Big fish in a small pond, IMO.

Running the club, making the signings, paying the wages, balancing the books etc is hardly a simple reason. It actually makes him the ONLY man in Wigan who's fully qualified to make decisions of this sort.

I'm not trying to belittle your knowledge, or the knowledge of other fans. I'm merely observing that whenever Wigan "miss" a big signing, the assumption on this message board seems to be that it's because the chairman is either stupid, or stingy, or slow, or a combination of all three. My contention is that there could be other perfectly valid reasons why we "miss" these expensive signings - and as none of us have access to the club accounts, the probability is that we'll NEVER know what they are. Maybe we should give the guy the benefit of the doubt from time to time? Man for man, Wigan are actually a pretty good team. They're poorly coached, but there are plenty of players in our first team squad that other SL clubs would be glad to have on board.

W!64N_ENTHUSI45T is certainly right when he says if were gonna pay a transfer fee it might as well be for an English player and I totally agree.

Brough - Could he be another Orr/Moran?

Brough not as good as Tommy IMO

If we cant get a 7 better than what we already have then we wait instead of bringing in people like Brough,Bailey who IMO will be a step back from the 6-7 we already have.

I see your point, in that case why not go for Dobson. Dobson and Tomkins would be a great partnership, Dobson would take so much pressure off Tomkins.

Its a prop thats vital for wigan alot more than a scrum half..i've been impressed with tomkins and tommy this last few week. they seem to me to be building a good partnership together.

I wont be upset not seeing a new halfback next season but a props a different story.

Out of interest. If were going to pay a transfer fee and it seems people on here agree that going for a British player in that instance is better who would be best for our situation (taking into account a reasonable transfer fee)

British SL halfbacks off the top of my head

Burrow
McGuire
Pryce
Long
Cooke
Briers
Brough
M Smith
Eastmond
Wheeler
Myler
Ratchford
Orr
Brown
Robinson
Deacon
Bridge

Which of them realistically (fee-wise) would be worth trying to sign?

I know it's not an easy job to run a large business which Wigan RL effectively is and yes there are probably many reasons why we seem to miss out on quality signings, and I was and still am willing to give Lenegan the benefit of the doubt. However seeing this is a forum where people come to express opinions regarding the club I can't help but feel the way I do when we are linked no one, or players that we as fans feel aren't good enough for the Wigan shirt, whilst Saints are linked with Watmough and Kite. Yes I know being linked with a player through the paper means very little but if those are the type of players Saints are targeting and Wigan are chasing the players we think they are, how the hell do we ever expect to progress as a club on the field. As a fan all I want is the best for the club like everyone else, and yes I know we haven't signed anyone yet I just hope that those we do sign are up to the task, we as a club have been stung to many times in the past by overseas players and I want to see the end of it.

Matty smith could easily become your version of sean long, without the attitude

Good point. Thats what Im getting at. British player would be ideal but someone like Dobson who we know is tried and tested in Superleague would be better than someone like Bailey who appears to be average anyway before taking into account he has to move over here and adapt first before we see what he can do.

Would to see a tomkins/Eastmond partnership at wigan

Me too but it would be how much Saints would want to let him go, thats assuming they would do so, which TBH I doubt they would. Regardless of whether Wheeler and Lomax are both progressing too Eastmond still looks a big part of Saints's plans

I actually quite like Smith, a solid player with a very good kicking game and I'm guessing his future at Saints is pretty much over, plus he's British so I'd certainly give him a go and he's always impressed me when playing for Celtic.

They have 4 fighting for 2 spots

Wheeler and lomax i believe have just signed new deals, there not going to let Pryce go. Eastmond i dont know what hes contract situation is

Heard hes a wigan fan and the assurance of the 7 shirt could make him think about it...Very long shot i know