"You'd have to say" - Claim made on the future of Mike Danson at Wigan Athletic | OneFootball

FLW's Wigan Athletic fan pundit has been discussing whether Wigan owner Mike Danson has the club's best interests at heart.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

It's been a testing few years for Wigan Athletic and their supporters.

The Latics have spent four of their last five seasons playing League One football, with their only Championship campaign in amongst those being a relegation season in 2022/23.

Former Preston North End boss Ryan Lowe was the chosen successor to Shaun Maloney after his departure in March, but he has struggled to hit the ground running at The Brick Community Stadium.

As such, Wigan appear to have taken yet another step backwards after their 12th-placed finish last term, and have been languishing in the bottom half of the third tier this season.

"The intent is there" - Claim made on Wigan Athletic owner, Mike Danson

We asked our Wigan Athletic fan pundit, Corey Bissell: 'Are you confident Wigan's owner, Mike Danson, has the club's best interests at heart or not?'

Bissell said: "Am I confident the club's owner has the best interest at heart? Yes, I am.

"I've been critical of some of the things they've done in the past, but with the appointment of Ryan Lowe, and with reports surrounding Niall Ennis and that sort of calibre of player, whether we get Niall Ennis or not, doesn't dictate my answer to this question.

"But, being linked to that calibre of player, bringing in Ryan Lowe who's a top, top coach, in my opinion, the best manager in this league next season unless there's any big changes.

"So the intent is definitely there. I think you'd have to say that they do have the club's best interests at heart."

Wigan Athletic will hope Ryan Lowe will mastermind bounce-back season with summer transfer window behind him

After successive disappointing campaigns in League One, many Wigan supporters were enthused with the appointment of Lowe in March.

The 46-year-old enjoyed a highly respectable few years as Preston North End boss, despite not being able to ever really mount a promotion challenge in the Championship with the Lilywhites.

He also has a promotion on his CV from his time as Plymouth Argyle manager, as he guided the Pilgrims to automatic promotion out of League Two in the 2019/20 season.

As such, he's built himself up as being a highly respected manager in the EFL, and as such, his appointment was a clear statement of long-term ambition by the Wigan Athletic hierarchy.

Local owners such as Danson tend to have a far greater understanding of what success means to the supporters of a club, and in turn, that passion and hunger for success can only be naturally higher than a non-local owner.

Therefore, despite not seeing immediate success under Danson's tenureship, which started in the summer of 2023, many Latics supporters will surely still be right behind their owner, remaining steadfast in their belief that he has the club's best interests at heart.