Gilks makes third move in under a year
In eight days time it will be a year since Matt Gilks, out of contract at Burnley, signed for Rangers and today he’s left Wigan Athletic to join Scunthorpe United in what is his third move in 357 days.
Gilks spent two years at Burnley but reckoned he’d found the perfect fit at Ibrox last summer having claimed to have been suppressed at Burnley. He said after two weeks with Rangers: “I had been a bit quiet at Burnley so I have two years to come out. I haven’t been that quiet here and that is a bit more me, I am a bit more jovial.
“I found it hard to be like that at Burnley, I don’t really know why. I had just gone into a team that had been promoted to the Premier League and I was on the fringes of that at first and I maybe felt a bit suppressed. This feels like a better fit for me.”
He didn’t make a Scottish Premiership appearance for Rangers; he was restricted to five games in the League Cup, and by the next window, with Mark Warburton gone, he moved to Wigan who were under the management of former Claret Warren Joyce at the time.
It was at Wigan that Gilks had made a penalty save to keep Blackpool in the Championship in 2014. This time he made 14 appearances for the Latics, including a penalty save on his debut, but he was unable to keep their Championship place and they were relegated to League One along with Rotherham and Lancashire neighbours Blackburn.
However, he’s opted not to stay with Wigan and today has swapped one ex-Claret manager for another with a move to fellow League One club Scunthorpe.
New Wigan manager Paul Cook said: “It is important that we have players at the club who are 100% focused on wanting to be here and succeed with us. We wish him all the best in the future and move on.”
Now 35, he’s opted for Scunthorpe where he has become Graham Alexander’s first summer signing.
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