Now forgive me - But a lot of what you put across is pointing the finger at Lam - And I agree

A few of the other things (The 2points, Hardaker/Mullen/Williams/Edwards, especially Edwards) are providing a bit of a smokescreen for me at the moment and although Yes, they shouldn't have happened for whatever reason the truth is This Bunch of players look lost at times
And in my previous words Amateurish & SOFT (not just physically, but mentally & culture wise).
Lam is responsible for a lot of this and He needs to get this right.
He knew the score when he took the job,

Deluded Leneghan is the tile of the thread but he said this prior to Saturday & I think it was a Lazy piece of reactionist posting
If he says it after another good hiding Saturday then maybe I'll agree

But if someone does what Leneghan has over 10 years at Wigan then he deserves a bit of slack after a poor spell IMO (Which I agree he has had over the last 12months).

Lam has yet to do the positive things that deserve that slack IMO

The fans themselves though, to use a phrase I use time to time, Will get what they deserve.
Our Season ticket prices are comparably some of the Best in the country
Our facilities are pretty good (Overall - Not the we don't own the stadium conversation etc.)
Our playing Roster were champions last year and 3 x players replaced
Tomkins - Most liked him, Some didn't; - But Hardaker was a Good replacement (And trust me, Tomkins going was His decision and only based on 1 thing and I don't blame him - And that's virtually from the Horses mouth). Overall as good a replacement as we could have got?
Bateman - Replaced by Greenwood (And please don't start the Greenwood was already here, we only got him in because of Joel leaving etc.) - How do we keep Bateman? He wanted to go etc. I would suggest
Sutton - Replaced by Bullock - Lots of people slagged Sutton and now only realise what they are missing - Bullock gets more positive praise so surely that's not a big change (I think it is but that's a different story).

Top line is, if the fans don't turn up then choices have to be made
And if the vociferous ones on all platforms of social media do nothing but continually run the club down year after year, day after day, what chance have we of increasing the positivity around the club and get more fans in. It's a 2 way street.

I'll be there at Anfield Saturday, and I'll be there next game and game after.
The more people that do that and the more positivity around the things the club is doing right (Which I get will be harder than it was 12months ago) the better.
I just can't think of another club that has had as many things to be positive about that has had to deal with the criticism that Leneghan and Wane previously have had to deal with
Even the successful players Like Tomkins/Burgess/Gildart/Williams etc. get it week in week out for varying reasons - I don't get it
It's like some people don't want them to be successful and take pleasure in wanting them to fail for various reasons.

Anyway

was good to see you in Barcelona pal

Title of the thread was because Lenagan was saying Lam is favourite for the job, I call that deluded given our worst start to a season ever and apart from catalans and 1/2 a game against Castleford we have looked like you said soft and amateur. So how does Lenagan see that Lam could possibly be favourite? Despite Lam only signing a 12 month deal, why has there been no word on interviewing a new coach or searching for one? Even if Lam is doing well shouldn’t they interview him too?

enjoy pal

Can't let the above slip by

IL reneged on the agreement with S Tomkins re his marquee salary and asked him to take a pay cut. He then blathered on, to the press, about him still being one of the highest paid players trying to excuse himself from doing so. Unacceptable and unprofessional. My employer asks me to take a pay cut on an agreed contract I'd look elsewhere as well. As to Hardaker being a good replacement it's a great example of signing a good player but one who is a different type of player with different strengths and weaknesses and we have been missing Tomkins organisation skills and how he was able to link up all season.

It is absurd to say Greenwood replaced Bateman. They were BOTH instrumental in getting us to the GF and BOTH played in the victory. Bateman was "replaced" by Faz playing on the wrong side of the pitch for him and looked like a fish out of water before he was injured. No one is saying we could have kept Bateman but he has not been replaced. IL and Rads obviously thought they could get away with Greenwood and Faz but have been found out on that score. We are desperate for a true replacement for Bateman to play alongside Greenwood in our powder puff pack.

As to Bulluck, he's not as good as Sutton was when he was here never mind at Canberra. A good prospect but again the replacement is not as good as we had before.

It's not just about replacements though its about squad management. The issue of Lockers replacement has been going on for years. Both him and TL should have been fond memories by now and several other players just memories! Instead the club keeps handing out new deals to players who ought to be shifted out or are average like Powell. There seems to be no desire to seek constant improvement (which is how it used to be at Wigan) such as when a players contract is nearing an end they just give him a new one rather then looking for a better player. If IL is not deluded about Lam then I think he is deluded as to how good the current squad is.

same with Gelling and Sarge, MM wasnt replaced either nor Joel Tomkins

If Bateman stays then I don't think we sign Greenwood.

The start of last season our back row options were Faz, Bateman, SOL with Isa and Joel as backup. Gabe Hamlin then steps up and gives us that unexpected option that Smithies is turning into this year.

Once we knew Bateman was going we had to replace him so we chose Greenwood. Problem being we needed to sign him asap or we would have lost him. Same as Matty Smith in 2012 as replacement for 2013. Therefore Joel had to go. We now have Faz, Greenwood, SOL with Isa and Gabe. Losing Gabe highlights the injury to Faz.


As for Zak and Sam, Zak is a better FB than Sam every day of the week and twice on a Sunday. We have replaced Sam the FV. What he isn't though is a better leader or all round player than Sam and it is that aspect of Sam's game that we are missing and haven't replaced. The guy who manages the game clock. Williams can't do it and Tommy has been all over the place. Sammut will hopefully take that mantle but again he is nowhere near the level Sam is and is definitely not a replacement.

Bullock was not meant as a direct replacement for Sutty as we promoted Navarette. Our 4 props last year were Flower, Clubb, TT, Sutty with Navarette as 5. This year it was Flower, Clubb, TT, Navarette with Bullock as 5. Navarette has been awful from.his first carry and everyone else has been injured.

he just isnt

Lam has excelled himself imo based on the squad....or lack of it, he aquired.
I expected Wigan to be bottom 4 this season.

It really makes me laugh when people try and say Greenwood replaced Bateman, in that case who replaced Joel? Greenwood again? He must be able to make duplicates of himself like Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen.

Who did he replace? He can’t do both. But like Jukesays, Joel’s money was swallowed up by contract extensions, I don’t believe that for 1 minute. Joel would have been on decent money coming back from Union, £130k I reckon and there’s no way that’s been swallowed up. That’s been the excuse for years with where all the money has gone ever since we thought once Vaealikis contract ran out we would have big money to spend, then Fieldens contract then Sams and every year we seem to have fewer players or perceived less wages.

Either someone is bad at negotiating at the club and is paying players more than they should be, or the squad is too large and chocked full of wasted cap space through injuries or we are being lied to about how much cap space is available and someone is doing a Daniel Levy.

Essentially nobody replaced Joel. Gabe Hamlin stepped up to take his place in the options for the back row and a few extra young lads were given a shot. Then his money was given to people like Tom Davies who signed new deals.

2018 - Cap spend 100%
2019 - Cap spend 100%

How do you think we sign players on contract extensions or on new deals without freeing some space up by losing players such as Joel who as you say are high earners but in the grand scheme of things are ?

Everyone has an opinion