by When the words ‘Sir Alex’ leave Shaun Maloney’s lips, the Wigan manager is visibly moved. From a meeting room at the club’s modest training ground, Maloney looks ahead to Monday’s FA Cup third-round match against Manchester United.
Anyone who suggests the tournament has lost its luster would do well to spend a little time with Maloney. Although he grew up in Aberdeen, his loyalties were divided equally between Celtic and United. Why the latter? Simple: Sir Alex Ferguson.
“He had a divine status. She still does it. My father was an Arsenal fan, but he didn’t convert me. When he was a child he traveled to Manchester United on the fans’ buses. They were very long trips, returning at four or five in the morning.
“I was at Bayern Munich’s group stage game in December 1998, the season United won the treble. Roy Keane scored and I was a row or two from the back of what is now Sir Alex’s Stand. I will never forget”.
Maloney pauses momentarily. Telegraph Sport is about to ask another question when Maloney starts again. “I can get a little patriotic – the links with Scotland, with Aberdeen, with Denis Law, created an affinity with that club that I felt.”
Maloney is attractive, sometimes charming company. His deep love for football history is evident. A wide smile spreads across her face as she recounts schoolboy life at Celtic.
John Clark, one of the Lisbon Lions, the Celtic team that won the European Cup in 1967, was in charge of the kit and hardly a day went by without a former team-mate visiting him for tea. Maloney was always eavesdropping. “And my first year as a professional was a crazy year for Celtic,” he remembers. “John Barnes; Kenny Dalglish Ian Wright. We still had Henrik. [Larsson]. [Mark] Viduka. Pablo Lamberto. An incredible year to be 16 years old shining boots.”
He gets goosebumps as he remembers one of his “favorite nights.” All it involved was listening to Hugh McIlvanney tell stories of Jock Stein, Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Ferguson. Being so self-consciously studious meant that a shift toward directing was perhaps preordained.
Against United, Maloney has the opportunity to make new history. He has been part of the fabric of Wigan since his time as a player. Back then, times were very different. The club was in the top category. His 15 goals for the Latics include the winner in what is, to date, his only victory over United. That was in April 2012, and a year later, Maloney set up Ben Watson’s Wembley triumph. Manchester City were defeated and Wigan lifted the FA Cup.
“I remember being very confident,” explains Maloney, when asked about his memories of that occasion. “That was one of the great gifts that Roberto [Martinez] He had done it: in the biggest games, his demeanor or level of calm never changed. Good or bad. If you had won or lost.”
Martínez’s influence is a theme that runs through the conversation. Spanish has been fundamental in Maloney’s life. Sitting in the same room, in the same chair, in his Glasgow apartment, Maloney received a couple of career-changing phone calls from Martinez.
The first came at the end of August 2011. Maloney’s second spell at Celtic had been decimated by injury, and Martínez took him to the Premier League with Wigan. The second came seven years later. Maloney had recently retired and was coaching Celtic’s B team.
He and Martínez, by then Belgium coach, had exchanged “some text messages” and the pair had reconnected by chance during Celtic’s Champions League trip to RSC Anderlecht 11 months earlier.
Maloney, however, had no idea about the upcoming job offer, assuming the call was related to the player.
“The first part was about Dedryck [Boyata]” Maloney explains, his eyes shining at the memory. “But the second part was offering me a job as one of his assistants.
“I will always be grateful for Roberto. I had two real problems due to injuries at Celtic and he bet on me. He then took me from the under-19 team to the Belgium team.
“I can’t put into words what he has done for my career as a player and as a coach. When someone has such a positive impact on your career and ultimately the lives of your family, I will always be grateful. Anything you need from me at any time; “He knows I’m there for him.”
After three and a half years with Belgium, Maloney delved into the management of the Hibernian club. He loved the club, the city, the history. “But unfortunately, relationships with key people broke down after a month.” Maloney was out of work three months later. He felt “partly like relief at how uncomfortable” things had become.
And it also required some soul-searching, something Maloney felt inclined to do because of the master’s degree in coaching he had by then earned at the Johan Cruyff Institute. After a period of healing, Maloney gathered his staff to collect the bones. “It was about having to dig deep and be quite honest with myself. It was the best we could have done. It really gave me clarity and understanding that ‘it’s okay, not everything we did was wrong.’ And I basically prepared myself for the next job.”
Wigan was the next job. Maloney was almost appointed in November 2022, with the position going to Kolo Touré. Just 59 days later, Touré was fired and Maloney took Wigan to within four points of the Championship.
Despite a rebound in results, the decline continued. However, given the context and the club’s perilous finances, Maloney is rightly “proud” of those few months.
Owner Abdulrahman Al Jasmi, who rescued Wigan from administration in 2021, could no longer financially support football operations. Salaries were constantly delayed. How did you address the issue of unpaid labor? “I made it very clear to them that I would not judge anyone for not working when they were not paid. But when they came to work, I expected everything they had.”
After relegation, the worst was yet to come. The unpaid taxes led to a winding up order issued by HMRC. For more than fifteen days “we didn’t know if the club would still be here the next day.
“It should have been in the players’ profile, how to defend, how to attack, but my only focus was to create presentations to show that we could handle football in a very, very different way. “We wanted to make it as self-sustaining as possible.”
Finally, billionaire Mike Danson stepped in and rebuilding began. Hampered by an eight-point deduction and banned by EFL regulations from paying transfer fees until next summer, Maloney’s focus is on youth. Four of his five most used players this season are 21 years old or younger; among them goalkeeper Sam Tickle, who was called up for the first time by England U21 in September.
“This season on the field is going to be a constant struggle. Even when we lost a game of 11, we were never really far from the bottom four. We lose three in a row and bang, we’re back at it.”
Maloney admits that progress off the field is necessarily slow. In time, he wants to “recapture the DNA” of the Wigan and Swansea of old. All roads, it seems, lead to Martínez.
“The other thing is that I want it to be exciting. Last year we had to make ourselves very difficult to beat and it must have been difficult to watch. But I hope that this season, if someone asks ‘is it exciting to watch Wigan?’, the fans will say that at least they enjoy the 90 minutes they spend watching us.”
Maloney sees the game against United as a sort of “reward” for everyone involved at Wigan. Players; supporters; owner alike.
The victory would undoubtedly be the highlight of Maloney’s budding coaching career to date. He knows that to thrive on such occasions there must be exceptional moments.
“My job is to put players in certain areas,” he said. “But it’s also my job to make them believe they can do it. You always need a little luck, but we have talent. I know it’s there. “I need to help them believe they can prove it on the biggest stage.”
