Latics Close In On Former Midfielder

Talks are progressing well between Wigan Athletic and Portsmouth over Latics bringing in Paul Cook as manager.

After failing in preliminary efforts to land either Steve McClaren or Uwe Rosler, Wigan are hoping to bring Kirkby born Cook back to the North West.

In his playing days, Cook spent four years at Springfield Park between 1984-1988 and made almost 100 appearances – scoring over a dozen goals from midfield in that time. He returned on a brief spell on loan during the 2001/02 campaign under Paul Jewell.

The 50-year-old lifted the League Two title with Portsmouth earlier this month and was awarded with the League Two Manager of the Year trophy. Prior to joining Pompey in May 2015, he enjoyed successful spells at Sligo Rovers, Accrington Stanley and Chesterfield.

During his time at Sligo he led his side to silverware on three occasions and twice saw the team finish League of Ireland campaigns in second place behind Shamrock Rovers.