Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'This could be a valuable missing piece of the Wigan Athletic jigsaw...'

Alan Rogers:

After the announcements regarding new signings in recent days, I definitely won't be complaining about the incoming players. Because in particular, I had been calling out for a dominant leader figure who would fight and scrap right through to the end of each game. We'd also been pleading for a target man up front. So the signings of Jon Mellish and Will Goodwin seem to fit the bill...and that's without even bringing our other two signings into consideration. However, I have to say that, sadly, the arrival of Jon Mellish has perhaps cost me a friendship, and also the dissolution of a horse racing partnership!

I'll try to explain. I know that, to all of us who visit the Brick each home game, the Latics are a massive part of our lives. This also applies to a lot of people who maybe cannot get to the games any more. But as I've got older, I've tried to develop other interests that help distract me occasionally from an all-consuming 'interest' in Wigan Athletic. One of these interests is horse racing and, over the years, I've made new friends and experienced many highs and lows in the equine world. One of these good friends is a Carlisle season ticket holder and last week, within seconds of the Mellish announcement, I messaged him and asked him what kind of player Mellish is? My (former) mate replied immediately and waxed lyrical about Jon. 'A leader, a warrior, a massive part of Carlisle United' were among just a few of the tributes he paid. Then, abruptly, he asked me why I wanted to know...he really hoped Wigan weren't interested. Anyway, I sent him a copy of the announcement...and he hasn't spoken to me since! I'm sure I'll talk him round eventually, but he is someone whose opinion I really value, so the simple fact he is so genuinely upset makes me think Mellish could be a valuable missing piece of the Wigan Athletic jigsaw.

Hopefully, over the coming weeks, the new signings will successfully integrate and, with some injuries also clearing up, well perhaps the future is brighter than some of the doom merchants have been claiming. But back in the real world, this week has been all about the FA Cup. After the terrible weather last week, Saturday's game at Mansfield was put back to Tuesday night. This caused me a big problem, because we were due to meet old work colleagues for a long-awaited reunion. We'd already rescheduled twice so I couldn't cancel again and, to make matters worse, we were meeting in the shadow of the Toughsheet Stadium! But all's well that ends well...a good meal and a great result sent me home happy. So I'd missed the game, but the result is obviously the most important thing. But when I was trying to catch up with the highlights later that night, the performance of Thelo Aasgaard obviously stood out. His contribution was so pleasing on so many levels, but particularly as a response to one or two anonymous 'negative' comments from social media earlier in the season.

However, there's usually a downside to most things at Wigan Athletic, and the big worry is that Thelo's performances in recent weeks can't fail to be recognised higher up the food chain. I'm dreading the day when I get a message from a mate who supports a Championship side - or higher - asking me what I think about Thelo Aasgaard. Karma?

Matt Auffrey:

For the third time in four seasons, we got to witness a Thelo Aasgaard screamer in the third round of the FA Cup. His looping stoppage-time wonder goal against Blackburn in 2022 signified a ‘coming out’ party in the middle of a promotion campaign, while his impressive volley against Luton in a 2023 replay marked one of the few highlights from Kolo Toure’s short time in charge at the DW. The ultimate narrative behind Thelo’s 54th-minute curling effort into the top left corner at Mansfield still remains to be told. However, moments after completing his brace on Tuesday evening, many fans took to social media to declare Thelo leaving Latics during this window was all-but a done deal. He had performed too well on a national stage for the club to hold onto him for the next few weeks.

The realisation added a bittersweet ambience to our 2-0 triumph at Field Mill. Yet, there was more to celebrate than not at full-time, as our first victory of 2025 delivered a handsome payday and a February date with Fulham at the Brick. The abundance of storylines centered around the fourth-round clash will create quite a bit of excitement in the coming weeks, even before you introduce the fact Fulham are a thriving Premier League side who currently sit above the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the league table.

However, before we look too far ahead to our next cup tie, we must remember there is work to do within our own division over the coming weeks. Our next opponents, Stevenage, will be just as eager as us to scrap their way out of the league’s lower mid-table over this next stretch of fixtures. They currently sit four points and three spots above us in 14th position, having only lost one of their last eight fixtures. Our first clash at the Brick back in late September produced very few scoring chances between the two teams and ended in a scoreless draw. Considering Stevenage have allowed the fourth-lowest number of goals in the division (20) and Latics only 23, the odds of a tight, low-scoring affair at Broadhall Way have to be quite high.

Nonetheless, we proved on Tuesday how good we can be away from home, when we withstand an early storm from our opponents and start the second half with gusto. This weekend could give us our first look at new arrival Jon Mellish from Carlisle and, possibly, an extended look at other new signees, Joe Hungbo and Will Goodwin. The ebb and flow of a nine-month season will give us numerous high and low moments, so it’s important to bask in the glory of the good times as they come and go. At the moment, our confidence should be high following an important win away from home accompanied by a clean sheet. If we do our part to help the lads keep the momentum going over the next five fixtures, we could generate just the right amount of magic to continue our FA Cup dreams next month. Up the Tics!

Lowey:

Think we all witnessed a miracle in Wigan this week...we signed a player that seemingly generated zero negativity! Even stranger that the player is signing on the back of a relegation and from the current worst team in the Football League. Amazing! The January transfer window, in my opinion, couldn’t have gone better thus far, but the big test is still to come. Can we keep hold of Sam Tickle and Thelo Aasgaard? Keeping the latter certainly will not have got any easier by his two-goal heroics in the FA Cup win at Mansfield, which sets up a very exciting draw against Premier League Fulham and the 'Return of the Jedi' in Antonee Robinson. May the force be with us going forward!

Tony Moon:

Life’s comparatively rosey in Latics World at the moment. More points (and decent performances) than we might have expected against three of the top six, (well, top four now) coupled with a decent away win in the FA Cup to a team in the top 10, which earned us a home tie against a Premier League team that gives us a chance of a giant(ish)-killing. What’s there to moan about? (Yes, of course those last words are famous, and yes, of course I’ll be eating them by Saturday tea-time). With a trip to Stevenage, who are just above us in the table, followed by three teams currently below us, by the end of January, we might be looking at a very comfortable run-in to the end of the season. I’m not going to say we’d be looking at a push for the play offs, because personally I’m not sure we’ve got the team - and certainly, squad - to cope with the Championship if we were successful... Though I exclude Sam Tickle, Jason Kerr, Will Aimson and Thelo Aasgaard from that. But hey, no point getting giddy. There’s still plenty of work to do, and plenty of opportunity for things to go the wrong way. Up the capable-of-cocking-things-up-at-any-point Tics!

Sean Livesey:

A midweek trip to deepest Nottinghamshire isn’t usually the way I’d plan on spending a Tuesday in January but, thanks to last week’s second Ice Age, a trip to Mansfield became a necessity. It was one of those nights where an earlier-in-the-season-Wigan-Athletic may well have crumbled. Indeed, what happened when we played Mansfield at home. That night we were the better team for much of the game, but struggled to impose ourselves, like we have on numerous occasions this season. But the difference now is this side is really starting to come together. Even with the horrific injury list which has seen us lose three first-choice central midfielders, two first-choice left-backs and our first-choice right-winger. Some may say Latics rode their luck in the first half, certainly for the first 20 minutes or so. But after that, we grew into the game, the second part of the first half was all Latics, and they continued that in the second period.

What more can be said about Thelo Aasgaard that hasn’t already been said? Along with Sam Tickle, he’s battling it out for the most impressive product to be produced by the Academy in recent years. Some may have questioned his consistency at the start of the season, but by goodness he’s showing that now. His header showed a physicality and power to his game that wasn’t there previously, but the second was absolutely top drawer. After that, it was a case of Latics seeing out the match, and they did that perfectly with a performance that was professional with a capital 'P'. The FA Cup means so much to this club, and it showed on Tuesday evening. Let's not forget Mansfield have been one of the form teams in the league this season. Nigel Clough has them drilled well, and they've taken some big scalps this season. Thankfully, though, not us this time, and we left Lee Anderson country with the bragging rights on the return trip to Red Rose Lancashire.

So it's on to round four. Fulham at home would have been great if it had been reversed...a Saturday afternoon by the Thames would have been a perfect reward for those putting in the hard miles across the country this season. But then again, we've a poor record at Craven Cottage, so maybe we can have another of those famous FA Cup matches back in Wigan, ala 2018 perhaps.

A word to those coming into the side in midweek - Scott Smith and Jensen Weir definitely grew into the game, and Luke Robinson was excellent on his return to the side at left-back. Smith in particular has a lot of responsibility on those young shoulders at the minute, so much so that Shaun Maloney has indicated they'll be looking to strengthen that area in the transfer window, which wouldn't have been the case without the injuries. Some were predicting he would be moving on this month, but I hope that isn't the case. Equally, Will Goodwin was impressive when he came on, and certainly puts himself about.

So it's back to league action on Saturday and another long old away day at Stevenage. Last season saw the most ridiculous match at their place, with the referee handing out cards like it was Christmas. Much to the delight of Steve Evans - thankfully he's moved on now - but it won't be an easy match by any stretch. There's a run of games over the next month that we could really do in picking up points. We've faced some tough matches over the last month but, with us now taking on sides towards the lower reaches of the league, we really need to capitalise. Put in the effort we did on Tuesday night, and I don't see why we can't.