Stephen Crainey, the first-team coach at Wigan Athletic, has left to become the joint assistant manager at Bolton Wanderers.
The former Scotland international, who Shaun Maloney elevated from the Under-21 squad the previous season, indicated a desire to rejoin Ian Evatt, a former teammate, in Horwich.
The two teams have reached an agreement on a compensation deal for Crainey, who played with Latics alongside Maloney during the 2013–14 season.
A statement from the Latics said, “We would like to thank Stephen for his efforts whilst at Wigan Athletic and wish him well.”
Following his debut at Bolton, Crainey said it was a “no-brainer” to move teams.
He expressed his excitement to Bolton’s official website. I was thrilled to join the gaffer’s coaching staff when he called me because I had experience managing Under-21 teams in the past and had also held a few positions and responsibilities in the first squad.
“I wanted to be here as soon as he made that contact, trying to support an already incredibly knowledgeable staff and hopefully adding to that.” Given how big of a club Bolton is, attending made perfect sense.
“I’m quite looking forward to the task. I hope we can all pull together and enjoy a fantastic season.
“As players, I had a great rapport with the boss, and we experienced some amazing moments at Blackpool. That is all in the past, and now that we are coaching, we are looking forward to the upcoming season.
“Our goal for this season is to participate in every game, win as many as we can, and see where it leads us by season’s end.
In addition to the incredible experience of the people we already have, I hope that my six or seven years of involvement in League One will be of use.
“This ensemble is incredibly gifted. Hopefully, we can add to it as well because I seen that firsthand last season. The manager will definitely check into that. Top League One players are currently in the building, and maybe they can demonstrate not just what they accomplished last season but even more.
“We have a clear plan and idea of how we want to improve things on and off the pitch, and this appointment is in addition to what we already have,” Bolton manager Evatt continued after doing some fairly extensive season-long analysis.
“As far as our staffing structure goes, I believe we’ve checked every box. Every season, you should reflect on how we can do better, how we can develop, and what skills we lack in our personnel.
We’ve talked about taking a more comprehensive approach to managing the personnel, and Stephen, who I’ve known for a very long time, has the skill set I believe we are lacking.
“I think it’s a very important appointment for us,” the person said. “He’s a very good character, a strong character who knows what it takes to win and will be extremely additive to the rest of the staff.”
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