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.

We are still to receive an apology for all this nonsense, and I’m very surprised the club haven’t reacted more strongly against the BBC in particular. Now, numerous ‘reputable’ news outlets are taking the BBC’s unfounded views as gospel, which is ever so slightly worrying.

Fulham returned from their midweek visit to the Stadio Olimpico to the unglamorous JJB Stadium which boasted the undesirable record of the lowest crowd attendance of anywhere in the Premier League so far this season. — The Sport View

“Unglamorous”? You never saw Springfield Park, did you, boyo?

NUMBER OF THE DAY: 16,172 – The number of fans who turned out to watch Wigan’s 1-1 draw with Fulham, the lowest attendance in the Premier League this season. — Eurosport

Let me reword that: “16,000 – The number of Latics fans that turned out to watch Wigan’s 1-1 draw with Fulham, their highest home attendance of the Premier League this season.” Way to be positive, Eurosport.

Approximately 5 people saw a goalkeeping masterclass from Kirkland and Schwarzer. — Robbo Robson, BBC

Oh, were the other 16,000 covering their eyes because they felt they didn’t deserve to be watching their clubs play Premier League football? Probably, because I know I was. Those that weren’t blindfold will tell you that the football was more important than who was and who wasn’t sat in a centrally-heated pub watching the match on dodgy satellite.

I can accept such low-rate attendance-bashing from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea, but when the BBC are resorting to this kind of journalism you know you’re really up against it. I suppose we should just accept our position as also-rans and continue to be hammered by the Liverpool and Man United fans that stalk the pubs of Wigan just to shout “16,000″ every time they see someone in a Latics shirt.

Come on Whelan, get on Sky Sports News and set the record straight! Less than five people might take you seriously, but that’s still five more than those outside of the borough who listen to Wigan’s fans. Oh, and BBC, you can shove Rome up yer jacksy – their pies are well expensive.

*Look, I haven’t had chance to snap an empty stand since they rebranded it the DW, OK?

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.

Every time his name appeared on the starting lineup, I’d think “oh, maybe he’ll do something good this time”. More often than not, though, I felt let down by his performance as he struggled against the best — and in some cases the worst — the Prem had to offer.

This season there are no excuses, what with the bazillions of quality midfielders now at the club. The Wigan Evening Post seem to be making a huge thing about how his injury will be a big blow to Martinez, but it would be silly to let this back page off-season filler propaganda scare you. Don’t look at it as a problem, but an opportunity for the other guys to show they are better than Mr. Kapo, leading to his eventual sale to Sunderland for more than we paid for him. As my Daily Mail reading Dad might say, ‘they’re not stupid, you know. It’s all about making money’.

Don’t get me wrong. He isn’t the worst player in the world, and will more than likely prove effective at Championship level (no doubt with Sunderland for the 2010/11 season), but surely a club with aspirations of Europe can do much better.