Wigan Athletic have announced the signing of Danny Fox from Nottingham Forest for a fee of around £300,000. The 32-year-old has been signed on an 18-month contract.

The 6 ft tall Fox can play at centre back or left back. Given Antonee Robinson’s continued unavailability we can expect Fox to be drafted in at left back against QPR on Saturday.

Following the signing Paul Cook commented:

“Danny has great experience in the Premier League and Championship and is a great addition to our squad. Great credit to Danny for joining us after captaining Nottingham Forest in their promotion push in the Championship. .I think our supporters would appreciate that leadership and experience amongst our very young back five has been something we have been searching for and we are delighted to have found it in Danny.”

Danny Fox was born In Winsford, Cheshire, and played in the Everton academy. As an 18-year-old in the 2004-05 season he was sent out on loan to Gateshead and Stranraer. In the summer of 2005 he signed for Walsall and went on to make 99 appearances over two and a half seasons for the Saddlers.

In January 2008 Fox joined Coventry City, then in the Championship. He went on to make 57 league appearances there before signing for Celtic for £1.5m in July 2009. Fox made 15 appearances before signing for Premier League Burnley in January 2010 for £1.8m. After making 49 league starts for Burnley he signed for Southampton, then in the Championship in August 2011. The Saints were promoted at the end of the season and Fox went on to make a total of 64 league appearances before joining Nottingham Forest on loan in January 2014. The loan became a permanent deal in the summer. He went on to make 101 league appearances for Forest.

Fox represented England at U-21 level but opted to play for Scotland at senior level, qualifying through having a Scottish grandfather.

In order to learn about Fox’s time at Forest we contacted a couple of their fan sites. Thanks to Matt at Forza Garibaldi (www.forzagaribaldi.com) and Rich Ferraro at his Forest Ramble site (www.forestramble.com) for their contributions.

Matt commented:

An injury crisis at centre half aside this is probably a deal that suits everyone. And I do genuinely wish Danny Fox all the very best.

 He had his knockers at Forest and for most of his time in Nottingham he was far from appreciated. He was signed as a left back, but it was his conversion to the middle of defence which brought about a rather surprising renaissance. For the last season and a half, he’s been a good player for us. Sometimes brilliant. And he demonstrated some much-missed leadership which may be exactly what Wigan are after I suspect.

 He took the captains armband for a period and found himself a fan favourite. We appreciated his desire and his tenacity and I for one admired how he had overcome a rough early few years at Forest and earned himself a bit of cult status.

 He has a tendency to be a little daft as demonstrated by his second yellow card at Reading for running 40 yards to partake in a melee. And he was part of a Forest defence that could not stop goals from crosses. But it will not surprise me at all if he is a terrific signing for you. He certainly still has something to offer and he is a dependable pro who won’t go missing in a battle.

 Good luck to Danny and Wigan for the rest of the season.

Rich wrote:

Danny Fox has been a curious figure at Nottingham Forest; signed as a left-back at a time when Forest were struggling to fill the position, he never really impressed. He became a target for the boo boys and the resident scapegoat at the City Ground (and let’s be honest, there were plenty of candidates at the time). Under Dougie Freedman he was frozen out of the team, but the local press went out of their way to praise Fox’s professionalism – apparently, he was training hard, not moaning about his lack of opportunities, and sure enough, other opportunities came his way.

 However, it has really been in the last twelve months that Fox has come into his own; a few years ago, Stuart Pearce had played him as an emergency centre-back, and we did comment that he looked better there than as a left-back. Aitor Karanka obviously thought the same, as Fox played as a central defender from his first match and has rarely been left on the bench since.

 Fox has captained Forest for much of this season and has been a warrior at the back. He is not scared of sticking his head in where it hurts, his reading of the game is much better in a central role, and he is capable of a good raking ball out of defence. I am surprised to see him leave the City Ground and wish him good luck at the Latics.

 

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