Wigan Athletic will forever wonder what-if when it comes to Kolo Toure call: View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic supporters will wonder if they could have avoided relegation if Leam Richardson was not replaced by Kolo Toure

Former Wigan Athletic boss Leam Richardson arguably had a tougher job than any of his predecessors in the Latics dugout, as he initially took charge of the Greater Manchester outfit when they were facing administration back in 2020.

A 12-point deduction was imposed upon the Latics in July 2020, which saw the side, then managed by Paul Cook, drop from 13th in the Championship to the relegation zone.

An undeserved drop to League One followed, which saw Cook leave a club left in the financial doldrums alongside former star players such as Antonee Robinson and Kieffer Moore.

The Latics began the 2020/21 third tier season with no owner in charge of the club, and with Richardson at the managerial helm on a caretaker basis overseeing a makeshift squad predominantly made up of youth academy graduates.

But by September 2020, the club's administrators decided to appoint former Oldham boss John Sheridan as manager, removing Richardson from his post.

Many Latics supporters saw this as an odd decision due to the club's monetary position at the time, while Richardson knew the young squad well due to the fact that he had previously served as Cook's assistant.

But by November, Sheridan left for Swindon Town, and was replaced by Richardson, who took up a caretaker role once again.

Latics supporters will always wonder about major Richardson call

Overall, Cook's former assistant did a stellar job as Latics boss, and against all the odds, he managed to avoid the drop to League Two with a young squad who overcame the challenges of administration come the end of the 2020/21 season.

The Greater Manchester club were saved from the threat of liquidation in spring 2021 by former owner Abdulrahman Al Jasmi, while ex-chairman Talal Al Hammad chose to appoint Richardson as boss on a permanent basis following his remarkable relegation evading exploits.

But an unpredictable success story would not end there, as Richardson guided the Latics to the League One title in 2022, and reinstalled a feel-good factor to a club who previously looked on the brink of going extinct, while supporters witnessed a memorable 2021/22 season unfold after facing Covid restrictions throughout the whole of the previous campaign.

Throughout the whole of Richardson's tenure in charge of the Latics, the team's indomitable fighting spirit was notable, as they rose above the challenges thrown at them by administration before beating tough opposition such as Rotherham and Sunderland to the League One title.

And the Englishman initially helped the Brick Community Stadium outfit enjoy a strong start to life in the Championship, including a notable 2-1 away victory at Luton Town, who eventually went on to win promotion to the Premier League, in September 2022.

However, by November 2022, the Latics made the decision to sack Richardson following a poor run of form which saw them lose six games in seven, and he was replaced by Kolo Toure.

Following the conclusion of the 2022/23 Championship campaign, the Latics were immediately relegated back to League One, partly thanks to a three-point deduction which was handed to the club in March 2023 due to financial mismanagement overseen by Al Jasmi.

But after Richardson had previously avoided relegation from League One to League Two despite facing the severe restrictions of administration, many supporters will wonder if he could have achieved a similar feat yet again.

The feeling that the Latics would have been in better stead to avoid the drop had Richardson remained as boss is strengthened by the fact that his successor was at the heart of an emphatic failure.

Toure, who had not previously held a role in senior football management, took charge of just nine Latics games, and failed to earn a single win.

Following Toure's sacking in late January 2023, the Greater Manchester outfit sat bottom of the Championship table and four points adrift of safety.

Latics fans were left angered by a run of three consecutive 4-1 defeats during the Christmas period under the Ivorian's reign, including a Boxing Day hammering at Middlesbrough.

Such a disastrous run of form never occurred under Richardson's guidance, which will always leave supporters wondering what could have been if such a controversial call had not been made by the club's previous ownership group.