Sanity, optimism and patience. Rare qualities in a Wigan fan these days.

I'm hoping this is a ploy by MM whereby the captaincy on the day is a token gesture and each member of the senior leaders will organise and direct certain areas of the field of play and discuss potential plays in game and weaknesses during breaks in the game.

If not I think this could be a bad idea, especially if one player gets full responsibility and loses it the week after. They might all get along but if somebody thinks they can do something better it will cause obvious friction and we could end up creating personalities that we'd rather not.

A new concept.
Donkey's years ago Graham Lowe started watching games with a clipboard marking down how many tackles, breaks, assists etc players made.
Anyone remember the outcry?
"What's a coach doing with a clipboard, he should be coaching!"
Long time ago I know but it shows how things do change to improve.
Still think it's something to do with a quiet team and a way of making senior players take on more responsibility and leadership.
For too many seasons we've had too few leaders and too many followers.
MM does seem to be addressing the matter.
It will be interesting to find out from him if it is an idea he had for years at Melbourne or something he's innovated specifially for Wigan.
New idea, give it a go!

best post of this thread. Spot on

I couldn't agree more.

Lowe was scoffed at for having game-plans when he first arrived at Wigan. Alex Murphy at St Helens led the charge on that one. Murph is now long gone, and everyone has gameplans. Monie was raged at for rotating the prop forwards. Again, it was an innovation that now has universal useage.

For a club that once led the game at every level, and yet has been stagnant for so long - we in particular should not be shy of trying new techniques. Especially when there's a precedent for them at go-ahead clubs like Melbourne, and especially when it wouldn't be too difficult, if it goes wrong, to switch back to the old system.

According to the Sun its
O'Loughlin
Deacon
Richards
Bailey
Coley

They are the senior players at the club do it does make sense really. Although I'd have thought Gleeson, Fielden & Carmont could be on the list

Big op there tho for the likes of Joel, Sam & Tommy as three of the five could be on their way out at the end if the season.

burning question.......does this make them automatic choices every week.
ie..undroppable???

I get the feeling that no-one is undroppable this year

I can see where you are coming from, but under the new regime I don't for a minute think this is the case. The players named have to step up to the mark a bit more. That is why I think Stuart Fielden would be a fantastic choice.

I think this is a fantastic idea.
It will give the more senior players in our squad a forum to inject their opinion without undermining Lockers authority. It will also give the nominated personnel a renewed sense of achievement and may even encourage them to lead by example by upping there game.

We all know that Lockers had his doubters with the captaincy role, this was IMO purely because he never threw a “double six” at the players when the chips where down. Now 5 members of the squad have been given official licence to do the “wall of death” if they are seeing something that they are not happy with.

Also there may be a problem with a team member that perhaps the coach should not, or need not be made aware of (I can think of multiple scenarios). It will allow the Leadership team to sit down and discuss the problem in an official fashion and possible nip the problem in the bud before it escalates.

This could backfire and cause confusion within the ranks, but if the 5 “leaders” operate in a sensible and controlled fashion within their own divisions of responsibility this could prove to be a masterstroke. Not to mention a closer bonding of the 5 because of shared responsibility.

From my own experience when the burden of command is delegated correctly it can have some very good results

Everyone criticising this new captaincy system needs to read that arcticle. I'm not saying it'll work at Wigan, but when you look at the culture the management team are trying to create, how the fook can people complain? This is exactly the sort of thing that has been missing at Wigan for years now. Reet, where's my Kleenex

Truly epic pot+kettle antics.

Back on topic. Time will tell if it's a good or bad idea, that's generally the case when you try anything new in any walk of life. If you want to improve then you should leave no stone unturned in ways to gain that improvement. I personally think it's a really good sign that we're prepared to try whatever it takes to improve the way the club and team operates both off and on the field. It may work, it may not, but I think it's good that we're at least prepared to try.

Exactly! Can't see why anyone would get upset with it or excited by it. It means f all.

Would have been interesting to see people's reactions had Stains or the Dire come up with this idea. I bet some of the posts would have been very different.

But they didn't, we did. Which is hopefully a sign that normality will soon be resumed.

That's not the point as you well know.



There's a despairingly familiar theme to this story and thread.

- You have the people who welcome it simply because the club have done it and anything other than happy clapping and positivity is heresy, and who still wouldn't criticise the club if we swapped Sam T for Dennis Moran.
- You have the people who slag it off simply because they don't like Lenagan/The kit/The fact Mickey Higham was house and shown the door, for whom the club can do no right, even if they got Inglis, Thurston and Watmough for the price of a Curly Wurly and a Double Decker on the salary cap.
- You have the depressing small number who support the club but look at each situation on their merits (or otherwise).

There's no harm in being positive now and then. I've had four or five years of seeing nothing at Wigan to be cheery about. I think things are a bit different now, but the proof of that pudding is still in the eating, I'll admit.

Until I see otherwise, I'm interested enough in this new thing to give it a chance. If it turns out to be a , I hope he has the gumption to change it back pretty quickly - but let's be honest, it's not like we're replacing some indispensible captain with a committee. One problem we still haven't rectified at Wigan is that we don't really have a captain.

Seriously though Andeyd, if you can't be upbeat and optimistic about a sport (you know an entertainment passtime meant to make you happy) when there's been a lot of change and many good things are being said then quite simply what's the point? Do I go out on a sunny day mindful of the fact it might rain or do i just enjoy the sunshine and the fact it feels good while it lasts? If i want to be 'realistic' and 'grounded' and 'every silver lining has a big ass cloud' for my entertainment then i'd either watch the soaps or support the latics.

I'll put you in the happy clappy pile shall I?

Put me in the enjoying a sport I pay money to watch pile

Some very strong opinions on this thread!



I'm going to disagree with just about everybody and say that I am totally on the fence on this one:

Pros

1. We need more leadership, that's been clear for years, though its not all Lockers' fault as the knockers would have you believe. If this move encourages the allegedly "senior" players to take responsibility and helps avoid the shameful, gutless performances we have seen over the last few years, then great.

2. It shows MM is not frightened to shake things up, which is a good thing in itself. The Wigan club has been crying out for new ideas and direction for years.

Cons

1. There is potential for confusion and rivalry between "captains". The coaching team's man management skills will be crucial to the success or failure of this, it could backfire but let's hope they are up to the job.

2. Is Lockers really happy with this? Even if he is, I do hope the knockers don't crow too much over his demotion - we need to support Lockers, he's always given 100% for the club, unlike many of the others who have worn the cherry and white in recent years, not undermine the guy.

The jury's out for me on this one.

You forgot those who have already categorized other posters, and think they know their views....

Oh.... forgot this



BTW... I do agree with your post...