League One boss sacked after fixtures with Reading, Huddersfield Town & Wycombe Wanderers

Wigan Athletic have parted company with manager Shaun Maloney following a 2-1 defeat against Reading. The club are 15th in League One, and are set for a mid-table finish.

They sit 10 points above the bottom three and 17 adrift of the play-off places, with sixth spot currently occupied by Charlton Athletic. The decision comes after a run of just one win in eight fixtures across all competitions. That came against Huddersfield Town on February 25 and while Athletic drew 0-0 with Wycombe Wanderers recently but a loss to Reading proved to be the final straw for Maloney. They were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Fulham.

Glenn Whelan has been named interim manager while assistant manager Max Rogers has also left the club. Maloney took over in January 2023 and managed a total of 115 games, winning 42, drawing 33 and losing 40.

Wigan confirm reason for Maloney sacking

A club statement released on Sunday read: “Wigan Athletic can confirm that Shaun Maloney has departed his role as Wigan Athletic Manager with immediate effect. Shaun was appointed Wigan Athletic Manager in January 2023 during what would be an extremely turbulent period in the club’s history. Whilst he could not prevent the club’s relegation from the EFL Championship, Shaun ensured that the club returned to the third tier with fighting spirit.

“Furthermore, through a change of ownership in the summer of 2023, Shaun stuck by the club and helped us overcome an eight-point deduction and a squad overhaul to retain our 2023/24 League One status comfortably with matches to spare.”

It later continued: “However, it cannot be overlooked that the current League One campaign has clearly not progressed as anticipated. Home results and performances, in particular, have been disappointing and below the standard at which our supporters expect. For this reason, the board felt that it was time for a change. The timing of such change will allow the club the necessary time to appoint a successor and enable the club to look forward to the future.”

Maloney’s final comments as Wigan boss

After Saturday’s loss at home to Reading, Maloney said: “I think it was a fair result. The performance was way below the level we showed three or four days ago [against Huddersfield]. I know we went 1-0 up, although at that point I didn’t think there was much in the game. We were a lot better without the ball in the first 15-20 minutes of the second half, but all through the game we were really poor with the ball.

“We could have got it forward into some good areas more, because when we did play how we wanted to play and try to hurt them, we ended up near their box. Then we’re relying on the creativity of the attacking players and I think some of them definitely had quieter games. But it’s not just on the attacking players. I thought even in the build-up and how we try to play, we didn’t play into the areas we really wanted to.

“So I can’t say it was just the attackers who had their lowest-level games, because it was throughout the team. Overall I think we got what we deserved.”

Up next for Wigan is League One games with Mansfield Town, Cambridge United, Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion before they see the month out with a clash against Barnsley.