Amongst those who did not feel like a Premier League team on their introduction to England's top tier were Wigan Athletic. A small club, who rose from the 84th best team in England to 10th in just 10 years, they were never going to be well followed.
Coming from a Rugby League town and surrounded by Manchester and Liverpool, along with many other Lancastrian footballing strongholds, Athletic have struggled, even now in the Premier League, to be fashionable. But, after finishing 10th in their first season, Wigan are still in the Premier League 8 years on. They may battle most seasons just to stay in and once again they could go down but the Latics are well and truly an established Premier League side.
The "Pie Eaters" now have some top quality players, Arouna Kone, Shaun Maloney and Jordi Gomez to name but a few, they play attractive passing football, have an intelligent manager with a strong philosophy and a chairman who genuinely cares about the club and town where the club is from. All of which sounds extremely likeable. However there are many who still look down their noses at the low attendances at the DW Stadium and use this as a reason to suggest Wigan should not be a Premier League team.
Wigan's average attendance is often less than a Championship side but when considering their rapid rise as a team, the history of rugby league in the town and the locality of famously bigger sides than themselves this is unsurprising- they simply grew in stature quicker than they could generate new fans. People criticised the club for underselling their tickets for the FA Cup Semi Final by 10,000 but no trains ran direct to Wigan from London after the final whistle and in a world of recession, expecting fans to travel down to London twice in a month is ludicrous.
The naysayers think Wigan's constant scrapping for survival on the last day suggests they do not belong in the top tier but the league table at the end of the season rarely lies, on top of which did Everton not go through a period of hanging on for dear life to stay up and that when they were a well and truly established side.
When people consider teams they don't support but have a soft spot for the likes of Arsenal, Spurs and Swansea are often mentioned because of their passing style but Wigan are somehow left off this list. In modern football a 3-4-3 might be seen as a risk but that does not stop Roberto Martinez from playing it, and his players have adapted well, unlike the superstars at Manchester City who have failed to welcome Roberto Mancini's 3-5-2 formation.
It is truly amazing how much Wigan's players respect, not only their manager, but also their chairman whom many of them praised at the end of the match against Millwall on Saturday. And it's easy to see in the reaction of both Martinez and Whelan how much the clubs success means to them- Martinez could barely stop smiling in the post match interview.When Wigan return to Wembley, home of many rugby league successes for the town, to face Manchester City on May 11th many may turn their affection to Wigan but only because they envy City's success and won't want them winning. The truth is that we should be supporting Wigan because we have a soft spot for them.
Perhaps if Martinez can lead his side to a memorable and improbable FA Cup victory some will consider eating humble pie. And if so, I know a great place to get it from.
Doffing my Baseball Cap and Glasses
It seems the North West of the country is full of football teams easy to dislike; the Manchester clubs- for their success, Wigan- for seemingly no reason, Liverpool- for well, being Liverpool, Blackburn- because of their owners and of course Stoke City. I don't need to tell you why, you already hate them.
Tony Pulis' men go against all that we are told is the 'right way' to play football in this day and age. Barcelona are potentially the best team to ever play football as Stoke are the polar opposite it's fair to assume they are the worst.
After Stoke lost to Manchester United it seems that 'The Potters' are really staring down the barrel of relegation. The manager, Pulis, seems to be on the way out and many are glad. Pulis' style, or lack thereof, is pretty much to have his team hoof the ball up to a tall striker and hope to cause havoc- it wins him few fans.
When Pulis leaves Stoke, and I believe he should whether his team stay up or not, he should actually be fondly remembered. He has done wonders to turn the team into an established Premier League side, has taken them to an FA Cup final, delivered European football and delivered players with reputations far beyond logical thinking.
Pulis, and his uncompromising style, demand our respect, not derision. I will doff my baseball cap and lift my glasses- relegation or not.
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