The more I think about this the more I believe the club have been naive and foolish and IL and KR have inflicted irreperable damage on themselves by their belief that everything was OK. Indeed when he came out with his "if it happens " comment a few weeks ago they should have been down to Cardiff with a contract in their hot little hands ready for him to sign, who knows maybe they did and he refused to sign it as he was already negotiating with other interested parties. However I have no doubt that the club and SE had a gentlemans verbal agreement in place which for the self proclaimed man of integrity I never break a contract Mr Edwards, was seemingly happy to go along with at the time. If he wanted something on paper then surely he should have insisted on this from the outset.
He attended the pre season game at the Skolars, I believe he has been to Orrell, he has had discussions with Lam about the direction of the team and possible recruitment if what you read and hear is true, so why should the club not think that he is being sincere in what he has publicly stated that he wants to coach Wigan.
Now that the reality of SE leaving Union has sunk in, the people running the game have obviously been sounding him out and he has revealed that no contract has been signed although the man has a verbal agreement in place. So someone from the dark side whether that is Wasps, England, or some Welsh club have stroked his massive ego and wafted a wad under Mr. Integritys nose, and all of a sudden SE goes to press crying that he is no longer wanted at Wigan or words to that effect, effectively starting a bidding war between Wigan and RU for his services.
The club has been badly damaged by this with both parties being culpable, my own personal opinion is that a line is drawn under this ASAP, and SE stays in union well away from Wigan. As the caretaker coach part of the original plan is now defunct, Lammy should be thanked for his services and a new full time coach appointed, because unless we have something to distract ourselves from this such as a winning team playing good rugby, this is going to fester for a long while yet which neither the club, players or fans need.

If we’re paying up to the cap as things stand then there are players in this squad being paid far more then their value, given the wages we’ve got off the books. Once we take Williams off marquee then even if we replace him with another marquee player, we’ll throw away that extra dispensation for it being a homegrown marquee player. If Lockers calls it quits I believe we lost some dispensation he gets as well and I’m not sure we have another player who qualifies to get that.

We may go up to the base level of the cap next year but I’m very doubtful we’ll be using things like the two marquee spots or finding additional space by getting that dispensation Lockers gets, so in real terms our spend will be well under what would be allowed and certainly well under what a few other clubs will be spending. I hope I’m wrong and we squeeze every inch of space we can out if the cap rules because if we do then we’ll have signed some pretty exciting players.

Things have changed my view.

I had a conversation this morning with a chap who is high up in the echelons of the club’s management. (I’ll not disclose who so don’t even ask).

What I will say is that Edwards has shat on the club from a great height and the club has acted entirely properly all the way through. There is absolutely no wrong doing by Rads, IL or anybody but Edwards and he will never have my respect again. My view of him has been completely ruined by his inexcusable actions.

When it all comes out and I hope the club gives the full details, believe me it’s astonishing.

I actually applaud the club for their extreme professionalism and for maintaining such a dignified approach which has restored my faith in them.

While I agree with you it’s never to early given the current state of the team to be talking about relegation,now I do t think it’ll happen but clubs that you’d have bet your shirt on before seasons statt,London have got 6 points already,the sooner points are picked up the better.

Agreed. Like I said earlier I foresee a lengthy legal process should we want to go down that route.

Rads needs to gets on the phone to Shane Flanagan's agent immediately.

Quote: NickyKiss "If we’re paying up to the cap as things stand then there are players in this squad being paid far more then their value, given the wages we’ve got off the books. Once we take Williams off marquee then even if we replace him with another marquee player, we’ll throw away that extra dispensation for it being a homegrown marquee player. If Lockers calls it quits I believe we lost some dispensation he gets as well and I’m not sure we have another player who qualifies to get that. We may go up to the base level of the cap next year but I’m very doubtful we’ll be using things like the two marquee spots or finding additional space by getting that dispensation Lockers gets, so in real terms our spend will be well under what would be allowed and certainly well under what a few other clubs will be spending. I hope I’m wrong and we squeeze every inch of space we can out if the cap rules because if we do then we’ll have signed some pretty exciting players.'" I don't think the long service dispensation used for Lockers in previous years now exists, or I can't find it. It appears that this has been replaced with the "Club Trained Allowance" See section 5.11 https://www.rugby-league.com/flipbooks/ ... html#p=289

Quote: NickyKiss "If we’re paying up to the cap as things stand then there are players in this squad being paid far more then their value, given the wages we’ve got off the books. Once we take Williams off marquee then even if we replace him with another marquee player, we’ll throw away that extra dispensation for it being a homegrown marquee player. If Lockers calls it quits I believe we lost some dispensation he gets as well and I’m not sure we have another player who qualifies to get that. We may go up to the base level of the cap next year but I’m very doubtful we’ll be using things like the two marquee spots or finding additional space by getting that dispensation Lockers gets, so in real terms our spend will be well under what would be allowed and certainly well under what a few other clubs will be spending. I hope I’m wrong and we squeeze every inch of space we can out if the cap rules because if we do then we’ll have signed some pretty exciting players.'" I don't think the long service dispensation used for Lockers in previous years now exists, or I can't find it. It appears that this has been replaced with the "Club Trained Allowance" See section 5.11 https://www.rugby-league.com/flipbooks/ ... html#p=289

I’ve no reason to think otherwise but I’d this is true I really hope the club cut ties with Edwards,it needs to happen now anyway,double quick time and get a coach who wants to be here at Wigan

I'm glad to hear this, but I don't think the club will benefit from staying quiet on the matter.

IL is a chairman who seems to cop an awful lot of flak given that he's delivered so much silverware. There are the usual suspects who, for reasons known only to themselves, seem determined to be unimpressed whatever he does. Then there are the idiots who believe everything they're told - one clown has even been on this week, blaming him for the pathetic off-field behaviour of the Tomkins brothers. Then there are those who can't get over the fact that it isn't 1988 anymore and we no longer have Maurice's bottomless pot of money, which in the end proved to be very far from bottomless.

FWIW, I do think IL has made some mistakes. A culture seems to have crept in whereby Wigan are the club to go to if the NRL wants to buy. Throwing out a safety net for players contemplating leaving - i.e. they can come back if it goes wrong - has only made it easier for them to leave. And there is no doubt that we are going through stringent times financially, which means that our recruitment for 2019 has been less ambitious than we'd like; but we don't know the story behind that, so perhaps we shouldn't comment so vociferously.

This Edwards business, however, is a bridge too far on many fronts. It's even got the reasonable and non-prejudiced posters on here hot around the collar, and I can't blame them for that. I've no doubt the deal will now be off, but I feel - for the sake of his own reputation - that IL has to put out his side of the story fairly soon. Allowing some smug, overpaid bast**d in RU to dump on us like this, and then make all the running in the press, is serving no purpose.

We need to draw a line under this rapidly in order to save this season, but we can't just let this go and put out some bland statement about both parties changing their minds. On this occasion, though it may be nasty, I think the club need to be open with everyone about what's gone on here. I see no reason at all to spare Shaun Edwards' blushes.

SE was already wanting out of the "agreement" early in the new year and has pretty much told everyone else this is the case other than Wigan. I have never once banged the IL/KR out drum and never will, they have been totally screwed over. I think The Enforcer posted on here way back when I first heard rumblings that SE doesn't want to coach Wigan and a lot of people got on his back real quick!

I really hope that the club come out and lay out everything on the table but I doubt it, as it throws SE under the bus completely and I don't think IL has that in him.

What I do have is faith that IL/KR will make some moves, I do believe the landscape was being cleared for a new coach to put his touch on things and the club will move very quickly to get that in place for 2020. Just have a little faith.

What we should all do now is get right behind the club and the team.

Two sides to every story isn’t there. Despite my comment yesterday, I’m quite relieved by this development, if it is indeed true. It seems pretty clear there wasn’t a contract signed, but by whose manipulation, I guess we may find out soon. If there is a genuine element of “screwing over” it could actually have a galvanising effect for the club & fans. We shall see...

Here here!! From the conversation I had this morning, it’s Mr Lenegan who is keeping his cool. There is much more going on than meets the eye, things I’d never have even considered but the comments on here are genuinely way off the mark and I honestly believe he has done everything with the utmost professionalism. I can’t say much more but when the truth comes out, a few on here will owe our chairman an apology.

What we need now is for the fans to adopt the same backs to the wall mentality that we had in 2006 and get behind our great club. Adrian Lam has a team to prepare and we need them all to feel supported and valued to get the best out of them.

Bigred are suggesting that it was SE who proposed a handshake rather than signing a contract?
To announce you have signed someone on a 3 year contract without actually obtaining a signature isn't naïve its totally unprofessional.
I was with you in that I was really pleased when the announcement came about SE but now the situation is I would think beyond repair so I think we should tell SE that he can stay in RU and we need to move with some haste in appointing Lam's successor which for me needs to be sooner rather than later. We are in the shoite and we need changes rapidly because a few more losses on the bounce and the situation may become irrecoverable.

I’m not suggesting anything mate. I’m telling you that IL & Rads have done everything we would have wanted but they’ve been badly let down by SE. I can’t go into details but as I’ve said above, I really hope the club does a warts n all explanation of what’s gone on. The way IL & Rads have conducted themselves has really made me proud to be a Wigan fan and I’m gutted I ever doubted them.