A match preview with a difference this weekend. Instead of the one-sided nonsense you usually find here of a Friday, I think it’s about time we took a fresh perspective on the weekend in prospect, don’t you?

Ahead of the Tottenham-Wigan clash at White Hart Lane, JWAW caught up with seasoned Spurs fan Dan Fitch for his thoughts on pies, Harry and of course Sunday’s match. It just so happens that Dan also has a weblog at TottenhamBlog.com, which is really rather good – better, in fact, than the typical small-time ‘pinch news from other sources’ you might be familiar with (especially if you read JWAW).

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JWAW: Dan Fitch, Tottenham season ticket holder and editor of tottenhamblog.com, pleased to meet your acquaintance. Or, at least, converse over the interwebs.

If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been a Tottenham supporter and where do you think the current Spurs squad ranks among the best (or maybe even worst) you’ve seen?

Dan: I first started taking a real interest in Spurs in the 1986/87 season. David Pleat had taken charge and introduced a then revolutionary 4-5-1 formation, which saw Hoddle, Waddle and Ardiles pulling the strings in midfield and Clive Allen scoring a record 49 goals in all competitions.

That side came third in Division 1, got to the semi-final of the League Cup and lost in the final of the FA Cup. Looking back, we probably haven’t had as good a side since, though this current vintage come close.

Though we’ve had some star performers through the years like Gazza and David Ginola, they’ve always shared a field with some weak players.

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Stripey at the unofficial opening of Latics WN1 in the Galleries

Wigan Athletic’s new shop in Wigan town centre, Latics WN1, opened its doors for the first time this afternoon, and our man was there to check it out. Though the official opening ceremony is slated for Monday, when Roberto Martinez will be on hand to cut the ribbon, fans could get their Latics merchandising fix from 4PM today to coincide with the Wigan Christmas lights switch on.

Stripey the Laticat and an official club photographer were on hand to greet the first visitors and snap a few pics for the official website and match programme.

Things are currently looking a bit sparse, with relatively few products in there as yet but we expect the place to fill out on Monday when the place will no doubt be heaving. Perhaps.

As you can see from the pic on the right, there’s a changing room area and some jazzy lighting as well as a couple of plush seats for visitors to take a rest, presumably from perusing the wide range of Latics merchandise. I think that’s supposed to be a Latics Christmas hat on Stripey’s head, but it looks a bit like a rubbish eyepatch or something. Maybe he’s angling for a part in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film?

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Bob addresses his adoring fans

Roberto Martinez hosted his first fans forum as manager of Wigan Athletic in front of 350 supporters at the DW Stadium’s Fitness Lounge last night.

Unfortunately JWAW could not personally make it, but thanks to the wonders of the Internet (as in, the various Latics messageboards) we are able to bring you the general gist of the event.

If appropriating content is good enough for Rupert Murdoch then it’s sure as heck acceptable for a small-time weblog read by about five people (two of which passed away more than fifty years ago). Anyhow…

The evening was a chance for fans to pose questions about anything and everything to do with Wigan Athletic, and by all accounts Roberto was his usual honest self, answering all queries — which addressed a wide range of topics, from his style of play and tactics to Wigan’s status as a ‘selling club’ — calmly and with aplomb.

“There are no difficult questions” said Martinez to Latics Player’s Graham Lovett. “As long as everyone knows what we’re trying to do, it’s easy to find a real answer.”

“I’ve said it before, I want to know what the fans feel. All that we’re doing is for the fans. Unless we are together, we cannot share all our worries regarding the direction of the football club, and that’s vital.”

Amongst numerous other things, Roberto expressed his thoughts on Chris Kirkland and Titus Bramble, who, in his opinion, “should be in the England squad“. In the case of the former, he theorised it must only be a personal issue as opposed to lack of ability keeping Kirky out of the national setup.

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Ian before the big shave!

Lifelong Latics supporter Ian Morrow has hit upon a novel way to raise money for this year’s Children in Need: he will shave off his beard, which hasn’t been trimmed since oh, about 1984.

There’s a twist – should he fail to reach the £2,000 target by Friday, his dog Poppy will also have her fur shaved. At the time of writing, 69% (£1,389) of the total amount has been raised, so Ian’s really cutting it fine (cough) to find the remaining 6,000-odd quid in about three days.

I was reluctant to do it, having spent 25 years carefully nurturing and grooming my fuzz.  I was also looking forward to a lucrative retirement, once my hair turned completely white, as a Department Store Father Christmas.

So not wanting to do it, I said only if they could raise £1,000 thinking that they would never get anywhere near that amount.  Unfortunately it has almost been reached after about a week of fund raising around the office, so I’ve decided that if it is going to happen I’d raise my sights and try to get up to £2,000. — Ian Morrow

You may remember Ian – he’s former webmaster of the now-defunct watv.co.uk from waaay back at the turn of the century, and he’s done the odd spot of work for VitalLatics. More recently he can be seen down at the DW in his capacity of official beardy bloke/season ticket holder… but from the Sunderland match he’ll certainly be a lot less noticeable.

Support Ian’s efforts for Children in Need

JWAW wants Ian to grow his beard back once he’s had it shaved, ‘cos we think it’s awesome and makes him look a little bit different from your typical Latics supporter. Plus, we really want to see him as Santa Claus at Wigan Tescos next year!