How ownership group sold Wigan Athletic to Ryan Lowe - and his backroom staff plans

The 46-year-old, who has been out of the game since leaving Preston North End at the start of the season, was confirmed as Shaun Maloney’s successor on Wednesday evening, ending a ‘thorough’ 10-day process.

And Lowe lifted the lid on the series of events that saw him taking ‘a step down to League One’ in order to climb back up the ladder.

"I really liked what the ownership group had to say,” he said. "They showed me their vision for the football club, they actually presented to me first...the plan, what the future looks like, what Wigan Athletic's all about.

"I obviously knew a lot about Wigan Athletic over the years - especially Paul Cook when he was here, with Leam Richardson - but this is a fantastic new ownership group. We all need to be on the same page - me, the owners, the staff, the players and the fans - and we need to get behind each other.

"People might look at this as a step down to League One. But sometimes, if the plan and the strategy is there, you can get where you want to get to. That's the vision the ownership group has shown me and I'm really happy to be a part of it.”

Three mid-table Championship finishes in a row with Preston suggests Latics have pulled off a real coup in securing his services.

"That experience has aided me well,” he said. "I had a fantastic time for two-and-a-half years at Preston, but it was always tough to get to the next level. It certainly wasn’t for the lack of trying, but we finished 12th twice and then 10th last season, and not that many points off the play-offs.

"It was always a big challenge to get there, budgets are always a big part of that...money plays a big part in trying to get to the Premier League. But promotions are what you live for, whether it's from League Two to League One, League One to the Championship, or the Championship to the Premier League.

"The last one is obviously the biggest one, where all the bright are, and everyone wants to be, but you've got to take short steps, mid steps and long steps to get to where we want to get to. We've got a vision and we've got a plan, which is the most important thing.”

Lowe, who also has a couple of League Two promotions on his CV from his time with Bury and Plymouth Argyle, believes he can make it a personal hat-trick as long as the club can make 'short, mid and then long-term steps' to get there.

“This is a fantastic football club with history and tradition," said Lowe. "The club has had some good times and some bad times, and I’m here to bring the good times back. Hopefully, we can have the Brick bouncing.

“I’m really excited about the project and I liked what the ownership group had to say. They showed me the vision of the football club and talked about getting the club back to where it belongs – and the first target is to get to the Championship.

“We’ve got to take short, mid and then long-term steps to get there. We’ve got a vision and a plan, which is the most important thing. If we all buy into that plan and vision, I’m sure we will be successful. I’m really excited for the future and to build Wigan Athletic back to where they should be."

Lowe will be in attendance at Charlton Athletic on Saturday but - with the short turnaround - Glenn Whelan, Graham Barrow and Frankie Bunn will remain in charge.

The new backroom staffing structure will be confirmed shortly.

"I'll be looking to bring at least one more person in with me, but credit to the staff who are here who have done fantastic,” he added. "I'm not too sure yet about the weekend, but what I don't want to do is step on the toes of Glenn or any of the other lads who have stepped in.

"On Friday, I might just give the players and staff a couple of my non-negotiables, about what I expected from my teams going forward, which they've got to buy into. I'll probably leave it then to others, but I will be there with them, I'll travel with them, and I'll try to make sure we can get a positive result on the day.”