And you think this type of thing should be funded by selling players? Y'know?

Why not?

What? That was the Joel Tomkins money.

It may be used as I said to increase the scouting/coaching network, improve facilities etc It may also be used to bring one or more players into the club, someone like Corey Patterson for example.
It may get used at Central Park

There are lots of possibilities, and up to now IL has done a very good job in turning the club around.

It should be funded through the operations of the business and it's revenues, of which transfer fees received is one.

So you think it's an acceptable financial strategy to fund this type of thing from selling our best players?

So you don't think that there is a differnce between repeatable revenue streams and one-off windfalls?

Apologies, I didn't realise some Wigan fans were so easily satisfied.

Some of our most valuable players for the past 2 years have been Sam Tomkins, Lee Mossop, Gareth Hock, Michael McIlorum, Sean O'loughlin, Josh Charnley & Liam Farrell. These all came from our academy. More money spent on the academy has the potential to produce more players of this calibre.

Yes, especially if adequate replacements are available (Farrell for Hock)

No, I think when one of our players wants to go to the NRL we should let them go for nothing. The running of the club should be financed purely from day-to-day operations. Y'know?

The scouting/coaching set up is a repeatable revenue stream, producing players like Hock, Mossop, Joel and others that we can at some point get a fee for. If some of the money received is reinvested into staff and facilities to improve that conveyor belt, it's just good business sense.

Ive changed my mind on this after hearing we will be committing an extra £100,000 a year to youth development, if we produce an additional player or two from that it will be good for the squad

Hock was already gone from the club. Getting a fee for him is very good business.
Mossop was always going to go to the NRL, it was written into his contract. Getting a fee for him during his contract term is far better business than having his contract run out and him depart and the club not get anything.
We have Powell signed and any number of quality props at the club.
Since the end of the season we have lost Carmont, Leuluai, Finch, Lima & Hock. All have been replaced, we are top of the league and the club is making a profit.

You do get the feeling, from some fans' attitude, that the club is crashing and burning around our ears.

I'm not over the moon by today's developments, but The Guardian newspaper article is a good one (and it's not often I say that), in that it focuses on Wigan's attempts to realistically grapple with the new age and still come out smiling(ish).

It's not like we're going down the pan, yet some fans on the other site are talking as if it's the end of days.

Put it this way, if what both Leneghan and Hetherington have said recently is actually their stance on dealing with the NRL (I can't help but doubt Hetherington is putting on a show of defiance). I'd much happier with Leneghan. The NRL is much more powerful than us now, we can work with it and potentially thrive, or we can fight it and probably get crushed.

I think Hetherington will be very lucky indeed if the NRL doesn't come calling soon for his star players. If he can resist them, good luck to him. But if I was him, I wouldn't bank much on Kallum Watkins's statements about 'my future is with Leeds' etc. We all heard that from Joel.