Here it is, arguably the greatest week in the history of Wigan Athletic football club. At stake: a place in the FA Cup Final and potentially Europe, plus all the meat and potato pies you can stomach! Alright, I fabricated one of those prizes in the name of ‘comedy’, but you have to admit the other two would still be blooming impressive for Little Wigan.

First up is a brief review of the QPR game. Now, football isn’t exactly an extreme sport (though certain tackles involving Latics players in the past month might have temporarily convinced you otherwise), and I’m not equating Shaun Maloney’s last-gasp cracker against QPR to doing a bungee jump off the top of the Life Centre or walking barefoot through a supermarket glass-recycling skip. But the addictive sense of satisfaction we so crave is much the same.

We could not dwell on past glories (inglories?) for long, however, as the capital beckons. Hey, it’s the edition you’ve all been waiting for, so I will not post many lengthy teasers otherwise the surprise will be spoiled. Just download it!

Contents: QPR Review (0:00); Exclusive interview special with Ray Mathias (14:05); Wem-ber-lee (19:50); “Just what does Jordi Gomez bring to the team?” (45:12)

Get involved!

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

PWU iTunes and RSS pages exist should you require their services, and despite what Greg says, please don’t feel guilty about listening to the podcast during the long coach trip down to Wembley. Maybe stick it on your mp3 player and save it for then?

I didn’t want to say it on the podcast, but my bullish 4-0 prediction is based on a dream I had a few days ago. Emmerson Boyce scored the final goal in the last few minutes of the game. I know it sounds stupid but dreams generally are, like that silly idea that Latics might reach the FA Cup semi finals. Tut, what is this madness?

Thanks for listening, and in the words of Mr Mathias, win or lose, try to savour every moment of this weekend.

Just pretend the jockeys are Harry and Roberto. I can’t be bothered loading up Photoshop on a Sunday evening

OK, let’s get this out of the way before we go any further. For backing Harry the Viking instead of Roberto Goldback in yesterday’s Grand National, I am a disgrace to the club and shall spend the rest of the week perched on the naughty step next to that pile of dirty laundry and Dad’s slippers to be taken upstairs.

I urge you to forgive these traitorous actions and read the rest of this post. Pretty please? I will slip you a free ticket to Tuesday’s Party Like It’s 1999 Joseph’s Goal charity bash. Actually no, I can’t afford to give those things away for they are like gold dust at this point. No, really – they have been reduced to yellowish microparticles squished between my library card and old person’s rail pass (please don’t ask why I have one at my age) in my wallet.

That pesky Villa, eh? If they weren’t half as good we might have worked ourselves into a position of relative safety by now. Nevertheless, Latics tucked into their Sunday lunch (I dunno, raw eggs or something I guess) full in the knowledge that a win would not only lift them back out of the relegation zone but possibly open up an Aston Villa-sized cushion to 18th place. Yeah, I know you’re not supposed to count on the performance other teams but it’s fun to play devil’s advocate, isn’t it?

Enough about them, let’s talk about us. And QPR. At Loftus Road this afternoon. *Takes deep breath*

Read the rest of this entry »

Why did we ever doubt it? Once again, Latics are punching (and in some cases kicking, but the less said of that the better) their way to a respectable position considering a season of largely average results. Sticking with the weather theme, it’s a bit like staying inside with a cup of cocoa while neighbours are frantically clearing their paths, then waiting for the snow to melt before sweeping away the discarded crisp packets and half-consumed bottles of Fanta.

With a bit of luck, you’ll be hearing similar (admittedly dodgy) analogies between now and the end of the campaign, hopefully involving that fabled trophy in town this afternoon. Speaking of which, did I mention there are less than nine days until the FA Cup semi finals? I must draw your attention to a variety of pre-Wembley events going on next week, some of which may involve the PWU Podcast. Oooh, spoilers! Hey, it’s like waiting for your Christmas presents, isn’t it?

Where’s Wally-style task: try and spot the moment a participant carefully and quietly extracts an Uncle Joe’s from the bag before noisily dropping it on the table, provoking a Muttley laugh from another participant (perhaps myself). Here’s a hint: it’s somewhere around the 42 minute mark.

Contents: Norwich review (1:31); QPR preview (20:12); Joseph’s Goal bash update (48:07)

Get involved!

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

The PWU banter continues over on Twitter at the @JesusIsAWiganer and @PWUPodcast accounts. The former is mine, despite the slight naming discrepancy – those of you who listened last week will know the tale of ‘too few characters’, but I’m already wasting too much bandwidth by repeating this for the umpteenth time this month. Better save space somehow… erm, right. PWU iTunes and RSS pages exist. Also, cheers.

The PWU research team preparing for next week's episode

In a shameless effort to rope in more listeners, the PWU Podcast has gone all Talksport on us and started rustling a few jimmies. Admittedly this mostly amounts to taking the mick out of Phil Dowd’s luncheon arrangements*, but there are one or two other mildly ‘controversial’ statements thrown in for good measure. See if you can spot them all for a prize!†

The usual PWU analysis is tucked away in there as well, plus what Paul really thinks of the Maynor Figueroa incident at St James’ Park. There are also a few shoutouts for people that deserve them, and oh, I managed to correct myself and say Antolin Alcaraz’s name properly this time! I blame Graham Lovett for the repeated ‘Alcatraz’ comments, which I will probably go back to next week.

Something special is in store for a forthcoming festive edition of PWU, so you definitely don’t want to miss a thing! Follow the PWU Podcast on Twitter, iTunes or RSS for updates on the Christmas jollities which will no doubt ensue. I might throw in the odd tweet or two as well, so feel completely free to follow me on Twitter.

* We love you really, Phil. Get in touch and we’ll gladly invite you to next week’s recording.
† Actual prize: a kick in the teeth. Which, I guess, is better than a kick in th- oh, wait…
☞ This isn’t a genuine footnote – I just wanted to use that fancy typographical hand symbol.