Forget what happened in 2012, the Premier League season starts right here. All that has gone is mere preliminary for this, the second set of fixtures, the latter half of the campaign, the time when Wigan traditionally arrive on the scene to put themselves into contention for survival. Let’s get it on!

*Rips open extra large virgin bag of Walkers Baked*

Kone-less Latics set up with an extra defensive midfielder in David Jones, who slotted into his usual position behind the two James Macs. Franco Di Santo would lead the frontline, aided and abetted by support striker-cum-midfield dynamo Shaun Maloney to complete what seemed like a full(ish)-strength starting lineup.

The visitors made a good start, with Shaun Maloney and James McArthur getting away strikes in the space of a few minutes. Neither were on target, but there were plenty of good passing interchanges to offer hope of a goal. Better yet, Latics were snapping at the heels of Fulham’s defenders, picking up the odd misplaced pass to create openings throughout the half.

It was a very even opening 45 minutes, but Fulham edged proceedings going into the break. They applied the pressure with a good spell around the 20 minute mark, the crowning glory of which was Giorgos Karagounis’ unstoppable strike. His right-foot effort from just outside the area found its way past three defenders, cannoned off the inside of Al Habsi’s right hand post and over the goal line to put Fulham ahead in spectacular fashion. One can blame defensive uncertainly all one likes, but there isn’t much you can do with such an accurate shot.

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After doing the Bournemouth game to death in a previous on-location bonus episode, the Progress With Unity team pick any remaining rotting, maggot-ridden flesh from the bones of its corpse. It’s a lot more appealing than I just made it sound, I promise.

Other, more light-hearted(?) topics of note include Mauro Boselli’s actual transfer fee (it’s far less than you’d think), the imperious, ‘vampirical’ Dimitar Berbatov and the possibility of signing that Michael Jackson statue in this transfer window.

Does anybody really care about cups? If terrestrial television were to stop screening games from the competitions, would they fall prey to Bskyb and the money/power-hungry Premier League? Exactly none of these issues are raised in this week’s edition, but maybe there will be some more heated debate following next week’s Bournemouth replay. Yay!

Sorry about that minor dose of sarcasm, but I’m all cupped out for the time being. Roll on Craven Cottage.

Contents: Bournemouth review (0:00) & replay preview (16:10), Macclesfield wishful thinking (13:30), Fulham preview (22:00)

Progress With Unity is currently the only Wigan Athletic fan podcast on the internet. If you would like to get involved or have any topics that you’d like to be discussed please get in touch with Barry at wigan@vitalfootball.co.uk, marking your email PWU Podcast.

As ever, one can visit the Progress With Unity Twitter, iTunes and RSS pages for more news on the rapidly expanding PWU empire. Or you could go and tempt David Beckham to move to Wigan for minimum wage and a steak pie, either is fine with me.

For your delectation and delight, the latest episode of the fantastic Progress With Unity Podcast is now available to sample. Sadly I’m not in this one, so you’ll just have to pretend there’s some guy constantly chuckling and making inadvisable ‘jokes’. Or not, because it’s all the better for it.

I like to stick the mp3 on my favourite media player and listen to it on the train whilst pretending the guys are chatting on a nearby table, but then I am a bit strange like that. Grab the RSS Feed here, or subscribe on iTunes and you can do the same! Though I know you probably won’t.

'Oogo received warm applause from all sides of the ground

It’s somewhat surprising to me that historically, Fulham at home hasn’t been a fruitful fixture for the mighty (though sometimes scrawny) Wigan Athletic. You see, usually we bear a grudge against teams we just haven’t been able to beat – Manchester United (of course), West Ham, Preston and so on. Ah, a statistical goldmine, that PWU Podcast.

Fulham is a different situation altogether. One senses a more jovial atmosphere between the clubs, with friendly banter free of pointless ‘big club’ or ‘we’ve got more superstars’ arguments that last until early Sunday morning. Of course there is the history – just think back to 1996-1997 when Latics edged out the Cottagers to claim the Division Three title on goal difference. Plenty of cause for rivalry there, you might think, but nope.

Today’s opponents have undoubtedly had their revenge since then, winning the past eleven league fixtures against Wigan before today’s showdown. These humblings somehow slip under the radar when that ‘difficult teams to beat’ question is raised in your pub quiz. Funny thing is, it’s generally a close contest but the visitors always seem to come out on top, through skill, luck or divine intervention. Sadly, this particular meeting between the two followed much the same script.

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