Favourites to become new Wigan boss revealed as club confirms sacking of manager

The favourites to become new Wigan Athletic boss has been revealed as the club confirms the sacking of manager Leam Richardson.

It comes after his side lost six of their past seven games to fall into the Championship relegation zone, putting pressure on him and raised speculation over if time had run out. But luckily there is still to save the latics without having to find casino not on Gamstop or bookie.

The 42-year-old guided the Latics to the League One title last season in his first full season in charge, impressing many.

Richardson, who had only signed a new three-year deal last month, initially joined the club as assistant to Paul Cook in the summer of 2017.

Wigan Athletic can confirm that Leam Richardson has left his role as First Team Manager of the Club.

We would like to place on record our thanks to Leam for his efforts and dedication throughout his time at the Football Club, and wish him well for the future.#wafc 🔵⚪️

— Wigan Athletic (@LaticsOfficial) November 10, 2022

CLUB STATEMENT:

Wigan Athletic can confirm that Leam Richardson has left his role as First Team Manager of the Club.

Richardson, who first arrived at Wigan Athletic back in 2017 as assistant to Paul Cook, departs having made remarkable contributions to the Club throughout his five-year stay at the DW Stadium.

Overseeing some memorable results and successes in his 18 months in charge, whilst helping to rebuild the Football Club following the period of administration, Leam will be fondly remembered as one of the most significant managers in the Club’s 90-year history.

He helped lead Latics to the League One title in his first season at the DW Stadium, before retaining the Club’s place in the Second Tier the following campaign.

As a consequence of administration and a subsequent points deduction, the Club suffered relegation back to League One, after which Leam took charge as interim manager. Having then managed the Club to safety by one point, he was named as Phoenix 2021 Limited’s first permanent manager in April of last year.

Last season, Richardson guided the Club to the title on the final day of the season against Shrewsbury Town as Latics returned to the Championship in his first full season in charge.

However, having looked at the recent run of form that is challenging the team’s status as a Championship club, the Board have made the decision to make a change.

The Club would like to place on record it’s thanks to Leam for his efforts and dedication throughout his time at the Football Club, none more so than during the period of administration and his instinctive reaction that helped save the life of Charlie Wyke.

A much-loved individual and someone who Latics fans will always hold in very high regard, Leam will always be welcomed back at the DW.

We would like to wish both Leam and his family the very best for the future.

Assistant Manager, Rob Kelly, will take charge of Saturday’s Championship fixture against Blackpool, with the Club now beginning the process of appointing the next permanent manager of Wigan Athletic.

FAVOUITES TO BECOME NEW WIGAN MANAGER

BetVictor – 1pm, 10th November
Rob Edwards – 4/1
Neil Critchley – 4/1
Sean Dyche – 8/1
Rob Kelly – 10/1
Karl Robinson – 12/1
Liam Manning – 12/1
Mark Bonner – 12/1

BetVictor – 6pm, 10th November
Rob Edwards – 4/1
Neil Critchley – 4/6
Shaun Maloney – 5/1
Duncan Ferguson – 6/1
Paul Cook – 8/1
Sean Dyche – 12/1

BetVictor – 9am, 11th November
Duncan Ferguson – 1/4
Neil Critchley – 4/1
Rob Edwards – 12/1
Shaun Maloney – 12/1
Paul Cook – 16/1
Rob Kelly – 25/1

This is what fans said as the favourites to become new Wigan boss is revealed as the club confirms the sacking of manager Leam Richardson…

@jack_unsworth: Shambles.

@Warriorjim: Complete disgrace! Set up to fail by not backing him in the transfer market! Not many managers could achieve 20 points with the squad that Wigan have.

@PatrickMc01: dreadful decisions at the club strike again

@CalWafc: Cheers for getting us back up, good luck in future 👍🏻

@benhutton7298: Goes down as one of the legends of this club but right decision. 💙💙

@ella_jadee_: Gutted. @JadeLRichardson please remind him that we’ll always be incredibly grateful for everything he’s done for us and it should never have ended this way. He’s a hero here and always will be 💙

@tomwafc1932: Wtf…. Thanks for everything Leam 💙🤍

@ShannonWoosey: He helped save our club so thankyou 💙

@laticwolf: Disgraceful decision

@CabezaJake: Absolute disgrace. Hope the boo boys are happy this morning. Dont back a manager with a L1 squad, what do you expect! 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

@MikeWilder_11: Sad to see him go after bringing the club back together. Unfortunately, negative tactics and stubbornness to change meant he had to go

@WAFC_Marc: Unbelievable person and saved the club in darkest times but not cut out for management at this level, all the best Leam 👍

@kierantierney: Overachieved massively last season and that will never be forgotten, but the timing is the right one for me. Give someone a month with the players and go again in December.

@DriscollFC: It’s brutal in the Championship, isn’t it?

@NathanAvie: One of the very best we’ve ever had, thanks for everything, thought he would have had a bit longer personally

@HarrisonTither: Terrible call 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

@WAFCtabs: He deserved another window to get it right. He will always be fondly remembered as one of our best. Up there with the likes of Jewell, Martinez etc. albeit for very different reasons. He needed backing in the summer and didn’t get it or didn’t want it.

@DannyLatham10: He deserved to be backed in the window… can’t expect us to be in the championship with a league one side and almost 0 investment and to achieve anything more than what we are doing.

@AidanCampbell_: Jokers!!!! Need to get the next appointment right, no good chopping and changing managers every time we get a bit of a bad run. Talk about stability

@faz42: Knee jerk reaction. Should have waited a week and had a sit down and assessment with him. Owners let him down badly and honestly makes me think even more the club is for sale.

@Juddu_: Thanks for sticking with us through admin, keeping us up, and getting us up. This season, although shocking, will not mask the great achievements you accomplished. Sometimes the tough decisions are the best decisions. Always a tic

@Aaronjl31: Thank you Leam 💙

@rlowe20: Thank you Leam. Not sure I agree with this but good luck. Forever a Tic x

@nbennett415: Awful decision, he has a league 1 squad in the championship. Made some mistakes this season but this is a proper knee jerk reaction. Good luck @leamrico and thanks for everything

@davidjackson3: Some fella but the correct decision for me. Will always be remembered for what he did for the club. Thanks for everything.

@Baldie74: Gutted …. This was never the answer to our current predicament … yes we are in a fight and struggling at present but Leam stuck by us and we should have repaid the faith 💙🤍 forever a Wigan Legend … All the best Leam what ever the future brings 👏 and Thank you 🙏 #wafc

@stuartalker: As great as the owners have been in helping to turn the club around, this decision is a consequence of them not knowing or understanding the game. It also reminds me of the Gary Caldwell sacking, which Sharpe said was his biggest mistake and set the club back years #shorttermism

@sophb1992: I thought he still had a lot of fight left to get us through the second half of the season. It’s a shame they offered him a 3yr deal on a few weeks ago, which I feel was only done to shy away from their money troubles. Not sure we’ll be a good replacement atm.

@dharvey4: Coventry fan here, seems harsh considering we are 2nd in the form table. It’s not like you got thrashed at our place on Tuesday. Good luck for the season.

@CabezaJake: Also, while we’re at it, who ever is lined up, hes gonna have to be backed to add more quality to the squad and not be palmed off with a couple of loans. Otherwise a trust will have been broken for F all as we sit in L1 come Aug. We’ll wait and see ..

@jools4949: Don’t think this will solve our current problems. We needed to invest in some proven championship players to help and guide those inexperienced at this level. Thanks Leam for all you’ve done and good luck for the future ⚽️💙

@WAFConTour: A lot saying bad decision by the club but all I’ve seen for the last couple of days is folk saying to get rid. Can’t feel anything but sadness for the fella to be honest and hopefully there’s nothing else going on behind the scenes after just getting a weird 3yr deal #wafc