'I’ve watched this team grow', muses deflated Wigan Athletic boss

It’s taken Paul Cook three long years to build a Wigan Athletic side strong enough to consolidate in the middle of the Championship.
Paul Cook with Joe Williams in midweekPaul Cook with Joe Williams in midweek
Paul Cook with Joe Williams in midweek

And Latics fans have to hope it isn’t broken up over the next three weeks, as the full effects of the club being placed in administration become painfully apparent.

Jensen Weir has already become the first departure, with the England Under-18 midfielder’s £500,000 move to Brighton helping to pay the bills for this month.

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Fellow Academy starlets Alfie Devine, Joe Gelhardt, Kyle Joseph and Sean McGurk have also reportedly caught the eye of Premier League clubs.

Around half of the Latics squad – including Danny Fox, Chey Dunkley, Lewis Macleod, Anthony Pilkington, Gary Roberts and Michael Jacobs, as well as loan men Leon Balogun, Jan Mlakar, Alex Dobre and Kieran Dowell – are no longer under contract.

And even the ones who are, such as Cedric Kipre, who in Championship started the season as a boy and finished it as a man, are being lined up by Premier League clubs ready for a bargain.

“I’ve watched this team grow,” said Cook in the aftermath of Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Fulham, which means they are now reliant on David Phillips QC to remain in the Championship.

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“I’ve watched them travel back from places like Stoke and Luton, in pain.

“I’ve watched them viewing DVDs and trying to improve themselves.

“Young players like Cedric Kipre grow into absolute superstar footballers.

“He’s just one of them, and there are others.

“The disappointment they’ll feel now is not right.

“That’s so sad for me to see, because they haven’t done anything wrong.”

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Kipre may not be the only senior star being lined up by agents for a move elsewhere.

USA left-back Antonee Robinson – whose £6million move to Italian giants AC Milan in January fell through at the 11th hour – has admirers at West Ham and West Brom.

Wales striker Kieffer Moore has already been the subject of a £2million bid from QPR, which was accepted by the administrators on the eve of the Fulham game.

He came close to joining Cardiff in January, and it remains to be seen if they – or Middlesbrough, whose manager Neil Warnock was in charge of the Bluebirds at the time – enter the race.

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Scottish giants Celtic having been given reason to believe they can lure their former goalkeeper David Marshall back north of the border, along with forward Jamal Lowe.

In the end, hanging on to their Championship status may not be the hardest thing for Latics at the moment.

Filling the squad for next term may be even tougher.