I didn’t want to mention the Notts County game for fear of tempting fate, but I guess now it’s all over I can reference said tie as much as I like. I won’t, though, because I will only end up repeating myself.

You know those days where nothing goes right? Where every shot goes inches wide, where every attempt at breaking down a resolute 11-man defensive line comes to naught? Well, this was one of those nights. A night you just wanted to be over as quickly as possible so you could expunge the memory to make way for forthcoming victories over Man United and Chelsea. (Wishful thinking?)

A night you don’t want to relive by writing reports the evening after. But I have to do it, because this stuff must be documented – mark this low point, for you’d expect anything that follows to be magnificent in comparison. Ooh, now that’s a positive and a half for you.

Wigan proceeded to play their expected deliberate, patient game, and for 20 minutes it seemed to be working well. Ivan Ramis had the ball in the net within nine minutes only to see his thumping header ruled out for offside. Latics looked as if they might score any minute now, and you thought it was only a matter of time.

Later that half, Mauro Boselli squandered a couple of fantastic opportunities to get the Wigan ball rolling, a ball that would probably have found the opposition net a few more times had either of those chances resulted in a (legal) goal. But neither did, and as the game wore on, Wigan would only become increasingly frustrated.

Bradford were happy to let the hosts knock the ball around midfield as it was evident this posed no real threat. Wigan were passing themselves to death while the visitors looked on, a knowing grin on their faces.

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Robert-o yeah, you mean? (c) Daily Mirror

I keep mentioning it, but last season’s September-November ‘blip’ was such a prominent event you can’t help but constantly reference it. Heaven knows the media love to, though common consensus is that such talk is all about winning popularity contests and/by selling chip paper. Which reminds me, I must remember to try out Sharpy’s before I get too fat on Wispa Golds and have to go on a diet.

One sensed a single win might go a long way to easing any fears of a repeat ‘performance’, even if that victory were to come in the Capital One Cup. Or, as many cynical commentators have dubbed it, the New Reserve Cup. I’m not sure what happened to the actual reserves, but that league seems to be the domain of the U21s now, so the League Cup will have to do for early-season experimentation.

Roberto didn’t go completely crazy with his changes, but did grant Fulham subs Boselli, McManaman and Miyaichi starts. You would guess this is where that extra match sharpness afforded by appearances in the U21s would come in handy. And goodness, how it did.

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After years and years of being the underdog in cup competitions, I still find it hard to adjust to the tag of ‘giant’. Mostly because it’s one of those media terms used, often erroneously, to glorify the Midweek Floodlit Trophy. In reality, Latics are as much giants as Nottingham Forest are ‘minnows’: in fact one could successfully argue the double European Champions are the bigger club – I certainly wouldn’t contest that statement.

Sky Sports, then, clearly respect Wigan’s higher league placing, even if they did select this game on the basis there could possibly (would probably?) be an upset. So, for one evening, all neutrals became Forest supporters because it’s much more fun to shout for the underdog. On the evidence of that, Sky wouldn’t have drawn much criticism for billing this broadcast ‘Everybody Hates Wigan‘.

Enough media-fuelled cynicism (for now), because there was a game of football to play here, remember? Agh, well I suppose I’d better talk about it – I did watch the whole thing on telly after all. Alright, get your ‘part time supporter’ jibes out of the way now – The Boss (no, not that one, or indeed that one) wasn’t about to tolerate me booking a Wednesday off for a ‘silly Carling Cup game’.

I’m joking of course, because my boss is cool. He knows it’s called the Capital One Cup now, and is fully aware of how we get so excited about such matches. He doesn’t understand the hype, but at the very least acknowledges the effect it can have on the die-hard footy fan.

As we all know deep down, the awful truth is that the League Cup is the league’s poorer cousin and a lot of managers just find it a pain in the proverbials. Roberto says he is a fan, but one suspects this is only because it gives his second team a taste of the action. Which, I guess, is free advertising for potential loan deals. Oh, and it’s good for competition. Indeed, this evening’s tie will have given him cause to briefly reconsider Saturday’s starting lineup… maybe.

Although Martinez did make numerous changes, it was a pretty strong Latics side that took to the pitch at kick off. Well, I did say that in the past and was made to eat my words, but you felt tonight could be different. Heck, we were due a good cup performance after the disappointments of last season.

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Ex-Eagle Ben Watson helped inject some confidence, but it was too late

It’s somewhat surprising that, in the long and illustrious history of the English Football League, Wigan have only crossed paths with Crystal Palace twice previously. Maybe it’s our ex-Palace contingent of Ben Watson, Emmerson Boyce and Victor Moses that makes it seem as though we’ve had more dealings with the Eagles, at least on the pitch, than we actually have. If one were being tongue-in-cheek, one might even say Latics are something of a Palace B-team, and that Dougie Freedman’s men would complete a comprehensive victory over a subservient visiting Wigan side.

It is true that Roberto Martinez has a mixed record against non-Premier League opposition, with some memorable wins and equally miserable losses –most notably that desolate 2-0 defeat to Notts County at the DW– thrown into the mix for good measure. On the whole, however, he’s been relatively successful, even with reserves and bench-warmers handed an opportunity wherever possible. Win or lose, the argument for fringe-teamers being given a run-out is compelling – after all, you can’t afford to field a weakened squad in any Premier League game these days, in more ways than one. Make too many changes and you risk the wrath of the Football Association, and unless you’re Alex Ferguson, a hefty fine to go with it.

Roberto promised his usual changes, and certainly delivered on this front, with seven alterations from the side that started against Manchester City at the weekend. Patrick van Aanholt, David Jones and Shaun Maloney were handed their debuts, while Albert Crusat made his first start for Latics. Conor Sammon and Hendry Thomas were drafted into the midfield and attack respectively, with McManaman and Dicko taking their place on the bench.

Captain for the day Maynor Figueroa was switched to a more central position while van Aanholt occupied the left wing. None of the aforementioned ex-Eagles retained their place in the Latics starting line up, with Boyce out injured and Moses and Watson jostling for position on the subs bench.

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