Wigan Athletic first-team coach Stephen Crainey has departed to become joint assistant manager at Bolton Wanderers.
The former Scotland international, who was promoted from the Under-21 setup last year by Shaun Maloney, expressed a desire to reunite with his former Blackpool teammate Ian Evatt in Horwich.
The two clubs have reached an agreement on a compensation package for Crainey, who played alongside Maloney at Latics during the 2013-14 campaign.
“We would like to thank Stephen for his efforts whilst at Wigan Athletic and wish him well,” read a Latics statement.
Following his introduction at Bolton, Crainey described his decision to switch clubs as an obvious choice.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he told Bolton’s official website. “I’ve had a few previous roles looking after Under-21s teams, and I’ve had a couple of bits of experience as well in first-team roles and responsibilities, so when the gaffer gave me the call to come in and be part of his coaching staff I was delighted to come.
“As soon as he made that contact, I wanted to be here and try and help an already unbelievably knowledgeable staff and hopefully I can add to that. Bolton is a massive club and it was a no-brainer to come.
“I’m really excited for the challenge. Hopefully we can all come together and have a really good season.
“I had a really good relationship with the manager and we had some unbelievable times at Blackpool as players. That’s all in the past and now we’re on the other side in a coaching capacity and we’re excited for the new season ahead.
“We want to be in every game we’re in this season, win as many games as we can and see where it takes us at the end of the season.
“I’ve been involved in League One for the past six or seven years in some capacity so hopefully that knowledge can help on top of the unbelievable knowledge of the staff we’ve already got.
“It’s a really talented group. I saw that first-hand last season so hopefully we can add to that as well. I’m sure the manager will look to do that. Players that are in the building now are top, top players for League One and hopefully they can showcase what they’ve done last season and more.”
Bolton manager Evatt commented, “After thorough review of the season, we have a clear plan and vision for improving both on and off the pitch, and this appointment adds to our existing setup.”
“As a staffing structure, I believe we’ve now covered all bases. In our season review, we focused on areas for improvement, how to elevate our performance, and identified gaps in our staffing skill set.
“We’ve discussed the importance of a holistic approach to our staff, and Stephen, whom I’ve known for a long time, brings the specific skills we’ve identified as missing.”
“He’s an extremely good character, a strong character who knows what it takes to win and will be extremely additive to the rest of the staff, so I think it’s a very important appointment for us.”
Leave a Reply