Bob's Big Break: Look, Mum, I'm on TV!

I said to myself before this game, “I’d be happy with a point”. Well, that’s what we got, but am I happy with it? Reasonably.

You see, Manchester City are everyone’s tip to break into the top four this season, and I would not be at all surprised if they did so – they certainly have the players for it, and a top boss to boot. On this basis, you’d say a point would be a good-ish result, nothing special but alright, for a side with aspirations of mid-table – a win would be great, but y’know, we’d settle for a point.

As it turned out, the DW crowd were once again robbed of a tight, enthralling finish by a sending off. That’s not to say Pablo Zabaleta shouldn’t have been given his marching orders – looked like a second booking from where I was sat, but I’ll have to check the MOTD replays because I sure as heck can’t remember the first yellow card he picked up. My mind’s all foggy, a bit like the pre-match conditions.

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Neil Rimmer: Barnet of the Century?

The author is aware that this site is in danger of becoming a simple match reports blog, but what can you do? Time’s a bitch, and I’m her slave. Wait, that sounded a bit weird – weirder even than Paul Scharner’s forthcoming 70s afro (you heard it here first!).

Just a quick reminder that you can check out some of the guest posts I’ve been doing over at Notapatchon – there’s not much difference between the drivel I post here and what I write for the blog over there. I have to say right now that NAPO is rapidly becoming my favourite Wigan Athletic fansite. I do quite like Cockney Latic, which is marginally more active, but in general I prefer stalking the forum at NAPO, probably because it feels more homely and welcoming.

The new Mudhutter Football Express is out this weekend, sold on the bridge and all the usual places the club officials can’t usher them away from. Unfortunately I don’t have an article in there this edition – you can put that down to sheer laziness and the fact I only felt really compelled to write after the Hull game. Otherwise, I’ve been saving content that usually would have gone to the MFE for here or the aforementioned NAPO. But enough o’ that site, it’s already had its plug.

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Premier League match report.

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Paul Scharner was as guilty as anyone

Was today’s result penance for last week, or simply another indicator that anything can happen in a game involving Wigan this season? I’d vouch for the latter, though some typically poor Latics defending at some crucial points didn’t really help.

The first half went well, Wigan looking comfortable and carving out some good openings: in fact, it looked a little bit too easy at times. For all their domination, though, they couldn’t manage to stick the ball in the back of the net… and were made to pay, big style.

Wigan never really troubled the Hull goalkeeper, Paul Scharner in particular guilty of missing crucial passes and smacking the ball into row Z – Martinez finally saw the error of his ways and brought Jordi Gomez into the fray for the last half an hour. By then, it was a bit too late for him to make much of an impact, Latics already trailing by two goals. Scharner wasn’t the only one to have an off-day, though, as Charles N’Zogbia never quite fired despite some marauding runs, and was also subbed for Sinclair with ten minutes to play.

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