To gauge Shaun Maloney’s popularity at Wigan, look no further than the patrons of the Phoenix Lounge at the DW Stadium on Friday who spotted the manager conducting a TV interview at pitchside, stepped outside and sang his name throughout. They were attending a wake at the time.
A release from the sorrow: the mourners in the Phoenix and Wigan can identify with that. A club that almost went out of business last summer and started the League One season on minus eight points have hope again. Saved from a winding-up order when taken over in June by the local billionaire Mike Danson, the Wigan Warriors’ owner, Wigan are now above the relegation zone and rebuilding with a promising young team under Maloney.
