Wigan Athletic: The 12th Man - 'We can be disproportionately good, or disproportionately bad'

Martin Tarbuck:

They say a lie can make its way halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its socks on. I should quickly clarify that 'lie' should mean gossip or rumour, but it certainly feels the case with all things Wigan Athletic. The opportunity to make a mountain out of molehill that Chris Bonington would relish scaling is never far away from the online world. I’m not sure it is all encompassing, even if it feels that way. I have a group of mates (okay, I have no mates, but humour me here) and they have jobs, families, a good life and, even though they have been Latics fans all their life, they simply don’t engage with all the online nonsense. It might be because they don’t bother much with social media either. They go to the games, when they can, have a drink, meet up with mates and have a moan in the pub after. Repeat the week after. Why and how did it get so all consuming 24/7? And does it really need to be? A wiser man than me once opined that our fanbase was one which grew massively, during a perfect storm where Sky TV came along with the internet. Sky TV, and all the subsequent variants, changed football and turned it into a televisual/streaming - rather than a spectator - sport. Then the internet gave birth to social media, which gave every man and his dog the instant opportunity to offer their opinions on anything and everything, and express them to anyone, all within an instant. Invariably, the dog's opinions make more sense. You have to wonder whether it has been a good thing or a bad thing.

In wider society, I’m fairly certain a lot of social media, pushing fake news and promoting a culture of FOMO (that’s fear of missing out, by the way, but if I know that at 50 years old, then I’m pretty sure you do too) is driving a lot of the increase in mental health issues. As to whether it has changed football for the better, I don’t know. I would refer to another wise man, a good friend of mine and Manchester City fan, 'The Paris Angel', who once described Wigan Athletic’s fanbase as 'disproportionate'. As in: disproportionately good at times, and disproportionately bad at times. Need to urgently raise £750,000? We’ve got that! Somebody, somewhere is slagging off our crowds: we’ll be there in a minute to savage them in every way possible! A professional footballer is laughing at our football club being put into administration? Let’s all head to Trip Advisor and give his clothing brand a fair and equitable review. Basically, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of our fans when they’ve got a bee in their bonnet about something! It's great when we use our combined power to achieve great things, or right perceived wrongs. We are strong, cohesive, powerful and, well, as the man said, disproportionate. We have a young, noisy, opinionated fanbase who, collectively, can have a lot of influence. But then that fanbase also has very, very different opinions across all manner of things, and can also quickly and easily fall out with each other about our views on our football club. And that’s when things do get a bit ugly. As I say, we can be disproportionately good, or disproportionately bad. Like Harry Enfield’s comedy 'Scousers' - one minute we’re all Scousers (Wools!) and it’s us against the world, and we’re all together. The next minute we’re at each other’s throats. With dozens of fan groups and factions, it seems that the only thing we can agree on, is that we can’t agree on anything!

You might wonder where I am going with this. It seems we are never more than a few hours away from drama and outrage concerning this football club of ours. All of this at a time, when, if anything, things are moving in a direction where they should be more low key and stable. There is the continued debate over the club’s strategic and financial direction. The confusion and concern over the club’s (lack of?) transfer dealings. Now we have news about moves to transfer the stadium ownership into a new company structure. All of this may or may not be of overall concern. Indeed, some fans are hopping mad with it, or looking for further conspiracies to attach to it. Others are perfectly happy with how the club is being run. Maybe they are not perfectly happy with it, but they understand - in light of the recent 'Swiss Ramble' article on the club’s financials - we are going to have to operate a lot more modestly in future. I had a lot to say about all of this last week - about the leadership and communication coming from the club, the mixed messages around ambition, and actual investment. And also, outwardly towards my fellow fans, who don’t seem to be aware that actually being sustainable involves us being, at best, a mid-table club, with the ambition, not guarantee, to punch higher. As it stands, we are 13th in the attendance table in League One, which probably means we are similar in terms of commercial revenue and, therefore, cash generated. Sure, unlike the rest of the division, we’ve just received several million pounds for Charlie Hughes. But the rest of the division hasn’t just been through two major financial crises, which has cost £17million to plug in the last 12 months.

So, as I weave my way through yet another complicated maze of Latics tales of joy and woe, I guess I’m looking for some crumbs off the table of mayhem we can all agree on. Firstly, I think we are in for a season which may be a bit of a struggle, following the window closure. We have a very, very young and inexperienced squad, similar to last year, but with fewer, experienced big wage earners further up the field to (occasionally) save the day. This young team really, really needs the patience and support of all fans, whether they are loan players or our own. I’m not going to get involved in the Maloney style of play debate again. There have been times last season and this, where I have been struggling to defend the way we play, I think Burton at home last year was a low point, in a fixture that generally always turns into complete dirge. However, I maintain he doesn’t instruct them to go out and aimlessly pass the ball about, while refusing to create any chances. It is just not an easy thing to do. I think we will all be happy, if we start to see glimpses of the way we performed at the end of last season against Lincoln, Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers. Even those fans with the biggest axes will stop grinding them in Maloney’s direction. We should really be able to get back to playing like that. It’s just with such a huge squad overhaul (again!) in the summer, we have maybe had to take a step back before, literally, going forwards again.

Furthermore, the guy cares and has led us through some tempestuous times. The debate of whether to get someone in who doesn’t have a past association with the club has reared its head again. I get John Sheridan vibes whenever I hear someone talking about needing an experienced head, who will come here on the cheap. We also only need to look at precedent on that score: Martinez v Coyle, Caldwell v Joyce, Cook v Sheridan. The last 'good' managers we had with no association were Uwe Rosler (first season but not second) and Steve Bruce (who ditched us, twice). As a team, I guess the best way to describe us at the minute is fragile. But they will only get more fragile if we start directing stick at the manager and players. I might be a divisive figure myself at times with the stuff I write, so someone might be saying this is slightly hypocritical, Yet, somehow, together, as a fanbase, we have got to grow stronger and start building back up, using our motto 'Progress With Unity'. We don’t fully know what the owner’s plans are for us, in the short-term or long-term. We can only control what we can control, which is giving those wearing the shirt 100 per cent backing. They will repay us with some moments of joy, to more than offset those long periods of frustration. These are testing times, undoubtedly, but we get through them by being that 'good' support that sticks together, not the fanbase that spends all its day in-fighting over stuff that is out of our control.

Alan Rogers:

No game at the weekend, so we set off for the north east to watch nephew Joe taking part in the Great North Run. I always enjoy visiting Newcastle...before I took early retirement, I worked on a few projects at a factory in Sunderland, but usually stayed over in Newcastle. And of course there's usually a football story involved when visiting that part of the world, and last weekend was no exception. I took advantage of my visit to catch up with some old colleagues, and they reminded me of the time I almost caused a factory walk-out - with a picture of the Latics crest! The factory in question was initially based in Newcastle, before the company I worked for bought it out and moved it nine miles to a posh new place in the shadow of the Stadium of Light. Most of the Newcastle staff made the short move, but they also took on some locals. Given the circumstances, it wasn't surprising to find the workforce was more or less 50/50 Geordies and Mackems, and it was an amazing place to work. In Wigan, we think we talk a lot about the Latics and the Warriors, but in that north east factory, it was virtually the only conversation. Football - and Sunderland and Newcastle in particular - was all consuming. We obviously talk a lot in these columns, on social media and in other areas about Latics, but I've never come across anything as intense as the depth of feeling in the north east. At the time we were working in the area, both teams were in the Premier League, but weren't particularly exciting to watch. The differences of opinion among the fans was amazing. The most intense of Wigan fans would be amazingly placid compared to this lot. The management team at the factory loved this intense rivalry, because they never had any trouble! Both sets of fans would never agree on anything, so they would never even consider any form of industrial action. Until I turned up, that is!

Part of my job was to provide new IT kit, all-singing, all-dancing equipment with the latest software. We worked all through one weekend, backing up data, installing new kit, then reinstalling the data. We just made it in time for the first shift on Monday morning. We were still on site, ready to fix any problems. Within a few minutes, I was called into the office of the general manager, who was very agitated. 'You've managed to do something no-one else ever has!' he moaned. 'You've united the workforce!' Basically, we had placed an image on each PC that removed any screen savers or images, and replaced it with a generic company logo. This was company policy across all sites...the Sunderland site hadn’t been singled out for special treatment. The image was locked and the staff were absolutely furious they couldn't have their club crests on the screens. They were threatening to walk out. The GM ordered me to remove the lock, and I refused. The row rumbled on all day, and somehow the Latics were drawn into the dispute! Apparently I was only wiping their club crests because I was jealous...because I supported a 'minor' club! The GM went to my boss in the US, who supported me...in fact he told the GM off, which made things worse! The atmosphere grew worse and we decided to leave them to it and head back home. The complaints followed me down the A1, until I finally had enough and cracked. When I got home I logged back onto the system and made a few changes. When everyone in the factory in Sunderland logged back on the following day, the corporate logo had been replaced...by the Wigan Athletic crest!

Apparently the reaction wasn't pleasant. I had a spy in the camp - a sole Middlesbrough fan - who reported back to me. He found it all hilarious! Anyway, I ignored all forms of contact with the factory and switched the logo back to the company image. The following day I denied all knowledge – blaming it on a 'glitch' - but I didn't go back to the north east for a few weeks. But when I did eventually return, everything had calmed down, and we actually got on fairly well. I think the fact we stood up to them sort of gained their respect. Plus they enjoyed laughing at Latics each time I turned up. I learned a lot about football supporters during my time in Sunderland, and I chuckle sometimes when I compare the 'abuse' our players and management team get compared to the stick they gave their teams. Don’t get me wrong, I still think some of our 'supporters' are way over the top at times, but they are mere novices compared to the Geordies and the Mackems! We hear a lot about football salaries these days, but anyone who works for either of those clubs deserves what they get! No wonder Gazza turned to drink…

Matt Auffrey:

The week-and-a-half break from first team matches produced no shortage of discussion topics, as we received the minutes from the first Fan Advisory Board meeting, a comprehensive update from chairman Ben Goodburn, and a Shaun Maloney interview in this publication that revealed many interesting details about our summer transfer window dealings. There has been an ongoing debate about the intentions of our owner, Mike Danson. There’s been some dissonance between the club’s communicated ambitions of Championship/Premier League football and the ‘mid-table’ budget given to the management team that limited our ability to adequately strengthen the playing squad this summer. The fans hardly know everything that materialised behind the scenes over the past few months, but the consensus is we know enough information to believe we have been duped to a degree. Based on some of Maloney’s recent quotes, there’s a good chance he feels a similar way. This is not a call to arms against Danson. I am incredibly appreciative of everything he has done to save and fund our club over the past 15 months. However, our fanbase is still quite scarred from the actions (or more so, inaction) of our previous two ownership regimes. We are still in a trust-building phase with this current one. Any inconsistency between words and actions is going to trigger a negative response. No clear response has been given as to why we never secured an experienced, physical striker or central midfielder during the summer window. Surely, if the club is going to meet its objectives for this season, those are two critical positions that should have been sufficiently addressed before the start of the season, yet alone, the end of this past window. If there is an opportunity to fortify either position with a free agent, I hope the club is able to sign the right player sooner than later.

At this present moment, our attention should shift back towards the happenings on the pitch, where we’ll travel to Bristol Rovers this weekend. The Gas have won their first two home games of the new league campaign, but are coming off a 2-1 loss at Barnsley last weekend. Our 4-1 defeat at the Memorial Stadium last September marked an early low point, as we underwent a spell of six defeats over seven league matches. We will need to produce a positive result on Saturday in order to avoid six defeats over our first seven matches across all competitions. With our next home fixture not taking place until September 28, establishing positive away form marks the quickest pathway for us to snap out of our early season funk. Win, lose, or draw at Bristol, a competitive 90-minute performance with a much more fluid attacking effort would signify progress after last week’s debacle against Morecambe in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. If we can replicate many components of our Birmingham performance from two weeks ago, I think there’s a good chance we will come away satisfied at full-time. The club could be in a far better state than it is right now, but that doesn’t mean fans don’t have a role in moving the ball in the right direction. Credit to all the fans making the journey to support the lads this weekend. I wish you all a safe trip and a three-point reward for your efforts.

Stephen Unsworth:

So, having had a word with myself and calming down, I’ve decided to look at David Whelan’s timeline to Premiership 10th in our first season there when we made the League Cup Final. Whelan bought Wigan Athletic in February 1995, when we were a League Two (new money) team. After Whelan took the reins, he announced he would get us into the Premier League, a promise he fulfilled TEN YEARS later. He won League Two, two years after taking charge in 1996–97, then the League One title FIVE YEARS after that in 2002–03. The promotion pace picked up as we went to the Premiership TWO years later, as runners up in the Championship. He funded the £30million construction of the club's new JJB Stadium, which opened 25 years ago. I’ve needed to contextualise my feelings because, all things considered, Mr Danson’s investment - while similar, but across different funding streams - puts them in a league of their own. Wealthy Wigan fellows, investing in Wigan. Whelan took two years to stabilise the club and a further EIGHT to get to the Premier League. During that time, he employed seven managers. So, fast forward to now. Danson is in year two of stabilising a post-administration car crash of a club. If we are to compare and contrast, I’m expecting us to win League Two in season 25-26. I’m also, not unreasonably, expecting us to be in the top flight by 2033.

Sean Livesey:

Back to it then, and by goodness do we need something positive to get our teeth into. After the last Saturday match on the road, things seemed roundly positive (by this season’s standards anyway), as Latics really did push Birmingham all the way at St Andrews. Shaun Maloney’s side should have come away with at least a point and, if Steven Sessegnon hadn’t gone off injured, it could have been even more. Any positivity was quickly extinguished, though, as the horror show against Morecambe came into full view. But it’s time to look forward, we’ve another month now until the next international break, and it looks like a clear bill of health from our returning internationals. Including Sam Tickle who, despite returning early from international duty, has been declared fit and taken part in training over the last few days. Latics have been miles off in some games, and a lot better in others. We need the latter to become the rule, rather than the exception over this upcoming run of matches. Joe Hugill is off the mark (of sorts) and will be eager to get his first league goal, with Dale Taylor looking impressive in his cameo at Birmingham. Jensen Weir will have had the benefit of a full international break to bed back into familiar surroundings, while those who were below par against Morecambe will have hopefully had the best part of a fortnight to work out what went wrong. Thelo Aasgaard, so crucial to the start of our season, is also back. And despite many deriding a supposed Blackburn bid last month, he's quickly becoming the talisman of this side. Yes we are short, as a squad as a whole, and yes there are still long-term injuries and question marks over the glaring lack of experience in the squad. But nothing is going to change now, this is what we've got, and we have to look on the positive side. The positives are we have a young and exciting squad, we've a young manager who is fully vested in our club, and we have an ownership group that will ensure bills are paid. That may not be enough for a sustained promotion push this season, but for now it's a base for us to work from. We can argue there are discrepancies in the accounts of this summer. The chairman in a welcome communication stated it was a successful transfer window, whereas the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Latics were clearly frustrated in a transfer market that saw Birmingham spend more than both Manchester City and Barcelona, while other League One sides such as Charlton and Rotherham spent more than in previous seasons. The indifferent start to the season needs to be left behind in August and, as we head into autumn, we need to pick up as many points as we can. Starting this Saturday at the Memorial Ground.