Quote LewCharnock="LewCharnock"The fact is, is that Roberts is a much better all round player than Ainscough.'"
What games have you been watching because it can't have been any Wigan games with him in the side. Ainscoughs attack is better than Roberts and their defensive abilities are pretty similar. I fail to see how a player who scores fewer tries, makes fewer clean breaks, makes fewer tackle busts and so on can be considered the "much better"player.
He clearly has not got the pace he once had either.
Quote LewCharnock Also the way Phelps is playing at the moment, it is right that Ainscough is not getting into the team. I don't know what some of the fans are on about when they are fuming when Ainscough doesn't get picked, what would you prefer, Nobby to do what he is doing now, by dipping him in and out of the team every so often or play him every game under the pressures at a top SL club and potentially ruin him, e.g. Kevin Penny.'"
Nobby isn't dipping him in and out of the team, he just picks established players regardless of form. There are only 10 games left. Ainscough could play the lot of them and not be burnt out. Noble is running out of games to to dip him in and out of the team. How many games do you think Ainscough should get before the end of the season? He is on course for none IMO because Noble will IMO pick Roberts unless injured regardless of form as he does with Riddell.
Quote LewCharnockRoberts is getting better with every game, a vast improvement from the way he was playing like at the start of the season. '"
No he isn't. He offers no more now that he did at the start of the season.
Quote LewCharnockIf we give him enough ball, he is a very dangerous player for us. If Roberts was on the left wing, as has been said by a number of posts, he would easily be our top scorer.'"
He was given plenty of opportunities v Salford and he failed to take them. Calderwood was apparently not the right type of winger for us because he needed the service to score tries and was not capable of making his own opportunities. It looks like Robrets is the same except I have yet to see anything to suggest if he was given the service he would make use of it.
Quote LewCharnockPeople need to get off Roberts back for once. Yesterday he set up two tries with two pieces of very good play and made the most linebreaks in the Wigan team. If people think Roberts did not have a decent game other than his mistake for their first try, then there is no hope for him through the eyes of some of our fans.'"
He has to offer more than he is. I do not expect him to be super human in defence. He is a winger and so provided he isn't a complete liability in defence then that is OK but that has to be balanced by offering a threat on attack and he just doesn't.
If we had no one else we would no doubt have to play him regardless but we do and its about time Ainscough got another run in the side.
Dave