Latics' own Super Starjumpin' Stoj somehow managed to beat the Germans. How? I dunno.

This year’s so-called premier football competition (international-wise, anyway) has left a horrible taste in the mouth that, in my opinion, marks it as a low point in the history of world football.

Now, we’ve become used to widespread professionalism, which some people may term as ‘cheating’, in the domestic game. It’s something of a given, what with all the money and plastic fakery flying about, and the very nature of the FA Premier League in 2010.

But the World Cup, historically the gentleman’s competition, is meant to be a festival of fair play, an example of the spirit of the game we all know and (sometimes) love. Sadly there hasn’t been too much of that in South Africa.

And what are FIFA doing about it? Sweet Fanny Adams. Well, what else would you expect? Blatter and his cronies set a dangerous precedent when they decided not to penalise Thierry Henry or the French FA for the infamous ‘Hand of Frog’ in the slightest. In the process, they effectively condoned cheating, a benchmark for what would come in the 2010 World Cup: bad play acting and amateur dramatics aplenty coupled with officiating you’d usually see down at the Soccerdome on a Saturday afternoon.

You could point to the number of weak referees FIFA have appointed in the interests of ‘fairness’. I couldn’t see Howard Webb, for example, falling for the umpteenth dive or deliberate handball from a player clearly attempting to bend the rules in his favour in the same way a guy from, say, Mexico, who with the greatest respect would probably be relegated to his country’s third division having failed to award one of their ‘Big Four’ a 50:50 penalty decision.

Is it all fixed, WWE-style? Well, maybe I’ve been reading a bit too much of the Daily Mail (for research purposes, mind). However, I expected this World Cup to be a breath of fresh air from the diving, conniving style of the English Premier League. How wrong I was.

Richard Kingson: flying the flag for Latics in the Quarters

In summary, the players are a bunch of diving sissies that fall over under the slightest pressure before performing seven rolls in an attempt to get the other bloke sent off. A team of just three amateur officials, two of which are limited to running fifty yards in a straight line, can’t cope with it all, and are likely to make crucial, crucial mistakes, as we have seen in this competition.

Add to this a relatively unspectacular football tournament, characterised by a lacklustre French side only there thanks to the wrangling of FIFA and an Italian outfit that would struggle to beat Latics’ reserve team, plus a match ball that seems as though it’s filled with helium and a crowd that prefer to blow horns than watch an actual game of football.

I think it’s fair to say I haven’t enjoyed this year’s World Cup. Still, there’s time for me to change my mind yet: the best is yet to come, you would think, what with the semis approaching faster than the 16:32 to Wigan Northwestern (which isn’t that fast, but anyway…). I ain’t holding my breath, though.

Victor Moses would provide Wigan's best attempt of the game on 86 minutes

Well, what do you say after an afternoon like that? As little as possible, hopefully, which is why I’ll keep this assessment of the encounter at Stamford Bridge relatively brief.

After all, there isn’t really that much to talk about in the way of Wigan positives: this was, to all intents and purposes, Chelsea’s day. I think we’ll leave it at that.

And so it transpired that a season of dizzy heights and demoralising lows (wait, haven’t I used that phrase, like, ten times in the last week?) would run true to form and conclude with one of the latter, another crushing defeat to add to the spankings at White Hart Lane, Fratton Park, Old Trafford and Bloomfield Road. Yep, a real afternoon to completely wipe from your memory with one of those flashy light things out of Men In Black.

In truth, nobody really expected a result in the favour of Wigan. Many in the North West hoped things might go their way, but in the land of Realism you could count those anticipating a draw or Wigan win on one hand. Even though it turned out to be yet another horrible, horrible hammering you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy (well, maybe Preston), there is significantly less shame (though blame might well be a different matter) to be attributed in this particular case. After all, these were the Premier League champions we came up against.

There was some pre-match hope, swiflty extinguished by the impartial Sky Sports pundits. Quick to state the obvious and stamp the mockers on Latics from the off, the ever-alert Glenn Hoddle so kindly reminded us all — as if we needed to be — of WhiteHartLaneGate. Cheers, Glenn. You don’t need to be a faith healer to count up to ten.

But this was a completely different team to the one that turned up on that faithful evening, in many ways a weaker one, but we shall skate over that point. Unfortunately, the result was much the same, and had a tearful (of pain rather than joy, might I add) Didier Drogba not taken so long to find his shooting boots this could have been even worse an afternoon.

Drogba needed not fret, for the waterworks sparked by a small tiff over who should take a penalty were soon wiped away: he went on to score three. Or was it four? My word, it’s too depressing to recount.

The game was effectively killed as a contest the moment that second goal — a Frank Lampard spot-kick — hit the net. A clumsy challenge by Gary Caldwell led to a slightly harsh red card, but then I suppose by the letter of the law he had to be dismissed for his pull back on Lampard. Frustrating, for up to that point Wigan had competed well and actually dominated possession, which looked quite promising for a close contest. With Manchester United on top in their clash with Stoke, you could have forgiven Chelsea for becoming a bit nervous.

No shots on target would come in the first half, however, and Petr Cech might as well have been sunning himself in Dave Whelan’s Barbadian villa (hmm, there’s a collusion-based conspiracy theory if ever I heard one) as he only had to pick up the ball once, maybe twice; Wigan struggled to make any sort of impact in the final third. Chelsea had done their homework and learned that Latics have had trouble breaking down a defence with more than two people in it. Hmm.

Things would unbelievably get much worse in the second half, so if you plan to watch Match of the Day, I suggest you switch it off after about ten minutes. Actually, for the sake of your sanity, I recommend you not tune in at all and go and have a soothing bath instead. The stress isn’t worth reliving.

Anyway, you could predict the outcome of the match as early as the moment Caldwell tugged on Lampard’s shirt – past experience has told us that after conceding a second goal it really is over as a contest, especially, in this case, with a man short. It would have been a tough ask even with eleven men apiece, but against a team like Chelsea and with almost nothing but a place in the starting lineup for the forthcoming pre-season tour at stake, it was a task far, far beyond this transitional Wigan team.

No matter, however. When we look back on this season, we shall only remember the good times: the mind is a wonderful filter like that. Yes, we’ve been unfeasibly bad far too often, almost Sunday League-esque at times, but at least we’re staying up. That’s a lot more than can be said for Burnley, Hull or Portsmouth.

Not-so-quietly confident: Carlo Ancelotti

Once again, it has come down to this. Just like in 2008, Little Wigan find themselves with an opportunity to have a big say in where the title goes on the final day of the season, embarking upon a 200-odd mile trip to London in a bid to usurp Chelsea’s dominant position at the head of the table.

This time, however, things are going to be far more difficult, because of injuries to important players but also, perhaps most tellingly, because Chelsea are such a formidable force when in full flow – just ask Stoke City. Not that Manchester United of a few years ago weren’t, even if they left it later than they would have liked to clinch the Premier League at the then-JJB Stadium.

As we have seen, though, no side is completely infallible. It may seem Chelsea have nine and a half fingers on the fabled trophy — which isn’t quite as historically significant as the FA Cup, but a recognisable item in the world of football nevertheless — but you need only cast your mind back to September 2009 for an example of a major upset in this contest. By which I mean tiny Wigan beating gigantic Chelsea.

Sure, that particular David vs. Goliath showdown was at the JJB and not a hostile Stamford Bridge as it will be tomorrow. And there was no title at stake. And you could say Latics had the rub of the green that day, which certainly helped our cause. All of which points to a more comfortable day for Chelsea as they cruise to 2010 Premier League victory.

Not necessarily. Even though Wigan will most likely be fielding a weakened side (out of necessity rather than choice, mind) you never really do know in this variously magnificent and flawed sport we call football (or vutbal, if you’re Carlo Ancelotti). Few would have predicted Wigan wins over Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea, especially with such an inexperienced manager and the club in transition, yet all four would become reality before the season was out. There is some hope for Manchester United fans.

However, from a personal viewpoint, I really cannot see anything other than a Chelsea win tomorrow afternoon. I mean, I’m always hopeful Latics can grab something – and a point away from home would be a wonderful result for an understrength side off the back of a lukewarm draw with relegated Hull City – but unlike with Liverpool and Arsenal earlier in the campaign, there isn’t the impetus that fighting relegation gives a side.

Not over yet: Martinez will go for it

That said, of all the accusations you could throw the way of Roberto Martinez, one thing you can’t call him is defensive. Yes, he has had his moments of negativity on the pitch, but on the whole he has looked to remain attacking; it’s just the current playing staff, bless them, have been largely incapable of pulling off his ambitious tactics week after week, Arsenal ‘The Invincibles’ style.

Again, not that there’s anything wrong with ambition or even many of the players’ efforts, and those that haven’t been up to scratch have been, or are in the process of being, shipped out.

Manchester United fans need not lose all hope just yet. If Vladimir Stojkovic can somehow find the performance of his life, then the remaining Latics non-crocks will all be aware they are in the shop window like never before. And if you can’t get yourself geed up for that you might as well go and play for Hindley Town or something.

Stojkovic takes the phrase 'Jesus Was a Wiganer' a bit too literally

With Latics’ survival sealed prior to this afternoon’s engagement, it only remained to be seen whether Hull would absolutely trounce them to carry a sliver of hope into the final week of the season.

Well, this didn’t happen and, if we’re being honest, wasn’t really likely to, but thanks to the antics of a certain Serbian, it may well have been. In terms of possession and control of the game, the visitors never really outplayed a Latics side missing N’Zogbia, Bramble, Kirkland, Moreno and Thomas.

But stand-in keeper Vladimir Stojkovic, who looked very shaky in the Wigan goal, could be blamed for at least one of the goals the Tigers would claw from the very hands of Wigan’s backline: in truth, had Hull challenged the Latics goalmouth more often, things could have been far worse.

In the cold light of day, a draw against a pretty-much-relegated side also with their fair share of absentees, most notably a particular Londonite who can’t stand the North (just joking Jimmy), was an average result played out by, some might say, an average team. It certainly wasn’t a sparkling performance from the Latics, and had there been more weight on this game things would have been far past ’squeaky bum time’ — for which I daren’t print an analogy – midway through the second half as Wigan somehow contrived to concede two goals.

There is a small excuse – and it is quite a small one – for the first: a slightly overzealous linesman flagging offside before changing his mind after the ball was nestling in the Wigan net, which he had every right to do. He was proven to be right in his error correction, but there’s no doubt it caused an element of confusion amongst Caldwell, Gohouri et al as for a moment Latics were guilty of playing to the whistle.

When the dust settled, it became clear that a couple of slightly dodgy decisions from Stojkovic were more to blame for the concession, which levelled the scores at 1-1 with just a few minutes to play in the first half. Firstly, the Serb chose to punch clear a shot when perhaps a tip round the post or even two-handed save looked relatively comfortable to pull off. I dunno, maybe the fact he’s lacking match practice and thus confidence was playing on his mind so he went for the safety first option, which in this case involved returning possession to Hull.

Secondly, from the resultant second bite of the cherry, we saw the trademark starjump which so famously gifted Carlos Tevez a goal just weeks ago. It might work in the Spanish leagues, but unfortunately for Stoj it hasn’t this season. Though he made up for this indiscretion with a couple of decent stabs away earlier in the piece, and he at least got a hand to the ball before it hit the net,  I am far from convinced with the ‘punch at all costs’ technique he’s so fond of.

Roberto Martinez was hampered by injuries to first team players

As someone – I think it might have been Les – so eloquently mentioned in the current edition of the Mudhutter Football Express, I would play a one-armed Mike Pollitt ahead of Vlad, my dislike for him has become so strong. You can just imagine the collective joy in the concourse when he was announced as starting the game – in fact there were some whispers we might already be doomed. They may have been a little bit extreme, but I think we can say he hasn’t exactly been a fan favourite since he arrived in Wigan. Once again, Latics fans can thank their stars this game wasn’t as vital as it could have been, relegation-wise.

But there was still a Premier League game to win, and a possible 14^th place in the Premier League at stake for Wigan. Earlier, they had drawn first blood as Moses jinked in from the wings, passed three defenders and slid the ball in off Duke’s left hand post. It was a perfectly placed shot that would have troubled the best of keepers and gave Latics a just about deserved lead.

Minutes later, Victor ‘Du du du duh’ (yeah, I think we need a new chant writer) Moses had an almost equally wonderful – if not better – opportunity to put the home side 2-0 ahead. The ball fell to him just eight yards from the goal, and with nobody in the immediate vicinity, he miskicked by a fraction. It was, however, enough to make him look a bit silly as he had just missed perhaps the best chance of the half. We’ll let him off, though, because the finish for his first Latics goal was so good.

As far as Hull were concerned, Kilbane had also gone close to a snorter which, if it hit the target, would certainly have caused the Wigan keeper some real problems. They weren’t without their own periods of pressure, but undoubtedly the Tigers’ best moment came on 42 minutes as Atkinson converted a Kilbane cross.

Whelan remembers he's left the oven on

One apiece was the half time score, with Latics emerging the more dominant. This trend continued for the early part of the second stanza as Rodallega started to cause the Hull defence some real problems, but only emerged with a couple of speculative efforts for his troubles.

Somewhat predictably (on the evidence of this season, anyway), the inevitable Hull counter attack yielded a goal as soon as the ball was placed into a vaguely dangerous area. In fact, it wasn’t all that dangerous a ball yet it somehow found the North Stand net as the defence lay static and Cullen’s cross sailed into Stojkovic’s net. Whoops.

Suddenly, from a relatively comfortable situation, Wigan found themselves in the position of having to chase the game just as they had for the previous two weeks. Well, at least the ball is finding the onion bag now, and the luck which seemed to desert us throughout February is returning with a vengeance.

Sucking lemons: not recommended

Just as the result looked settled, and with another disappointing defeat on the cards, up popped Steve Gohouri to overhead kick Wigan to a point and officially seal the visitors’ relegation from the Premier League. It would have been last gasp, if referee Phil Dowd hadn’t somehow found what seemed like a couple of minutes of extra added time from somewhere. But there really was no time for any more heroics, as the official timing of the goal was 93 minutes – the final minute of added time.

Stevie G’s close range scissor was a nice way to finish the season. Sure, we would have loved to win the game, but then that would be bordering on predictable, a word you couldn’t ever use to describe Wigan Athletic in the 2009/10 campaign. So we’d best enjoy it for what it is: another glimmer in a season peppered with dizzy heights and demoralising lows.

KTHXBYE: Scharner said goodbye with a trademark bizarre haircut

Just one game left to play now, and it’s the biggest of them all: champions elect Chelski Abramograd CF at the Stan Ford Bridge. As has been the case on numerous occasions this season, nobody expects us to get anything from that encounter. Manchester United fans need not order their consolation beer just yet, however, because the way things have gone this year we’ll most likely beat them 3-2.

Well, why not? Our last three games have been 3-2, 3-2 and 2-2, so maybe Little Wigan will have a say in the destination of the Premier League title. We couldn’t quite manage it against Man United a couple of seasons ago, but I’m sure we’ll put up a good fight and attempt to do it again.

Gianfranco Zola: Safe for another season?

Readers that regularly frequent the DW, and indeed any other football ground at which Wigan Athletic may currently be playing, can’t have failed to noticed the flag marked ‘WAFC: The Religion’ resting proudly amongst the hardy band of Latics hardcore supporters — who some might term ‘nutjobs’, but not I — chuntering amongst each other in a typically northern fashion.

In many ways, football is indeed very much like a religion, a sentiment I’m sure millions of supporters nation- and even worldwide will readily echo. For starters, it seems crazy that anyone would deliberately put themselves through the catastrophic lows and often unbearable suffering of another straight defeat or loss to a passionately hated local rival. Yet, just like a ‘proper’, ‘officially’ established religion, they continue to do so, retaining their blind faith in the hope they will be rewarded next Saturday. Or Sunday, Monday or Tuesday if you’re one of the Big Four. Cheers, Sky.

Without going too deep into the ‘money in football’ argument (which I also discuss briefly in an interview for the Bert Trautmann’s Neck blog, which, by the way, is certainly worth a read) or indeed any sort of sociological theories that will most likely bore you to tears, it seems strange that we put our faith in a team of businessmen more intent on making money than seeing the club they actually have some sort of emotional attachment to do well (Liverpool, Manchester United, numerous other top flight teams). In some cases, the overwhelming urge to succeed can lead to financial ruin (Portsmouth) and the almost unthinkable: complete disappearance from the face of the earth (Chester City, Scarborough FC etc.).

Yes, religion and money are undoubtedly interlinked in a greater capacity than we would care to imagine. It’s a sad fact that these days football clubs are marketed as brands you might casually subscribe to just to ‘look cool’, when in actual fact one’s fanaticism for runs much deeper than that. For evidence of this, you need look no further than the recent spate of what have been termed ‘phoenix clubs’, fans’ attempts to re-establish another club and start afresh at a lower league level. The real fans, the ones that travel to watch their team each weekend, don’t care about the money or pretty much anything else apart from football.

Which brings me on to yesterday’s game, which the media built up as a ‘crucial relegation battle’. Well, I think it would have been, had Hull or Burnley even looked like winning a game or two. However, since their challenge seems to have petered out in recent weeks, the smart money was undoubtedly on those two for the drop. Even West Ham, with only a three point gap to the relegation zone, were sitting relatively comfortably thanks to the Tigers’ and Clarets’ inability to plug their slightly leaky defences.

Yet there was still much to play for: whilst there was still a chance of a Fulham-esque comeback the likes of which hasn’t been seen since, well, last week at the DW, this matchup remained a somewhat vital fixture. More so for West Ham than Wigan, but credit to our lads, we actually set out to get the result rather than sit back and settle for a point which, before this weekend, I would have readily settled for.

You could argue the balance of play suggested an honourable draw, and I tend to think 3-3 would have been a fairer reflection of the game as a whole. In truth, it was an afternoon littered with defensive cock-ups tempered by a good measure of attacking football, but this at the very least made for an engaging and evenly matched contest at Upton Park. Funny how sometimes the games between so-called ‘inferior’ teams can far outshine those played contested by the big money big hitters at the other end of the table. By which I mean ‘up there’, the dizzying heights little Wigan couldn’t ever even dream of hitting.

Wigan got off to a dream start when a threatening corner from Ben Watson somehow found its way into the West Ham net. As the Latics players wheeled away to celebrate, it was quickly apparent none of them had actually got anywhere near the ball and a spectacular miskick from Hammers defender Spector had somehow contrived to find its way past Robert Green. An own goal. How we would have killed for one of those in many games this season; the irony is mildly astounding.

Just minutes later, West Ham were down the other end of the field and forcing Caldwell to clear off his own goal line. Carlton Cole, who caused the Latics defence problems all through the first half, stormed his way through our centre halves as if they weren’t there. It almost seemed as though the big Scot was struggling to find his feet in the first team after a three-match absence, but that would be an unfair criticism, especially considering the biggest frontman we’ve had to deal with this season has been Peter Crouch. Actually, that argument is pretty moot, so we shall swiftly move on.

Chris Kirkland played most of the game looking like a Batman villain

During the same incident, Chris Kirkland sustained what looked like a nasty injury. When he goes down, more often than not his back has been put out of joint again, and with only the calamitous Stojkovic on the bench for Latics, things were not looking too good. Kirkland lay almost motionless as he was tended to for five minutes, after which he gingerly walked over to his net for a drink of water. The problem, it seemed, was not Kirky’s troublesome back, but a rather large cut that had opened up by the side of his mouth, a gash the paramedics took the time to presumably stitch up there and then.

As of the time of writing, no official confirmation is available as to the extent of Kirkland’s injury, though I guess we can expect him back on Bank Holiday Monday for the clash with Hull. Heck, considering he played eighty minutes looking like Two Face out of Batman we can probably expect him to play with one arm.

James McCarthy forced a good save from Green on the half hour mark

The Caldwell goal-line clearance would be a precursor to some of the defensive problems Latics would experience later in the game, and especially when Ilan, the bloke named after a Lotus, easily side footed past the Wigan keeper from a Cole cross on 31 minutes. Oh dear.

Still, you could say it was an apt reflection of the game going into half time… except not quite. On the stroke of the break, Cole earned a free kick on the edge of the visitors’ box. Noble’s free kick brought about a palm away from Kirkland, the ball fell straight to Nico Kovac for an easy goal. You could say it was slightly fortuitous, but had the Wigan keeper and Caldwell communicated better, perhaps the former would have parried the ball to safety and the half time whistle.

As it was, Caldwell seemed to get in Kirkland’s way as he dived to his right. Defensive error or bad luck? A bit of both, I would say. Whatever, Wigan were somehow 2-1 down going into half time.

But things were back on level terms on 52 minutes. Following a spell of pressure on the West Ham goal, Wigan earned a corner, and again, Watson only had to put the ball somewhere near the middle of the Hammers goal to cause problems. This time, they were spared the blushes of putting through their own net as the ball found its way in off Hugo Rodallega’s thigh. It wasn’t much of a consolation to the home side, who were now becoming very tense as Wigan wrested some control of the game, and not for the first time.

Victor Moses was introduced for Moreno on 38 minutes

The next 25 minutes or so were relatively uneventful, a looping Kovac header that rebounded off the top of the crossbar the closest anyone would come to breaking the deadlock. Then, on 77 minutes, a failure to close down Scott ‘I hate Wigan’ Parker led to the ultimate embarrassment – conceding a goal from the little so-and-so from thirty yards.

We’ll let the defence off, however, as nineteen times out of twenty, Parker’s strike would have sailed out of the stadium and halfway across London. Still, it wasn’t an isolated incident, so there is much to work on.

Wigan really were beginning to make heavy weather of things. Though the visitors pushed for another equaliser, the closest we even came to threatening was via a Titus Bramble 60-yard attempt that actually only flew a few yards over the bar. Actually, if that went in I think I would have had to eat not only my hat, but my socks and (Rodallega’s?) gloves as well.

Never mind, though, as safety for both teams is all but assured as Hull lost 1-0 to Sunderland. Of those in the bottom three, only Burnley can now catch us, but that would require them winning three out of three. In truth, I’d be surprised if they even won one of their remaining fixtures, so, on behalf of myself you can allow yourself a sigh of relief this weekend. Yes, it’s another defeat in a game we could and really should have got something from, but did you really expect us to? I mean, we haven’t won two Premier League games in a row since 1872.

Next stop the DW Stadium, and a warmup for the ‘big’ game with Chelski on the 9th May. Will there be collusion? Or will Latics rob them of the title? I think I, and certain a other north-west based group of fans would definitely prefer the latter. We shall see what happens there, but for now, settle down to watch Burnley get beaten by Liverpool to ensure our mathematical safety.

Little Wigan, Premier League for a sixth season. Who’d have thought it?

Wigan will beat Arsenal? A load of old balls. Balls, geddit?

“Oh, good,” I thought, “Arsenal are being so nice as to play the bungling Sol Campbell in the centre of defence to allow us a sniff of a chance.” It was only that, though, a thin sliver of light peering over the top of the mountain you could just about make out if you squinted.

In reality, though this was a far from full strength Arsenal team, I think most if not all present at the DW Stadium fully expected The Gooners to paste the ailing Latics into a fine pulp which they would then use to plaster ten foot posters of Arsene Wenger all around the borough. Probably not of him doing his now trademark arm waving motion, however, because that makes him look too much like a chicken.

This was the same team that struggled to hit the target against Portsmouth, with the notable exceptions of Moreno back in for Scotland and, most tellingly, Ben Watson returning to the first team in place of the sulking Paul Scharner. After the antics of Wednesday, speculation over his future at the club has been rife, with reports of a bust-up with Martinez dominating the back pages of local papers and garnering some column inches in certain national ones as well.

Thus, it wasn’t really a surprise to see Scharner omitted from the teamsheet. His replacement, called back from a loan spell at West Brom at short notice, had been gifted a chance to prove to Roberto he has a role to perform in this Latics side.

On a personal level, I don’t see what Watson did wrong to deserve being hauled out to Championship clubs for the most part of this season, a viewpoint somewhat justified by his welcome presence in the centre of midfield yesterday. He was many peoples’ man of the match, in fact, and no doubt will now be above Scharner in the pecking order not only for that centre-of-the-park controlling role but the half time Jaffa Cakes as well.

As for the big Austrian’s future, who knows. I would say it isn’t looking likely he’ll renew his contract when it expires at the end of the season, not at this rate anyway. Perhaps the aforementioned West Brom beckons, or maybe even retirement?

That’s a talking point for another day, however, especially since the events of Sunday afternoon far outshadowed any negativity built up in the past week. Many people, myself included, were so incredibly dejected by Wigan’s inability to put away what was essentially a Championship reserve team we wouldn’t have ever foresaw the unprecedented scenes that unfolded late in the game at the Dee Dubya yesterday. And what a magical fifteen minutes they were, too.

Who?: The Arsenal bench was looking decidedly understrength

Latics began brightly, dominating the first twenty minutes possession-wise, but emerged with only a couple of shots on goal to show for it. The closest they came was via a Ben Watson corner, which somehow evaded each and every defender and, most crucially, stand-in keeper Lukasz Fabianski. Make a note of this for later on. Had Rodallega been a might quicker off the mark at the back post, he may well have placed the ball into the opposition net to give Wigan the perfect start. Promising, but no proverbial stogie.

Shortly after, Arsenal earned themselves a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area, but only succeeded in finding the waiting arms of Chris Kirkland with a line of three attackers just outside the six yard box tantalisingly close to an easy chance.

This opportunity would spark a spell of Arsenal pressure and two excellent chances for Theo Walcott, perhaps the visitors’ best player on the afternoon. Unfortunately for Latics, he would take his second opportunity with just five minutes left to the break, capitalising on a piece of lax defending from Figueroa and Gohouri.

It’s fair to say Walcott was the difference between the two teams going into half time, not only goal-wise but the way he caused the Wigan defence so many problems on more than three occasions. After this, however, he didn’t really have the chance to show the same cutting edge he exhibited in the first period. This was because Arsenal were 2-0 up just five minutes into the second half thanks to a Mikael Silvestre header — we’ll gloss over the defending that could well be to blame for this — and Wenger had switched to a more laid back, defensive strategy to see out the remaining forty minutes or so.

As was to be proved, however, it was a dangerous game to play. Despite being two goals down, you couldn’t ever say Wigan were completely out of it with so much time left to play and especially considering the positive intent they’d exhibited just prior to the second goal hitting the back of Kirkland’s net. A nice passing movement led to a penalty appeal for a tug back on Ben Watson, but Referee Lee Mason was hardly going to give a foul for something so weak, especially not to little Wigan. Replays showed that there was indeed contact, but Watson went down a bit easily for the officials’ liking.

Up in lights: Ref Lee Mason didn't exactly endear himself to the fans

Besides, Arsenal had a penalty appeal of their own turned down in the first half, so it would be kind of hypocritical, nay foolish, for any referee worth his salt to find in favour of the smaller team and risk the wrath of the Big Four. I would say neither incident was a penalty anyway, though that’s with the benefit of hindsight and a television replay, but you can bet your life I was seething at the time.

No matter, anyway, because just a minute later Silvestre had Arsenal’s second and, you would think, decisive goal. But as the game progressed, Wigan came more into things, perhaps sparked by the introduction of Victor Moses for Marcelo Moreno; Rodallega took up a more central role with the midfielders joining in attacks as needed. Which, as it turned out, was pretty much all of the last twenty minutes, because Arsenal didn’t quite look the attacking team they had been in the first stanza.

Wenger had a tough last ten minutes on his hands. Hands, geddit?

With Wigan now pushing for what could be an important goal — remember, things could still come down to goal difference, especially with Chelsea to come on the final day of the season — the crowd sensed that if the home side could snatch one goal back, the last ten minutes would be interesting. As it happened, things were extremely interesting, at least if you’re a Wigan supporter.

After an enterprising run from Moses, Ben Watson somehow found the ball at his feet and slotted it nicely past two Arsenal defenders on 79 minutes. Game on again, and Arsene Wenger responded by bringing the more defensive-minded Emmanual Eboue on in place of Theo Walcott, who, just like most of the Arsenal team, hadn’t threatened as much as he did in the first half.

Latics continued to press, but time was beginning to run out. On 88 minutes, with the ball bouncing about in the Arsenal penalty area, Hugo Rodallega almost found himself with the goal at his mercy, but an excellent saving header from Diaby prevented the ball from falling nicely at the Colombian’s feet. This would surely have been an equaliser, and one nobody would have anticipated just ten minutes earlier. The Gunners defence was now looking decidedly shaky under some actual goalmouth pressure, and their win was far from assured, even with but minutes left to play.

Wigan would not have to worry for much longer, however. Very soon after, following a Charles N’Zogbia corner, Titus Bramble seemed to head a fumbled Fabianski catch over the goal line. There was a brief moment of tension before the referee signalled the ball had indeed crossed the line, and madness ensued.

With just one minute left to play, Latics were back on level terms and, unbelievably, searching for a winner. They couldn’t, could they? Well, minds were cast back to the magnificent victories over Liverpool and Chelsea at the DW earlier in the season, and with the crowd now spurring Wigan forward, it certainly wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility.

I’m sure 75% of the stadium would have more than settled for a point at that stage, but incredibly, it wasn’t over just yet. As the fourth official raised his board to indicate an additional four minutes of injury time, Maynor Figueroa launched another long, booming ball upfield, finding Hugo Rodallega, who laid a short pass to N’Zogbia. The Frenchman took advantage of some shellshocked Arsenal defending to curl a shot in off Fabianski’s right hand post for a glorious, glorious goal in the 91st minute of the game.

Cue a ten-man pile on from the Latics players and unprecedented celebrations at the DW. The Chelsea and Liverpool wins were special, but in my opinion, the moment the ball hit the net for Wigan’s third far outshines the rapturous scenes at the final whistle in both those games and, dare I say it, the moment Latics were promoted to the Premiership.

Arsenal had absolutely no answer, and with just three minutes of stoppages to play the result was all but sealed. The remaining time verily flew by as all the tension that had built up in the four weeks since the Burnley game exploded in a cacophony of noise the likes of which may never be heard again this side of the River Dougie. Martinez made a second substitution to waste a bit of time, but it was not needed as the final whistle was imminent.

Yes, it was an understrength Gunners side still reeling from the defeat of Tottenham in midweek, but the history books will only record that Little Wigan beat Arsenal 3-2. Will it be enough to keep us up? Probably, but I think we’d best leave those worries for another day, because I get the feeling it’ll be a long time before this one sinks in.

Scotland finally breaks his league duck

Things were looking so rosy at half time; Latics had just about edged proceedings thanks to a strike from Jason Scotland, his first in the league for Wigan and hopefully one of many — though the jury’s still out on that. I’m sure Wigan fans would have been much happier had the goal actually counted for something other than goal difference in the grand scheme of things, but still, nice to see a signing come good…

Scotland’s 34th minute strike came immediately after a good spell of possession for the visitors, who’d just gone close through Maynor Figueroa, this afternoon playing in a forward-thinking left wing role. Minutes later, the Trinidadian was set up by Moreno, who controlled an N’Zogbia pass nicely into his path.

There was an element of good fortune about the goal as keeper Mark Schwarzer seemed unsighted, and maybe should have done better. But still, we shan’t begrudge Jason this much sought-after strike – hopefully, now the floodgates will open and he’ll grab a hat trick against Portsmouth next week. Wishful thinking? Perhaps not.

You see, Martinez was somewhat forced into making changes to his regular playing style, resolving to pander to criticism — or perhaps necessity — and go 4-4-2 with Hugo Rodallega joining Scotland and Moreno up front from time to time. You know the drill: control the ball in the midfield area and look for the killer pass up to the front men. Scotland looks to have settled into his role well and, despite the fact it’s painfully evident he isn’t quite of the same calibre as Emile Heskey, did his job for the first 45 yesterday. Actually, I’m sure some Villa fans would beg to differ on that Heskey comment. Best to just leave it there.

The absence of Gary Caldwell, serving a suspension after being sent off against Man City on Monday, meant Paul Scharner would once again have to fill in at centre back, a position he didn’t exactly relish. In fact, he must have thought he was still playing in the centre of midfield when, instead of hoofing the ball clear, he attempted to dribble past Zoltan Gera on his own goal line. Care to guess what happened next? Yep, just two minutes into the second half, and it was 1-1.

I can just hear the calls from the crowd now: “You aren’t playing in a luxury position today, Paul.” To be fair, the Austrian dealt with pretty much everything else, except…

11 minutes later, Fulham were ahead on the scoresheet courtesy of Brede Hangeland, who leapt highest to nod a Damien Duff corner past Chris Kirkland. Another “defensive lapse”, as Roberto likes to call it, and Latics were really up against it. From then onwards, Wigan struggled to create anything of note, save maybe a volley 25 feet over the bar from Moreno.

Ben Watson made a brief appearance to take two free kicks - one was alright, the other less so

Latics simply could not replicate the pressure they exerted upon the Fulham backline in the first half, only managing to grab hold of the ball every now and then. When they did enjoy some sort of possession and the passes started coming back to them — albeit in a piecemeal fashion — it was far too late, and anyway Schwarzer was never challenged.

You get the feeling that, had this contest been at the DW, Wigan may have just had that extra impetus in the form of a home crowd to gee their side to a much-needed draw.

On the bright side, all our main contenders failed to make any real progress this weekend. Well, all except for West Ham, who did well to secure an away point at Everton, something Latics couldn’t quite manage. Oh, who am I kidding – the second half was one of the most frustrating and, dare I say it, poor displays I’ve seen us put up in recent times. I thought all the defensive problems and lack of cutting edge were all behind us and we’d be safe by next week.

There was a chance for a point here, but irritatingly Latics couldn’t pull one out of the bag when it mattered. Whether we deserved it or not is another matter, but I do have to say my expectations were a little bit higher than the lacklustre performance of the second 45.

No matter, the contests against Portsmouth, West Ham and perhaps most crucially Hull will decide the fate of Wigan Athletic in 2009/10. Sure, a point yesterday would have been nice, but those three clashes — two of which are at home, by the way — were always going to be the most important. I’d say a win and two draws would be enough, but a couple of wins would seal it, even if things go right down to the wire as I think they will. It’s still in our own hands, which is far more than can be said for Burnley or Hull.

• BBC Match Report

Relaying of the much-maligned DW Stadium surface gets underway today and should be ready for next Monday’s visit of Liverpool. And not before time, you might say.

In seasons past, we’ve seen the pitch suffer badly around this time of year. You can point to any number of factors: poor weather, undersoil heating malfunction, moles etc. I will also concede that it doesn’t help that we have to groundshare with a rugby league team, but that isn’t the root of the problem.

And to be honest, I don’t think I could tell you for sure exactly what is causing the pitch to break up year upon year. After all, there are plenty of other northern clubs — Burnley, Stoke and Preston to name but a few — who’ve managed to keep their pitches in decent condition despite inclement weather, and they’re run on similar budgets to the Latics.

The ’sabotaged’ undersoil heating theory

Perhaps the technology involved in the DW undersoil heating system was cobbled together with the lower leagues in mind, because even though Dave Whelan had ambitions of the Premiership back when the stadium was completed in 1999, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pinched the odd penny here and there. Good old Uncle Dave, ever the tightwad Northerner.

However, I’m inclined to blame this failure on the now slightly dated and probably very rusty technology rather than an inability to foot the heating bill or even bunch of Bolton fans with spanners. Besides, do you not think we’d have heard about that by now? There’s a deadly anti-Trotter forcefield within a one-mile radius of the stadium that’s only turned off when we play Bolton. They’ve got a similar one at the Reebok as well – it’s called the car park.

The ‘too much sand’ theory

Aw come on, it isn't that bad.

The wonderful Wikipedia journalists at Sky have mentioned the high sand content in the DW surface doesn’t exactly help the pitch hold together very well. Can you blame us Wiganers for dreaming of the seaside? On more than one occasion last year, the powers that be lorried half of Blackpool beach to Wigan town centre, building a large sandpit just outside Hampson’s.

Maybe afterwards, the whole lot was ‘illegally’ dumped (read: fly tipped with permission) in the centre circle at the DW – Big Dave and his penny pinching again? Nah, don’t be so cynical.

The ‘there is no conspiracy’ theory

On this occasion, I would say a combination of bad luck and bad weather have worked against us. The particularly cold winter we’ve just experienced has seen more snow fall in Wigan than there has been in the entire decade, and the poor old undersoil heating has really taken some stick over the last few months. In fact, it’s a surprise the thing never broke down before it did, and when it finally gave up the ghost last month, the groundsmen were fighting a losing battle to keep the surface at Arsene Wenger standards for this month’s three home games in a row.

So there.

Why would Roberto Martinez, a manager who’s made it clear how passing is an integral part of his tactics this season, want the DW to be in such a state that every time the ball hits the ground you need a crowbar to get it out again? Go back to reading the Daily Mail, there are no conspiracies here.

I swear, Alex, I have no idea where your biscuits have disappeared to...

Is Roberto Martinez in training to be the next Alex Ferguson or what?

Seasoned football watchers will be well versed in the big Scot’s blame-shifting tactics; the referee wasn’t fit enough to keep up; the fourth official didn’t add enough/added too much stoppage time; the grass was too long; somebody stole our half time Jaffa Cakes.

The problem is, Manchester United are one of the best sides in the country and Fergie can get away with it because he’s just so awesome. When Roberto Martinez attempts it, it looks, well, foolish. Unfortunately it smacks of desperation, something we really do not need to be making obvious to our fellow relegation battlers who will no doubt see this as weakness.

Mind you, it’s not as if Bob could focus on his team’s performance which, for the most part, wasn’t quite there. Much like against Bolton and Notts County (to name but a couple, actually), Latics had their best spell of pressure for about 25-30 minutes in the second half, and this would have been fine if it resulted in a goal. Problem is, it didn’t.

The first half, by contrast, was more circumspect. Wigan more than competed, but then we did at White Hart Lane in November and we all know what happened after that. Sorry for bringing that up yet again, because even though I didn’t/haven’t seen the game on Sky Sports yet I’m guessing Andy Gray et al did that enough yesterday afternoon – and all week, come to think of it.

Spurs probably had the better of the early stages with Wigan just coming into things in the latter part of the first period. Rodallega drew a fine save from Gomes and N’Zogbia sent a shot just over the Tottenham bar, which I suppose was a creditable effort. No goal, though, and Tottenham had one of their own on the 30-minute mark when Jermain Defoe broke free of the Latics’ offside trap to tap in at the back post. To be fair to the Wigan defence, they kept their line well and on this occasion just couldn’t keep up with Defoe’s pace.

Speaking of Defoe, he was visibly riled up by a challenge from Gary Caldwell shortly after, and both men can perhaps count themselves lucky they didn’t find themselves in ref Alan Wiley’s notebook. In fact, it’s a wonder there weren’t a few more bookings as the tackles flew in left, right and centre (but mostly centre) from both sides. Not that things were unduly heated, just a might physical.

I do Wigan a disservice, actually. They gave it their all, and whether it was fallout from a tough contest on a heavy pitch against Bolton or just plain bad luck, it just didn’t happen. Again. Even with the earlier introduction of Victor Moses and the best efforts of Rodallega and co., all Latics could muster in the second half, efforts-on-target-wise, was a cross come shot fumbled by Gomes in the Spurs goal.

Chris Kirkland was called upon late in the second half

The hosts became increasingly desperate, pushing forward for an equaliser as time was running out. Unfortunately it only let in first Defoe, then Crouch — both expertly handled by Chris Kirkland — and finally Pavlyuchenko, who came from the bench to make it 2-0 with fifteen minutes to play, and the game was already over when he grabbed a second deep into injury time.

There was a somewhat unusual (and perhaps unwarranted) hype surrounding the afternoon that built an expectation for Latics to somehow emerge with a win. Whilst hope springs eternal, and with this Latics team there’s always the chance (there’s a Lawro-ism if ever I heard one), even the most hardened Ticsmen will concede that realistically, Wigan weren’t likely to salvage much, if anything, from the game.

This didn’t stop the floods of complaints from the ‘casual’ Liverpool and Man United fans on an afternoon out — yes, they were in the West Stand and I did hear them constantly asking what the Liverpool score was — that they were glad they don’t have a season ticket at the DW.

This is unfortunate, as days like this are obviously not going to help in the pursuit of building up a future supporter base. But come on, they’re used to watching a team with the cream of European talent and billions of pounds to buy the best of the best – we struggle to get even one decent player a season, and even then we flog them to Man United.

I feel we’re simply going through a bad patch at the moment, and that sooner or later we’re bound to find the back of the net again. There’s no doubt time is beginning to run short now, but at this stage we’re still in a better position than Hull, Wolves, Burnley and poor old Portsmouth. The onus is on them to do something, and as long as we stay out of the relegation zone for the remainder of the season, it’ll be mission accomplished.

It’s been a week to forget for the Latics, who’ll be glad of six days’ break before the next test: Birmingham away. Alex McLiesh’s side are virtually assured of staying in the Premier League now, but will complacency set in and allow Wigan to steal the points? We can only hope.

The final word in this report must go to James McCarthy, who gave an excellent impression of himself in the centre of midfield and hardly put a foot wrong all afternoon. For me, he was the Latics man of the match, and I can just see him becoming an Ireland/Scotland regular in years to come; he’s still a teenager, and has plenty of time to improve even further.

Just thought I’d finish on a success story there to lift the gloom of a six-game stretch without a win for the Latics. Things could always be worse – you could be a Portsmouth fan.

Edman has left the club on a free transfer

It was announced last week that Latics’ Swedish international left back Erik Edman had returned to Helsingborgs, the club where he made his name, having struggled to regain a place in Martinez’s first team after a spate of injuries.

It’ll be surprising to some that Edman made only nine league appearances in his two-year spell at Wigan, and that he was once a regular fixture in the Swedish international team. However, a short time after he joined the Latics, he sustained a serious knee injury that would keep him out for the remainder of the 2007/2008 season and also Euro 2008.

Unfortunately for Edman, he’ll be remembered by many as a member of the Wigan side that lost 9-1 to Tottenham in November. Since then, he has been on the fringes of the first team, on standby as replacement for Maynor Figueroa, and the club have allowed him to move to Helsingborgs on a free transfer to find first team football.

I prefer to remember Erik as the man who, up until his injury, so ably filled the void left by Leighton Baines. Though his appearances were limited, he impressed under Steve Bruce and were it not for an unfortunate challenge, I reckon we’d have had a long term stalwart that would have gone down in Latics lore as one of the best defenders we’ve had at the club.

Alas it was not to be, and with Figueroa now the man in possession of the left back berth, we bid Erik a fond farewell and wish him every success in the future. I really hope he goes on to bigger things, and the Tottenham game does not ruin his career because we’ve seen plenty of talent there, a sentiment echoed by the Swedish FA, who’ve called on him for international duty on 57 occasions.