The simple facts of the story are that the Latics haven't been good enough all season.
Starting from the point of wasting £6 million on Mauro Boselli and running all the way through the lack of motivation of key players to the fact that the team continues to let in far too many sloppy goals.
The simple fact of the story is that the current set up isn't good enough.
We're fed up of taking meagre positives from such crucial games, it is about time we took some points for a change.
Here is the reaction of the two managers.
Roberto Martinez
Of course it's a blow to lose the game because we were at home and this was our game in hand. We were unfortunate to give away two goals in such a short space of time - one to a set-play and one to a penalty kick.
We created a couple of great chances in the first half and you have to take them when they come along otherwise it becomes very difficult to win football matches.
It was always uphill after that but we kept going and that's what we need to cling on to from tonight. The dressing room is aware of how and why we lost the game, but I have got no problem with losing games in that manner. It happens.
But we know what we have to do to achieve our targets and we have 14 games in which to do it. That said, I was very pleased with the way we finished the game. We never gave up and the effort was definitely there.
Aston Villa were very clinical, and that's why they won the game. The first goal is always critical in games like this, but to concede the second goal so quickly after from a penalty was a killer.
It was a massive positive to see both James' doing so well in the midfield, and you can see how much we have missed James McCarthy over the past three months.
He is a special player, and for someone who has been out for so long to have lasted 85 minutes sums him up. Charlie has developed so much as a player and has been working so hard this season, he deserved the reward of leading the team out.
Gerrard Houllier
I think we had everything. They (Wigan) really made it difficult at the start. We had a couple of chances but we didn’t control the game as much as we did in the second-half.
I think we were physically and technically superior to them. The players today, in terms of the discipline and the effort, were tremendous. It’s never easy. There’s a very fine line between winning and losing.
I was disappointed because I wanted to see a clean sheet for the defenders. But at the same time I was happy with the way we reacted. They were composed and confident and not scared.
But I was very pleased with my players because, after a huge game against Manchester City (on Saturday), I thought that some of them could be flat.
But they worked very hard, probably as hard as they did last Saturday. Nathan Baker and (Jean) Makoun, I thought, did extremely well.
The table
| Latest match Tuesday, 25th January 2011 |
Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Manchester United | 23 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 51 | 21 | 51 | +30 | ||||
| 2 | Arsenal | 23 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 23 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 48 | 22 | 46 | +26 | ||||
| 3 | Manchester City | 24 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 20 | 45 | +17 | ||||
| 4 | Chelsea | 23 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 42 | 19 | 41 | +23 | ||||
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 23 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 32 | 26 | 38 | +6 | ||||
| 6 | Sunderland | 24 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 28 | 24 | 37 | +4 | ||||
| 7 | Blackburn Rovers | 24 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 31 | 37 | 31 | -6 | ||||
| 8 | Newcastle United | 23 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 26 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 33 | 30 | +3 | ||||
| 9 | Stoke City | 23 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 0 | ||||
| 10 | Bolton Wanderers | 24 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 34 | 35 | 30 | -1 | ||||
| 11 | Liverpool | 23 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 31 | 29 | -1 | ||||
| 12 | Blackpool | 23 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 34 | 41 | 28 | -7 | ||||
| 13 | Aston Villa | 24 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 27 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 40 | 28 | -13 | ||||
| 14 | Everton | 23 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 27 | 29 | 27 | -2 | ||||
| 15 | Fulham | 23 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 0 | ||||
| 16 | West Bromwich Albion | 23 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 26 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 29 | 43 | 25 | -14 | ||||
| 17 | Birmingham City | 22 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 20 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 21 | 31 | 23 | -10 | ||||
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 24 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 39 | 22 | -19 | ||||
| 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 23 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 23 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 24 | 41 | 21 | -17 | ||||
| 20 | West Ham United | 24 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 24 | 43 | 21 | -19 | ||||
Next game
A brief respite from the troubles of the league form for the Latics this weekend as the team makes the short trip to Horwich to face Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round of the FA Cup.