Caldwell ?

Found this article on a site called “The Deck”…….Tried to copy the link without success so copied it……I belits bang on the money…………………..”..Wigan’s decision to move on from Ryan Lowe after that 6-1 humiliation at Peterborough was brutal, but it was also inevitable.

Sitting 22nd in League One and sliding towards the trapdoor focuses the mind fast, because relegation is not an abstract fear for a club of Wigan’s size. It is a very real threat to budgets, recruitment, attendances and any sense of momentum.

That is why the language coming out of the club in the days since has been so telling. The board wants a “swift appointment” and, crucially, a head coach who “gets” Wigan. That might sound like common sense, but it can also be a trap. “Gets us” can easily become a substitute for due diligence, or a sentimental shortcut when pressure is high.

The point is not that Wigan’s identity is irrelevant. It is that identity is not a tactical system, not a training schedule, and not a recruitment plan. It is what gets talked about when clubs are unsure what the actual plan is.

Why the “DNA” messaging is risky

Clubs reach for the language of identity when they want unity and patience, and both matter, particularly in a relegation fight. But it becomes dangerous when it turns into a hiring criterion more important than competence. Wigan have been through enough turbulence over the last decade to know how quickly “the right fit” becomes “the wrong appointment”.

The job now is not to appoint a storyteller. It is to appoint a head coach who can tighten a team that has been leaking goals, steady a group short on confidence, and get results quickly without turning every match into a survival horror show. If that coach also understands the club’s culture, brilliant, but the culture cannot be the main event.

That is where Gary Caldwell comes into focus, because the identity angle is not being used to disguise a lack of footballing logic. It is being used to sell a candidate who, on paper, fits both the emotional and practical needs of the moment.

Caldwell is not just nostalgia

Caldwell’s Wigan connection is obvious. He captained the club, was part of the FA Cup-winning side in 2013, and later returned as a coach and then the manager. That history matters because it buys him instant credibility in a situation where the next appointment will be judged brutally from day one.

But the stronger argument is what Caldwell has done at Exeter City. Working within clear constraints, he has kept a club with a smaller budget in the division and built a reputation for organised, coached football rather than chaos-by-instinct. Exeter appointed him in October 2022, and the job has been a lesson in operating without the luxury of constant fixes, because Exeter’s model demands development, coherence and value.

That is exactly the environment Wigan should want to build, even if the immediate priority is survival. The club can talk about “DNA” all it likes, but the real identity of a modern EFL club is the ability to recruit smartly, coach consistently and avoid panic. Caldwell has lived that reality in Devon.

The elephant in the room: Caldwell’s previous Wigan spell

There is, of course, a reason some supporters will hesitate. Caldwell has done the Wigan job before, and it ended with relegation and then, later, his dismissal with the club struggling in the Championship. It is fair to bring that up, because football does not hand out blank cheques for warm feelings.

But context matters. Caldwell walked into a mess during his first spell, and while the ending was ugly, he did deliver a League One title and an immediate promotion. That experience is not a warning sign, it is relevant evidence. It proves he can handle the Championship to League One transition, manage pressure, and build a promotion campaign over a full season.

More importantly, Caldwell is not the same coach now. Managers evolve, and Caldwell has had time to recalibrate, work in different environments, and return to senior management with a clearer idea of what he wants. Exeter has not been perfect, but it has been instructive, and that matters more than what he was a decade ago.

If it is Caldwell, Wigan must back it up with a real plan

Even if Caldwell is the right appointment, Wigan still risk repeating the same mistake if the club believes the hire itself is the plan. A “swift appointment” only helps if the club then behaves like it has learned something.

That means a clear definition of style that is reflected in recruitment, not rewritten every time a result goes bad. It means a commitment to coaching and performance, not just names on a shortlist. It also means avoiding the classic relegation spiral habit of lurching from one short-term fix to the next, because that is how clubs fall through divisions they never expected to visit.

Wigan’s board statement talks about connection, and connection matters, but connection is a consequence of competence. Win matches, defend properly, stop conceding soft goals, and the connection will take care of itself. Get seduced by narrative over detail, and no amount of “DNA” will save the season.

The verdict

Wigan should appoint Gary Caldwell if he is attainable, because he offers the rare combination of credibility at the club and evidence of functioning in a constrained, modern EFL model. That is not romantic; it is practical.

But the bigger point is this: Wigan have to stop outsourcing their future to the next appointment. Caldwell can be the right head coach, yet still fail if the club does not build the structure around him.

The Latics are not crying out for someone who “gets” them. They are crying out for a club that finally gets itself.