Roberto Martinez - Oh What A Night

The Wigan Athletic Fans Forum held in the DW Fitness Suite at the stadium last night was a rip roaring success with boss Roberto Martinez displaying a great rapport with all who were there.

The evening covered many areas with fans asking questions from: why do you make late substitutions to why was there no fixture cards available at the ticket office. Roberto was courteous with everyone, he proved to be very quick witted and he has a great sense of humour.

Some of the areas covered:

Roberto says Maynor Figueroa will be back for the Sunderland game and has amazed him how quickly he has recovered from his injury.

There is no limit on what he wants the club to achieve, he hasn`t set markers of 40 points etc so that he expects the team to challenge in every game they play and not ease off towards the end of the season

Youth development is not good enough and he intends to make it a personal aim to see a local boy come through the ranks and make the first team at the Latics.

The team is on track but he says it will take another 3 to 4 months to get them playing exactly how he wants.

There will be FOUR new signings in January one of which is already a done deal.

Roberto reported that Paul Scharner is like a teenager at the moment and clearly enjoying his football at the Latics.

Bobby was asked a few times about his tactics, the way we play and number of passes made during a game his response each time was a joy to listen to, he talks so much football sense and everything that he wants the players to do is for a specific reason

Roberto said that last season Bramble and Boyce made an average of 10 passes each per game, this season it`s 150 per game, ex Latics reporter Harold Ashurst asked Roberto do we make too many passes per game and cited the recent Hull game when he thinks we made 450 passes and still lost, Roberto quick as a flash retorted `no, it was 527 and the reason we lost was because…..`

At the end of the evening the packed room gave Roberto a standing ovation, he had answered questions continually for 90 minutes and he spent another 45 minutes having his photograph taken and signing autographs.

I was a massive fan of our boss before he came to the club in the summer, since then he has proven to be a fantastic manager and last night he showed not only a deep knowledge of the game but also a tremendous passion for Wigan Athletic

We are in the fortunate position of having a manager who is excellent at what he does and also a true fan of the Latics, leaving at the end of the evening someone said to me that we have a one-off and we should enjoy him whilst he is with us because he will manage at the very top and we will be proud that he is one of our own, I agree.


Roberto Speaks


Roberto Gets Ready For The Onslaught


A Good Night Was Had By All





The Latics Hit 2000 Points Milestone

Wigan Athletic achieved their 2000th point as a league club in the 1-1 draw with Fulham

You must have some fantastic memories of games that we have achieved points in over the years, and you must have a favourite that sticks out, either from the mists of time like that first win against Rochdale or something more recent like breaking our hoodoo against Chelsea, why not jot them down and send them in and Vital Latics will publish them under the heading 2000 Memories.


Send your favourite match memories to 2000 Memories@vital











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