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We finished the 2006/07 campaign in style surviving with a real performance of blood and guts on the final day of the season. All the talk this term has been to avoid such a finish and we seem to have a strong foundation on which to build.
All outside eyes have Hutchings as favourite to win the sack race, but a little closer to the JJB Stadium and the Latics fans are quietly optimistic about the job "Hutch" can do in the hot seat.
Our squad may be paper thin and made up of players who have spent their careers being ridiculed for various reasons, but a few weaknesses apart, we showed at Goodison Park yesterday that the rolling over Wigan of post Christmas last season is no longer in evidence.
This was a solid display from the back forwards and Kevin Kilbane's shocker at left back apart, there was plenty to build on for the future, especially with Michael Brown yet to come into the midfield.
Everyone in the tired old stadium knew that Kevin Kilbane wasn't going to keep the sublimely skilful Mikael Arteta under wraps, and that was in glaring view as the Spaniard ripped his way through our left hand side for the first half.
In particular, Arteta could have easily had a penalty mid-way through the first half. Although Bramble's challenge was a fair one, in front of the Everton faithful, no-one could have blamed referee Mark Clattenburg for giving the spot kick. Full credit to the referee however for his close positioning and honest decision.
The defence looked promising despite the absence of Wiganer.net Player of the Season Emmerson Boyce and we actually had two centre backs with pace about them. A commodity rarely seen by the Latics' support.
While in midfield, Paul Scharner is a machine and will have a big part to play in the season while Antonio Valencia has adopted a playing style similar to road-runner on steroids and needs to slow his game down if he is going to make any progress. Denny Landzaat was quiet once more and Jason Koumas didn't stamp his authority onto the game.
Forward Antoine Sibierski wasn't fit enough for the first eleven after injuring his thigh in pre-season, but had the big Frenchman managed the full 90 minutes we could have come away with something. He took his goal well and offered much more of an outlet than Caleb Folan.
Everton, whilst not impressing too much, certainly did a job on us and they will be a good bet for Europe this term. If Arteta can remain fit for the season, and Johnson continues his rich goalscoring form, they'll have another good season.
All-in-all the travelling support were happy with what they saw yesterday, and a few tweaks to the team will see us picking up points. We're currently 17th in the table and have moved up three places on the back of this defeat, we have to be pleased with that.
Middlesbrough on Wedensday night is a big game as it is likely that they will be at the wrong end of the table come May and we need to pick up points off the sides around us.
The only message at the moment from the supporters to manager Chris Hutchings is a simple one: For God's sake, Zinedine Kilbane is not a left back!
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