He is the landlord of the Last Chance saloon and the brewery are on the verge of calling in the stocktakers!

This sums up my opinions of Deacon and Pryce as well.

Hard facts often do.

Madge has hardly put a foot wrong since he's been here.

But I still find the argument that "this decision is crap, so it can't be down to Madge, it must be down to Lenagan" laughably ridiculous. Presumably Madge also wanted to keep Ainsough as well, but Lenagan insisted on releasing him. You couldn't make it up.

Come off it. There is nothing controversial is suggesting the owner of a club is not 100% out of the loop when it comes to who gets signed. You have been in game yourself long enough to know that and Pryce was brought to the club in the first place by IL.

I don't know about you but whenever I come across something I can't explain, I look for explanations. I certainly can not explain why Pryce has been given a new deal because the way he plays the game is exactly the opposite of the Madge ethos. Do you disagree on that last point because if you don't you must be as mystified as I as to what Madge sees in him if you insist the one year deal is all down to Madge. It does not add up to me.

I certainly can not fathom why a winger who could not force his way into the side unless we had injuries and who is of his age has been allowed to take up a top 25 spot (you can guarantee he won't be receiving his wages form the £55K pot).

Whoever's decision it was we shall just have to see how it pans out but I am not hopeful he can realise his potential (to put it mildly) and if he does not it will have proved to have been a poor decision whoever made it. If he does, great but there is certainly nothing wrong with questioning this signing or wondering why Madge would sign him given the expectations Madge clearly has from his players.

Dave

The articles I've read about Deacons deal say that he's going to be assistant coach in 2012, what does that mean for your current assistant coach Wane?

Is Maguire off after two years with Wane stepping up?

Well given you said thisHave you considered that Pryce may be costing us very little?'"

The articles (the "official" ones, at least) all say "an Assistant Coach".

You find it mystifying because you think it's a mistake. But you're not as qualified to have an opinion on this as Michael Maguire is, or, given that you don't have contracts and salary info to hand, as Ian Lenagan is. And maybe they don't think it's a mistake (and I know which side I would listen to).

You're trying to dress it up in sensible terms now, but this is just a continuation of your Ainscough obsession. You can't possibly have a pop at Maguire because you'd look ridiculous, but to you IL is still fair game. So therefore, when a decision is made that you feel you're on safe ground disagreeing with, you come flying out of the blocks with "this has got IL's fingerprints on it" nonsense.

Can't you just be content that things are going very well at the club, and that the guy you volubly criticised has a significant responsibility for it?

Chuffed about Deacs signging up again.

Not sure about the Pryce one, but he offers cover if nothing else. I just hope if hes given a chance, he wont be booed before he even touches the ball.

great news about deacon. as for pryce , mmmmmmmmmm . All i will say on that one is that there is certainly some negative feedback regarding his fitness and application in pre season, but its early days yet.

No change from the original plan then, bar his extra year playing. Thought it was a bit strange.

Has there been any official confirmation about Pryce's extention?

I am very happy if it comes of. I know it is very easy to say "in madge we trust" but in all honesty (apart with a couple of squad selection errors) has he even given a reason to doubt his jugement?.

I think with Pryce, people judge him on what they expect to see from him as opposed to what he does on the field.

I dont think however that Pryce will ever make it at Wigan. Even if he does turn into a good winger/ he will still divide fans opinions and get heckled by our own support, win lose or draw.

Confidence is a hard thing to come by and he will never get it here because he does not get the support he needs from certain sections of our support.

The best thing he can do is have a good season and get himself a gig somewhere else.

KP reminds me of Audley Harrison.

The talent is there, without question. But to realise that talent he needs heart, guts. Thats something no-one can instill, train or coach into him. It's upto him to get that. Personally I think he's a waste of time - but I seriously want to be proved wrong.

That's an important factor in my view. Pryce has now become one of those players who - inexplicably to me - become hate figures for certain sections of the Wigan crowd.

You can be disappointed with the guy, you can expect more of him, you can feel that he's been lucky holding onto a contract, but why some people seem to revile him, and use the most choice language when discussing him, baffles me. As long as he's wearing a Wigan shirt, he should be given at least a modicum of support.

That day when Noble very foolishly pitched him into the middle of a torrid game at stand-off was ridiculous. Pryce was totally unprepared for such a difficult challenge, and the booing every time he touched the ball showed monumental ignorance by those responsible.

I'm not that impressed, either, by those who are currently using this unofficial announcement to have a pop at either Maguire or Lenagan. I bet the fans of most other clubs in SL would willingly swap their coach and chairman for ours. Yet some folk are getting het-up because Karl Pryce might have been given a year's extension. Talk about not knowing when you're born.

I don't believe that's true. We've had enough players that have been (usually rightly) criticised for underperforming, only for fans' attitudes to change as their performances improve. I don't think KP would be treated any differently to them, should he improve in the same way.




That's the wrong way around. He has to do something to deserve it first. Wigan fans will always react to on-field performances, whether positively or negatively. The same argument was used for both KP and Mathers, but in both cases it was the poor performances that led to the criticism, not the other way around.