Wigan Athletic boss reveals recruitment insight - 'I'll go after him'
Ryan Lowe has lifted the lid on how Wigan Athletic's new-look recruitment team has been going about its business.
The head coach has already made five signings this summer, in the form of permanent arrivals Fraser Murray (Kilmarnock), Christian Saydee (Portsmouth) and Dara Costelloe (Burnley), and loan recruits Paul Mullin (Wrexham) and Callum Wright (Plymouth Argyle).
With former head of recruitment Stephen Gormal having left the club in the summer, and Joe Riley arriving from Fleetwood Town as chief scout, sporting director Gregor Ricoh has been overseeing a revamped department.
But Lowe says all responsibility will be on his shoulders – as he believes should be the case.
"In terms of profile, Joe Riley will know exactly what I want," said Lowe. "He will bring the players to me...the kind of profiles, and personality, that I'm after.
"Obviously we have to work within a remit, and a structure, of what that looks like, for example budget and wages.
"Gregor, as the sporting director, along with the board, will then get all the business side of it done. But in terms of everything, it's all on my say so.
"Whatever player I want, as long as we can afford him, I'll go after him. The recruitment has to be, as far as me speaking as a manager, it's 'my player' - no-one else's.
"We'll have to agree on it, to make sure all the numbers add up and so on. But in terms of players coming in, I will always take full responsibility for any player that comes into the football club.
"Every single player I've signed in my managerial career has been on me. And that's why I tread very carefully in terms of making sure all aspects of every deal is right.”
Lowe revealed at the end of last season he had been given assurances from the ownership group that he would be backed in the transfer market this summer.
That has clearly already been the case, with Latics getting their business done far quicker than this time last year – partly due to the European Championships, which meant key figures, including agents, being elsewhere for long periods.
However, Lowe says it’s not just a case of throwing money around to ensure certain targets end up at Wigan.
"We've had conversations where certain players have been valued at £500,000, but I don't value them at that,” he explained. “Someone else might value them at that, but I don't, so I'm happy to look elsewhere.
"I'll always look to get maximum value for the money we have, and I will always spend it like it's my own - because that's the best way.
"I can't go and spend £20 in a shop when I've only got £10 to spend, and that's the way I work.
"Ultimately, it's my head on the line, and some I'll get wrong, as well as the ones I'll get right. But I'll always be the first to say that was my decision, and if anything doesn't work out, it won't be for the lack of trying."