solid start to the 2022-23 Championship campaign for Wigan Athletic saw the Latics lose just one of their opening eight fixtures in the second tier, but on-field shortcomings and off-field controversies soon reared their ugly heads for Maloney.
Having failed to pay players on time on more than one occasion, Wigan ended the 2022-23 season three points worse off than they would have done with their haul of 10 wins and 15 draws, but there was no stopping the inevitable descent down to League One.
Maloney’s side had dropped into the demotion zone before the halfway point of the campaign and subsequently failed to claw themselves back above the dotted line, sending them back to the third tier of English football after just one season back in the Championship.
The 2013 FA Cup winners will hardly be tested to the extreme during their trio of summer friendlies, as once Saturday’s showdown is done and dusted, the Latics will travel to League Two sides Tranmere Rovers and Morecambe within the space of two days towards the end of the month.
Maloney’s side have not been granted a kind start to the League One season either, as Derby County welcome Wigan to Pride Park on August 5, three days before the Latics try to spoil another Wrexham fairytale in the EFL Cup.
While Wigan were unable to pull off a great escape from the relegation zone, Dyche’s Everton channelled the spirits of Frank Lampard’s 2021-22 crop to engineer another survival miracle, thereby prolonging their stay in the top flight of English football to a 70th year.
Dancing with the demotion devil since the start of the campaign, Everton just about kept their heads above water in 17th place during the final four gameweeks, and an Abdoulaye Doucoure strike on the final day of the season versus Bournemouth saw the Toffees once again stave off relegation to the Championship.
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However, delirium soon turned to discontent when Everton fans learned that unpopular chairman Bill Kenwright would be staying on in the face of fierce protests, but possible investment from MSP Sports Capital could soon lighten the mood again.
On the field, Dyche’s troops got their pre-season period off to a flying start in Switzerland, battling past Stade Nyonnais thanks to Katia Kouyate’s opener and a Neal Maupay penalty, and the Toffees also have meetings with Bolton Wanderers, Stoke City and Sporting Lisbon on their agenda.
Not since the 2012-13 season have Wigan and Everton faced off in a competitive fixture, as Roberto Martinez’s Latics thumped the Toffees 3-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals before the Spaniard defected to Goodison Park, and that result ended a nine-game winless run for Wigan against their Premier League counterparts.
