Peter Crouch looked slightly off-colour, and was replaced by Pavlyuchenko at half time

Just when we really needed it, how’s about that for a Latics ‘dream week’? I don’t recall back-to-back wins under Martinez since the last time Halley’s Comet was visible from Earth to the naked eye.

Actually, it was January, but it seems like far, far longer – after all, we’ve conceded a whole raft of goals and more than a modicum of frustration since.

By contrast, it seems like only yesterday that Latics were taking an absolute spanking at the hands of today’s opponents.

You’ve got the mainstream media to thank for that, because if it were up to me I’d have subjected anyone who ever even so much as mentioned WhiteHartLaneGate to the pleasure of having a large horse leave a nice pressie on their front lawn. I’m not talking about an XBOX with FIFA 10 here, and you know it (though certain PES fans may strongly disagree).

Oh how the boot was on the other foot this afternoon. Tottenham showed none of the attacking threat of that fateful evening in November, the likes of Lennon and Defoe a mere shadow of their former selves. Add to the mix an on-song goalkeeper full of confidence off the back of a clean sheet in a three-nil victory on Tuesday (and yet to concede a competitive goal this season), some resolute Latics defence and you have one large upset with which the press can have a field day. At least until Man United pasted West Ham later in the afternoon.

Ali Al-Habsi was certainly the stand out performer of the afternoon, pulling off a number of highly important saves to keep Latics’ clean sheet intact for the duration of the game. It was somewhat lucky considering Younes Kaboul”s wonderful 86th minute opportunity, perhaps the only occasion when the Omani looked more than a little suspect as he rushed off his line.

Read the rest of this entry »

Victor Moses troubled the scorers with an 86th minute strike

Well, would you believe it? Latics’ first match in a new, non-orange away kit has led to our first competitive away win under Martinez whilst wearing anything other than blue and white. There can only be one explanation, and that’s the old ‘Tangerine Dream’, henceforth termed the Oranjeboom Nightmare, was jinxed. A rotten satsuma, if you will.

Yep, it can’t be that League One Hartlepool United just couldn’t live up to the ‘quality’ of a so-called Premier League team because Wigan couldn’t even score against, let alone beat, Blackpool. A quick glance at last night’s other results show that our conquerors of two weeks ago actually lost to MK Dons. I guess this logic places the Seasiders in League One and Latics in the Conference or something, and I wonder where the ‘orange kit’ theory comes into that?

Thank goodness football has little to do with logic, otherwise we’d have people like Paul Merson moonlighting as pundits. Oh, wait… Well, I suppose that’s one reason to be pleased Sky Sports News has disappeared from free-to-air television.

Now, dare I say it? Has Martinez’ side finally ‘clicked’? There’s no doubt last night’s victory is a nice little confidence booster, but I think it’s impossible to tell. Latics were never in total control until quite late in the game, despite the one goal lead they held for 70-odd minutes, and that’s partially down to the old cup tie mentality of ‘we don’t wanna lose against a team two divisions below us’. I think it was Graham Lovett on WISH FM that first pointed that out, actually.

Read the rest of this entry »

Don't look back: A hole too large for Martinez to fill?

You may well say I am not qualified to comment on yesterday’s game considering I wasn’t there and didn’t even watch it on telly or listen to it on WISH.

And you’d be right, especially since I have yet to watch any highlights or take in any post-match reaction save for Martinez’ brief comments for Ceefax. To tell you the truth, I’m dreading doing so, and will wait a few days for my disappointment to wane (if it ever will) before bringing myself to watch any sort of match action.

Still, in the interests of playing devil’s advocate, let’s go ahead and offer some sort of critique based simply on the scoreline.

Well, I tend to think a 4-0 loss would say it all, really. Kind of glad I wasn’t able to see the game to save myself from yet more embarrassment along the lines of last season’s defeats at the hands of Notts County, West Ham, Wolves and Portsmouth.

You can’t help but analyse yesterday in the light of results from the preceding season. The ‘long term plan’ Martinez and Whelan have set out sees the two campaigns merge into one, big ordeal (and yes I will call it that) whereby the club takes numerous blows to the solar plexus in the hope it gets in one or two telling blows of its own. The main problem lies in the fact our opponents need to be absolute pants for that to even threaten to happen.

If, in the long term, such tactics save the club from total extinction and keep us afloat for a few more years, then fine. After all, you never know the extent of what’s going on behind the scenes, and as a mere supporter, you don’t necessarily expect to be made privy to the inner workings of your football club.

Read the rest of this entry »

The La Liga outfit were certainly well drilled

Ins and outs, friendly bouts, international call-ups and dressing room bust ups. Well, maybe not so much of the last one (yet), but football is certainly back in Wigan with a vengeance for 2010.

Yesterday’s friendly at the DW Stadium kicked operations back into full swing for the no doubt gut-wrenching season of ecstasy and agony (hopefully less of the latter) to come, with a decent Wednesday night crowd of 3,500 out in force to sample the continental talent on offer.

This predicted test of Latics’ strongly European-flavoured line-up proved to be just that, a real trial for regulars and new boys alike. Though a bit rusty in parts, particularly the passing department in the first 45, Zaragoza’s finishing was clinical — at least, more clinical than Wigan’s — and once things had settled down they exhibited some of the confidence and assuredness Martinez aspires to.

But they weren’t that good. In fact, had the result of this game actually mattered, many will have walked away from the DW decidedly disappointed that Wigan just couldn’t create the shots on target or exorcise their defensive demons.

Read the rest of this entry »