Over the years, Manchester United have not only developed a reputation for bringing through top young players from their academy, but several of their staff members have gone on to make a successful career after starting out either as a playing member or as a coaching staff. The likes of Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce are some of the reasonably successful names while the likes of Roy Keane and Gary Neville may still establish themselves as top managers. Joining the list is Manchester United’s reserve team manager Warren Joyce and the Guardian has confirmed that Joyce has just been appointed as the new manager of Wigan Athletic.
Joyce replaces Gary Caldwell, who only managed to last 14 games at the DW stadium after taking over in the summer. Joyce has a tough job straightaway to motivate the team which is lying just two place above the bottom of the Championship. The club have had just two wins in all competitions since August, but their latest came just before the appointment of Joyce.
The 51-year-old has spent the last eight years at Manchester United. He has been one of the coaches for the reserve team since 2008. He had initially worked alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for two years before the departure of the Norwegian. Joyce is widely credited for the development of players like Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford, but his work even goes back to the days of Danny Welbeck coming into the United first team.
After having worked with highly talented youngsters throughout his career, it would not be surprising to see if Joyce uses his Manchester United links to bring some of the club’s highly-rated youngsters in the January transfer window. In the past, Sir Alex Ferguson has always helped out his prodigies by sending young players on loan deals. It remains to be seen if Jose Mourinho will continue this tradition.
Wigan spent eight seasons in the Premier League before their relegation at the end of the 2012-13 season. After two seasons in the Championship, they suffered a surprise drop-in to League One. The club, though, were able to recover at the first time of asking and return to the Championship at the start of the season. Their return to the second division of English football has not been rosy, but the arrival of Joyce could improve fortunes even though the 51-year-old does not have any major experience of managing a club.
As a player, Joyce represented the likes of Preston North End and Bolton Wanderers. He has been in a coaching role at the likes of Stockport County, Leeds United, and Tranmere Rovers in the past. Joyce has signed a 3½-year contract with Wigan.
