Why 'genius' manager is the right man to lead the rebuild, by Wigan Athletic old-boy

Although desperately disappointed at the play-off chasing Tykes being beaten on home soil, Stephen Humphrys didn't need reminding of what Latics are capable of under Shaun Maloney.

Indeed, Humphrys feels Maloney is absolutely the right man to continue the rebuild at Wigan, which will hopefully see them joining Barnsley in the upper reaches of the League One table before long.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, in the final piece of his exclusive chat with Wigan Today, Humphrys lifted the lid on life at Latics under the watchful eye of Maloney.

"When we were playing well, we showed we could beat anyone," he said. "Obviously there was the Bolton 4-0...all three teams who went up last year, we beat...Portsmouth away...Derby away...Oxford at home.

"There were certain things that would happen in games, the manager would predict it...he somehow knew the way the opposition would play, he knew what they'd change to...so we had not only a Plan A, but a Plan B and a Plan C.

"I thought 'God, this guy is a genius'...you could really tell that he'd worked with managers at the top level and learned from them.

"It was there for everyone to see...and I genuinely hope Shaun can turn it round, because he absolutely deserves to...just from speaking to him, you can tell he's obsessed with football.

"Honestly, the amount of time and effort he puts in...he's the first person there in the morning and the last to leave at night.

"When results don't go your way, it's always the manager who gets the blame, but fans need to remember the football we played and the results we had when we were at the top of our game.

"I really feel for him...because I think if he was really backed, and given the resources to get his first choice in every position, Wigan would definitely be challenging for promotion.”

If both Humphrys and Maloney had their way, the player would still be a Wigan player, rather than moving on at the end of last season when agreement couldn't be reached on a new contract.

Surprisingly, it took Humphrys until transfer deadline day in August to join Barnsley.

For the first time, he reveals exactly what was behind the delay in getting fixed up.

"To be fair, about a week after the season finished, I'm not going to name any clubs, but there was a Championship club saying 'yep, we want you, this is what we'll pay you'," he added.

"I had a Zoom meeting with the manager and the coaching staff, everything was fine and dandy...but I kind of held back on it...because I thought 'it's only been a week, and I've already got my first offer'.

"Then an MLS club came in, which was financially the best offer I received...I thought 'I want to go there, complete change of scenery, what a life experience'…

"The first Championship club got wind and thought 'forget it, we'll go somewhere else', because I think they realised I was stalling.

"Then, the MLS team ended up losing about four games in a row, and they decided to put all their available budget into defenders and a new goalkeeper, so that was that done!

"Another one got really close, but it got leaked onto Twitter...another Championship club, late on in the window, they decided to buy two players from a club they were linked with - one a striker - and that kind of killed me again.

"By that time, everyone's pretty much signed the players they want...but I always had it in my mind to join a club that was either in the Championship or one that would be fighting to get there.

"I ended up at Barnsley, I'm really enjoying it at the minute, and hopefully they'll get the best out of me."