Missing the buzz

It’s been a hard watch over the last three matches for myself. That’s partly due to the fact I haven’t actually seen the matches.

It’s always hard to miss games, the buzz of going to a match on a Saturday afternoon. The bond you build with your mates and others on the terraces, it’s less of a wrench to miss games when it’s not going right as was the case for the majority of last season but it still hurts.

It hurts to miss watching this Latics side, there’s a buzz around us that I haven’t felt for a while. Certainly since that Spring period under Gary Caldwell. It’s that feeling that a win is always just round the corner, Paul Cook and the staff have done wonders to build the kind of atmosphere they have after the disastrous sequence of events last season.

That feeling where you miss three wins in a week

Even Cook himself admits to be surprised by how well we’ve done. The Southport game was referenced by Cook this week. It was only our second pre season friendly but it was a poor match, as many often are in pre-season. It’s good to see how far we’ve progressed from that July evening.

It could be argued it’s been a tricky few games since the defeat to Shrewsbury, we’ve negotiated it without too much trouble though. Seven goals scored, zero conceded. That’s an impressive record by anyone’s standards. It’s easy to forget it’s only September and there’s another eight months of the season to go.

We won’t win anything in September but if we can keep meeting the high standards we’ve set ourselves in these opening weeks we’ll be well placed to capitalise at the business end of the season.

It’s another two games in quick succession this week with a long trip to Peterborough followed up by another home match against Plymouth. If we can get keep picking up points ahead of a busy Autumn we’ll be right on target.

First published in the Wigan Post, Friday 22nd September 2017.

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