On transfer deadline day Wigan Athletic announced the signing of Josh Windass from Rangers on a three-year contract. The fee is reported to be around £2.5 m plus add-ons.
On signing the 24-year-old Paul Cook stated: “Josh is an exciting player with an eye for a goal and he gives us further strength in attacking positions.”
The 5 ft 10 in tall Windass was born in Hull. He spent ten years at Huddersfield Town until being released as an 18-year-old. After an unsuccessful trial at Bradford City he joined Northern Counties East club, Harrogate Railway Athletic, in December 2012 on a semi-professional basis. In July 2013 Windass joined Accrington Stanley in League 2. He made his debut against Tranmere Rovers in an FA Cup tie in November 2013, alongside new teammate Kal Naismith. Windass went on to make 77 appearances for Stanley, scoring 22 goals over three seasons.
Windass turned down the offer of a new contract at Accrington in November 2015, reportedly on the advice of his father Dean, who is well known to many Latics fans. On the termination of his contract he joined Rangers, with Stanley receiving £60,000 as compensation.
Windass went on to make 57 starts for Rangers, with 14 appearances off the bench, scoring 19 goals.
To learn more about Windass’ time at Rangers we contacted Stewart Franklin of Gers Net (https://www.gersnet.co.uk/).
Here’s over to Stewart:
First and foremost, Josh is a talented footballer. He’s quick, he can score goals, he can find space and he’s very good at being the link between midfield and attack, especially on the counter.
The problem at Rangers was his inconsistency. In his first season he kept picking up niggling injuries so he never really got going until his second season. Unfortunately, despite the impressive stats (13 goals and 6 assists in the league), his overall contribution split fan opinion. He’d go missing in games, he’d shirk out of tackles and he never really looked entirely comfortable in any position.
We used him deeper, we used him as a second striker and he played mainly right across the three attacking roles in our preferred 4-2-3-1 but he was unable to persuade our fans he could be relied upon. It seems Steven Gerrard was equally unconvinced as despite already playing two Europa League ties and our first league game, Windass struggled to stay a first pick ahead of Thursday’s transfer.
In closing, I’d imagine most Rangers fans will miss the undoubted threat the lad brought but we won’t miss his social media gaffes and we won’t miss his old man poking his nose in where it usually wasn’t wanted. Nevertheless, we wish Josh all the very best for the future and the same goes for Wigan!
LOS THREE AMIGOS 