Wigan have announced they have sacked manager Uwe Rosler after they slipped into the Championship relegation zone.
Latics, who were FA Cup winners just 18 months ago, have decided to act after a run of just one win since August saw them drop into the second tier’s bottom three.
Last Friday night’s 3-1 defeat at local rivals Bolton, which saw Wigan concede three times in 11 second-half minutes, left Rosler “embarrassed” and he accused his players of “giving up” in what proved to be the final match of his 11-month reign.
While Rosler was downbeat in the aftermath of that derby loss, he was given a stay of execution on Monday when chairman Dave Whelan told the Wigan Evening Post he was 100 per cent behind the German.
However, in just 72 hours there appears to have been a U-turn in the corridors of power at the DW Stadium, with Whelan admitting the current rut his team are in is “alarming”.
Rosler took Wigan to the FA Cup semi-finals last season after they beat Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Manchester City and, spurred on by an eight-game winning streak in all competitions, they reached the Championship play-offs under his guidance in May, only to be eliminated by QPR.
But Rosler’s team have failed to build on the previous campaign’s achievements as Wigan have accrued just 16 points from 17 games this term, with previous boss Owen Coyle vacating the job this time last year having returned 22 points from 16 games.
“I have thought long and hard about this,” Whelan said on the club’s official website.
“I have thought about little else for days, in fact. Initially my thoughts were that Uwe should be given more time. He is a good manager and I like him immensely as a person; he is honest, passionate and clearly works day and night to try and earn success for the team.
“Following the incredible achievements of last season, I felt it was the right thing to do that he should be given more time. However, the situation we find ourselves in at the moment, and the run of results in recent months, really has been alarming.
“Something is clearly not working. For whatever reason, the team is not gelling, despite substantial financial backing in the summer and the dressing room being blessed with a huge amount of quality.
“Therefore, I have now come to the reluctant conclusion that for the long-term good of the club, we need a change.
“Uwe is a good man and a good manager and he will bounce back, I am sure of that. We thank him for his efforts with us, I could not have wished to appoint a more committed and hard-working manager and we sincerely wish him all the best in his future career.
“But now the search begins immediately for a replacement.”
Expanding on the decision to dispense of Rosler’s services, Whelan told Sky Sports News HQ: “It’s the results. Football is a very, very cruel game.
“We are in the bottom three, we’ve won three out of 17 – that’s not acceptable to me nor is it acceptable to our supporters. Sometimes you’ve got to make these decisions which are painful but necessary.”
The managerial change has come during the international break and Wigan have 10 days before they return to league action against Middlesbrough, with assistant Graham Barrow due to oversee the preparations.
Whelan insists he has no candidate in mind to succeed Rosler but wants to find a strict disciplinarian who can prompt a quick upturn in fortunes.
“What you look for is a manager who is tough, puts the rules down, wants the lads to train hard, to play football hard, to give 110 per cent when they are on the pitch – you can’t ask for much more than that,” he added.
“But we’ve not been getting that, it’s not been going for the team, it’s not been going for the manager. The only thing I can think of is to change the manager, then we can change the attitude of our team.”
