Wigan are currently third bottom in the championship and had been searching for a new manager since sacking Leam Richardson on November 10.
The club have now decided to go with the 41-year-old Ivorian on a three and a half year deal. After retiring from professional football, Kolo Toure joined the coaching staff of the Ivorian national team. In 2017, he joined Brendan Rodgers at Celtic as a technical assistant and when Rodgers swapped Celtic for Leicester in 2019, Toure went along as a first team coach.
This will be the former Invincible’s first role in management, with his first game coming against Millwall on December 10th.
“We are delighted that Kolo has become the new manager of Wigan Athletic Football Club, and the board are pleased that he is the man to take us forward,” Wigan Chief Executive, Malachy Brannigan said.
“We received a high calibre of applicants for the manager’s job in recent weeks, in a very thorough recruitment process as we looked to appoint the right person for the role.
“From the earliest of conversations we had with Kolo, it was evident to us that he had instantly bought into the values of the club – with his enthusiasm, knowledge and immense desire to work and be part of Wigan Athletic shining throughout the process.”
“There is no doubt that this appointment is an exciting one for the football club. Kolo is a manager who wants to play a positive brand of football and will strive every day to make the club stronger.”
Kolo Toure will be joined by Kevin Betsy and Ashvir Johal at Wigan, while Rob Kelly will be his assistant.
The work begins immediately for the second highest capped Ivorian, he and his staff will now fly off to Turkey to join his new players, where they are undergoing a mid-season training camp.
