For a small club such as the Latics, struggling in the league, to visit Chelsea and put in such a heroic performance is hard enough in itself.
The Blues had well over £200 million worth of talent gracing the Stamford Bridge pitch and the plucky performance from the Latics deserved at least a draw.
This was taken away from Roberto Martinez, his players, and the Wigan Athletic supporters but an incompetant linesman on not one, but two, occasions.
Step forward Dave Bryan.
Just two weeks ago, Roberto Martinez was full of praise for referee Lee Mason who was strong in his performance at Anfield. Awarding the Latics a clear penalty and also disallowing Luiz Suarez's 'equaliser' for a blatent push and handball.
Unfortunately, Mike Jones and his assistant Dave Bryan did not have that same strength of character in front of the Stamford Bridge crowd on Saturday.
Not a single word of apology in the press from Bryan and all those involved with Wigan Athletic have to humbly accept the incompetance of a man who in his cowardly actions cost the Latics three points.
Roberto Martinez could not have been more correct in his disgusting analagy. Mistakes do happen. What cannot be forgiven is such blatent incompetance is displayed by Bryan.
The FA certainly shouldn't be looking to punish Roberto for his comments. His comments were accurate, said without menance, and certainly showed the adequate level of respect that the official Bryan deserves.
If Bryan were a builder, his construction would fall down. If Bryan were solicitor, his client would be in prison. If Bryan were a doctor, his patient would be dead.
The incompetance of his decisions on Saturday go beyond human error. This was the performance of a man who should not be in the job he has at present.
To punish Roberto Martinez the FA would be sending out a clear message in support of Bryan's actions which were so bad, must border on match-fixing.
The Latics manager is never one to complain, but after the performance of his team against Chelsea, such an injustice as displayed by the linesman and the referee cannot be swallowed.
It is also worth remembering that this isn't the first time it has happened against Wigan Athletic. Just a few months ago and Blackburn Rovers were allowed to scored a goal from the phantom corner that Morten Gaamst Pedersen took to himself. There is somewhat of a theme occuring here.
As for Bryan, he will no doubt be assigned to another Premier League fixture next week without reprimand for his disgusting display and the incident forgotten.
This is illustrative of what is wrong with football today but will only serve to strengthen the resolve of Wigan Athletic Football Club. We will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and survive relegation for another year.
Believe.
