Really?

[urlhttp://www.amnesty.org/en/region/uae[/url

There does seem to be a degree of arrogance from some quarters who assume we should be attracting big-ticket, blue-chip companies because...well, because we're Wigan aren't we. I've no idea of the numbers (£) but I'd guess the shirt sponsor is fairly low on the pecking order in the grand scheme of things. So why not a charity or local business that can feed back directly into the borough? Some might want to look up the definition of snobbery when they've a minute or three.

Your point is different because Arsenal are massive, they have that exposure that makes it a partnership as you hear about Arsenal more than Emirates generally. We were sponsored by Mecca Bingo a few years ago. They are a big name, they have 100 bingo halls across the UK, and are ran by a group which is also the largest casino operator in the UK and did a lot of online gambling at the time as well as they owned Blue Square. Now, bearing in mind how many members of the general public they must reach every single day, do you think they improved our image, or attracted more business to the club? Did people other than SL fans think 'Wigan' when they saw Mecca Bingo? The answer to both questions is 'no', and I can't see why it would be otherwise for any other large company. There's no incentive for them to do it, we aren't paying them after all

I would much rather them do that than have a full on civil war like the rest of the middle east, Also that is a massively biased website. Ask the majority of Expats living here and they will say they have a fantastic and safe life style. But i think the poster was trying to suggest the Labour camps for unskilled Indian workers who would be live on the streets begging and stealing or starving to death back in India, which emirates as a company has nothing to do with.

God forbid we should have a bit of ambition eh? I imagine that if Warrington hadn't struck a deal with a global brand then this discussion might not have included "blue chip" companies, but there would still be a discussion because a local housing association doesn't foster the image that some of us think we should be aiming for.

Don't get me wrong, the UAE does appear to be one of the least objectionable regimes in the area (as a raging atheist, any state built & run on religious grounds does not get my vote) and I'm not going to be a flag waver for Amnesty any time soon. But you can't deny the whole area has questions to answer to one degree or another..

Anyway, back to the thread's topic.......

Ambition is one thing, but a common theme in here does seem to be that the WW brand is above some penny ha'penny outfit that nobody's heard of further away than Billinge.

I honestly don't see anything wrong with that outlook. There are successful brands at one end of the spectrum that we associate with world famous clubs and there are less successful brands at the other end that we associate with Sunday league pub teams. The fact of the matter is that whilst the sponsor pays for exposure via the club shirt their branding does contribute to the image of the club (and sport), and a brand that isn't seen as successful affects the image of the club and the game.

Thanks CyberPieMan. I really didn't think that people were so ignorant of this stuff. Perhaps I shouldn't be so lazy in future!

like i said much happier with that than innocent people being effected by a civil war for absolutely no reason as people in Dubai live a fantastic life style and have the option to earn life changing money. The culprits was trying to cause trouble for no reason and the majority are guest in the country there not even locals. People know the laws here and if they break them they get punished. Would you bat and eyelid if the same happened to anjim choudary? I know i wouldn't.

You're not on about this are you?


You can't think it's alright to do that to someone who hasn't been convicted of any crime, surely? Apologies if you were on about a different point, I know there were a lot of links in there

People don't just get detained for nothing believe it or not, Dubai and the UAE has evolved from the middle ages unlike a lot of tabloids and biased websites would have you believe. All cases here are made public but that website doesn't say why he had been arrested and what criminal convictions he faces. lots of people cry wolf like the women who hit a police officer after being told 3 times to stop whilst having sex on a beach (jail for 6months only served 3months and deported).

Also just to disperse another myth you don't get your hands chopped off if you steal incase anybody still believes that. But executions do happen to drug dealers and smugglers if they have a certain a big quantity of drugs they also get beaten until they tell the police who provided the drugs.

Overal people who live here are very happy with the judicial system, cant explain how nice it is not to worry about my car being stolen or house broken into which happened 3 times whilst living in Upholland and the police did squat about it.