Josh Windass doesn't hold back in assessing his move from Rangers to Wigan Athletic - 'I was stupid'

Three regretful admissions from Josh Windass when discussing his move to Wigan Athletic from Rangers in the summer of 2018.

Windass arrived at Wigan for £2.5million after Paul Cook had delivered the League One title in his first season in charge. However, the player's stay at Wigan proved to be less than eventful.

Windass scored only five goals in 40 matches during his maiden campaign as Latics - thanks largely to the inspiration of on-loan Chelsea starlet Reece James - avoided the drop following an end-of-season rally.

His second season was similarly frustrating, with only four goals scored from 16 games before he joined Sheffield Wednesday in the January 2020 transfer window, with Latics lying second bottom of the Championship.

Latics picked up markedly in the second half of the season and picked enough points to secure a mid-table finish, before a 12-point deduction for being placed into administration by then owners IEC saw them drop into the bottom three.

Windass joined the Owls on a permanent basis that summer for a knockdown fee believed to be in the region of £800,000.

And he admits he'd spent the entire two years since leaving Rangers thinking about it 'every day'.

A move which came about when Latics triggered his release clause on transfer deadline day 2018, while he was on the Rangers team bus ahead of a crucial Europa League match against Maribor.

Which saw him feel the wrath of newly-appointed Gers boss Steven Gerrard.

Windass told the Open Goal podcast: "I started the first two games of the season then left on deadline day. I had a nightmare. They activated my buyout clause.

"He got me off the bus and told me, there's a bid in for you. I have got to tell you because you're not going to leave to go there'...and then I left.

"I didn't have an agent at the time. It was a bad decision. But I just got in my car and went down the motorway.

"Mick Beale (assistant manager) was texting me, saying 'you're making a big mistake'. I was 23, I wanted a bigger wage. I was stupid."

Bizarrely, Rangers then tried to re-sign Windass shortly before he joined Wednesday, although it never materialised.

"We had a zoom call about six months later because I was going to go back on loan," added Windass. "Gerrard basically gave me what for. He told me everything that was wrong with me and how I can improve and stuff as a person.

"He said if we are going to bring you back we need to have an honest conversation. I never went back anyway and that was it. It's ages ago now, so I'm not that bothered by it. But for two years after, I thought about it every day until I signed for Sheffield Wednesday."

During a wide-ranging interview, Windass also expressed his surprise that James Tavernier, who has given a decade of service to Rangers since moving from Wigan, is not more highly thought-of in the stands at Ibrox.

"I thought he'd had enough a couple of years ago,” added Windass. “I was thinking, 'Why are you still doing it? Go and play for someone who respects you'. He gets hammered for no reason.”