Wigan Athletic shouldn't lose any sleep if Watford come calling: View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic have enjoyed a fine season on the pitch, despite their off-field issues hindering a potential place in the League One play-offs this term.

Shaun Maloney has performed terrifically under the financial constraints surrounding the club ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, with the Latics starting the season with an eight point deduction and placed under a transfer embargo after breaches of financial rules.

That being said, the Latics comfortably find themselves in mid-table in the third tier, and had it not been for their minus starting point at the beginning of the season, would find themselves five points away from the play-off places with seven games of their season remaining.

Their form this season has alerted clubs to the managerial talents of Maloney, with Championship club Watford reportedly keen on bringing him up a division following their latest managerial casualty.

Shaun Maloney latest amid Watford links

According to Football Insider, Maloney is reportedly in the frame for becoming the new Watford manager.

The Hornets are searching for a new manager following the sacking of Valerien Ismael earlier this month, with Tom Cleverley appointed interim boss until the end of the season.

And the former Manchester United midfielder got his spell in the Vicarage Road dugout off to a winning start in his first outing, beating Birmingham City ahead of the final international break of the season, with a potential good run of form from now until the end of the season potentially putting him in contention for the role at the end of the campaign.

The Hertfordshire club sit 13th in the Championship and are one of the few second-tier sides not challenging for the play-offs or battling relegation with eight games of their season remaining, and are already planning for next season with the hopes of returning to the Premier League following their relegation back in 2022.

While also only in the infancy of his managerial career, Maloney has impressed with Wigan this season, inserting five academy graduates into the first team this season – with the likes of Sam Tickle, Charlie Hughes and Baba Adeeko being called up to the England and Republic of Ireland Under-21 sides respectively.

The Scot also worked for three-and-a-half years as Roberto Martinez’s assistant in the senior Belgium set-up, giving him experience of working with elite-level players within a European structure.

But while the lure of Championship football can be an attractive financial prospect, the managerial merry-go-round in WD18 may not be as striking a proposition as it once was.

Ismael's dismissal meant he became the ninth manager since 2020 to be sacked by the Hornets, and Maloney would become the 22nd manager since Gino Pozzo's takeover of the club in 2012.

Shaun Maloney is not irreplaceable for Wigan Athletic

While this season has seen Maloney's forward-thinking and attack-minded style of play earn wandering eyes from the divisions above, you feel as though Wigan are well-placed to bring in another promising or experienced coach to take over their exciting young team.

The Latics enjoyed recent success under Paul Cook and Leam Richardson, both earning promotion from League One to the Championship during their time in the DW dugout, but it is imperative the club get their next appointment right should Maloney leave, given what happened during Kolo Toure's tenure in the North West.

Maloney came into the job having only one other managerial spell with Hibernian, where he won six of a possible 19 games in the 2021-22 campaign.

In an exciting landscape concerning managers in the modern game, a number of potential candidates will have been drafted up with the possibility of replacing the former Scotland midfielder at the club.

Additionally, Maloney will also have two years remaining on his current Wigan contract come the end of the season, having signed a three-and-a-half year back in January 2023, meaning the Latics will be bound for a healthy compensation package which they can use towards finding a new manager.