Head over to the other forum. It looks positively cheery on here by comparison.

Interesting to read the views here.

Usually the signing of an ageing player becomes one of one upmanship from other clubs - "why don't you sign some young kid instead of some old crock only here to top up his pension" however sometimes they get egg on their faces.

A lot of fans laughed at Warrington signing an ageing Chris Hicks and then Brett Hodgson too but they had a lot of success with us.

The key with an ageing player is not the age as a number but his fitness. An old, fit player is a good signing because players generally improve their decision making with age and this part offsets physical decline. But some players can decline physically very quickly.

In football AC Milan latched on to the whole ageing players thing and they had a quality team in the mid 2000s that was largely made up of players in early to mid thirties (and some in their late thirties): but they were ruthless about making sure they only signed the fittest. Sam Allardyce had some success at Bolton too with guys like Okocha, Djorkaeff etc and especially Gary Speed.

I wouldn't right Bowen off as he is a terrific player, and I would have quite liked us to sign him, the only thing I was sweating about on us signing him is there does seem to be a fair bit of concern raised about the state of his fitness.

I remember thinking Brett Mullins was a terrific signing for Leeds and he could have torn SL up in the 2000 season but he was just never fit enough to get rhythm going.

In any case on this, aside from competitive loyalties meaning I don't want Wigan to have an advantage, I actually want Bowen to be a real success because these days SL is lacking in real talent and losing the best talent in Tomkins is a blow - we need to have excitement in the league and if Wigan get Bowen on the park he will provide real excitement.

He could be a decent signing for the club. He could help our younger players come through.

He is not a marquee signing and nowhere near a replacement for Sam.

Unless we get some new signings our squad looks a lot poorer than it has done for many a season.

I'm definitely in the minority happy with this signing.

Are you taking experience, and the quality of our opponents into account when you say that? I think next years' squad would soundly beat most pre-Maguire Wigan sides, even if there aren't as many big names. We'll be challenging for honours again next year IMO

Maybe, but people have said that every year recently, and we've been doing OK...

True. We forget to factor in the deteriorating standards at other clubs too.

I have no problem with the Bowen signing. He is the the best option available to us even with his dodgy knees. Even if he doesn't manage to play a game for us (which im sure he will) its nothing lost on us as fans as we have no other option. My gripe is with the fact he is being called a marquee signing and used to smooth over the loss of Tomkins. We should of just announced that Matt Bowen will replace Tomkins and left it at that rather than try to make out that we have got some kind of fantastic result out of it all.

A very good signing coming in but a better player (who's only 24) leaving the club. The happy clappers will have to forgive me for not being excited.

Wow!
Is it possible that your more than 100% right!
Some of the "experts" on there make me nearly wet myself.

I mean if certain posters do want someone to buy Wigan and run things completely differently then why font they do it?
I mean they must have billions stashed away from making money as they know Everything and are 100% right about everything.

Bowen is a risk yes, but he's by far the best option you had, of the people questioning this signing, who else should your board have gone for?
Still don't understand why you didn't make Sam stay though, he's not coming back anyway might as well get another 3 yrs out of him I'd have thought?

So your tantrum yesterday was about the use of a word?

I'd hate to watch you and your mates if you had to cope with a real crisis.