Wigan have announced they have sacked first-team manager Warren Joyce after just five months in charge of the Championship strugglers.
The Latics appointed the former Manchester United Under-21 boss at the start of November with the club in the bottom three and while there has been an improvement in results the club have actually dropped a place in the league.
Wigan’s 1-0 defeat at home to relegation rivals Bristol City proved the final straw for the board, who are now looking for a successor to try and get the club out of the bottom three and guide them to safety.
“It is unfortunate that we have made this decision but with the team in such a perilous position in the league, we need to act now because we cannot afford to fall any further behind,” chairman David Sharpe told the club’s official website.
“Warren was appointed with the future in mind in terms of developing players but preserving our Championship status is the absolute priority and we have a duty to do whatever gives us the best chance of doing that.
“Results and performances have simply not been up to standard often enough in recent matches and although we acknowledge the difficulties faced in managing a team in a league where we are competing against clubs with much larger budgets, the nature of some of our recent defeats, especially against closer rivals, have fallen short in terms of what we as a club, and all our supporters, expect.”
Wigan have only won two of their last 10 matches in the Championship and have damningly failed to score in two of their last six matches. Only three teams have won fewer points in the Championship during Joyce’s time in charge (20 points).
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