Shaun Maloney: Wigan Athletic sack manager after Reading defeat

Wigan Athletic have sacked manager Shaun Maloney after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat by Reading.

That loss extended a run of just one win in seven games which has left the Latics 15th in League One, only six points above the relegation places.

Maloney, a member of Wigan’s FA Cup-winning team in 2013, was in charge for just over two years in a difficult spell for the club which included relegation from the Championship and a points deduction last season.

But this campaign has not gone as hoped, with the club citing “disappointing” home performances in a statement announcing the 42-year-old’s departure, along with his assistant Max Rogers.

Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Glenn Whelan has been placed in interim charge, assisted by Graham Barrow and Frankie Bunn.

Maloney will always have a special place in Wigan folklore for his part as a player in a famous escape from Premier League relegation in 2012 and, even more memorably, the year after, as the Latics won the FA Cup.

In fact, it was his corner which was headed in by Ben Watson as Wigan beat Manchester City at Wembley.

So it was a sentimental return to the club for the ex-Belgium assistant manager when he arrived in January 2023.

But with the club bottom of the Championship, he could not perform his own great escape act.

However, in a very troubled period for the Latics in which players and staff were not paid on time and the team was deducted three points for that offence, Maloney received credit for how he handled the situation.

The club was taken over that summer by Mike Danson from the previous Bahraini ownership group, but Wigan began their League One campaign with an eight-point deduction.

Nonetheless, Maloney led them to a 12th-placed finish.

But with a clean slate this campaign, things have never really got going. Wigan are the lowest scorers in the division with only 31 goals from their 34 games.

Those problems have been even more pronounced at the Brick Community Stadium with just five wins from 17 games and only 16 goals scored.

And for a team with hopes of pushing for the play-offs, at no stage have they been in the top half all season, leading the Latics board to decide that “it was time for a change”.

More to follow.