Some of you may recall a blog I did a couple of months ago under the above title. We all know what has happened in the last couple of months and it somehow feels even more difficult to introduce such a concept when we’re rooted to the bottom of the table. But you know what, some football fans are like that. Usually the best kind – and I’m talking about football in general here not anyone in particular. When they are faced with adversity, they come out kicking and screaming and chanting and singing and laughing in the face of their predicament.

I always remember Millwall away a few years back. They hated us with a passion and had finally got one over on us at the New Den and were leading 3-1. We simply went downstairs for a pint or two at half time. Came back up suitably oiled ready to face thousands of mocking Cockneys and what did they get? 20 minutes of non-stop “Let’s Hang On” to which they had no answer to. Beaten but not disgraced.
It’s easy to love your football club when your football club is winning but it’s in times of adversity when your club really needs your love and support the most. It’s payback time now for those fifteen years of progression and success since Whelan threw his hand in. And by that I don’t mean we’re going down even though we might.  It’s time the fans gave the club some payback.

We need to pay the club back for the good times it has given us and stop wallowing in our own misery at our plight. There’s no point is there?
Roberto Martinez very bravely agreed to meet some fans’ representatives at short notice and regardless of your views on his management, one thing is for sure: when we have really, truly and unequivocally got behind the team – they have delivered: Blackpool, West Ham, Stoke and some of the bigger games the season before against Arsenal when we were 2-0 down and against Liverpool and Chelsea. There’s no point saying that the fans win the game. They don’t but they can influence the game. Even so it might not be enough but at least we can say we did our bit.

We need to be that 12^th Man. Trust me, we will enjoy it collectively. Let’s remind ourselves of why we fell in love with our football cub: that siege mentality, that little club battling against the odds, that never give up spirit. Let’s give those players such a wall of noise that they can’t fail to ignore it and if they are struggling, let’s give them encouragement – not get straight on their backs!
This isn’t about who is the bigger or better fan. This is about us all being bigger and better fans: doing everything we can to keep this club in the Premier League and maintaining that spirit no matter where our future lies.

So back to Project Unity: You can find the initial idea by clicking here. It was met with interest from some quarters and ridicule by others. It also met with approval from the club itself. I didn’t have all the answers just a set of ideas, plans and beliefs. Some of you who know me know that as a family man these days I don’t have much time on my hands these days so I admitted from the outset that maybe I am not the best person to lead this. I was hoping for inspiration for elsewhere but I just wanted to throw an idea out there.
If I could sum up one line from the initial piece below it would be as follows: we’re the best fans in the world when the chips are down, and usually get our rewards for it. Why do we always let it get to that stage. The chips are down and Wigan Athletic needs you.

The original concept was to travel en masse to away games, just like we did at Stoke and Blackpool and roar the lads on to victory by giving them the type of support that would blow them away. Well, as a few people have pointed out our home support isn’t exactly the most vocal either.
So let’s make this change this Saturday at home to Blackburn. There’s a rumour that the drummer might be back. Love him or loathe him, it’s been a lot quieter without him. From your own perspective, please try and get to your seat a few minutes before kick off and get ready to start singing even before the game starts. No matter where you sit: East, West or South – noise is infectious! Excite those players and they might excite you in return.

I guarantee there will be 4,000 Rovers fans there singing their hearts out. Let’s take it to them, pray for a good start buoyed by the atmosphere and before long they’ll be turning on their manager. Let’s show we are behind ours (even if you aren’t) by encouraging every Wigan Athletic footballer on the pitch every step of the way. I know we can’t prevent silly defensive mistakes but a) we’ve had quite enough of those lately and b) with a home crowd roaring them on, they will be more likely to attack because they want to please us. They’re footballers and they are easily pleased too, so get behind them.
Now to Sunderland and we had earmarked this one as a game to launch our campaign. Again, it’s going to be difficult given the recent run of results we’ve had but we also know from past experience that 500 of ours are worth 10,000 of any other clubs when we’re in the mood for it. So let’s get in the mood. If you’re stopping off, let others know where – the more the merrier. Keep it discreet but we know who the main fan groups are by now so let’s keep in touch.

Sunderland isn’t the most away friendly place so if need be let’s get in the ground for 2pm. Let’s get under the concourse, enjoy a few beers if that’s what you like to do and start singing your hearts out for a good 45 minutes. We’ve got some good young lads following us now, they’ve got plenty of enthusiasm and heart and just love following their football club up and down the country as many of us have done over time. Some of their songs might not be your cup of tea but they are the lifeblood of our support and will lead the way.
Let’s start building the atmosphere and then with 10 minutes to go let’s get upstairs and get the flags, balloons and banners flying and let’s greet those Wigan Athletic players with a cacophony of noise. Let’s catch our opponents out cold just for once and if we give that team great support they will respond. Imagine going to Sunderland, singing our hearts out and returning home with a great victory? Wouldn’t that be worth it for the look on Brucie’s face? Let’s show him that we might be a small club but we are a proud club with great fans, fans who get behind their team in times of distress.

Let’s use these two games to rebuild our season and rebuild our support and let’s keep in touch. Let’s build bridges between our fans using the exact same methods that we’re using to argue: phones, email, the Internet, Facebook, Twitter and so on. Together we can be stronger and fight this.

PROJECT UNITY: ITS’ TIME THE FANS OF WIGAN ATHLETIC FOUGHT BACK

As you have probably seen, we lent the Geordies a little piece of the TNS brains trust yesterday, so it’s only fair that we get a little piece back, isn’t it?  So we dragged in our North East and sneakily

We’ve had a phenomenal start to the season after a gloomy pre-season in the minds of many supporters and we do possess some excellent players. However the squad is thin and our continuing performance will greatly depend on how we cope with the inevitable raft of injuries and suspensions we encounter as the season progresses, not to mention the fact that for six weeks we will definitely lose Tiote and Ba to the African Cup of Nations tournament in January. We will need a squad to attack the rest of the season and there are consecutive tough fixtures ahead where we might find points difficult to come by, particularly ManCity (a), Man United (a) and Chelsea (h) in November. However, there are rumours that a couple of purchases are already being lined up to add further depth to our squad in January and I continue to be encouraged by the progress our young and dynamic team is making. Makes a nice change!

How did the fans initially feel when Hughton was sacked and Pardew was appointed?
Many were incandescent with rage, others resigned to the fact that under Mike Ashley nothing ever seems to run smoothly at NUFC. Many walked away at the end of last season as a result of the dismissal especially after the subsequent sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool. Others, myself included, considered doing so. I was in the group who were very angry, we seemed to have made good progress and Hughton above all else was a good, honest manager who seemed to have principle, a rare commodity in the game today. However, I was never a fan of the tactics employed by Hughton and I would have advocated a change for a superior, more tactically astute, manager with a proven track record. In fact, when it was rumoured that Martin Jol was to take over, his resignation from Ajax coincided with the sacking of Hughton, I would have accepted the decision with only a twinge of regret for a good man who did a good job. But Alan Pardew!? Why!?

Has the mood changed towards old fat mouth?
He is doing ok and is slowly building a positive reputation, no mean feat with some of the challenges he has faced. The team is playing well, there is seemingly an excellent spirit, he handles difficult situations very well such as the departures of Nolan and Barton, we’ve beaten Sunderland (always a boost to a manager’s standing!) and the football is entertaining with pace, passing and movement integral to our approach. He is obviously a competent manager and things such as tactical substitutions have really helped us, they were lacking under Hughton. I’m impressed, for now. The test of his abilities, and his improving standing with supporters, comes when we lose a few games.

How have you managed to actually improve your squad despite losing two of your better players in Andy Carroll and Joey Barton?
We appear to have an excellent scouting network in place, led by Graham Carr a former lower league, professional footballer from the North East who’s most noticeable achievement in his youth was fathering “chatty man” comedian Alan Carr. Our policy is to buy young(ish) at seemingly no older than 25 or 26 and to ensure that players are hungry for success, not the over-the-hill has-beens we’ve previously employed. This has seen us recruit the French international Johan Cabaye who is a play making midfielder, with an eye for a pass, who has slotted well into the team and become an instant fans favourite, reducing the affect of the loss of Joey Barton both on the pitch and in the stands. We’ve also adopted a strategy of maximising value, we signed Cabaye as he had a release clause in his contract at Lille allowing him to move for around £4.5mil. We’ve brought together a young and hungry side over the last two seasons replacing older, more expensive players with bargain buys with potential, players such as Cheik Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa, Davide Santon and Demba Ba who have had problems with injuries or attitude at former clubs but who we seem to be giving a chance to. For now it seems to be working and long may the improvement continue!

We know you’ve got the best fans in the world, where is your rightful place in today’s football pecking order?
Trick question? I’m not sure we have the best fans in the world, we are very well supported and have won nothing for many years especially relative to many other club of similar stature in the game, makes our crowds all the more impressive. I think anybody who wanders around with a sense of entitlement that they have a “place” needs to look at how easily ManCity, Leeds and currently the two Sheffield clubs have fallen to the third division, or support Liverpool. At present I think we can hope to challenge for Europe in the next few years and hopefully then on a regular basis and maybe pick up a Carling or FA Cup along the way somewhere, if the latter happens I may revisit my atheist view point!

Who would win in a man-o-man fight to the death on the cobbles between Mike Ashley and Dave Whelan?
I’m afraid Mike would crush him Giant Haystacks style, and I think Dave Whelan has some old playing injury, I may have read that in an interview with him somewhere once.

And Mike Ashley, ale swilling man of the people or the devil incarnate?
To be honest with you he’s a bit of both to our supporters, me included in some ways. He doesn’t talk to the fans or feel the need to have any kind of dialogue with us and I can almost understand that given the stick he has received, a lot of it deservedly in his first few years at the helm. However, there is a grudging respect for many of the plans and strategies he has implemented in the last two years that is winning people over, me included. The problem for him is that many fans have entrenched themselves so deeply in anti-Ashley rhetoric and hatred of him that winning them over on any level may not be possible. He could actually become a popular figure I believe if he spoke to supporters and admitted that he had made mistakes, dialogue is key. I suspect from what I read of his modus operandi in other spheres of business that he is not a man who feels the need to discuss his intentions and certainly not his perceived shortcomings which is a shame for everybody. I’m thankful that he seems to be running the club properly at the time being and I respect him for that when I look at the situations other clubs are in.

Three word answers please on the following:

a) Sunderland
Small time mindset

b) Steve Bruce
Good job Doubtfire

c) Lee Cattermole
Kick, stamp, whine

d) Titus Bramble
Libel, libel, libel

Can you briefly describe what a stottie cake is and why anyone would want to eat one?
A flat round bread served with delicious fillings such as ham and pease pudding or sausage, bacon etcetera. You’d eat one because they are delicious of course. How can the people who gave the country Greggs be wrong?

Who’s your favourite Viz character?
Big Vern, reminds me of London football fans. 

Which is the best boozer away fans should head for to enjoy a few pre-match liveners/drown their sorrows?
The Bridge Hotel at the end of the HighLevelBridge in Newcastle, around the corner from Central Station. A brilliant pub in a beautiful building with a variety of real ales and some decent lagers that has stunning views over the river Tyne and its bridges.

Is it true that the amount of (sadly, male) flesh on display at St James Park actually increases the colder the weather gets?
Its not, most people I know, me included, are sick of those people doing that and helping the media stereotype us.

Which Newcastle player should we be looking out for on Saturday? (assuming we can make them out from up in the away end)
Yohan Cabaye, a play maker who can put a foot in and will run the game if Wigan let him. A good looking lad as well, caused quite a stir among both male and female supporters earning him the twitter nickname of #cabayedreamboat.

What score do you reckon it will be?
I think on present form 3-0 to us but knowing NUFC we’ll lose our unbeaten run to a team struggling right now.

If he’s whet your appetite, you can follow @cognoscentinovo on twitter and whilst you’re at it, get on us as well @TNS_WAFC.

Every now and again, here at TNS we get asked to answer a few questions by the team we are about to play. On this occasion, Newcastle fanzine True Faith got in touch with the Mudhutter editor Jimmy to ask his opinion about this Saturday’s fixture.

From Northern Soul and angry Geordie stewards to Roberto Martinez and Gary ‘Beckenbauer’ Caldwell, here’s what he had to say:

http://www.true-faith.co.uk/tf/features.nsf/0/B7FECE45D49881D38025792F0061AFAA?OpenDocument

Let’s be honest, we didn’t really expect to win any of our last four league games. However, the time has come where the eleven players (plus subs) who wear the shirt on Saturday need to stand up and be counted.

We need to perform by either out playing or out fighting our opponents, quite possibly both. If not, then we’re not learning lessons and we may as well not bother competing.

Bolton might have evolved a bit on the footballing front since the Allardyce and Megson days now they have the swift talking, tight short wearing Owen Coyle at the helm but like us, they have struggled this season and if it isn’t too early to describe a game as a six pointer, then well I just did.

I’m not worried at this point of the season as I have an unshiftable belief that a good performance – and more importantly a good result is on it’s way for the good ship Wigan Athletic. It would be lovely to avenge the 4-0 drubbing we suffered at the Reebok a couple of years back.

Somehow our team and manager needs to learn that Wigan Athletic have always been battlers and historically we always found that bit extra in local derbies and cup ties rather than turning in heartless, embarrassing performances – and let’s not forget who knocked us out of the FA Cup last year.

I’m always the first one to defend the team and the manager by pointing out to detractors that other teams have more money than us and bigger wage bills. However, we are also a team who punches above our weight and we’re not currently doing that.

If we can’t instil on the pitch the ethos of over-achievement which Wigan Athletic has always been about then that belief of mine is going to waver pretty quickly. Make us proud on Saturday or else even the most optimistic fans will start to worry.

Saturday is also a day to come out and support your team. The fans have a big role to play as well and if we don’t get down to the DW and support the team in numbers then those of you who prefer to watch Latics’ home games in the pub these days won’t be able to next year.

First published in the Wigan Evening Post “12th Man” column on 12th October 2011

The Wanderers are at rock bottom with three points whilst Latics are third from bottom with two points more to their credit.  Sandwiched between the two teams is a third North West outfit, Blackburn Rovers.

Manager Roberto Martinez is expected to keep the faith with the side that completed the Aston Villa game two weeks ago, as defender Antolin Alcaraz and striker Hugo Rodallega remain on the sidelines due to injury.

As for the visitors they will be boosted by the possible return of three of their mainstays.  Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is likely to start following his recovery from a thigh injury sustained against Arsenal several weeks ago, whilst Ivan Klasnic and David Wheater have served their suspensions.  Also in contention for at least a place on the Trotters bench is loanee Gael Kakuta, who has finally received clearance to play following his move from Chelsea.

Latics goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi will be facing his former club for the first time since he arrived at the DW Stadium at the start of last season, having been ineligible to play against his parent club in four League and Cup clashes last term, none of which Latics won!

Hopefully he will be the difference on Saturday between the home faithful celebrating or drowning their sorrows come 5-00pm on Saturday.

Team news later…

History of this fixture,
11/05/1982 – John Brown Testimonial – (H) – 1-0 – (Mark Wignall) – 2,500
Brown, McMahon, Glenn, Cribley, Davids, Methven, O’Keefe, Barrow, Butler, Houghton, Wignall

16/08/1983 – Lancashire Cup – Springfield Park – 0-0

26/12/1983 – Division Three – (H) – 0-1 – 10,045
Tunks, Cribley, Aspinall, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Langley, Barrow, Johnson, Lowe, Butler
(The match attendance remained a club record for any Football League game played at Springfield Park)

21/04/1984 – Division Three – (A) – 1-0 – (Steve Johnson) – 6,142
Tunks, Cribley, Aspinall, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Langley, Barrow, Johnson, Lowe, Butler

26/12/1984 – Division Three – (H) – 1-0 – (Gerry McElhinney og) – 8,871
Tunks, Cribley, Butler, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Jewell, (Lowe), Barrow, Johnson, Newell, Langley

06/04/1985 – Division Three – (A) – 0-1 – 6,067
Stewart, Butler, Knowles, Kelly, (Bruce), Walsh, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Newell, Jewell, Langley

01/01/1986 – Division Three – (A) – 2-1 – (Mike Newell, Graham Barrow) – 9,252
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Kelly, Beesley, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Newell, Aspinall, (Langley), Griffiths

29/03/1986 – Division Three – (H) – 1-3 – (Colin Methven) – 8,009
Tunks, Cribley, Knowles, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Aspinall, Langley, (Jewell), Griffiths
(Future Latic Dave Felgate played for the Trotters)

06/05/1986 – Associate Members Cup, NF 1 – (H) – 0-1 – 6,975
Tunks, Cribley, Knowles, Bailey, Beesley, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Jewell, (Cook), Langley, Griffiths
(Future Latics Dave Felgate and Wayne Entwistle played for the Trotters)

09/05/1986 – Associate Members Cup, NF 2 – (A) – 1-2 (Paul Jewell) – 12120
Tunks, Cribley, Knowles, (Walsh), Bailey, Beesley, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Jewell, Langley, Griffiths

16/08/1986 – Lancashire Cup – (A) – 4-3 – (Paul Jewell, David Lowe, Chris Thompson, Paul Beesley) – 1,943
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Cook, Schofield, Beesley, Lowe, Thompson, Jewell, Lowey, Houston
(In goal for the Trotters was future Latic Simon Farnworth)

26/09/1986 – Division Three – (H) – 2-1 – (Chris Thompson, Paul Cook) – 4,986
Tunks, Butler, Hilditch, Hamilton, Cribley, Beesley, Lowe, Thompson, Jewell, Houston, Cook

07/04/1987 – Division Three – (A) – 2-1 – (Bobby Campbell, Paul Jewel) – 5,321
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Hamilton, Cribley, Beesley, Lowe, Hilditch, Campbell, Jewell, Griffiths

18/08/1987 – League Cup, 1.1 – (H) – 2-3 – (Bobby Campbell, Chris Thompson) – 4,115
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Hamilton, Griffiths, (Hilditch), Beesley, Storer, Thompson, Campbell, Jewell, Cook
(Bryan Griffith’s first game for the club)
(Future Latic Dave Felgate played for the Trotters)

25/08/1987 – League Cup, 1.2 – (A) – 3-1 – (Bobby Campbell 3) – 5,847
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Hamilton, Cribley, Beesley, Storer, (Griffiths), Thompson, Campbell, Jewell, Cook, (Hilditch)
(Future Latic Dave Felgate played for the Trotters)

11/08/1988 – Lancashire Cup – (Boundary Park) – 0-1

25/10/1988 – Division Three – (H) – 1-1 – (Wayne Entwistle) – 4,438
Adkins, Atherton, Senior, Hamilton, Beesley, Holden, Thompson, Pilling, Butler, Entwistle, Rimmer

09/05/1989 – Division Three – (A) – 1-1 – (Dave Thompson) – 6,166
Adkins, Senior, Tankard, Atherton, Beesley, Pilling, (McEwan), Thompson, Johnson, Woods, Page, (Entwistle), Griffiths

08/08/1989 – Lancashire Cup – (H) – 1-0

07/10/1989 – Division Three – (A) – 2-3 – (Mark Hilditch, og) – 6,462
Adkins, Senior, Tankard, Rimmer, Atherton, Beesley, Ward. (Fallon), Pilling, McGarvey, Hilditch, Griffiths, (Carberry)
(Debut for Tony Ward)

05/12/1989 – Associate Members Cup, prelim – (H) – 1-0 – (Phil Daley) – 2,306
Hughes, Senior, Tankard, Taylor, (Johnson), Atherton, Patterson, Carberry, Rimmer, Pilling, (Griffiths), Daley, Thompson
(Debut for Colin Taylor)

16/03/1990 – Division Three – (H) – 2-0 – (Bryan Griffiths og) – 6,850
Hughes, Senior, Tankard, Parkinson, Atherton, Johnson, Thompson, Rimmer, Pilling, Daley, Griffiths

11/08/1990 – Lancashire Cup – (H) – 0-0

28/09/1990 – Division Three – (H) – 2-1 – (Bryan Griffiths (pen), Darren Patterson) – 4,388
Adkins, Parkinson, Tankard, Atherton, Patterson, Langley, Woods, Rimmer, Daley, (Rogerson 73), Page, (Fairclough 82), Griffiths B (Kevin Langley’s second Latics debut)

16/03/1991 – Division Three – (A) – 1-2 – (Bryan Griffiths (pen)) – 7,812
Hughes, Patterson, Tankard, Atherton, Johnson, Langley, Jones, Pilling, Powell, Page, (Griffiths B), Carberry

10/08/1991 – Lancashire Cup – (A) – 1-0

21/09/1991 – Division Three – (A) – 1-1 – (Tony Kelly og) – 6,923
Adkins, Jones, Tankard, Johnson, Widdrington, Langley, Powell, Rimmer, Patterson, Worthington, Griffiths, (Carberry)

18/04/1992 – Division Three – (H) – 1-1 – (Gary Worthington) – 3,557
Adkins, Parkinson, Tankard, Johnson, Skipper, Langley, Jones, Pilling, Daley, Worthington, (Powell), Patterson
(Future Latics Scott Green and Mark Seagraves played for the Trotters)

26/12/1992 – Division Two – (A) – 1-2 – (Gary Powell) – 11,493
Pennock, Doolan, Tankard, Johnson, Appleton, Langley, Skipper, Cooper, Pilling, (Worthington), Griffiths, (Appleton)
(Debut for Steve Cooper)

10/04/1993 – Division Two – (H) – 0-2 – 5,408
Adkins, Powell, Tankard, Johnson, Jones, Garnett, Skipper, Pilling, Daley, White, Griffiths, (Powell), (Sharratt)

02/10/2005 – The Premiership – (H) – 2-1 – (Henri Camara, Lee McCulloch) – 20,553
Filan, Chimbonda, (Taylor, 22), De Zeeuw, Henchoz, Baines, Bullard, Kavanagh, Francis, McCulloch, Roberts, Camara

20/12/2005 – League Cup, 4 – (H) – 2-0 – (Jason Roberts 2) – 13,401
Filan, Jackson, Baines, Mahon, (Teale, 69), Kavanagh, Francis, McCulloch, Johansson, (Camara, 69), Roberts

04/02/2006 – The Premiership – (A) – 1-1 – (Andreas Johnasson) – 25,845
Pollitt, Chimbonda, Henchoz, De Zeeuw, Baines, (Thompson, 65), Teale, Kavanagh, Scharner, Ziegler, Bullard, Mellor, (Johansson, 65)

04/11/2006 – The Premiership – (A) – 1-0 – (Lee McCulloch) – 21,255
Kirkland, Boyce, Webster, De Zeeuw, Baines, Teale, (Cotterill 33), Landzaat, Scharner, Kilbane, Heskey, (McCulloch 28), Camara, (Johansson 88)

07/04/2007 – The Premiership – (H) – 1-3 – (Emile Heskey) – 18,610
Filan, Taylor, Jackson, Hall, Baines, Valencia, Scharner, Skoko, (Cotterill 74), McCulloch, Heskey, Folan, (Camara 63)
(Ex Latic David Thompson played for the Trotters)

09/12/2007 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-4 – (Denny Landzaat) – 20,309
Kirkland, Boyce, Granqvist, Bramble, Kilbane, Valencia, Scharner, Landzaat, Koumas, Heskey, (Brown 72), Bent

16/03/2008 – The Premier League – (H) – 1-0 – (Emile Heskey) – 17.055
Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Edman, Valencia, Palacios, (Taylor), Brown, Koumas (sent off), Heskey, King, (Kilbane)
(Future Latics loanee goalkeeper Ali-Al Habsi played for the Trotters)

28/12/2008 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-0 – (Amr Zaki (pen)) – 23,726
Pollitt, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios, Taylor, (Kilbane 86), Heskey, (Camara 33), Zaki, (Brown 90)

02/05/2009 – The Premier League – (H) – 0-0 – 18,655
Kirkland, Melchiot, (Boyce 46), Scharner, (Edman 53), Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Brown, N’Zogbia, Mido, (Zaki 75), Rodallega

17/02/2010 – The Premier League – (H) – 0-0 – 18,089
Kirkland, Melchiot, Caldwell, Bramble, (Scotland 51), Figueroa, N’Zogbia, Scharner, Diame, Moreno, (Moses 80), Rodallega, McCarthy

13/03/2010 – The Premier League – (A) – 0-4 – 20,053
Kirkland, Boyce, Caldwell, Bramble, Figueroa, N’Zogbia, Diame, McCarthy, Scharner, (Scotland 54), Moses, (Gomez 54), Rodallega, (Thomas 78)

23/10/2010 – The Premier League – (H) – 1-1 – (Hugo Rodallega) – 17,100
Kirkland, Boyce, (Stam 52), Caldwell S, Alcaraz, Figueroa, N’Zogbia, McCarthy, (Diame 30), Thomas, Gomez, (Cleverley 83), Di Santo, Rodallega

05/01/2011 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-1 – (Ronnie Stam) – 18,852
Kirkland, (Pollitt 62), Caldwell G, Alcaraz, Figueroa, Stam, Thomas, Watson, McArthur, Cleverley, (Diame 12), Rodallega

29/01/2011 – FA Cup, 4 – (A) – 0-0 – 14,950
Pollitt, Boyce, Caldwell G, Piscu, Figueroa, Moses, (Di Santo 72), Diame, Watson, McArthur, (McCarthy 72), Gomez, McManaman

16/02/2011 – FA Cup 4, replay – (H) – 0-1 – 7,515
Pollitt, Stam, Caldwell S, Caldwell G, Piscu, Gomez, Thomas, Diame, McArthur, Di Santo, McManaman, (Moses 43)

09/08/2011 – Lancashire Senior Cup, 1 – (CP) – 0-0 (Latics win 4-3 pens) (Daniel Redmond, Adam Buxton, Jordan Rugg, Roman Golobart)
Kirkland, Stam, (Buxton 50), Mustoe, Golobart, Robinson, Chow, Myler, Dawson, (Watson R 73), Rodallega, (Rugg 60), Boothman, Redmond

Wigan Athletic/Bolton Wanderers links,

Ali Al-Habsi, Thomas Atkin, Johnny Ball, Malcolm Barrass, Arthur Barnard, Stan Bentham (trial for Bolton), Brian Bromley, Tommy Butler, Steve Caldwell (trial at Bolton), Paul Comstive, Ernie Corfield, Pete Cowper (trial for Bolton), Dean Crombie, Dave Crompton, Dennis Crompton, Walter Crook, Carl Davenport, George Eastham, Wayne Entwistle, Simon Farnworth, Gareth Farrelly, Dave Felgate, Bob Finan (wartime guest for Bolton), Per Frandsen, Geoff Gay, Scott Green, Ken Grieves, Ralph Gubbins, Derek Hennin, Norman Heslop (wartime guest for Bolton), John Higgins, Peter Higham, Steve ‘Mandy’ Hill, George Jones, Paul Jones, Tony Kelly, David Lee, Paul Lodge, Dave Lyon, Andy May, Dave McKearney, Ian McNeill (scouted for Bolton), Tommy Neill, Bob Pryde (wartime guest for Bolton), Neil Redfearn, Dave Redfern, Eric Redrobe, Bruce Rioch, Mark Seagraves, Ian Seddon, Geoff Sleight, Sammy Speakman, Stuart Storer, Greg Strong, Steve Taylor, Emerson Thome, Chris Thompson, David Thompson, Gavin Ward, Stuart Whittaker, Roy Wilkinson, Tom Woodward

Other Wigan/Bolton links,

Jack Bruton, James Carney, Pete Cowper, William Crewe, Richard Gaskell, Herbert Simpson, Thomas Eatock, William Herbert, Edward Seabrook and Samuel Sharp all played for Wigan Borough and Bolton Wanderers.  Richard Smith played for Wigan County and Bolton Wanderers

Did you know – that Australian born former Trotters and Latics goalkeeper, Ken Grieves, was one of Lancashire’s longest serving professional cricketers with 452 first-class appearances to his credit? His tally of 555 catches is also a club record that looks as though it will never be beaten!

My God, our manager is good, we’d heard he was good but had no idea he was this good. Maybe we could be THAT team: the Chievo Verona, the Hoffenheim, the Auxerre, the small provincial side who somehow clicked like a thousand clog dancers and strung together the kind of results against the league super powers which would spawn a thousand articles from week to week :‘Is it time to take Wigan seriously?’ Samuel, Winter et al would write as first European football was secured and then the league title a few weeks later after a famous away win at Old Trafford.

Of course, that midweek we dipped in terrible fashion at home to Wolves and then get routed 5-0 at home by United, a highly familiar scoreline versus the Red Devils during Roberto Martinez’s tenure. Despite many quite frankly embarrassing reversals in Martinez’s inaugural season at Wigan, it was still enough for Aston Villa to come looking for our own Bob when they found themselves with a managerial vacancy in the summer, only for the young Spaniard to turn them down and stay put.

Villa have subsequently consoled themselves by nicking our star player for £9.5m but the mercurial Frenchman N’Zogbia has apparently not found the grass any greener so far. Bah! I feel a sub-text being written here and no doubt Charlie is about to break his duck against the team and manager that turned his career around. Because that’s what happens when you support Wigan Athletic.

“Just what do Wigan Athletic bring to the table?”wrote a moron on a message board forum somewhere right at this very minute probably. Well the truth is I don’t know. We’re making up the numbers or so it seems and despite a reasonable point haul in August against the three promoted sides, the stats in September read as follows: Played 4, Scored 3, Conceded 10, Points 0. Ouch. We’re quickly reverting to type I see as the league’s also rans, whipping boys and rubbing rags.

However, Villa Park has been something of a happy hunting ground over the years, which more than compensates for the fact they often wallop us at our place. If we’re going to steer clear of that place where a lot of people would like to permanently see us then we need to start picking up points.

Last Saturday against Spurs was one of those horrible days where many more of our ‘lifelong fans*’ screamed abuse at half time and several apparently walked off at half time as we gifted Spurs a 2-0 lead. The second half saw a much more determined performance and were it not for dipsy Mohican’d nutter Steve Gohouri scything down Gareth Bale twice we could have run the North London side very close despite all their star names.

*There seem to be an awful lot of these considering we had just 600 season ticket holders just 15 years ago

Martinez relies heavily on youth and the ethics of expression, which can sometimes be a problem as a lot of footballers, bless them, are thick. And as we’ve seen this week more so than any other, if it wasn’t for their ability to kick a ball in a straight line many of them would be a pretty loathsome bunch or indeed even with that blessed ability, many still are. So there’s an argument which goes that the way to get results is to tell footballers exactly what to do and if they all stick to it, then ability permitting, you’ve got your super team. Not the Roberto Martinez way. Clearly, we had some kind of game plan against Spurs, but it went out of the window when our makeshift centre half Figueroa passed the ball straight to Adebayor a couple of minutes in.

We do still appear to have quite a talented young squad, but it remains to be seen whether there is the required resolve to stay up this season. When it goes right for us, it came be truly beautiful but we spend too many games fumbling around the edges like a teenage boy desperately trying to unping a bra and failing so badly that our rivals steal in and score whilst we’re dawdling.

Over two years on and we’re still frustratingly inconsistent and still wondering whether the system works. Maybe it worked so well because of that element of surprise. Many of those fans who watch week in, week out question the supposed tactical genius of the manager whilst others admire him for his unshakable beliefs in trying to play a certain way.

The positives this season have to be the form of young Argentinian Franco di Santo and his three goals in the first half dozen games, more than he scored in the previous 70 at Blackburn, Chelsea and Wigan. Have we slowly but surely unearthed a gem here? Only time will tell, it may be that he doesn’t get another all season but his confidence is rising and he is getting in good positions. Let’s not dwell on the fact that all three goals have been deflections.

It’s difficult to know what impact we can have in the Midlands at the weekend. I’ve not seen enough of Villa to comment but I am guessing their fans are no happier with Alex McLeish now than they were when he was appointed. It’s not our problem, I just hope we don’t turn into a sacrificial lamb to kick start another club’s season as is often the case.

Oh and if anyone fancies taking a pop at our away support again feel free: ten years ago we were probably paying a tenner to get in at Walsall. For Villa to charge £37 when it’s £21 or 2 for £30 in the home end is a bit harsh. Consequently, you’ll have to forgive us if a lot of our notoriously sh*t support stays at home.

This article also appears on the excellent Sabotage Times website

The visitors will clearly fancy their chances following their comfortable victory over Liverpool last time out, especially as the home side were beaten by the lowlier Blue portion of Merseyside last weekend.  Roberto Martinez has been bouyed by the news that defender Steve Gohouri is back in contention for a first team start, given the fact that the back line is decimated by injuries at the moment.  Antolin Alcaraz is still weeks off making a comeback, whilst Emmerson Boyce also remains a serious doubt for the game.

The midfield will be virtually the same as the one that was unfortunate to lose at Goodison Park, but up front Latics will be without the services of Hugo Rodallega who is sidelined for the foreseeable future.  The injury though is not expected to keep him out until the new year as previously thought.

Latics’ recent record against the Spurs is very good, given the fact that last season they picked uo four points, and kept two clean sheets against their London based rivals.  They will need to be at theirvery best to maintain that great form when the teams take to the field of play on Saturday

Team news will appear here later… 

History of this fixture,

26/11/2005 – The Premiership – (H) – 1-2 – (Lee McCulloch) – 22,611                                       
Pollitt, Chimbonda, Henchoz, De Zeeuw, Baines, Bullard, Kavanagh, Francis, (Connolly, 67), McCulloch, Roberts, Camara                               

19/02/2006 – The Premiership – (A) – 2-2 – (Andreas Johansson 2) – 35,676          
Pollitt, Chimbonda, Henchoz, (Jackson, 45), De Zeeuw, Baines, Bullard, Scharner, Kavanagh, Thompson, Camara, (McCulloch, 89), Johansson                        

26/11/2006 – The Premiership – (A) – 1-3 – (Henri Camara) – 35,205         
Kirkland, Wright, (Hall 67), Jackson, Boyce, Baines, Teale, (Heskey 29), Scharner, Skoko, Kilbane, (Cotterill 78), Camara, McCulloch                          

15/04/2007 – The Premiership – (H) – 3-3 – (Emile Heskey, Leighton Baines, Kevin Kilbane) – 16,506
Filan, Boyce, Jackson, (Skoko 73), De Zeeuw, Baines, McCulloch, (Taylor 40), Landzaat, Scharner, Kilbane, Heskey, (Folan 66), Camara                       

11/11/2007 – The Premiership – (A) – 0-4 – 35,504             
Kirkland, Melchiot, Granqvist, Bramble, Kilbane, Taylor, Scharner, Skoko, (Brown 64), Landzaat, Cotterill, (Sibierski 39), Bent     
(Frank Barlow’s first game as caretaker manager)            

19/04/2008 – The Premiership – (H) – 1-1 – (Emile Heskey) – 18,673         
Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Kilbane, Valencia, Palacios, Brown, Taylor, (Koumas 81), Heskey, (Sibierski 76), Bent, (King 84)

21/09/2008 – The Premier League – (A) – 0-0 – 35,808
Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Palacios, Scharner, Koumas, (Kapo 72), Heskey, Zaki, (Camara 82)

02/01/2009 – FA Cup, Third Round – (A) – 1-3 – (Henri Camara) – 34,040
Kingson, Boyce, Bramble, Scharner, (Figueroa 73), Kilbane, Valencia, Brown, Palacios, De Ridder, (Cywka 74), Kapo, (Edman 84), Camara.

11/01/2009 – The Premier League – (H) – 1-0 – (Maynor Figueroa) – 17,500
Kirkland, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Palacios, Cattermole. Taylor, Heskey, Zaki

22/11/2009 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-9 – (Paul Scharner) – 35,650  
Kirkland, Melchiot, (Cho 86), Boyce, Bramble, Edman, N’Zogbia, Thomas,(Gomez 68), Diame, Scotland, Scharner, Rodallega           
(Wigan Athletic’s record defeat as a Football League club)

21/02/2010 – The Premier League – (H) – 0-3 – 16,165
Kirkland, Melchiot, Caldwell, Scharner, Figueroa, N’Zogbia, McCarthy, Thomas, (Moses 56), Diame, Rodallega, Moreno, (Sinclair 76)       

29/08/2010 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-0 – (Hugo Rodallega) – 35,101
Al Habsi, Stam, (McArthur 87), Alcaraz, Gohouri, Figueroa, Thomas, MCarthy, Diame, Boyce, Boselli, (Gomez 68), Rodallega               
(League debut for goalkeeper Al Ali-Habsi)
(Former Latic Wilson Palacios played for Spurs)               

02/04/2011 – The Premier League – (H) – 0-0 – 18,578
Al Habsi, Boyce, Caldwell G, Figueroa, Watson, McCarthy, Moses (Sammon, 66), N’Zogbia (Di Santo, 85), Watson, Cleverley, Rodallega (Diame, 85)

Links between the clubs

Dave Beasant, Mark Bowen, Michael Brown, Pascal Chimbonda, Erik Edman, Dai Jones, Colin Lee, Ahmed Mido, Wilson Palacios, Reto Ziegler

More Wigan/Tottenham links

Andrew Findlay, Alex Hunt, John Moran, Thomas Tebb (all played for Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan Borough)
William Rayner (former Tottenham Hotspur coach who later managed Wigan Borough)

The thing is Manchester City and Everton were always somewhat similar clubs, I’ll not go down the route of stating the obvious reason why for fear of offence but as it stands now, they couldn’t be more different. Whereas City are Brewster’d to the extent that even the cleaning lady drives a Ferrari, Everton are by all accounts skint.

I’ve followed the Blue Union stuff with interest and I still can’t make my mind up. A lot of their more thinking fans share a lot of empathy with a lot of the more thinking Wigan Athletic fans. Namely that, the money isn’t there and is never likely to be there, football is unfair but then hey ho so is life. Football is like a box of chocolates and you never know which chairman you’re going to get. Dare I say, some of the more traditionally political sections of the Everton support are the kind now who are sat back tutting as city go and blow another £100m on diamond encrusted corner flags and mutter about the death of football.

The difference between us and Everton is that they so nearly had it all. This is a team whose players were household names in the 80′s, well maybe I wouldn’t go that far, after all football wasn’t invented in 1985 but they were at the pinnacle of Division One, as it was known then, not to be confused with League One. They won both major domestic trophies, a successful European Cup Winners’ Cup followed and came mightily close to toppling the mighty Liverpool off their perch with Sharp & Heath & Sheedy & Southall and a load of others I should probably mention. Alan Harper, yes let’s mention him. And John Bailey for his fantastic perm.

They had a great team and were all poised to go out and conquer Europe. The reason they didn’t is laid firmly at the door of their cross city rivals and goes some way to explain why Merseyside derbies are less than friendly these days. I’m going past one of those signs which says ‘road closed, except for access’ here so I should really turn back before I tackle that dark subject any further mind you.

They have fallen behind the City’s and Spurs of this world and even the likes of Villa and Sunderland, even the likes of Fulham and Stoke – heaven forbid and this is the cusp of the argument of the Blue Union movement, a collective of existing Everton supporters’ group who want to do something, do anything to help get their football club back up the tree again. Essentially they are offering to offer up professional people to help run the club while those actually tasked with running the club actively go out and find a suitable buyer required to give them a bit more stability and financial muscle.

It’s kind of applaudable and also futile because you know that when you look at the top of the table now you have only two options to get there yourself: outspend city or outgrow Man United, neither of which are remotely possible for Everton in 2011, let alone a club like ours, no matter how depressing that seems. It would appear that the ideal scenario would be for another, even richer set of Arabs to ride in on camels and pump even more money into Everton than city have done, and expect very little in return.

Given that we know that is not going to happen then what are the alternatives – move to Kirby or the King’s Dock? In the case of the former, the Keep Everton in our City group and a general concern about the project meant it never came off and the Kings’ Dock was one of the more credible in a long line of ideas for Everton to relocate and increase their commercial and matchday revenue but was dead in the water years ago with the debate still raging whether the failure of it to progress was down to lack of credibility or lack of appetite.

Clearly none of these things are going to happen in the short term either so it seems Everton are treading water or in a slow but sure decline and some fans are trying to do something, do anything to help reverse this. Whereas not openly critical of Bumbling Bill Kenwright, clearly he is a man of limited financial means and by that I don’t mean compared to me and you but in terms of Premier League chairman and like our own cuddly Dave Whelan and he does not seem either capable (due to bank covenants) or willing to overstretch in the future.

It’s a crying shame that Everton have lost ground but on the plus side, they have not been mismanaged to the extent of many other high profile clubs – they do not have huge debts because they rarely invest in the playing staff and are criminally – by and large a selling club these days. The reason that this debt is not so high, again probably goes back to Bill Kenwright’s ability to secure funds against his own personal wealth. But, more importantly on the plus side – they seem to survive and maintain a top half position against the odds due to the marvellous managerial ability of David Moyes. You’d get the impression that if he had an easier job he would struggle and he’s managed to work wonders with a small but talented and settled squad ever since he took over.

So there you go. That’s the off the field stuff that I’ve probably got completely wrong but in any case, the Swiss Ramble fella has done a proper piece on Everton which wees all over mine here. It’s probably also worth reading for the generic tables just to remind yourself how impoverish we are as a football club. When the knowledgeable Gooner did his depressing but factually superb review of Latics’ finances a month or two back, it was interesting to observe so many Latics fans across the sites sagely cyber nodding and commenting like they’d read everything he’d ever written.

Of course, now we’re back in the real world and the fact we’re still alive seven years one has gone out the window and the talk is of demanding that we kick on to the next level, despite the fact we bring next to no money in and our wage bill has been Number 1′d all over. In one ear and out the other as they say but sorry I’m bitching, back to the preview.

Indeed, back to Everton and they look to be going through a bit of a sticky patch. All that sordid off the field business doesn’t help does it let alone the sale of one of their key players on deadline day? Well you might think so but let’s reel off some names: Fellaini, Cahill, Rodwell, Baines, Distin, Osman, Jagielka, Howard not to mention young uns coming through Coleman and Barkley. They’re still not a bad side even though they’ve been raped and pillaged nearly as often as ourselves in recent times. I’ve never been a fan of the perennially unmarked in the box Tim Cahill but he spoke a lot of sense about the situation on Match of the Day when interviewed the other week along the lines of ‘we just keep playing football though we understand that the books have to be balanced.’

Taking a pay cut are we then Tim? Thought not, arf. They may be a little restricted up front with only the one legged Saha up front, some oddly named Argie and Victor – ‘is it Anich-ebe or Ani-chebe?’ to choose from but throughout the team when they aren’t ravaged by injuries they are a much stronger outfit than ourselves.

We haven’t done bad at Goodison to be honest. A 1-0 win in our first season in the big league followed by a 2-1 defeat the opening day of the following season. In the last two years we’ve suffered a late defeat from a Leighton Baines penalty and a 0-0 draw last season. Most notably our worst performance was when we got tonked 4-0 under Bruce. What? We got beat heavily under Steve Bruce, no that can’t be right, only under the tippy tappy Spaniard do we get drubbed like that. Well not quite, we nearly won last year had Ronnie Stam kept his composure late on but of course all the talk was how we should have been tonked. Sigh, why does every game result in politics depending on your opinion of the manager? We should have got tonked though.

Anyway, aside from a freakish Arsenal away win right at the beginning of last season, Everton is a notoriously hard place to go for exactly the reason why we like it. It’s an old school, close to the pitch ground and whereas the home crowd don’t particularly go in for gay songs and anyone bringing a drum is liable to be wearing it around their neck before you can say ‘Cozy Powell’, they can still generate quite a partisan atmosphere and make life tricky for the away team.

For that reason, I will willingly take a draw and consider that a good result given the team we’re likely to face and a reasonable rot stopper after two defeats.

Some people say that you get all you deserve if you wear a yellow and black chequed away kit. And so it was that your eager eyed correspondent watching Kick Off that evening saw city spank ten past a hapless Huddersfield. They got one back I think – although anyone implying that it would be even a ‘consolation’ would receive a punch in a face off a shirt which resembled a large Wilsons’ beer mat.

I wouldn’t mind but I think Huddersfield Town played us the season after, still wearing the yellow and black away kit and they beat us 2-0, one of the goals scored by the diminutive Junior Bent. I remember this due to the marvellous way the tongue tied commentator on the end of the season video described the build up to the goal ‘And Junior Brent has just spung the offside trap’.

And yes you read that right, Huddersfield had the same away kit for TWO SEASONS IN A ROW, imagine that eh? If you could forgive anyone for changing their kit after only one season, you could forgive Huddersfield after inflicting that acid house abortion on the football spectating public at large.

Anyway, this isn’t about a bunch of garish double digit conceding Yorkshiremen, this is about Manchester City and I made my first trip there when all the banana stuff was kicking off. I can’t remember the year but it was a 2-2 draw against Shrewsbury and the Shrews brought about 12 fans spread across the huge Platt Lane end, 6 of whom looked like the EBF and one of whom was waving a solitary blow up banana. Carl Griffiths scored two for Shropshire’s finest. How on earth do I remember this sh*t?

I went to tick the ground off – I mean like, WE were never ever likely to be playing there were we? Stood on the Kippax, joined in the banana banter – sorry I forgot I’ve banned the word banter haven’t I? Joined in the songs, enjoyed the game as a pure neutral. Ten years later, I’m there again but not due to Wigan Athletic’s progression, more due to City’s demise. We all still moan about the Hand of Goat but the unpunished scything down of Kevin Sharp in the City box that night was a bigger injustice. There’s no point banging on about it now though is there, it gives us something to moan about and both clubs have moved on.

Our record versus city in the Premier League era more reflects their progress as a club than ours. The weak, yellow bellied perennially underachieving City of a few years ago were regularly in receipt of losing three points to the cheeky young upstarts of Wigan Athletic, including one 4-0 shocker at the JJB Stadium but eventually money turns into results as city have slowly transitioned into a side that puts the little clubs to bed and starts to give the top sides a run for their money.

Nevertheless, I doubt you will find too many City diehards getting too carried away. They have set out their stall last year by actually managing to win a major trophy after 36 years embarrassing at least one United tit with a flag in the process. Winning the Champions League or Premier League might not be as straightforward though.

Yet if the early season barometer’s are anything to go by it looks like they are ready to step it up another gear again. The two Manchester clubs look set to dictate football for a considerable time, United with some quality juniors purchased and coming through, City with a squad of Galacticos who have the sort of God given talents that they can’t fail to pull most sides apart. And I don’t particularly begrudge them their millions, if it wasn’t them it would be someone else. It’s unfair to blame city for the fact that football in general has been ruined by money.

It looks like there could be the sort of Real/Barca situation and the gulf is so huge compared to the small fry in this league like us, then it would suit all concerned if the pair of them would b*gger off and form their European Super League sooner rather than later. Not that I expect Liverpool or Chelsea fans to agree with that.

So what chance have we got he wails openly?

Well very little.

Despite local radio’s insistence that we are city’s bogey team, we’ve only actually taken a singular point off them in the last two years including a shocker at the City of Manchester Stadium a couple of years ago, where Tevez got Gary Caldwell sent off and then proceeded to bang in a hat trick for good measure. We mustered up a 1-1 draw at ours but last year they beat us without ever getting out of second gear at the DW.

As recently as March though, it was only a rare Al Habsi fumble that gifted City the points at Eastlands and even then Conor Sammon came ridiculously close to snatching a point for us, so maybe it isn’t impossible.

However, even the Man City of six months ago is vastly different to the City of today. Silva and Dzeko look vastly more settled and the addition of another world superstar in Aguero adds another dimension. Even if is, as rumoured, the Argentinian is rested today, they’ll just draft in some rubbing rag called Tevez, who rarely looks homesick when faced with our defence. Add in a ridiculously talented attacking midfield where the likes of Milner and Adam Johnson are limited to bit part appearances and what you’re left with is a tall order of Stephen Fry perched on Jeremy Clarkson’s shoulders proportions. Perish the thought.

In some ways, it may have been better to play Everton this week and City the next to try and maintain any kind of momentum. As it stands, if we manage to still have a positive goal difference at 5pm, let alone our unbeaten run intact, it will represent a minor miracle.

We can’t go into games with this attitude, fans or players and we somehow need to resurrect that ‘nothing is impossible’ spirit of Wigan Athletic past. Surely it is just eleven men against eleven at the end of the day? Well sort of. More like eleven men attempting a containment exercise while the other eleven strut around and wait to utilise their divine skills to glide through their opponents.

I didn’t see the City v Spurs game, which is the really frightening one but we can take a little bit of heart from the Swansea game in that they managed to limit City for an hour, just as Latics have done in the past many times. The difference now is that they have the kind of attacking riches which always break through sooner or later and once they do they don’t seem to be happy to just settle for the one goal.

It is not inconceivable that we could see some absolute spankings handed out by city this season when their forward line is in such irresistible mood. We can but hope for a solid performances which limits those attacking intentions and gets a bit lucky in defence and attack and hope that those drubbings are issued to somebody else.

Now, what colour away kit are we wearing today?