Roberto Martinez with the Wigan fans

Zoo magazine recently asked me to answer some questions about Wigan for their team by team pre-season guide and my responses have now been published in this week’s magazine.

Given that these responses are just from one fan’s perspective I thought it would be interesting to ask some Latics season ticket holders the same questions and get their views as well.

The responses are published below:

Jamie sits in the Springfield (West) Stand and lives near Warwick.

Player to watch? Shaun Maloney – Hope he can continue his exciting form from the end of last season.

New signing you’re most excited about? Ivan Ramis – We need a strong start from our defence this season, unlike previous years.

Player you’d happily drive out of your club? Adrian Lopez – I would drive him to somewhere on loan as he needs more experience.

Prem team you secretly admire? Everton – Consistently achieved with very few resources.

Worst away day? QPR (from last season) – My first visit and not a nice feel to the place… possibly due to their new-found wealth.

Best away day? Norwich (from last season) – Sun was shining, great day out and friendly atmosphere.

Best away fans? Newcastle – Was nice to keep their large support quiet last season!

Best place for a pre-match pint? Berkeley Square in Wigan Town.

Final Prem place prediction? 11th – Top of the bottom half would do me.

Stuart sits in the East Stand and lives near Coventry.

Player to watch? Victor Moses (if he stays …..)

New signing you’re most excited about?
Ivan Ramis, spending 4 million on a defender for Wigan is a big deal.

Player you’d happily drive out of your club? Lopez, I’d pay for his train ticket out as I can’t drive!

Prem team you secretly admire? Spurs, they play the game the right way, although they don’t half spend some money!

Worst away day? Villa, apart from last season we hadn’t lost at their gaff, but they really don’t look after you. £35 to get in, appalling view, no beer at half time and the stewards always ask you to sit down whilst you watch 20 odd thousand villa fans stand up all game, seriously considering missing it this time even though I only live 20 miles away.

Best away day? Arsenal, comfy seats and plenty of leg room, like getting an upgrade to business class on a plane! Also having a day out in the big smoke helps!

Best away fans? Spurs, they always fill their allocation. I would have said Newcastle but I don’t like the arrogance or the way they attempt to sing “you should have stuck to the roobey” instead of rugby, if you wanna mock get it right guys!

Best place for a pre-match pint? Berkeley Square, always shows the early kick off on the big screen and is close to the station.

Final Prem place prediction? 13th but showing promise, better against the teams around us but don’t expect the heroics against the big 4 like last time. I would like a decent cup run as well this season.

Joseph sits in the East Stand and lives near Leeds.

Player to watch? Boselli could come good given faith this season.

New signing you’re most excited about? Ivan Ramis could shore up the defence and make it more solid.

Player you’d happily drive out of your club? Di Santo is not good enough for a championship side never mind our club.

Prem team you secretly admire? Arsenal play great football just like us 😉

Worst away day? QPR stewards make you sit down or eject you.

Best away day? Bolton our arch rivals and great local derby –  unfortunately we won’t be playing them this season 😉

Best away fans? Newcastle have a big following and make a lot of racket.

Best place for a pre-match pint? The Orwell or Champs bar.

Final Prem place prediction? 12th or 10th if we buy a decent striker.

I sit in the Springfield (West) Stand and live near Huddersfield.

Player to watch? Shaun Maloney – had a slow start to last season but is likely to be a major player this time around.

New signing you’re most excited about? Ivan Ramis should be a great addition to our defence.

Player you’d happily drive out of your club? No one on particular – we have a good squad.

Prem team you secretly admire? Quite like what Norwich have achieved with limited resources.

Worst away day? The atmosphere at Old Trafford is often disappointing.

Best away day? Aston Villa because we usually do quite well down there.

Best away fans? Everton always have a good following and they aren’t Big time Charlies.

Best place for a pre-match pint? Berkeley Square in Wigan town centre.

Final Prem place prediction? If we can start well and finish like last season, I think an optimistic 10th is not out of the question for us.

So to summarise: Shaun Maloney could be the player to watch; New signing we’re most excited about is Ivan Ramis; Player you’d drive out of the club is Adrian Lopez; Club you secretly admire – all different answers for this one; Best away fans are Newcastle; Best away day – all different answers; Worst away day is QPR; Best place
for a pre-match drink is Berkeley Square; Final Prem place prediction is anywhere between 10th & 13th place – which surely makes us all optimists!

Though one thing is for sure, if Wigan secure a ninth successive season in the top flight we will all be very happy.

We’d welcome your views as well, so please have your say below.