Wigan Athletic may look to Plymouth Argyle for inspiration after Shaun Maloney action | OneFootball

The Latics have been linked with Ryan Lowe, and they would love to repeat the Pilgrims' success under the 46-year-old

Wigan Athletic are on the search for a new manager right now after the Latics parted ways with Shaun Maloney over the weekend.

The 2013 FA Cup winners are too close to the League One relegation places for owner Mike Danson’s liking, with Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Reading proving to be the final straw for the former Celtic man.

Rumours have already started abounding over who may be the person to replace the 42-year-old in the dugout at the DW Stadium, with a number of experienced EFL managers out of work right now.

One such name is former Preston North End and Plymouth Argyle boss Ryan Lowe, and the League One side only need to look at the work he did at Home Park to prove what a worthwhile addition he would be going forward.

Ryan Lowe linked with Wigan Athletic vacancy after Shaun Maloney decision

No sooner had Maloney been axed than the rumours of Lowe started to surface, with the 46-year-old said to have been in the area over the weekend as the news was announced.

The former North End boss was seen at The Brick in the town by man fans according to a report from Wigan Today, leading to many speculating that a deal could be in place to make him Maloney’s successor.

To further add fuel to the fire, Lowe has links with Athletic’s Sporting Director Gregor Rioch, with the pair playing together at Shrewsbury Town near the start of the Century.

While the likes of Ian Evatt, Leam Richardson, and serial League One promotion winner Paul Warne are all out of work at the moment, Lowe is a man who has earned his stripes in the lower leagues during his early years in management, playing some attractive football along the way.

Having won League Two with Bury and Argyle, a switch to Preston came about in December 2021, where he oversaw successive mid-table finished for the Lilywhites, before departing after the first weekend of the current campaign.

While he may have split the fanbase in Lancashire, it was in Devon where he rejuvenated a side who had fallen on hard times in League Two, and Wigan would love a repeat if he were to take over in the coming weeks.

Wigan Athletic would love Plymouth Argyle repeat with Ryan Lowe

While his hasty departure for Preston left a sour taste in the mouth a little over three years ago, there is no doubting that Lowe got Argyle firing again after their relegation to League Two at the end of the 2018/19 season.

Derek Adams had left a disillusioned side in disarray, and having just led a financially-stricken Bury side to League Two promotion, Lowe was the man chosen to try and repeat the trick with the Pilgrims in the summer of 2019.

"We welcome him to Home Park, having no doubts that his footballing philosophy and attacking style is perfect for the way our supporters like to see Argyle play,” owner Simon Hallett said, via Sky Sports News at the time.

And attack, attack, attack they did, with the likes of Danny Mayor, Byron Moore and Ryan Hardie brought into the team, while Antoni Sarcevic ran things in the middle of the park.

Current club captain Joe Edwards would soon be turned into the full-back he is today, and Callum McFadzean would maraud down the other flank, with the latter setting the standard for the season on the opening day, as his acrobatic effort opened the Pilgrims’ account for the season in a 3-0 win at Crewe Alexandra.

While it took some time for the new squad to gel, once they did they took some stopping, with a run of just three defeats in the 17 matches before the season was curtailed due to Covid-19 seeing them earn promotion at the first time of asking.

With an emphasis on front-foot football, Argyle games were rarely dull, with the chances flowing at both ends of the pitch, and the Greens normally coming out the victors in enthralling encounters in the fourth tier.

While things initially proved rocky in their first season back in the third tier, Lowe proved he could learn from setbacks along the way, with a porous defence sorted out in the summer of 2021, as Argyle quickly began challenging at the right end of the table.

Once the personnel were in place, the Pilgrims were set on continuing that bullish attacking style of play higher up the pyramid, and it brought results once again at the start of the 2021/22 campaign.

With Luke Jephcott partnering Hardie up top, Argyle had two strikers who worked perfectly in tandem, while Edwards and Conor Grant provided ammunition from the flanks.

Mayor now had Ryan Broom as well as George Cooper to help add stardust to the whole occasion, and once again Argyle were rampaging forward with abandon, and were pushing near the top of the table as the festive period got underway.

At this point, Lowe had earned a reputation as one of the hottest young managers on the circuit, and with Frankie McAvoy sent packing from Preston, the Lancashire side activated a release clause in his contract to bring him to Deepdale.

In the blink of an eye, he was gone, with the Green Army unable to thank him for the memories before he skipped up the country to take a job in the Championship.

While his goodbye was sour, his two-and-a-half years in charge were very sweet indeed, and if Wigan give him the ammunition needed to challenge near the top, there is no reason why they can’t be contenders in League One in the next campaign, providing they stay up this season.