Matt Gilks has been named the new goalkeeping coach for Wigan Athletic, going back to the team he once played for. He takes over from Kevin Miller, who died unexpectedly recently. Gilks arrives with the club in a difficult league position, sitting 24th in League One with just 7 points from nine games, having recorded two wins and a draw against six defeats.
Gilks joins Wigan after working in the same job at Accrington Stanley. Manager Gary Caldwell recognized the challenging nature of the situation. "It's a really difficult situation for this to happen and have to replace someone, and the way it's happened," Caldwell said.
This move comes after the sad death of Kevin Miller, who had become part of Wigan earlier this year. Gilks, who had a long professional playing career, now fills the position. He previously played for Wigan during part of a season that concluded with the team dropping down a division.
John Doolan, his former manager at Accrington, offered his best wishes. "We would like to thank Matt for all of his dedication and hard work at Accrington Stanley over the last year-and-a-half," Doolan stated. Gilks expressed his gratitude to Doolan and Ged Brannan for his time at Stanley, saying he enjoyed working with the goalkeepers there.
The hiring occurs with Wigan Athletic positioned near the bottom of their league, currently 13 points behind leaders Bradford. Their recent form shows two wins, one draw, and two losses from the last five matches. This sequence includes a 1-0 victory over Reading last Saturday 17 October, with Scott Hogan scoring the winner, but also a 1-0 defeat to Stevenage on Saturday 10 October. Across the season, the team has scored six goals while conceding thirteen.
They have a challenging match ahead against Oxford United away on Tuesday 20 October, with Oxford currently sitting 8th in the table. Gilks has coached at other clubs before and knows some people currently at Wigan from when he was a player. His first job will be to prepare the team's goalkeepers for this upcoming game.
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