DUN WI EM *not really

Many will no doubt have uttered that infamous refrain on Saturday evening.

But we’re never really are we?

You’re never done with them because you never know when they’ll drag you back in again and although this mini barren spell is taking a little bit longer they’ll be back again before you know it.

Daft goals, last minute winners, hugs with strangers on the terraces. It’ll return.

Saturday was a microcosm of our season. Face a team higher in the table, do quite well. Shade the start of the match, control the second half.

Miss a glorious chance and concede right at the death.

DUN WI EM I say.

Saturday was the most frustrated I’ve felt in a long while as it all seemed so unnecessary. We hadn’t been threatened by Stockport at all in that second half. It was us doing all the work, to come away with nothing felt wrong on all sorts of levels.

But we keep coming back to our lack of clinicalness in front of goal and once again it came to slap us on the face.

If you’re pointing to mitigating circumstances not one but two Stockport keepers played blinders on Saturday afternoon.

But, that’s kind of their job.

Obviously.

Latics needed a performance and more importantly a win at Crawley on Tuesday night. They managed one of those needs with a performance that saw Latics dominate from minute one.

Dale Taylor star man on so many occasions this season was once again imperious, he scored the opener.

Had another cleared off the line, hit the post and had not one but two goals ruled out for off side. On another night he and Latics could have won that match 3-1.

As it was it was a point but nothing more, and a point that doesn’t really do much for us. Walking off on Tuesday the manager and the players got a warm round of applause from a fantastic following that had gone the extra mile to support their team.

It’s a shame that three points weren’t the reward. In any other match they would have been.

It’s difficult at the moment.

This is the kind of League One slog we’ve avoided in previous seasons due to our ability to outspend everyone else. Without that now we’re seeing how difficult it can be.

Naturally a lot of heat over the last few days has been directed at the manager but calls for him to go are premature at best, Shaun Maloney’s biggest mistake this season was making the bold claim of play-offs being the aim back in August.

If instead he had managed expectations and explained that this would be another difficult season due to the spending restrictions but we would look to put in place solid foundations ahead of the 25/26 season I think it would have been easier for people to digest.

He’s not going if we stay up this year and I wouldn’t expect him to.

Next year’s the one.

Next season is the first season without dramatic spending cuts and EFL imposed restrictions.

If nothing has improved at the beginning of next season it would be perfectly natural to expect the owners to make a change.

There’s already an acceptance that the squad looks a lot stronger with the January additions – apart from up front where we’ve less than nothing now Will Goodwin has been ruled out until April.

Let Latics gel and all that but Latics and Maloney in particular are desperate for some good news from somewhere so it’s good to see that it’s (checks notes) Wycombe away on Saturday.

Still at least Crawley was a nice day out eh?

Sean Livesey

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