Jonathan Jackson: Wigan Athletic plight 'beyond belief'

It’s just over six months since Latics were placed into administration by its former owners and Jackson was made redundant from his post as chief executive.

With the proposed Spanish takeover having collapsed this week, interested parties have been given until today to resubmit their proposals.

And Jackson – a lifelong Latics fan, as well as CEO for a decade – is praying for some long-awaited positive news.

“I can’t really believe it’s six months on, and we’re still here talking about administrators and a very uncertain future,” he said.

“That’s very demoralising and upsetting really, because I think we all believed it would be resolved and concluded much sooner than this.

“The last three months have been disappointing, for whatever reason we have been in a state of limbo, and that’s not helped the football club.

“As we go into January, that certainly doesn’t help matters, with the restrictions placed on our ability to recruit players into the squad.

“We hoped the club would be in a position by now to start looking at the squad and perhaps strengthening it, but we’re still in administration and that’s tough to take.”

Jackson spent the first three months of administration voluntarily helping out, before being shut out after the Spanish bid was accepted on September 30.

And he says he’s desperate for a successful resolution – not least for the long-suffering staff who have been put through the wringer.

“The last three months for me have been difficult, having not been involved since the offer from the Spanish was accepted,” he added on the 'Progress With Unity' podcast..

“Unfortunately we have lost a lot of staff who have been with us for a very long time, and it’s well-publicised that the Spanish told members of staff they were overpaid and would have to take a pay-cut.

“As a first meeting with your prospective new bosses, I don’t think that was the right way to go about things...in fact, I know that wasn’t the right way to go about things.

“And that had a huge impact on members of staff who were already going through a wide range of other things.”