What a phenomenal capitulation. Hull City went in at the break before a sparse DW Stadium a goal up and by far the hungrier, more motivated team for what was a desolate FA Cup tie.
The way the tables turned after the break was as remarkable as it was appalling, as the home side carved City apart with ease, helped notably by some wretchedly half-hearted defending from the Tigers.
It'll be interesting to see how Phil Brown explains this one away. It was as if the team had been told at half time that Wigan weren't bothered and that all 22 feet in amber socks could be gently lifted from the gas. Then, shock upon shocks, Wigan scored, then scored again, and then again. The game was over and City had not made any contribution at all to a gutless, clueless second half.
Brown has never liked playing games which aren't rewarded by points in the table and this one was no different. The drama of last season's run into the semi-final draw seemed a long way away as the hosts, themselves not seemingly giving great power to the FA Cup's arm, almost apologetically ran riot.
City made seven changes from the 2-2 draw at Bolton Wanderers, with only Boaz Myhill, Bernard Mendy, Kamil Zayatte and Richard Garcia staying in the starting line-up. In came regular Premier League substitutes Kevin Kilbane, Kamel Ghilas, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Steven Mouyokolo, while Geovanni was given a proper run out and the truly marvellous youngster Tom Cairney ran the midfield. Peter Halmosi, as ostracised as any highly-paid fringe player can be, made his expected cameo on the left wing.
And, before a paltry crowd of little more than 5,000, it was all City. The defence was solid, Geovanni looked interested, Cairney looked like a player of ten more years on this earth and Garcia fancied his chances in the wide right position. He and Mendy combined nicely early on to give Ghilas a headed chance, but the plunging Algerian aimed it too high.
Wigan's one glimmer of first half hope came when Jason Koumas hit a shot from distance that ricocheted off Mouyokolo's side and forced Myhill to fly to his left and palm away, having initially followed the ball's original course. It was a smart and alert piece of goalkeeping, and it would be his only real moment of action before the break.
Ghilas was fouled outside the box and Geovanni angled the well-placed kick all wrong, hitting it very high over Mike Pollitt's goal. A few minutes later Zayatte went on one of his moronically brilliant runs from deep which too was ended with foul on the edge of the box. Cairney pleaded for a go this time, but the Brazilian was having none of it, and his range was meticulous this time as the ball swerved over the wall and beyond Pollitt's despairing hand. A goal up, and fully deserved.
City chased a second and Cairney aimed a left-footed drive a foot wide after excellent work between Garcia and Mendy again. As the half time whistle sounded, it felt like a satisfying, if not compelling, afternoon's work so far, making the slow troughing through horrendous road conditions over the Pennines all the more worth it.
What happened afterwards was utterly horrifying.
City did make the first chance, when Vennegoor of Hesselink headed a Garcia cross too high. But it wasn't long before Charles N'Zogbia, on as a sub, was put through tidily and, with no City defender feeling forced into closing him down, he had ample time to guide a low shot beyond Myhill and into the far corner.
Jason Scotland, a player whose workrate up front is not rewarded by goals (we have a few like that), then gave Hugo Rodallega a shooting chance but Mouyokolo put him under pressure and he flashed it wide. Then Maynor Figueroa combined with Scotland and toepoked the return ball at an exposed Myhill, who was grateful for the lack of power in the effort.
N'Zogbia then hit another shot at Myhill which the City keeper could only spill to the side, and Mendy needed to put his boot through the ball to snuff out the danger entirely. But a second goal seemed inevitable, and it came when James McCarthy's run was fed on the edge of the box and his fluffed control made him stretch to shoot, but a deflection off Mouyokolo - seemingly the only City defender willing to defend after the break, and this is no exaggeration - caught Myhill totally on the hop and Wigan were ahead.
Mouyokolo then blocked a Scotland shot after Titus Bramble robbed Vennegoor of Hesselink on halfway and went on a startlingly unchallenged dart to the edge of the box, eventually giving Rodallega the chance to feed the ponytailed striker. From the corner, the marking was abject as Wigan took it short and N'Zogbia aimed clinically a left foot drive past Myhill and made it 3-1.
Evidence of the future was further spied when Brown slung on youth product Mark Cullen, a striker, for the woeful Ghilas, and the initial impression was that here was possibly the smallest footballer ever to pull on a Hull City shirt. Cairney, no longer the baby of the team but not playing like it anyway, then aimed a volley just wide of Pollitt's post as the Tigers very briefly reminded themselves that they were taking part.
Interestingly, George Boateng was then introduced for the immeasurably poor Halmosi (no crosses, no beatings of his full back, no interest) and lined up alongside Cairney in the centre, prompting questions about whether a Boateng-Cairney duo was being primed for Chelsea's visit this weekend, given that Seyi Olofinjana's jaunt to Angola for the next few weeks has created a gap in the centre of the park. The game was lost so there was some reason for using the remaining minutage to think about an occasion far more vital (and far less winnable).
Cairney had another dig from distance from Mendy's pass and the shot was deflected wide, but really City showed little appetite for this one now. Wigan nearly made it four when Mouyokolo blocked Rodallega's close range effort and then Myhill palmed away Scott Sinclair's follow up. The industrious and barely assisted Vennegoor of Hesselink then made way for Jozy Altidore who then got up well to head goalwards a Cullen cross but slightly too far ahead of Garcia for a finishing touch to be applied.
Scotland hit the side netting with a good chance and then, moments after three minutes of time added on was announced to a markedly unenthralled crowd desperate for home, Sinclair glided past Kilbane with the ease that N'Zogbia had previously managed and put another shot past the helpless (and undoubtedly livid) Myhill.
Garcia hit a scorching volley from Altidore's cross in the dying seconds before City were finally put out of the misery they shared with those who followed them. It was, yes, the FA Cup and so collateral damage is minimal. But honestly, this was truly terrible. Unprofessional. One hopes the dressing down the players deserve is replicated by those with one eye on Brown's own future, because he deserves one. They all do.
Wigan Athletic: Pollitt, Melchiot, Bramble, Amaya, Figueroa, Thomas, Koumas (N'Zogbia 46), Sinclair, McCarthy, Scotland, Rodallega (Watson 77). Subs not used: Nicholls, Edman, Boyce, Gomez, Bouaouzan.
Hull City: Myhill, Mendy, Mouyokolo, Zayatte, Kilbane, Garcia, Cairney, Geovanni, Halmosi (Boateng 71), Ghilas (Cullen 67), Vennegoor of Hesselink (Altidore 79). Subs not used: Duke, Dawson, Doyle, Devitt.
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