Wigan Athletic are already transformed.

There was little chance of anybody at the club feeling sorry for themselves once Owen Coyle was appointed as the new manager. Relegation and the loss of Roberto Martinez to Everton might have left a pall of gloom, but Coyle's exuberance alone is enough to revitalise his surroundings. The club needed a fillip and in Coyle they went for a manager whose enthusiasm is limitless.

That alone will not be enough to return Wigan to the Barclays Premier League, but it is a useful trait when the first task is to address an air of despondency. It was helpful, too, that Coyle could embark on some wheeling and dealing. He will never be portrayed as one of the game's market traders in the way of Harry Redknapp, but he has a reputation for signing shrewdly and developing talent. There is an earnestness about Coyle, though, a sense he understands there is more to the game than riches and clichés.

He is not bashful about describing his players as "very good men". The signing of James McClean, the winger who involved himself in a series of controversies in his time at Sunderland, might be seen as a rehabilitation project. There are others, since Scott Carson was once an England goalkeeper, while Leon Barrett and James Perch were often on the periphery at their former clubs, Norwich City and Newcastle United respectively. Wigan sold Arouna Kone to Everton and Mauro Boselli to Leon, in Mexico, and the money raised has been reinvested in the squad. It had to be, since several players left on free transfers at the end of last season. The opportunist in Coyle took advantage of the turmoil.

"Sometimes people can be too down on themselves, especially if it's exactly the same group [who had been relegated]," Coyle said. "That's not happened, but I've got to say the ones who remain have been a credit to themselves. Their attitude from the first day in training, their desire to get Wigan Athletic back to the top table has been great. We know it's going to be a tough season. There were 11 bona fide first-team players [when Coyle arrived]. So we had to bring players in while making sure they were the right quality. We think we've done that and we're pursuing one or two more."

The tendency is to portray Wigan as a quaint club and Dave Whelan as a gentle, benevolent owner. There is ruthlessness behind the bonhomie, though, and Wigan's accounts will not be devastated by relegation. Although bankrolled by Whelan, the former owner of JJB Sports, there is no largesse. Martinez worked to a strict budget and the team was a mixture of cast-offs and foreign talent seeking to make an impact on the Premier League.

That prudence is a boon for Coyle, since there is no pressure to sell his major assets, such as James McCarthy and Shaun Maloney. McClean was prepared to take a pay cut to join Wigan, and that is the kind of gesture that Coyle will proclaim. One of his first acts was to change the club's pre-season schedule, taking the squad to America rather than Europe, and to seek the opinion of his players about how they would like the team's spirit to be improved. Coyle treasures the personal relationships he has with his players, and McCarthy, for one, has been assured that should an offer arrive from a leading side, Coyle will not stand in his way. That gesture will ensure that the player does not lose heart in the meantime.

"We don't have to sell anybody," Coyle said. "I've always been up front with my players, and the boys know that, if an enquiry or offer comes in, then they'll be the first to know. It's a well-run club and we manage the finances accordingly. But I've always stressed that I'll do right by my players."

The pragmatist in Coyle will relish a challenge that restricts his options. Barnett and another of his signings, Grant Holt, both scored during the 4-0 win over Barnsley last weekend - as did Maloney - but resources will be an issue this season. Having won the FA Cup last May, Wigan will compete in the Europa League group stages. The Championship campaign is a grind, with 46 fixtures to be negotiated, but Coyle's Burnley side played 61 games during the season they won promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs.

"When Burnley were promoted to the Premier League, we used the fewest amount of players in the Championship that season," Coyle said. "We were [the subject of a transfer] embargo from the January, we couldn't bring any players in, so myself and my assistant Sandy Stewart have been through some tough times in football. Hopefully that experience will stand us in good stead. We have to make sure we're looking after the players' bodies and doing the right things."

Between the opening two leagues games, against Barnsley then Bournemouth, Wigan face Manchester United at Wembley tomorrow afternoon. There ought to be trepidation, since an entire division separates the two sides, but Coyle has told his players not to be overawed by the occasion or the outcome. There is a symmetry in Coyle coming up against David Moyes in his first competitive fixture as Manchester United manager, since both are among the generation of Scots who followed Sir Alex Ferguson south and maintained the trend of Scottish managers succeeding in England.

"We always want to punch above our weight, for the country as a whole," Coyle said. "As much as it's a big task, [Moyes] is the perfect man for the job. We'll take a great deal of confidence from how we started last Saturday and I've said to the boys that it's important that when we come off the pitch that we have no regrets. If the champions have happened to beat you because they're at their best then fine, but if they're not at their best then we'll always feel that we have an opportunity of winning."