There is a sign on the wall as you descend out of the West Stand which simply bears the words “Fortress DW”.
I would propose that after a further two embarrassingly soft home defeats that the words should be amended to read “Bouncey Castle DW” as most away clubs now seem to be turning up, having some fun and leaving with a big smile on their faces and points in the bag.
It is beyond a joke just how far we have fallen in such a short space of time and all around us fans are crestfallen and resigned. The fact that so many are still showing up after six months since our last home win is laudable but there is going to be a huge drop in support whether we stay up or go down unless something changes soon.
On a night when Brentford had 42 shots (14 on target) against Blackpool, I looked back and got as far as January since we did the same, and that was the cumulative total of six games. We are not creating chances, we are not scoring goals and we are leaking soft ones for fun. A perfect storm and there are no signs of it getting any better.
Still, hope springs eternal, whatever that means. For me, it means we go to Blackpool hoping to see us take three points and perhaps kick start a bit of hope. Now I’ll come clean here and now and admit I have some involvement with Latics United and that I came up with the “90 songs in 90 minutes” idea featured in the post earlier this week.
I’ve no idea if it will come off or not. I suspect that the “90 minutes of noise” might have been a better concept. Either way it has got people talking and promising to make a bit of an extra effort. Whether that is to save our season or simply try and forget the misery for a day.
The fact that Blackpool is usually a bit of a giddy away day always helps but we have had much of that giddiness knocked out of us this season. Plus if we start losing the chanting may well inevitably head off in a much darker direction.
However, I’ve always been an ideas man and the way I see it, in my role as a fanzine editor and an independent fans’ voice, it is my duty to try and do something and make it positive. With the situation we find ourselves in, trying something and failing is a hundred times better than doing nothing.
Plus on a personal note, I’m sick of having my weekend ruined by football. So my logic is let’s try and make the best of it, have a great day, celebrate all we’ve achieved and who knows, maybe even collect three points.
We have to somehow re-ignite that spark that has made us such a special club. It’s not happening on the pitch, so we’ve somehow got to galvanise as fans to make it happen because are undoubtedly tougher times ahead.
First published in the Wigan Evening Post’s 12th Man column on Friday 27th February 2015
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