Couldn’t make it to this game, unfortunately — something about trains being unreliable — but thanks to the wonders of technology I was able to listen to a (rather biased, but what else would you expect?) Wigan Athletic World broadcast via the official website.

I do wish I could have been there, as all accounts seem to report a Latics side performing more like Manchester United than the Colchester United we’ve been used to of late. Well, maybe that was a bit uncalled for, but things are definitely clicking into place for Roberto Martinez’s side now.

Coupled with a below-par Preston performance, it turned out to be something of a rout as Rodders, Browny and N’Zogbia all found their way onto the scoresheet. There was also a goal for new boy Jason Scotland, which was met with cheers from the 2000-strong Latics travelling support.

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Is the cancellation of Almeria’s pre-season tour of Britain a sign of things to come? Will further fixtures, perhaps competitive, be postponed or even cancelled as the deadly disease takes a grip on the country?

Well, if you believe everything you read in the press, then yes, but I stopped taking tabloid filler as fact a long time ago. There’s a likelihood that the flu will bring some disruption to football (hopefully devastating the Arsenal squad the very week we are scheduled to play them), but let’s not be too negative about these things, eh?

At any rate, the upshot is that officials have lined up St. Mirren to fill the Spanish side’s place for the friendly on 8th of August. As far as I can gather, the game will go ahead as planned at the same time with the same ticket prices, only with new opposition. It will not, as Teletext page 517 still claims, be away to Motherwell – always check the official website for confirmation.

Well, at least we’ll still have a chace to see some Spanish style football at the DW this season under Bob Martinez. Of course, I suppose that ought to be ‘Big Bob’, in keeping with the long-standing British tradition of prefixing all managers’ first names with ‘Big’, but that’s a thought for another day.

Austria, home of Wiener Schnitzel

As we know, the early pre-season matches can’t be held as an indicator of how the rest of the season may pan out. The fact Wigan lost to FC Tiramasu isn’t really going to have much bearing on how we will fare against the likes of Man United in December and Chelsea in May, for example.

From a personal perspective, it’s inadvisable to talk to (most likely inebriated) non-football fans about these types of games due to the fact they take them all too seriously. “Wigan lost to Crewe? Aren’t they four divisions lower? Oh dear, you’re gonna have a tough season this year.” I hate those kind of conversations.

Having said that, these matches at least have some importance for Roberto Martinez, who has yet to lead the Latics in a competitive game. He should hopefully be able to see the progress being made as his players approach full fitness with every friendly that passes, and so far this has thankfully been the case.

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Krappo couldn't hit it for a Twix.

More like a blessing full stop.

I think it’s fair to say that Olivier Kapo isn’t the most popular of guys down at the DW. Steve Bruce mystified fans throughout last season by continuing to play him in the attacking midfield position while many thought there were better players waiting on the sideline to readily take his place.

Certain fans, this one included, came close to tearing their hair out over his fifty yard pot shots that never even came within a double decker’s distance (that’s the bus, not the chocolate bar) of the opposition goalkeeper. Although he did manage one potentially crucial goal against Chelsea, this does not make up for the many other chances he wasted throughout the course of the season.

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