Gianfranco Zola: Safe for another season?

Readers that regularly frequent the DW, and indeed any other football ground at which Wigan Athletic may currently be playing, can’t have failed to noticed the flag marked ‘WAFC: The Religion’ resting proudly amongst the hardy band of Latics hardcore supporters — who some might term ‘nutjobs’, but not I — chuntering amongst each other in a typically northern fashion.

In many ways, football is indeed very much like a religion, a sentiment I’m sure millions of supporters nation- and even worldwide will readily echo. For starters, it seems crazy that anyone would deliberately put themselves through the catastrophic lows and often unbearable suffering of another straight defeat or loss to a passionately hated local rival. Yet, just like a ‘proper’, ‘officially’ established religion, they continue to do so, retaining their blind faith in the hope they will be rewarded next Saturday. Or Sunday, Monday or Tuesday if you’re one of the Big Four. Cheers, Sky.

Without going too deep into the ‘money in football’ argument (which I also discuss briefly in an interview for the Bert Trautmann’s Neck blog, which, by the way, is certainly worth a read) or indeed any sort of sociological theories that will most likely bore you to tears, it seems strange that we put our faith in a team of businessmen more intent on making money than seeing the club they actually have some sort of emotional attachment to do well (Liverpool, Manchester United, numerous other top flight teams). In some cases, the overwhelming urge to succeed can lead to financial ruin (Portsmouth) and the almost unthinkable: complete disappearance from the face of the earth (Chester City, Scarborough FC etc.).

Yes, religion and money are undoubtedly interlinked in a greater capacity than we would care to imagine. It’s a sad fact that these days football clubs are marketed as brands you might casually subscribe to just to ‘look cool’, when in actual fact one’s fanaticism for runs much deeper than that. For evidence of this, you need look no further than the recent spate of what have been termed ‘phoenix clubs’, fans’ attempts to re-establish another club and start afresh at a lower league level. The real fans, the ones that travel to watch their team each weekend, don’t care about the money or pretty much anything else apart from football.

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Premier League match report.

• Official match action – Latics website
• Illarterate Flickr account
  

It wasn’t exactly the kind of performance that’s going to get you in the first few games on Match of the Day — especially considering the high number of goals scored in the Premier League today — but it was Latics’ first home points of the season, and that’s all that matters.

You can grit it out for ninety minutes away from home, give your all defensively but still concede the killer goal in the final minute to come away with nothing. This was nothing like the Everton game, though. Whereas the Latics goal was pretty much pummelled for ninety minutes that afternoon, things were much more even today. Martinez predicted an open game, and so it proved to be.

It wasn’t glamorous, but in the end it got the job done. Roberto had tweaked the starting line-up from the aforementioned Everton game, with Paul Scharner consigned to the bench, and a now fully-fit Chris Kirkland returning from injury. The latter had a bit of work to do, but managed to repel all shots — including a potentially dangerous deflection which he managed to tip round his left post — and retain his clean sheet.

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