Spot on.

There's no certainty from hiring a "top class coach". Noble was the best British coach by a mile - hasn't happened. On the flipside - Millward was a promising coach of a lower league club - very little form whatsoever - and yet he won Saints two GF.

As for making Craig Bellamy "a great offer" - why on earth would he want to come to Wigan?

Let's be honest - Wigan is a club desperately in need of open heart surgery. Things may get worse before they get better - even with a great coach. He may end up under the same pressure Noble's facing. Why put oneself through it? I can't see Craig Bellamy wanting such hassle.

Wigan are - a minimum - of three years away from being competitive at the top level. A LOT of players need to come and go in that time. And they have to be the right players or that number keeps on rising and inexorably out of reach. Top class coaches have ambitions like anyone else. Three years hard graft (with the crowd always two consecutive defeats away from booing you) probably isn't one of them.

Money will bring in a quality coach. Whether Wigan are prepared, or able, to produce enough of it is another question.

All the money in Wigan's coffers won't bring Craig Bellamy. I can assure you.

You can't assure us of any such thing. You're a fan, just like us.

But for it's worth, it wouldn't have to be Bellamy to be a big improvement on what we've currently got. For which reason, I doubt Wigan would waste time setting their sights so unrealistically high.

Wont happen till the end of the season Think about it in real terms. For Noble to be sacked now the club would have to pay his contract up which would probably cost £100,000 then if we wanted a top coach and i would think all the best ones are employed it would cost the club again in a fee to the club he works for plus his wages. Then he would want to bring in his own backroom staff again costing money to pay up the ones we have now that he want rid of also he would want to buy in players your probably looking in the region of around £300.000 if not more its not worth it for now. The time to make the changes is end of season move people out and bring new ones in and start a fresh next year. There is no relegation so there is no panic all the change the coach with the change of wind direction is not what we need.

I'm struggling to see what this top class coach can achieve in the three years he'll need to re-build the current mess into something like a decent side. Mid table is the best that can be hoped for.

I'm sure enough to stake a modest wager on it.

Thankfully your opinion is irrelevant to Wigan's plans and ambitions. For which reason, this conversation is over.

I was under the impression there aren't any.

I wonder what it will cost the club though if we continue to have a shocking season under BN..... attendances are already falling.....??

Did Noble make these buys. Its well known he didn't want Riddell.

Ok pick me your ideal 17 that is supposedly one of the top three in SL. I agree Nobby isn't helping but if you feel somebody is going to wander in and suddenly every player will come good then your badly deluded. Your pack is a shambles at the moment. Riddell is little if any better than Higham and seems seriously unfit. S.Tompkins is a quality player but your relying on him too much because Tim Smith can't be trusted until he learns to tackle. Leului is doing a good job but i'm sure would prefer to play at 9. Your back line has improved with the addition of Gleeson and looks good but overall I really dont see anything that great about your squad that makes you think your capable of top 3. Don't get me wrong your players are quite a lot better than the table suggests but you will NOT finish 3rd with the team you have at the moment either this season or any other. You have some good players but you have some who are very average and you can't expect them to become anything special just because of a change of coach

A lot less than a big change now its only the walk up attendance that will suffer and the JJB take a cut of that money. And there is also a good chance we will hit form later in the year and go on a good run into the playoffs better the devil you know until the end of the season and it will cost less.

He didnt really want Riddell,he wanted a stand off and was obsessed with us getting Greg Bird and i fail to believe he was happy with such a weak front row.

The signing of Gleeson was a good one but as i said to you hes not going to make much difference when the forwards are getting crushed. IL now needs to do everything in his power to get a prop quickly and next season a proper halfback.

I think your dead right there mate

We signed a winger and a hooker when we needed a prop and stand off.

Phelps
Ainscough
Gleeson
Carmont
Richards
*STAND OFF*
Sam
Fielden
Tommy
*PROP*
Hock
Hansen
Lockers

Feka
Joel
Prescott
McIlorum

That should have been what the side shaped up like but recruitment made was the wrong choice of players (apart from Gleeson)

Its a poor state of affairs if he didn't, it makes it harder for the chairman to sack noble if he buys players the coach doesnt want. Who is running WRLC ?

This is what im asking. Who is making the signings. This doesn't look like a BN squad.

Its lacking a world class half back and 2 world class props.

Gleeson has sorted the backs, we now have 3 wingers for 2 positions, Richards is never ever a fullback.

Lol Noble probably didn’t want Riddell but to start to suggest Noble isn’t signing players but instead it’s IL doing it is laughable. It just goes how far some people we go to defend Noble and the straws they will clutch at.

It’s pure fantasy to think that Noble would still be here if he wasn’t allowed to sign the players he wanted simple as! Why would any coach stay at a club when the owner is interfering in such a big aspect of the coaches job.

If it is true then Noble needs to grow a back bone. Either way it’s laughable or Noble is a wimp/puppet neither one is welcome as Wigan’s head coach imo.

Im not defending him. I have said in other threads, time has past for Noble at Wigan.

I am askign questions that need to be answered.

Why didnt we sign the halfback & prop that Stevie Wonder could see we needed?

Why sign Roberts - he isn't a Noble player and wasn't needed.

Gleeson fair enough.

Who actually bought Riddell and why didn't we sign Ennis?

Who made these decisions - they are responsible for alot of our problems.

Unless it's in his contract the club does not have to pay him up fully. They can negotiate a severance package and in any case the longer we go into the season the less paying him up costs.

But it if did cost £100K so what? If IL wants to change coach or isn't going to renew Nobles contract then he must weigh up what the cost is of keeping him on. My guess is lost gate money will easily cost more than that.

And that is only the financial cost. The cost in terms of what state the team will be in come the end of the season if we carry on like this is anyone's guess and a new coach would have to inherit that.

In short if the decision has been made on Noble's future and he is not going to get a new deal then he needs to go now not later.



The money issue is IMO largely irrelevant. As I said the financial cost of keeping Noble on could well exceed the cost of getting rid. The last reason we need to keep him is because it is in some way too difficult to get rid.

It's just the same old "we need stability" argument rehashed.

The only reasons Noble should keep his job are positive ones if anyone can find any. I don't see the financial cost (or the idea we need stability when it has failed to deliver) as a positive reason to keep him on.

Dave

There was much talk of 4 meeting a year regarding recruitment when IL first came to the club between himself and the coach, i would suggest it is not as cut and dried pinning the recruitment issue to either one if these recruitment meetings have gone on both need to question there actions.

What i will say is good players which Riddell and Roberts undoubtedly are going off previous form do not suddenly become poor players over night, the issue for me runs deeper than this and mainly at the hands of the coach, who is simply unable to utilise them in the correct way on the field.

Riddell for example is a creative hooker, but can do sod all when presented with no options.

I agree but when I questioned the signing of Roberts a year early when it happened I was accused of simply having a pop at IL.



I must have been saying we need a prop for about three seasons now and I have consistently expressed my reservations over TL since he arrived. TL is a player who IMO gives 100% but in his first couple of seasons was inconsistent and now I think it is plain why NZ moved him to 9.

Dave

we aren't warrington

If the management is interfering in recruitment then that needs to be tackled FIRST. It undermines the coach completely and threatens to disrupt team cohesion.

Under such divisive circumstances it's not difficult to imagine cliques forming with one side claiming the other has no right to be at the club. Especially if results aren't good.

What RL coach genuinely (not solely for monetary reason) wants to work in such an atmosphere with his hands tied behind his back?

It's insane.