"Statement of ambition" - Wigan Athletic urged to take Ryan Lowe action | OneFootball

FLW's Wigan Athletic fan pundit has been speaking on whether Ryan Lowe would be a good appointment for the Latics to make.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Former Preston North End manager Ryan Lowe is being strongly linked with the vacant Wigan Athletic job, and our Latics fan pundit believes he would be a smart choice to take over at The Brick Community Stadium.

The 46-year-old has been out of work since his departure from Preston in August, and is being heavily backed as a potential successor to the recently axed Shaun Maloney.

Wigan have endured a poor start to 2025, with the Latics having now been firmly left behind in the race for the League One play-offs, and are now looking over their shoulders towards the relegation zone as a result.

"Statement of ambition" - Wigan Athletic urged to appoint Ryan Lowe as Shaun Maloney replacement

We asked our Wigan Athletic fan pundit Corey Bissell: 'Ryan Lowe is being hotly tipped for the Wigan vacancy. What would your thoughts be if he was the number one choice for the job?'

Bissell said: "Ryan Lowe, for me, is one of the only managers out there that we could get right now that, in my opinion, would see the Maloney situation in a different light at the minute.

"I see the Maloney thing as an overarching negative for the club. I think it's a bad look that we've gone down this road, the Wigan DNA, and we've sort of canned it at a pointless time really when the season was pretty much dead.

"Ryan Lowe would represent, in my opinion, ambition to get out of this league, which is what we set out to do under Maloney. Obviously, it's not gone that way, but Ryan Lowe would really show a sort of statement of ambition to do that.

"He's got a track record of flying high in the league with Bury, with Plymouth before he went to Preston, and even with Preston. At one point I think he had them top of the Championship.

"Probably only for a brief period, but Ryan Lowe is a very, very well-respected EFL manager. He's a very good League One manager, and I'd look forward to that Bolton v Wigan derby between Steven Schumacher and Ryan Lowe in the dugout!

"That would be a tasty affair!"

Ryan Lowe could be highly shrewd appointment for Wigan Athletic

With two EFL promotions on his CV with Bury and Plymouth respectively, Lowe has certainly shown that he knows how to craft a winning environment at a club.

Having proven himself to be a smart manager at Championship level with Preston, having guided them to 13th, 12th and 10th-placed finishes in the second tier, he has that experience and knowledge of what it takes to keep a club in an established position in that division too, should Wigan get there under him.

He has experience of working under tight financial restrictions and small transfer budgets, and has built a reputation for playing attacking football, but has also displayed pragmatism when it comes to setting up and organising a team as a defensive unit.

Therefore, he will surely tick a lot of boxes that the Wigan hierarchy are looking for in their new manager, and he would appear to be a popular choice among Latics supporters too.