Improvement ( which is arguable) is all well and good but, ultimately, silverware is all that counts. When a team wins a trophy they've done something that lasts forever. When a team improves and is competitive, it's good for the present term, but soon forgotten. Twenty years from now, people will look back in the record books and the only Wigan team they'll pick out is 2002 - because they won a trophy. That's what Brian needs to remember. In years to come, no one will remember or care whether Brian left the team better than he found it if they didn't win anything.

I have been one of Nobles critics, but he is right in what he says in that interview.

The biggest problem now is can he take us to that next level? that's the question we all have i think

It's been up to now another stop start type of season, let's hope Wigan can get on a run again starting tomorrow against a very good Salford side.

Exactly.

To me now he's been here for 3 years you'd expect if he were the man to take us on a notch we'd be seeing little signs. I'd expect one of those signs would be an ever increasing ability to grind out close fought games and to win ugly but we just can't seem to do it. Those are the type of wins that will get you up the top end of the table but we've not won one all year.

He has got us back on a good footing and to think back to when he first took over makes you realise what a good job he has done. Not one Wigan fan should slate the guy for his overall job because it has been a success but i can understand people thinking we may need a change to take us forward.

We'll see.

But I don't think he's done a good job overall. We are far too inconsistent, with some performances (e.g. the Hudds game last season and the Wakefield match at the start of this season) frankly disgraceful.

More importantly we simply have not won anywhere near enough games this season. It simply isn't good enough. I can't see beyond that, I'm afraid. He HAS to go.

Wigan were bottom of the league when Noble took over, he kept us up when it looked impossible and since then we have been to 3 semi-finals, 2 of which meant we were 1 step away from a grand final, over the past 2 years we have finished 3rd twice making us the 3rd best team. Awful record to take us from rock bottom to all that.

We were cast adrift at the bottom of the league when he took over and in the 3 years he's been here he's had us in 3 semi finals and has had us finish 3rd for the last 2 years in superleague(after the play offs).

We look to have gone abit stale and aren't moving forward anymore but from our position when he took over he's done a good job.

I fail to see why finishing 3rd in a 2 horse race is something to crow about, especially after the dross we have generally had to watch in the build up to these 3rd place finishes.

Regards "saving" us from relegation was he the only man that could have done it, personally i think not. In my opinion what saved us actually from relegation was the sacking of Millward. I think it is more appropriate to judge BN on what has happened after the relegation season, he has brought stability and structure to the club, but we have not significantly if at all improved in that time on the field, i think he as a coach has taken us as far as he can. I would be all for him taking a Director of Rugby role with the club as i think that is where his skills are best utilised and i think he has and could continue to do a good job in that capacity behind the scenes, would he accept such a position with us? I doubt it. I personally think though as a direct coach he is flawed and has taken us as far as he can.

Not sure what that has to do with where we are now.

Are you suggesting that the squad he has now is as weak as the one he inherited?

The question is surely whether we are happy with the way the team is playing and its results this season, based on the squad we currently have.

I think our team is seriously underperforming and desperately inconsistent. I'm not saying BN is solely to blame, far from it - poor signings and sub-standard fitness and conditioning are massive factors too, and some of the players are just not delivering - but his record with this squad this season is just not good enough.

Dobson also played a massive role in saving us. (Why on earth didn't we fight harder to sign him rather than wasting money on Riddell?)

Just out of interest, if relegation was still in force this season, how comfortable would you feel at this moment?

Not very, I'd guess. I know I wouldn't.

Okay, I know relegation isn't in force any more - and, if it was, maybe Wigan would have pulled their socks up by now, but that's the point. We only seem able to turn it on now and then. That's not the culture of a trophy-winning team (or even a top-4 team). Friday will be very interesting for all sorts of reasons. On current form, Salford look favourite. But if Wigan can raise their game the way they did against Saints, they should win comfortably. But will they? And if they don't, how will we feel about Brian then?

If Celtic had a free ticket to stay up i'd be slightly nervous but no more.

I'm not in the Noble staying camp anyway, i actually want a change of coach at the end of the season for the reasons you state there but i don't think we can say Noble has overall done a poor job.

He's done the job of making us into a decent team again but he doesn't seem capable of making us into a trophy winning team.

ill give him his first 'season' as he kept us up and im sure we will all be grateful for that. however, since then, we have played possibly the worst brand of rugby in the SL with 1 or 2 brilliant games

its just not good enough and i really dont see any reason to give him a new contract unless we either win something or get to a final this year

I am saying he has done a good job for us, it does not mean he is the man to take us forward, I just feel people forget quickly what he has done for our club. I do however agree with your points in the second paragraph, I am just trying to defend him as I say support the people who are here.

Brian Noble wanted a new deal after beating the scousers at murrayfield , and i was still buzzin from that win that i thought yeah we need to give the guy a real crack at the job. But since then we have yet again gone backwards and he's still dining out on murrayfield , he says he cant wait forever but we need to establish whether he is the man to take us forward. To me Nob doesnt seem to be in sync with the fans , his treatment of the youngsters , lack of enthusiam and passion for the club and reliance on australian players has fustrated most of us. Roberts , Riddell , Smith etc are given all the time in the world and their errors arent pointed out in his interviews yet he seems very critical of ainscough and the lads confidence looks shot. Noble has took us to 7th , 6th , 4th in the table while at wigan , is playoff record is good but do we really want to watch a team that plays well for the only a month of the season?

I don't see how anyone can say they see improvement. Our current win/loss ratio stands at 40%, worse than at any time in the last 3 years.

What's more, Noble is saying the same things now that he was saying 3 years ago.

This is a quote from the last time we played Salford in the CCBrian NobleIt's something we've got to work on and persist with. We got caught with a silly try and then we clocked off concentration. There is no doubt that our problem at the moment is that we're not patient enough at the right end of the field. We've got to be a bit more composed on attack. We'll keep working hard at practice and they will turn the corner. We just need a win."'"