Manchester City failed to turn up so it was left to their supporters to provide the performance. Through adversity can come truth. There has always been a biting honesty about Mancunian humour and, when Luis Antonio Valencia made it 4-0 to Wigan, the undeniable was voiced at the JJB stadium. “You’re so shit it’s unbelievable,” sung home fans. “We’re so shit it’s unbelievable,” the away end chorused with hollow laughs of agreement. Another of their chants would have chilled the blood of those few City players who actually care: “You’re not fit to wear the shirt.”

The league table is not yet alarming for John Wardle, City’s chairman, and his board, but this was a defeat that lurched beyond bad, through awful, and into cataclysmic territory. Club debts of about £60m make Wardle & Co reluctant to go through the costly process of sacking Stuart Pearce and hiring a replacement. But for every manager there comes a point of no return and Pearce must be veering close. This was City’s 17th loss in 21 matches away from home, but results may be less of a threat to Pearce than the mood of the fans. Attendances at the City of Manchester Stadium are dropping and yesterday less than 2,000 fans made the short trip to Wigan. For the corresponding fixture last season City sold out their allocation of 5,000 tickets. One travelling supporter was even thrown out following a fight with his neighbour when they became involved in a heated dispute about which player in their own team was the worst.

Pearce had almost as little time for his side. Asked whether he’d said anything to lift drooping heads, he said: “I don’t really want to pick the players up at the moment. There’s no need to pick them up when they played as badly as today.”

At least Pearce always endeavours to front-up. “The buck stops with me,” he said, “but after that it goes to the senior players. I haven’t said much to the team, but on Monday I’ll let them know. We need to roll our sleeves up and come back next week prepared to have a little fight.”

In mitigation, City are carrying 11 injuries and had to use Darius Vassell as a substitute even though he is not fit. But, as Pearce conceded, there was no leadership in his team, leaving young debutants Matthew Mills and Michael Johnson high and dry, and players gave up the fight following a mini-comeback at the beginning of the second half as soon as Wigan scored a third.

They started the game abysmally, going behind inside two minutes and gifting their opponents a second 120 seconds later when Richard Dunne and Nicky Weaver got mixed up and Dunne scored an own goal. It’s only nine months ago that people were clamouring for Pearce to get the England job and before kick-off, he had touted his goalkeeper for a place in Steve McClaren’s squad. Yet, also culpable for Wigan’s third, Weaver unravelled.

Wigan could have inflicted something even worse on their opponents had they not played with a sizeable element of caution, having thrown leads away in their previous three games. After collapsing from 1-0 to 1-3 against Manchester United, Paul Jewell warned his players about becoming soft touches: thus when Wigan found themselves 2-0 ahead so early, rather than go for the jugular they spent the next hour concentrating on stout defence and playing on the counter-attack.

This only emphasised City’s failings. They lumped the ball to their two big lumps up front, Bernardo Corradi and Georgios Samaras. Corradi wasted his one good chance by heading over and City were encapsulated when he ran clear but lost his balance and sliced his cross and Samaras — to cackles of derision — slipped on his behind when trying to collect the ball.

At 2-0 down, Paul Dickov might have won a penalty when his centre struck Leighton Baines’s arm and Vassell’s cross-cum-shot went close after Johnson slipped him through. But Wigan could have been four up, the barnstorming Paul Scharner having twice nearly scored with headers. One-nil arrived when Emmerson Boyce galloped down the right and crossed for Emile Heskey to get in front of Dunne and finish. Two-nil came when Dunne headed Josip Skoko’s free kick into his own net.

Wigan’s third also involved confusion between the City goalkeeper and a defender. Kevin Kilbane released Baines, who cut the ball back. Stephen Jordan might have cleared but seemed to expect Weaver to claim and Henri Camara stabbed it home.

Valencia’s strike was Wigan’s best. Upfield, Joey Barton missed a tackle and Heskey collected and passed inside for the Ecuadorian to batter a shot past Weaver from 15 yards.

Star Man: Paul Scharner (Wigan)

Player Ratings: Wigan: Kirkland 7, Boyce 7, De Zeeuw 7, Hall 6 (Webster 46min, 6), Baines 7, Valencia 7 (Teale 83min, 6), Scharner 8, Skoko 6 (Landzaat 29min, 6), Kilbane 6, Heskey 7, Camara 7

Manchester City: Weaver 4, Mills 5 (Vassell 59min, 5), Dunne 4, Richards 5, Jordan 4, Sinclair 5, Barton 5, Hamann 4 (Dickov 46min, 5), Johnson 6, Samaras 3, Corradi 3

Scorers: Wigan: Heskey 2, Dunne og 4, Camara 65, Valencia 67

Referee: P Dowd Attendance: 16,235