* * * Rumours & Signings XIV * * *

Quote: Cruncher "It certainly gets exhausting, the bitterness and vitriol with which some fans speak about the club and the way it's run.

My contacts at Wigan tell me it's a better run operation now than they've ever known it. They can't speak highly enough of IL and Mick Hogan, and say there's no comparison with the Mo / Whelan era, when Wigan was like a ship without a rudder. The only plan in the latter stages was to buy the first big name Aussie who said yes - and they nearly all did because Mo was inclined to top whatever anyone else offered by about £20 grand regardless of squad needs, a balanced pay structure, salary cap, etc. David Vaeliki for example was absolutely stunned by what Wigan offered him - and to me he embodied the problem with that attitude; better players than him - i.e. Matty Johns and Jamie Ainscough - came over here on similar contracts and also did nothing. (We ought to remember that Barrett, the pro-Mo crowd's poster boy, was almost a one-off in terms of the effectiveness he had on the team). Conversely, there was minimal interest in the junior set-up, and many youngsters felt undervalued because they were literally playing for monkey nuts. Yet some Wigan fans still want to go back to that style of leadership because, for all their protestations to the contrary, they are totally wowed by 'big name' signings.

For me the Wigan administration are getting only two things wrong at present - the lack of clarity regarding the coaching situation (though I concede that this may be out of their hands if someone they really want is 'stringing them along'), and our unfulfilled necessity for a crumping big front rower (and again I'm forced to concede that this may not be completely their fault, as they were clearly on the verge of signing Carl ebb until his drink-driving conviction came up).

There's another thing; IL and MH deserve more praise than they're getting for securing Sam Tomkins's future at Wigan. I think most would agree that Sam is the most exciting player on the British scene at present. I wouldn't swap him for Eastmond and certainly not Myler. He's also been the subject of strong and sustained Rugby Union interest which this time we've fought off by the combination of gentle persuasion and a much improved deal. Almost exactly the same can be said, thus far at least, for Ian Thornley, who many fans are not yet aware of - trust me, this kid is also a special talent, and he's ours for the time being. Yet neither of these dynamic starlets have had the sort of ridiculous money thrown at them that Warrington, for example, have thrown at Myler. And before anyone grumbles about "oh, here we go again - it's all about getting value for money" as if that's something to be critical of, just consider that many of the problems we've suffered since about 2005 / 2006 are directly linked to us having spent too much money on one or two individuals who weren't delivering the goods, and whose presence at Wigan meant that we couldn't even fill the rest of the squad with adequate numbers let alone adequate talent. This penny-pinching atttitude that many fans seem to think will be our downfall is more likely to be the root of our future success.

I do wish some people could see the bigger picture. I'm very critical of Noble. I think his time's up and he's had his day, but I've said before and I'll say again - we've now got a large and pretty decent squad that has proved it can compete at the highest level when it's correctly prepared. We're not far off being a top side. Yes, we perhaps need one or two new signings, but I'm not going to complain with the sort of unrestrained anger, annoyance and frustration that many fans are merely because the chairman has done due diligence on several potential new recruits and made an informed decision on the basis of this that they aren't the sort of players to take the club forward.

That to me sounds like a rational and meticulous approach, rather than stinginess, lack of interest, lack of ambition, whatever folks these days are calling it. We're going the right way at Wigan. It's slower than many of us would like, but we're not the only club doing this and it's arrogant to assume that putting us back at the top of the tree should be manageable within two short years.'"