I'd love to see both Edwards and Farrel back at the club, but realistically it's unlikely to happen for some time but we can all hope.

Personally I'd love to see Farrel back at the club, I think his time away from the sport and the pressure cooker of Wigan will have done him the power of good.

I thought he had gone already?

Good to see true servants of the club taking on high profile roles. Someone, that any player, whoever they are can look up to.

Ideal replacement for the Dean Bell role.

Still listed on the website as an Assistant Coach, PV has gone though - well according to the club website who's who at least...

.

Promotion for John Pendlebury and that chap from St. Pats?

I maybe losing my marbles here but didn't pendlebury move into the role Radders is doing now about a year or so ago? I'm sure it was around the time Radders was brought on board for the scholarship kids?

That's correct, but Pendlebury wanted a more "hands on" coaching role. I'm assuming he now has Shaun Wanes old role as reserve (U20 coach)

I would be more chuffed with getting Lam first. He could mentor Tomkins and Leuluai, he is the ideal man for that job IMO but Deacon has been chosen. Farrell would be great but I think he is picking up some good experience in Union at the moment so I can see him returning at some point. Edwards will only return if Union ends up not working out for him in 15 years time.

Ideal appointment by the club whilst also increasing Radlinski's role and it has been cleared up quite quickly which is good.

I really don't feel we need Adrian Lam at all. Whilst he was a tremendous player for us, I just don't feel anybody involved in the whole Roosters self destruction are the kind of staff we want around the club with the culture we're trying to build. Deacon has been not only a really good player (and hopefully will still be able to do a job this season), he's an intelligent disciplined and I think he can bring a lot to the club.

You have mentioned the key word here - culture.

The promotion of Shaun Wane, the signing of Paul Deacon, the promotion of Kris Radlinski and lets not forget the appointment of Mark Bitcon too. All of these are the kind of personalities you need to have in place to create an environment that benefits those who are willing to put in the hard work both on and off the field.

Couldn't agree more mate, which is why i'm not convinced Lam would fit in.

Hi guys,

As an Aussie in AusLand let me give you my view on the role of a football manager that we use here.

1. welfare - kids that need extra attention and support are coordinated through FM.
2. travel, accomodation - the FM has to ensure that the accom and travel are suited to the team's needs - for sleep, good vibes, hassle from fans, hassle from s, avoiding or embracing the media.
3. first line of management for player agents and other peripheral people around the each player.
4. coordinates recruitment and coaching units into a seamless whole for the Head Coach and Owner - too often great coahcing development over many years is not fully connected to recruitment plans. FM is the management link.
5. Coordinates the flow of mentoring, communication and exposure between young guys and older squad guys.
6. Is the connection between the front office and the back office for the Head Coach - community involvement, sponsor functions, etc.
7. is there to assist with home affairs that may be impacting on playing performance - aussies who arte home sick, wives who are niggling and causing trouble, player conflicts that have been elevated from assistant coaches, or even simple thyings like phones and computers working for the players so that they have no exucses to be diligent and on time and well prepared.
8. Being ear-to-the-ground on gossip and stuff happening around the world of League - this is coordinated with CEO (or in Wigan case with Ian L.)

Thats about what i got from the top of my head. It's an utterly crucial role. Take note that the Roosters didn't have a football manager in 2008...

I'd also add that Lam is the exact opposite type of guy you need under MM. Lam has a mentality of a player still. In SW, MM made his first good call - hire an adult with no perosnal problems. Each of his other hires have been the same. He is building a club full of men to be admired and to lead.



Go Wigan in '10.

Great appointment for a true professional!

Someone for young players to look up to.

As he said in his book - "When I left, young players treated Wigan more like a social club than the world-famous rugby league club.”

That has to change!

If MM follows the job definition used at Storm for "football manager" then it's the bloke who oversees all the stuff involving the team & the players on game day and off field - player welfare - travel - etc
He is in essence the one who keeps the machine running smoothly

Great post, thank you.

I don't think there can be any conceivable negativity about this development now. Kris Radlinski would perform every one of these functions admirably.

brilliant appointment

I like that phrase in bold and it hits the nail on the head as to what the club needs and is getting.

When Lam's name was mooted as a potential coach never mind football manager I am on record on here as being not convinced as I thought he hadn't been away from the playing side long enough.

Your views on him seem to concur with mine. Hopefully one day he will develop into a top coach but I think we have so far made appoints of the "adult with no personal problems" nature including MM as well as Rads and SW.

Appointing Lam would have been a bit like appointing Alex Murphy instead of Graham Lowe at this stage of Lam's career IMO.

Dave

I totally agree. Lam was beset with off-field problems even as a player and at the height of his power. I'm sure it would be a gamble appointing him now, given that he's achieved very little as a coach, and has few people down under singing his praises the way they were about Maguire.

Time for a lie down in a dark room.

I agree with DaveO again.

As you know I don't live in Wigan and so never know what to make of the off-field problems certain players have supposed to have had that crop up on here every now and again but what I have always said is that it wasn't professional behavior if any of these reports were true.

This usually ended up in a debate about it not being anyones business what players get up to out of hours and being young lads they should be allowed to relax and enjoy themselves (meaning getting paralytic not just having the odd beer).

I think it's safe to say that sort of behavior won't be tolerated anymore. With Rads focus on the clubs ethos and the kind of training (in particular the monitoring of players recovery times etc) we are hearing any players who's performance drops off compared to what is expected will have some explaining to do!

This sort of professional behavior off-field is something I felt was lacking and getting it back (because we used to have it as a club) is an important aspect of getting the players to perform better. I am sure Rads will help instill the importance of players looking after themselves all the time into the squad. Most won't need to be told and probably do so anyway but I'd expect to hear less tales and see fewer rumours about off-field activities that cropped up about Lam and others in the future with Rads and the rest of the coaching team in charge.

Dave

Around the time he was writing his book, Rads went out on a limb - without actually naming names - to make comments about the Wigan ethos being absent. He never actually said that too many Wigan players are on the p122, but I felt it was implied. According to Rads, the attitude among the playing staff was simply wrong. He did not deem it professional enough for a club like Wigan, and now, thankfully, he's in a position to do something about it.

I completely agree about the 'getting ratted in Wigan' routine that's apparently bedevilled us in recent seasons. I've never accepted this "young lads should be allowed to go out and do what they want when they're not at work" attitude. To me, that's the height of amateurism - they're getting paid to be athletes, and therefore should NOT be allowed to go out and do anything they want if it impinges on their athletic performance.

At the end of the day, it's a short but potentially very lucrative career. They can go on the lash all they want when they're in their 30s.

I can't argue with any of this. However, doesn't Rads himself refer to getting slaughtered a few times in his book?