A cosy chat with Vital Wigan

Firstly, is Roberto Martinez the real deal?

Absolutely, he is a fantastic coach and knows the game inside out. He is attempting to change the whole philosophy of the club and drag us into the 21st Century, we have adopted a new playing style and it is fantastic to see us knock the ball around instead of the aimless hoof up the pitch hoping for the best.

There was a fans forum in the week with Roberto, 350 packed into a room listening to him speak impeccably for over 90 minutes, the guy is just brilliant and we have ourselves a top, top manager.

Have to say I was a massive fan of his from his time with Swansea and am delighted he looks to be doing so well as a replacement for Steve Bruce, in what could have so easily been a nightmare, ala Paul Ince at Blackburn. Do you worry that he will be poached, by the big boys from England or Spain?

I don`t worry I know he will be off one day, I`d guess back to Spain, but for the moment he is our boss and also he is a Wigan fan, the club is really in his heart, we he left as a player back in 2001 he refused to accept offers from clubs in the same division as we were at the time because he said he could not face playing against his beloved Latics, the guy is a legend.

It has been a mixed season for you guys. Brilliant wins at Villa and demolishing Chelsea, but heavy defeats against United, Arsenal and bottom of the table Pompey. Which one is the real Wigan, and where do you see yourselves at this time?

We are still searching for consistency, the superb performances against Villa and Chelsea have also been matched in the win against Burnley and the draw at home to Manchester City, in other games we have played quite well in spells, believe it or not against Manchester United for 50 minutes there was nothing in it then we fell apart but there were other factors behind that.

We are a club in transformation and aiming to become more than just perennial relegation candidates with European qualification a target to aim for, the boss himself says this will take time to achieve and he has talked about a three year plan, I believe we are well on course, there are some excellent players in the squad and the promise of more to be brought in.

What I like about Wigan, is that you have a great mix of silk and steel and from the outside looking in, appear to be a fantastically run club despite being considered a Rugby town. Where do you see the future of Wigan Athletic?

Ahhh the great old myth, we are a rugby town.

Wigan is surrounded by Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Blackburn, Burnley, Oldham and Preston and up until recently we were the least achieving club in the area, this allowed a large number of Wigan football supporters to grow up supporting the more successful teams of the area, the two Manchester clubs and two Liverpool clubs for example have large fan bases in the town especially males aged 25-50, but slowly and surely the club is winning over the youngsters who have only known Wigan Athletic as a successful Championship/Premier League club and we now have the largest percentage of under 16 season ticket holders in the Premier League, so the future is indeed very bright.

Please don`t take this question as a put down as it is certainly not meant to be one. But do you realistically see yourselves as a side who can come to places like White Hart Lane and win or are you still looking at preservation. What is the clubs and fans mindset?

We have to do, we are in the same division and we are competing on a supposedly level playing field, what we are doing is shaking off the little Wigan mindset that former boss Paul Jewell instilled in the club in an attempt, I think, to give us some sort of siege mentality, Martinez says that he wants us to play without fear, we did that against Chelsea, went like for like and to be honest played them off the park, now I am not saying we are going to be challenging for the title any time soon but surely it is better to have a go than give up the ghost even before a ball is kicked.

Not all fans are comfortable with the way we are playing at the moment, some fear it is a recipe for relegation but personally I think it is a breath of fresh air and to answer your question yes I do believe we can go to places like White Hart Lane and win we have proved this by going to Villa Park and winning and being the only club to beat Burnley at Turf Moor this season.

Sorry about that, it was more about establishing your ambition and your own feeling of where you see yourselves as a Premiership side. Are you now part of the establishment?

We are but I am sure that there are parts of the establishment that aren`t happy with us being here, this is our fifth season in the Premier League, 3 mid-tableish finishes and one dice with relegation in the previous four but still we get the Mickey taken by Match of the Day, I won`t dwell but recently there has been a massive issue with the way the program portrayed our club and town following the game against Fulham, stirred up a lot of vociferous complaints from fans.

What about Spurs? We obviously have our opinion, which changes with every performance, but what do you think of us and our prospects?

Well you look to have a decent team and you`ve certainly made a good start to the season, Keane, Crouch and Defoe are all goal scorers so obviously you carry a big threat to any side that you face, your midfield looks really strong and with Wilson in there he will be making it tick no doubt.

I think that the top four may be out of your reach this season but the FA cup final in May could be a great way to end the season for yourselves, so I see you finishing 7th but winning the FA cup

Now to the game. How do you see it panning out and how will Wigan set out and look to play on Sunday?

I think we will have the lion`s share of possession, that`s our style and I see the game ending in stalemate, I am going for a 1-1 draw

Just out of interest. If Wigan won the Cup with a Thierry Henry handled goal, would you feel you cheated or take the result, regardless of how it was achieved?

I don`t like cheating and there is an almighty inquest ongoing into the Irish elimination from the World Cup play-offs, but I`d take winning the FA cup like that any day.

Was it actually deliberate or just instinct? Have any of our or your players ever handled and got away with it or dove and won a penalty or free-kick? It just feels bad because we were all rooting for the Irish to win, if it had been down the other end and Keane had done what Henry had and Dunne headed the ball into the net would we still be debating this, I don`t think so. Just a pity that the smug Monsieur Platini got his wish to see the French qualify. Personally I found it more scandalous at how the decision to seed teams was brought in at the last minute

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