Wigan Athletic head coach Gary Caldwell has given his views on the rumours that the Latics are up for sale, amid their League One relegation battle.
It’s hardly the news that he will have wanted to have been focusing on this week, with their priorities on the pitch firmly around third-tier survival.
However, Wigan were forced to release a statement on Wednesday from the Ownership Group, addressing those reports.
And Latics boss Caldwell has today given an update on his communication with the Danson family in recent days.
It’s quite a lot for the new Wigan boss to take in, having been at the club for less than a month. The former Exeter City manager has only taken charge of five matches in the north-west, winning home encounters against play-off hopefuls Luton Town and Huddersfield Town. With their place in League One on the line, there is the very real prospect that the 2013 FA Cup winners could drop into the lowest level of professional football next season.
In a statement provided this week, the Danson family had decided earlier this year to ‘explore additional investment opportunities’. For a club that has had its fair share of ownership issues, entering administration almost six years ago, it’s likely that this speculation has raised plenty of questions among the Latics support.
Hoping to put this news firmly behind them this week was Caldwell, who gave a pretty honest assessment on the matter.
“I spoke to Lucas [Danson] on Tuesday and, for me, it is business as usual. I’ve got far more pressing issues to win games and to make sure this club stays in League One, and I think it’s probably something that came out that didn’t need to come out.
“It’s nowhere near the stage that it needs to be in the public domain, and I think every club in League One is probably for sale at the minute if you ask any owner, because of the money that’s being generated in this league. But Lucas and Mike [Danson], in my dealings with them, have been brilliant.
“They are fully supportive and fully behind this football club to achieve the goals this season and beyond, and until that changes, then for me, there is no news, really, to be said.”
All Focus On Bradford City Clash
Tomorrow’s fixture against Bradford will have repercussions at both ends of the League One standings. The Bantams finally ended their peculiar run of form in midweek with a rare away win at basement side Port Vale. Graham Alexander’s side had been victorious in every home game since mid-January, but had lost five successive fixtures on the road until their win in Burslem on Wednesday evening.
That result moved the West Yorkshire outfit level on points with third-place Bolton Wanderers, and they can’t quite be ruled out of automatic promotion contention just yet. Bradford are nine points adrift of second-place Cardiff City, who have failed to win three of their last four matches. It would take an almighty effort for the Bluebirds to be overhauled at this stage of the campaign, but taking maximum points in the north-west tomorrow afternoon would go some way to achieving that.
Wigan have their own need for three points, knowing that they could easily fall into the relegation zone before they even kick off at The Brick Community Stadium. Rotherham United, who sit three points behind Wigan, will overtake the Latics if they are victorious by more than one goal in their early kick-off against Bolton. Both teams in action in Lancashire tomorrow will have a vested interest in that clash, ahead of their own meeting infront of 15,000 spectators.