paulhanley

So (not for the first time) they can have big joint community singalong: "We only hate Bolton Wanderers" "Wanky, wanky, wanky, wanky Wanderers". At least Bury had deep roots and had been a genuine one of the 92 for more than a century.

Tinpottery not involving "tics"

We are probably at the stage now where we need to sit back and observe what unfolds in the next 48 hours. Whether it's the young Sarabjoy or AN Other, it's unlikely they'll get quick approval from the EFL and there's all kinds of issues to wade through. Maybe I am being pessimistic but I find it hard to rule out these squirming their way out of trouble again. They've been football's answer to Houdini for more than a decade and were lucky with Whelan in the first place. WIthout all that endless fortune we would have gone from 1992/3 season right through to 2016/17 without having had to sully ourselves by being on the same pitch. Fingers crossed.

For entertainment I just had a look at their forum. I know none of us are 100 per cent perfect with syntax, grammar, spelling etc. Standards on their site are appalling however. You wouldn't need to be a pedant to come away wondering what on earth they teach in schools in Wigan. It's probably a question best left to fester along with their dismal football club.

Usually excitement in a Summer comes from transfer dealings. Watching the circus down the road is promising to be a real bonus feature of this close season. They've been so f***ing lucky over the past 25 years. Whelan, new owners, new owners again. During that time they've often been in the right place at the right time to get one over on us on the pitch at levels of English football they'd never have reached on their own merits/size of the club. Sheer unadulterated and unmerited luck. It feels like their fortune has run out at long, long last. But such has been their "cat with nine lives" nature since peg-leg buggered off that it's genuinely hard to believe there's not going to be another serendipitous twist for them. We await Evatt's transfer dealings eagerly - that's the big job. However watching this shower sink ever more irrevocably in to the mire is hopefully going to become a weekly delight as June and July progress and 23/4 draws closer. Jelly and ice cream after the main course. Here comes the Summer. #believe

A liquidated Wigan Athletic. That's diarrhea. Or bin juice.

Desperate "tics" quizzing Alan Nixon this evening. Clearly hoping he knows something about a new buyer to bail them out of their current dire straits. The cold hard dollops of reality he's serving back will be doing nothing to help compose their tiny minds

The part of this to which I am looking forward is when their senior players drift away to other clubs one by one. Either they'll be able to walk out on free transfers due to breach of contract or there'll be a fire sale because the owners have to balance the books and reduce losses. It's only 2 June but you can bet that already various clubs are circling. I wonder if we are one of them? If they survive through to start the season I hope we get them early under the circumstances described above with them having to field a patched together side.

Do those 1000 count towards the gate on matchday I wonder? No reason for asking other than curiosity.

I don't think we can claim to be in the top 20 football clubs in the country by size. However I do think we are in the top 30. It's all academic though. What really matters is where we are in the present and whether the club is heading forwards or backwards. In 2005 we were in the top six in the country. At the start of the 2020/21 season we were about 87th. Put in maritime terminology we're a section of coast with a very wide tidal range! That aspect differentiates us from a lot of clubs.

Think as fans we might find that when we're linked with players this summer there'll be names touted that leave us wondering if they are first team or B team potential signings. Last Summer the club was quite good at clarifying when a deal was announced but when names initially emerge via speculation there'll be some where there's a bit of guesswork needed.

I do think the play offs should be tweaked to give advantages the higher a team has finished after 46 games. One simple thing that could be done is to take penalties completely out of the equation. If the game is level after full time/extra time the team who finished highest in the table should go through to Wembley (semis) get promoted (final).

Hope you're right!

Pompey too.

Best outcome for us. Barnsley will be a force again next season but ridding the division of Ipswich and Sheff Weds is a result.