From one person (Catalancs).

I suspect most of us on here would be happy to see Beaver on the coaching staff next year. In some capacity. Did you see the pic of him lifting Platty high up in the air after he scored the match-winning try on Monday? This is the sort of guy we need here. I suspect the history books will record he was the most important recruit, by far, of the McNamara era. I guess its not impossible we may have yet to see just how important.

But as for Macca...well I suspect we will hear something official from the club - one way or the other - in the near future.

Perhaps he could end up in a position Deacon is at Wigan, Player/Assistant coach. Menzies is class, your best player IMO. Would have him at Wigan in a shot even with all the talent we have in the forwards.

When we signed him most opposition fans were throwing the pensioner insults about. Not anymore, he is sheer class and he is fit as a fiddle even at 36!

Nobby is a great coach but i can’t help feeling that he left us at a critical time and took a few players and coaching staff with him, so he has had his day with me.

Quality!

It'd get me back on the terraces. this is exactly what needs to happen. I just hope to god Macca does sod off for the England job and we can about becoming a decent side again.

As I said before, be careful what you wish for.

I doubt Noble would want to come back and work under the same conditions as McNamara has. At both Wigan and Celtic he had experienced assistants to work with and a large coaching team at his disposal. It seems pretty unlikely that we could offer similar budgets for both the playing staff and coaching staff.

I think some still find it hard to accept that our spending during the successful years wasn't and isn't sustainable for a club like ours. I'm glad we had those years but if we're to get back up there it needs to be via a different route this time around. Is Brian Noble the man to work on a tight budget and spend time developing and scouring the market for junior talent? From what I have read and heard from people within the game.. he probably isn't the best man for the job at the Bulls right now.

...is the [iright[/i answer.

Spot on, that. People are not criticising Noble, certainly for what he did for us. They are (in the main) seriously questioning, as you and I are, whether his skill set would be appropriate to the new reality that the club is in.

Not that I'm aware of.

In fact the inside story of Noble's departure was kept pretty much just that: inside. There is no doubt though, that Nobby along with the then chairman Caisley, were the guiding hands behind the cutting back on junior development at the time, done to facilitate more funds for the first team squad. It was madness and totally unsustainable; no organisation can carry on losing half a million per year indefinitely whilst cutting back on the one resource, junior development, which might have saved them. Fortunately the club is now in the hands of people who have priorities based more on the realities of life and above all is solvent.

I don't hold any grudges against Nobby. I did say elsewhere that ultimately it is the board who provide the framework in which a coach operates, and that being so, it's difficult to be too scathing on the coach; he may have spent it, but he didn't sanction it. Within the framework in which he worked he was very successful, but that framework has changed vastly, that said he is a still a good tactician and clever coach though how successful he might be in the much changed financial position which the club now finds itself is very much open to question.

Hood certainly seems a little worried r5egarding Maccas future in todays T & A article.

From what McNamara said at the fans forum, i'd be surprised at this move.

If we get McDermott or Lowes in then i'd be very disappointed. Macca's saving grace has been his youth development and his complete overhaul of the junior structure. McDermott & Lowes are probably at the same level of coaching as McNamara, and if McNamara hadn't achieved anything at junior level (the youngsters coming through) I doubt he'd still be here.


If he goes, we want a top quality coach!

As af says PG Fox made a great return when he came back for a second spell at the club and he had issues with certain directors when he departed first time around.

I'd be surprised to see Nobby back though. He seems to operate best at clubs with money available to spend on bringing players in rather than bringing them on. The turnaround during his time at Wigan was down to him being able to recruit players rather than his record at bringing through the youngsters. At Crusaders I see Kear has been dropped for the 35 year old Schicofske. There's no denying that he's a good coach when he has good players and that's not as easy a job as it sounds but I think he's probably wrong for us.

I'd prefer to see us target a young thrusting assistant coach from Australia in the McGuire mould who's methods have transformed Wigan. Either that or a proven coach from over there. What's Hagan's plans after Origin? I'm sure I read somewhere that Tim Sheens is OOC at the end of this year too, certainly worth a punt.

I expect that if/when Macca goes we'll be looking to get Beaver involved somehow. I just hope the club don't go for the McDermott/Lowes route as both of those are less proven than McNamara and would be a step backwards. McDermott has had a real struggle with the resources at his disposal at Quins but even so their fans in the main want to see the back of him. As for Lowes, I'm not sure he's cut out to be a head coach, his record at Warrington isn't worth mentioning! A great player yes, possibly a good assistant (though some Salford fans may disagree!), a head coach? Nope.