Wigan boss Warren Joyce reveals loyalty to Sir Alex Ferguson kept him at Manchester United
Thursday 24 November 2016 16:54, UK
Wigan boss Warren Joyce says his loyalty to Sir Alex Ferguson kept him at Manchester United despite numerous job offers.
Joyce, who previously managed Royal Antwerp in Belgium, was appointed at the DW Stadium in early November, having spent eight years working with Manchester United's reserve team.
He says he turned down several opportunities in the Sky Bet Championship and above before moving to Wigan, citing a commitment made to former United boss Ferguson when appointed to the reserve team in 2008.
"I had an opportunity to manage Royal Antwerp, which was a tremendous experience and I really enjoyed that," Joyce told the EFL Weekly podcast.
"I could have gone a couple of different directions at the time and maybe managed a different club in Europe.
"I had a lot of offers to stay out there and manage on the continent but to come back to Man Utd, the job offer was looking for someone willing to commit and not use Manchester United as a stepping stone to get a manager's job.
"When you say something like that to Sir Alex Ferguson, you have to mean it and my handshake was my bond.
"I stayed loyal to that despite having a lot of offers over the eight years to manage in the Championship and above."
Joyce, who was reserve-team boss at United between 2008 and 2016, helped develop a number of current and former United first-team players, including Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and Danny Welbeck.
His new Wigan side sit second bottom in the Championship, but Joyce disputes criticism that his time at Manchester United is inadequate preparation for a Championship relegation battle.
"If people think managing the reserves at Manchester United is a cushy job, let me tell you it's not," he added. "There's a pressure you put on the players that they can't afford to lose one game because that is the level to go into the first team.
"Not a lot has been different really [at Wigan] from what I have been doing for the past eight years."
Joyce lost his opening match in charge 3-0 at home to Reading, but got his first point on the board with a draw at Barnsley last weekend.
His side face Huddersfield next, live on Sky Sports on Monday.
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"Barring the first five minutes of the first game, I've enjoyed it," Joyce continued. "The boys have worked very hard in training, which has been at the tempo you want it to be at.
"We are learning about the players every day and I was pleased with a lot of the things we did without the ball on Saturday [against Barnsley].
"We were resilient and worked very hard for one another, and were good value for a point."
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