raise £4,750. I started a JustGiving page earlier this week, and the response I've received so far have been fantastic. The generous donations and kind words of encouragement from family, friends and the 'Vital Latics' folks have given me a huge boost, so a massive thanks to them all. If anyone would like to give a donation, it will be gratefully received. To bring it back ever so slightly to some football interest, the final trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro will be done in a Latics top and flag...with photos to follow for another 12th Man piece!

Stephen Unsworth:

If we don’t concede a goal at Cambridge, that’ll equal a club record eight games that was set 7,962 days ago - which ended with Notts County scoring in our 3-1 victory. That season, we won the title on 100 points, 14 clear of runners-up Crewe. All this on an average crowd of 7,287. Even with Sir Andrew Lidedll up top. This year, after a shaky start with newly onboarded signings out injured, one could worry. Fast forward two months, with the team on a run, we’re all a bit more chilled. So, with Michael Olakigbe and Tyrese Francois in the mix, and Callum McManaman and Jonny Smith ticking, our mood music is that of Mr Blue Sky…

"Sun is shining in the sky, there ain't a cloud in sight, it's stopped raining everybody's in a play, and don't you know, it's a beautiful new day...hey, hey! Running down the avenue, see how the sun shines brightly in the city, on the streets where once was pity, Mr Blue Sky is living here today, hey, hey!"

I don’t know whether it’s jet lag or functional mood swings, but I’m in a happy place. Our owners know their stuff ( well done the warriors btw, winning everything in your sport is some going, but not enough to win 'Team of the Year' on BBC). We’re living within our means and doing better at the same time...Mr Blue Sky is living here!