Statistics are great if you’re a Championship Manager fanatic, but football matches are not automatically generated on a video screen (at least not yet). Heading into this afternoon’s potential Blockbuster, form suggested a tough weekend in store for the ailing Wigan Athletic, their very FA Premier League existence in Jeopardy.

Recent league fortunes could not have been more contrasting: the Reading Masterteam had defeated Newcastle, Sunderland and West Brom on their way to the brink of the safety zone. Latics, meanwhile, were in desperate need of three points having failed to win a game in 2013 thus far. You know all about this, so it would be Pointless for me to continue.

Could Roberto Strike it Lucky and Mastermind another Great Escape? Alright, that last one was a film. I’ll stop the game shows theme now, because it’s a gimmick overused in the general blogosphere… possibly.

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Here’s a hypothetical puzzler for you: if Wigan were to somehow scrape into a European slot, would it be a good or bad thing for the club? No doubt the pessimists among us have already stopped reading, but for those still remotely interested, please indulge me for a moment and advance to the second paragraph.

Congratulations! You have a greater attention span than half the internet. Good for you. But back to the matter at hand – the Europa League. One’s immediate reaction is that yes, of course qualifying for a European competition is of great benefit to any team, not least financially. There’s the subsequent publicity and terrestrial television appearances, plus the prospect of touring the continent with the mighty Wigan Athletic. You can’t go wrong, surely?

Well, let’s put it another way. Could a squad as limited as Wigan’s be competitive in the really big leagues? One looks at the improved strength in depth this season and recognises its effectiveness in comparison to dismal domestic cup campaigns of years past, but Callum McManaman against Lazio and Inter Milan? A tantalising prospect indeed, but there are issues aside from quality.

Unfortunately, Newcastle’s celestial 2011-12 league campaign was quickly forgotten, lost in a horror November that took in four losses and a draw. It would be unfair to entirely attribute this to their European endeavours, but they can’t have helped. Even a side of such divine magnificence as Man City seem to be struggling to compete in three concurrent cup competitions. And we haven’t yet elaborated on the potential effect on a squad’s general health.

Right, that’s enough boxes ticked on the ‘teams to disrespect’ checklist, because I am in severe danger of rolling into ‘doesn’t know what he’s talking about’ territory. My ultimate point is this: could Wigan take advantage of Newcastle’s recent problems with injuries and form? There, should have made that the first sentence, eh?

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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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Latics’ Honduran connection was out in force at the club shop today as Hendry Thomas and Maynor Figueroa were on hand to launch a limited edition poster celebrating Figs’ 60-yard goal against Stoke in December.

Attendees could also attempt to recreate the wonder strike out in the DW car park, where a training goal had been set up near the West Stand ticket office. As it transpired, not many managed to score — even from a distance ever so slightly shorter than sixty yards — though Hendry and Maynor had no problem at all.

A group of schoolkids, probably bussed in to ensure at least someone turned up on a Thursday afternoon, cheered heartily as Figueroa successfully placed the ball into the net just as he had done four months ago.

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