Didn't want to start a new thread for this so thought I would put it on here.. I've mentioned before on here that I am a Utd fan and coming out of the ground last night, what struck me was how normal fans were. No- one was sulking or moody, it was just people chatting normally, laughing, talking about plans for New Year. The result was expected (or at least not a shock) This is the situation Utd are now in and whilst I don't for one minute think we will be relegated, we are in the mix and Amorim was right to discuss it. This got me thinking about Wigan... In the 2006 season ( I think it was) when you were down at the bottom, how did it change you as fans? Obviously Wigan like Utd are a huge club and it seems unthinkable but I know some Wigan fans that said they enjoyed that season more than most because the fans really got behind the team and every game felt like a Final. Clearly you wouldn't swap that season for anything before or after but do you think that the shock had a positive impact on the club?

[quote="Big Steve":2g3tuopf]I think it gave us the shock we needed to make some positive decisions in better recruitment and overall direction of the club and it fired up the fanbase which was tending more towards apathy. I think we would have continued to stumble along for quite a number of years if we hadn't had that dip. The big difference between Wigan and Man U is that Man U have no soul left at the club. Liverpool and Arsenal still have it, they know what the club stands for and it's place in the community, what it means to the fans. Wigan RL live and breath it everyday from top to bottom thanks to Radders, Peet, Lenegan and now Mike Danson. The partial buyout by Jim Ratcliffe at Man U has made things even worse, cutting contributions to player welfare charity is another sign of the petty, short term vision that shows he has no understanding what binds a club to its fanbase. They are on a downward spiral with no sign of any plan to get them out of it and judging by the decisions made to date haven't got the management that understands how to do it.[/quote:2g3tuopf] they had a UTD fan on Sky Sports news yesterday , i think he was from one of the fanzines and he echoed what you are saying about decision to cut costs have been at the expense of the clubs standing in the community, when the ownership changed I thought the only change would be mores sports science based with ideas taken from the Ineos cycling team. It now seems more about boosting share holder benefits

[quote="Stu M":13ij38rc]Didn't want to start a new thread for this so thought I would put it on here.. I've mentioned before on here that I am a Utd fan and coming out of the ground last night, what struck me was how normal fans were. No- one was sulking or moody, it was just people chatting normally, laughing, talking about plans for New Year. The result was expected (or at least not a shock) This is the situation Utd are now in and whilst I don't for one minute think we will be relegated, we are in the mix and Amorim was right to discuss it. This got me thinking about Wigan... In the 2006 season ( I think it was) when you were down at the bottom, how did it change you as fans? Obviously Wigan like Utd are a huge club and it seems unthinkable but I know some Wigan fans that said they enjoyed that season more than most because the fans really got behind the team and every game felt like a Final. Clearly you wouldn't swap that season for anything before or after but do you think that the shock had a positive impact on the club?[/quote:13ij38rc] I would swap it for 1980

[quote="Stu M":2eyrx0o6]Didn't want to start a new thread for this so thought I would put it on here.. I've mentioned before on here that I am a Utd fan and coming out of the ground last night, what struck me was how normal fans were. No- one was sulking or moody, it was just people chatting normally, laughing, talking about plans for New Year. The result was expected (or at least not a shock) This is the situation Utd are now in and whilst I don't for one minute think we will be relegated, we are in the mix and Amorim was right to discuss it. This got me thinking about Wigan... In the 2006 season ( I think it was) when you were down at the bottom, how did it change you as fans? Obviously Wigan like Utd are a huge club and it seems unthinkable but I know some Wigan fans that said they enjoyed that season more than most because the fans really got behind the team and every game felt like a Final. Clearly you wouldn't swap that season for anything before or after but do you think that the shock had a positive impact on the club?[/quote:2eyrx0o6] For me as a teenager at the time, it was about something which I took for granted (i.e. Wigan always winning things / Wigan being there or thereabouts every season) being in real jeopardy. I already had a season ticket so was already attending games in the early part of that season but that risk of something very bad happening with the threat of relegation just brought out some extra passion and fervour. I think with how attendances swelled and atmospheres improved it showed that many of our fan base felt the same. Dare I say, a few came out of the woodwork to get behind the team in our hour of need. Noble, Fielden and Dobson coming in really made a difference to the playing side of things and the team began to play with some confidence. We won 10 of the last 12 Super League games that year and the two we lost were both away fixtures and we lost by 2 points and 1 point respectively if memory serves me correctly. I know opposition supporters will point to the "spirit of the cap" breach but this was a loophole Wigan exploited at the time to our advantage rather than a blatant and flagrant "we are going to break the cap ceiling" approach and it is a loophole which the RFL subsequently closed. With you speaking of the unthinkable and the club being huge, something else I also remember was the rumours that Wigan wouldn't be relegated regardless and Dave Whelan appeared on Sky Sports to squash those rumours saying if we finished at the bottom of the ladder, it'd mean we deserved it and we would be relegated. It seems strange that he'd need to go on TV and say that but such were the rumours at the time.

[quote="Stu M":1ualn9e9]Didn't want to start a new thread for this so thought I would put it on here.. I've mentioned before on here that I am a Utd fan and coming out of the ground last night, what struck me was how normal fans were. No- one was sulking or moody, it was just people chatting normally, laughing, talking about plans for New Year. The result was expected (or at least not a shock) This is the situation Utd are now in and whilst I don't for one minute think we will be relegated, we are in the mix and Amorim was right to discuss it. This got me thinking about Wigan... In the 2006 season ( I think it was) when you were down at the bottom, how did it change you as fans? Obviously Wigan like Utd are a huge club and it seems unthinkable but I know some Wigan fans that said they enjoyed that season more than most because the fans really got behind the team and every game felt like a Final. Clearly you wouldn't swap that season for anything before or after but do you think that the shock had a positive impact on the club?[/quote:1ualn9e9] I'm not sure I'm in the minority here but I absolutely hated the 2006 season right through until we were absolutely safe (by beating Hull FC at home IIRC). Obviously we can look back on it fondly and be proud the way our support not only increased but galvanised once the wins started coming, but the rugby played under Millward was the worst I've still seen in forty years (despite the team on paper should be top five minimum). Then you had the salary cap breach which was both disgraceful and embarrassing at the same time which amplified just how far we had fallen.

[quote="MattyB":1x1wr6x4]I'm not sure I'm in the minority here but I absolutely hated the 2006 season right through until we were absolutely safe (by beating Hull FC at home IIRC). Obviously we can look back on it fondly and be proud the way our support not only increased but galvanised once the wins started coming, but the rugby played under Millward was the worst I've still seen in forty years (despite the team on paper should be top five minimum). Then you had the salary cap breach which was both disgraceful and embarrassing at the same time which amplified just how far we had fallen.[/quote:1x1wr6x4] You have to fall to get up again which we did and just got better. Re-Millward,that was the worst thing Wigan could have done take that clown on board (smug little tw*t). I personally did like the atmosphere, increase of gates, the,fans getting behind the team as the season went on. Anyway that was then but I do like now so much better