Latics' manager Stephen Robinson is well aware that his team are suffering from a fear of playing at Boundary Park, and the fans are now running out of patience at the inept performances which have culminated in the embarrassing league placing which leaves the team propping up the division.
Robinson admitted, “There is definitely a fear and they played with that. They played with a freedom at Charlton, Coventry and Bury, passing the ball and retaining possession. Here, every touch was negative in the first half [Franchise FC game] which was contrary to what we told them - to be positive to risk making mistakes and get shots on target. There is a fear factor here and fans do get on the backs very quickly, but they have to deal with that. There are 3,000 fans here and if they want to go on to better things and have a career in football, you simply have to deal with that."
"We would love for the fans to stay with us for 90 minutes then show emotions afterwards, but unfortunately we live in an X-Factor world where everyone wants instant success. They pay their money and are entitled to have their opinions, most definitely. We were completely flat and lacked energy and the quality we showed at Charlton, which was the most disappointing thing.”