Maloney hails team that defied points deduction

Shaun Maloney believes the future will be "a lot more stable" after his young Wigan Athletic team defied an eight-point deduction to finish in the top half of League One.

The Irish former Latics player paid tribute to his players, who rallied after the chaos of last year, when several players left the club.

Latics were relegated from the Championship when hit by a three-point deduction over the failure of previous owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi to pay salaries on time, with another eight points lopped off before they started the new season for further offences.

The club was also subject of a HMRC winding-up petition and handed a transfer embargo, before Wigan Warriors co-owner Mike Danson stepped in to buy them.

Maloney faced the new season without stalwarts like Tendayi Darikwa, Max Power, Will Keane, Jack Whatmough, James McClean, Callum Lang and Charlie Wyke, as players left what looked like a sinking ship.

Relying entirely on loans and free transfers, Maloney led Wigan to safety by hitting their 50-point target in March.

'Safety was priority'

“Safety was the first priority and achieving 50 points, against Blackpool, was a big moment,” he told BBC Radio Manchester after the final game of the season, a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers.

“I really didn’t like the next two or three games, which felt like ‘objective achieved, season done’ and when I saw the teams round about us, and the points difference, I just wanted to finish in that top half.

“Sometimes it gets forgotten because of how good the players have been. When you think back to pre-season we had 16 kids, with players handing in their notice and walking for free.

“When you look at what the really big boys - you have Everton and Forest, and Reading in our league - have had to deal with and what we’ve had to deal with, our players have to take huge credit.”

Maloney was greeted as a hero by the Wigan fans as he did a lap of honour with his players at the DW Stadium and he compared the emotion of that moment to his days with Celtic.

“It meant a lot, it really did," he said. "Everyone keeps saying ‘thank you’ to me around this club but it works both ways - a few years ago I came here at 28, hadn’t played for three years and this club saved my career so I’m still indebted to them.”

'Brilliant job'

With the future more secure under the new owner, Maloney says planning for next season will begin this week.

“We’ll have those discussions on Monday and Tuesday, then do a bit of a review of the season,” he said. “It’s going to be a long off-season for the players, they’ll get three or four weeks off, but me and the staff have some work to do.

“We have seven out of contract and seven loans. Gregor (Rioch, sporting director) and Stevie (Gormal, head of player recruitment) did a brilliant job in the January window and I’ve put pressure on them to get as many of our squad together as they can.

“It should be a lot more stable, but I will be a different coach and manager at certain times. I’ve had a very young squad in their first season and have had to be patient. The young boys have had a brilliant season but next season I’ll be a lot more demanding.”