It doesnt matter which way you say it, nobody will criticise IL for making the exact same mistake again.

Exactly. Unfortunately there appears that most people on here think you can be all for or dead against.

Truth is IL and his team have done a lot of things well, but a lot of things not so well. The latter is to be expected as people learn to handle the running of a club Wigan's size. What is worrying is when we don't learn.

not if the shirts are revealed on friday, with full sponsorship on, which leaves plenty of time before christmas for anyone wanting to buy one.

Not strictly true, is it? There are several people on this thread alone.

Who are you more annoyed about - IL for getting the sponsorship wrong, or those fans who are pleased enough by other aspects of his management to not be too worried at this stage?

It sounds to me like the latter, which seems an odd attitude to take.

Spot on. The sponsorship situation is the main worry for now and it's something that I'd hoped would have been sorted after what had happened last year. It would be interesting to know why we haven't got a sponsor yet. Are we asking too much? Are people offering too little? I can't believe there's no interest due to every tom dick and harry securing sponsorship.

Time will tell I suppose.

we can call him all we like, but when it comes to business DW beats IL hands down.

can anyone honestly say that had not whelan still been in control , he would have had all this sorted out..........sponsor, shirts on sale for crimbo, merchandise, club shop..........



i dont think IL is any kind of businessman at all with all this fiasco upon fiasco.
and i never thought i wold have a good word for DW.

IL.........THE HONEYMOONS OVER MATE.......GET YOUR FINGER OUT.

Perhaps when it comes to making money DW beats IL but when it comes to running an RL club...

..I'll reserve my judgement until IL has alienated nearby club chairmen, exceeded the salary cap both properly and in principle, verbally abused a disabled coach and not allowed us to play at our ground for our most important game in years.

Purely guessing, but I think Wigan have a minimum figure for the main sponsorship and they won't go below that (quite rightly in my opinion) as it effects the long term business.

Saints new sponsors are Frontline Bathrooms Who? exactly.

i dont think IL has done too bad do you " i think he knows how to make a few bob him self

In 1985 Ian set up his own business, Workplace Systems, in Milton Keynes. The company, which develops and supplies software products for workforce management was very successful and expanded abroad to places across Europe, Australasia, the USA and the Middle East. Major retailers that are known to use and trust Workplace Systems are Argos, Focus, Sports Café, Next & Morrisons. With the success of Workplace Systems the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2000 under the name Telework Systems PLC to incorporate another company founded by Ian in 1981, TeleWare, which focused on the telephony software products market.

A decline in the telephone market saw TeleWare sold off to its management in 2003 and the company change its name to WorkPlace Systems International plc which Ian owns 49% of.[2

Ian is also a successful theatre producer with over 30 productions to his name. His most recent West End hit is a co-production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" starring Christian Slater.

Ian is also the non-executive Chairman of the Sports Café, an expanding chain of sports bars and restaurants of which he owns 1%

Ian is a huge rugby league fan. His successful business ventures have allowed him to become involved in the sport and in July 2005 he took over as Chairman and majority shareholder of Harlequins Rugby League, buying 65% of the shares and also taking a place on the board of directors and more recently became a major shareholder in Oxford United who are controlled by long-time friend Nick Merry.

hes doing a great job running the playing side of things at the club, but a crap job on the business side., and i include getting merchandise out on time there.

I think I prefer the wild rumours of old to this constant moaning

Maybe a deal has been struck with a new sponsor and they will be named on friday, who knows maybe IL has been keeping it close to his chest only time will tell.

I personally think IL is taking the club forward in all directions, DW was and is only intrested in money and to him it does not matter who or what gets in his way as long as he gets the £ the sponsorship farce with JJB proved that.

It doesn't make any difference to me if the sponsor was Aldi/Lidl/Rola Cola or whatever. If the deal is right for the club, why should the club say no?

Some people are being stupidly arrogant with thier "I wouldn't be happy if we had a small company sponsor" attitude, to be frank it's childish.

If the deal is right for the club, I'm happy.

There are thousands of companys out there that would gladly give nothing to have thier name on Wigans shirt, the tricky bit is finding someone willing to pay what wigan feel the shirt is worth.


we can comapre whelan and IL if and when we get "work place systems" on our shirts, they are made by leneghan ltd and none of this money comes back into the club, unill then lets see what happens.

What absolute cack...!!!!

IL may not be as successful in business but is ten times the Sports Club Chairman that DW is!!




Yeah!! His own company for nowt in return, really hard to arrange!!!


On sale in his own companies shops, lining his own pockets...!!!



Wouldn't happen, he kept us in the JJB for years with limited merchandise. Again on sale in his own shops lining his own pockets.

Seriously, can you imagine DW arranging his own backroom staff like IL has in the last few weeks?? No chance, it was him (on a very part time basis), Mo (who was very much out of his league) and a Head Coach.

Very well put. Everything seems to be put in a black or white category on here when the reality is most are simply different shades of grey. Lenagan has done a excellent job in many aspects but equally so there have been areas where he potentially could be doing better.

I'm glad but surprised that somebody else responded in detail to this pile of drivel. Comparing IL to DW and finding he falls short? 'Fiasco on fiasco'?

Sorry pal, but you just can't be for real.

Seriously, have you been on the turps?

you are completly clueless arnt you.

Just for the record IL is 10 times more successful than DW. His personal fortune is far greater and he has an empire that he has built up that is diverse enough that unlike DW with all his eggs in one basket he has not been clobbered by the resession.

For months now we have seen some on here doubt IL and what he is doing and to date he has come through and delivered on all we questioned.

IL will not sign up to a deal that is worth nothing to the club and I would not be supprised if this year with no major sponsor he does not do a Barcelona and put something like the Wigan and Leigh Hospice on the front.

Look around people, there are not many companies out there that can afford to sponsor clubs at the moment, if there was one asking IL would take it assuming the money is right

Assuming IL and the marketing team have got the new tops right would you not buy it without a sponsor? I for one would rather have a top with no sponsor that a top with something 2 bob in it. We are lucky enough to have an owner who is rich enough we can carry on without a sponsor if need be.

IL is 10 times the business man that DW is and if you think he does not know what he is doing you have lost the plot.

I think it's fair enough that folk raise questions about the sponsorship. After all, there's no sign that it's been sorted yet. I don't personally think it's a big issue given the financial climate, but I can understand that people want to know what's happening.

But the Wigan Pie Man rant is the sort of cliched 'Wigan fan' idiocy - all gob and no brains basically - that has given our following a bad name. I hope he's reconsidering that position, because it's difficult to take anyone seriously who harks back to the era of DW as if it was preferable to what we've got now.

There are hundreds of thousands of companies out there who would gladly give nothing to have their name on bold miners under 8's shirts too

Frankly, if we are succesful on the field i don't give a flying one about merchandising.... Success on the field will self perpetuate.. IL is doing things the right way and not responding to knee jerk reactions like this...

Yes, but generally they are picked off by the happy clappers.

IL for getting the sponsorship wrong, everytime, what annoys me about the fans who don't get worried, isnt so much that as the refusal to accept its a worry.

Yes, there is a chance all sponsorship slots will be filled when Friday comes, but i'd be suprised if we have any sponsors on there, with the stick Mecca got, who can blame people for not wanting to sponsor Wigan? A group of people seemingly obsessed with a fluid transfer solution company.

As for those on this thread who are proclaiming DW would have this sorted, they clearly forget we made zilch from previous JJB sponsorship deals or merchandise sales and it all went in the central DW pot.

I like the new club shop and the new range of merchandise (even if much isn't made by Kooga, which is odd), but the sponsorship really needs sorting, and should have been sorted now, the recession is merely an excuse.

This is the sensible and balanced view. I suspect even Rouges subscribes to it and was simply trolling.

The lack of Hock announcement is simply poor and the excuses from the "you can only be all for" brigade are silly IMO.

The lack of a sponsor is a worrying given it's clear IL wants the club to be run as a going concern but you never know, come Friday not only will the new shirt be announced but so will the sponsprship. Or am I not allowed to suggest such a positive outcome given I have dared critisise the handling of the Hock situation in this post?



Dave