The new Wigan library -- BBC*

The media have once again turned the club into a laughing stock. Sure, Latics fans know full well that this weekend’s Fulham contest had the club’s single best home attendance of the season (80% of all seats sold out – not bad for a non-Saturday match against a London club) and the number of Wigan supporters at each game has been steadily rising, but this clearly isn’t good enough for the mainstream media.

They continue to focus on the 150-odd away fans that made the short and relatively inexpensive 200-mile trip north on a Sunday just to make the point that nobody watches Little Wigan or Little Fulham. That would normally be just about tolerable, except in this instance the atmosphere and support just so happened to be so good you didn’t notice. Not one news source cared to point that out.

All they are interested in is figures, and the bottom line is that this was the lowest attended match of the season. Oh really? Does that really matter in the grand scheme of things? Supporters that care about the football and not sensationalism will know that it isn’t particularly, but if there’s a story to be had, then the BBC will pounce upon it for the purposes of  ‘entertainment’. As a result, Wigan are the subject of some undeserved and totally unwarranted stick. It’s just furthering the media characterisation of the club as some irrelevant small-town, second-rate outfit run by a raving old loony.

Read the rest of this entry »

Krappo couldn't hit it for a Twix.

More like a blessing full stop.

I think it’s fair to say that Olivier Kapo isn’t the most popular of guys down at the DW. Steve Bruce mystified fans throughout last season by continuing to play him in the attacking midfield position while many thought there were better players waiting on the sideline to readily take his place.

Certain fans, this one included, came close to tearing their hair out over his fifty yard pot shots that never even came within a double decker’s distance (that’s the bus, not the chocolate bar) of the opposition goalkeeper. Although he did manage one potentially crucial goal against Chelsea, this does not make up for the many other chances he wasted throughout the course of the season.

Read the rest of this entry »