Nobby's contract is up at the end of the year and I'm surprised there's been no talk of his replacement. We constantly talk about possible players for next year but there's been no real discussion about next seasons boss.

Who do people see as a [size=150realistic[/size alternative to Nobby?

Much depends how the next couple of months go i suspect if they go well i do not think there will be any new man in charge.

I am not sure who is off contract.

2 coaches i would possibly look at are Graham Murray, or Steve Folks, think we have missed out on a very good coach in Nathan Brown.

Does anyone know whether or not Nobby wants to stay?

Up until about 12 months ago, all the chat was about Nobby looking for other jobs - Leeds, Warrington and a couple of Aussie clubs were mentioned. The boot is now very much on the other foot. You can rule Leeds and Australia out to start with, and probably Warrington too if they continue to pick up their feet under Smith. I'm just wondering if Nobby might re-apply for his own job, as there'll be few other options for him.

With regard to us looking for someone else, I'm still in a quandry. I don't think there are any British coaches who are better than Nobby. That said, would any top quality Aussies want to come over here? And if they're not top quality, would we want them anyway? It's a real puzzle.

putting 'realistic' has removed all the fun from this thread ....

Hard to say. I would fully expect Brian Noble to be offered a new contract but if he was to walk then I guess it depends on how the season pans out both in the SL and the NRL.

Matthew Elliot could be a possibility if Penrith struggle again this season in the NRL.

Other than that who is there? I suppose big money could be used to lure somebody like Stephen Kearney or Justin Morgan but for realism it will probably be Eddie Jones or Ellery Hanley.

One of the reasons I asked this question was in regards to next seasons signings. We're already being linked with K Leuluai and Lynch so who is targeting these men? IL, Nobby or next seasons coach?

Morgan would be a realistic one.

Fantasy-Ricky Stewart

Realistic-Shaun Wane

What a spoilsport.



Seeing Wayne Bennett or Shaun Edwards are the only two I'm prepared to accept, whoever we get will be a disappointment.

Edit.

Wiganer born an bred, and the players have the upmost respect for him.

In addition, Wane has served a long and impressive apprenticeship at Wigan. When it comes to developing your skills and profile as a coach, he's done everything right.

The only questionmark would be, has he got the flare that we're looking for? I still feel we need a top-quality NRL coach - pure fantasy maybe, but we can dream - to kick us up to that next level.

I'm inclined to agree with others who've said that, as coaches don't count on the cap, why don't we just chuck a bit more than usual at one of the Aussie greats and try to entice him?

Would have liked Tim Sheens, but no chance now.

Millward.

Heard the same myself, which would be a positive change in the dressing room, if you believe the rumors .

promote shaun wane.
sliiping into fantasy mode id see if faz fancied joining the backrrom staff with his lad coming over with him

Whilst i think that shaun wayne has done a great job so far at the club, im not always for promoting from within the club, as i cant think of too many examples of that working.

Apart from noble at bradford that is, but we all know he had nothing to do with their success!



I think promoting from within is difficult for the coach to go from players mate to boss. I said the same thing when we put betts in charge and it didnt go to well.

However i also said it when they put mike greg in charge (how wrong i was) and i honestly think that under different and less tragic circumstances he would have gone onto great things at wigan, as the players would quite easily run through walls for him.

Now from what i hear, shaun wayne has a similar respect from his academy lads so i may just be talking out the back of my head!

On another thought, there is no relegation in order to give the young players a chance, could the same theory not be used for young coaches, instead of bringing in a overseas coach.

I guess its again a question of what we want out of our team as fans, success (proven coach) or the development of our game as a whole (young coach).

One thing is for certain, if noble does leave, i cant see IL paying for a coach, so its either promote from within or get someone who is out of work!

some good points there and we can only imagine what could have been with mike gregory. i'm all for promoting from within. obviously there's no guarantee that it will prove successful, but we as Wigan fans should know that bringing in a coach from outside is no guarantee of silverware or even good performances either.

I don't understand what you mean by this. No coach is going to come to Wigan for free. Promoted from within or taken off the dole, they're still going to want the sort of salary that would be appropriate for the head-coach of Wigan RL.

If I were Shaun Wane I would keep well away - poison chalice and all that

Sorry didnt make myself clear. Obviously a wage would be payable to anyone performing a job at the club. What i meant was when we signed noble, he was under contract at bradford, so we would have had to pay compensation to bradford. And out of work coaches are usually out of work for a reason.

That is what i meant by pay for a coach. Hope that clears it up.

How much involvement does Wayne have with the first team at the moment? I can see many pluss' to having someone like him at the top of the club if he has been around the first team for a few years.

This is where i would like to see an opportunity/program for coaches to take a step back to a NL club for a year or 2, to really prove there "coaching" ability.

It's certainly true that, thus far, Ian Lenagan doesn't seem keen to pay compo or transfer fees - though we don't know that for a fact. If the right person came along, I hope he'd put his hand in his pocket. I certainly hope so where a new coach is concerned, because you're right, there aren't too many top quality men knocking around out of work at present.

I don't think cheap options are really viable when you're talking about filling the role of head-coach at Wigan RL. This is one of the biggest jobs in the game and, given that the salary cap doesn't apply to it, theoretically money should not be an issue - unless the asking price is totally ridiculous of course.

Regardless of the cash you threw at them i would very much doubt a working NRL coach would be tempted to the UK.

Why is this an issue? Any new coach will have to work with the majority of our squad as it is now. If we do change coach I hope we don't have a repeat of all this "It's not his team" nonsense



Dave

Would prefer Noble to stay but if he walks then -
Laurie Daley or Terry Matterson in that order!