I'm with you on this Cruncher. And, it may be that Noble is the one who is leaving Wigan, not Wigan who are firing off Noble.

Was never ever ever ever ever going to come to Wigan. This was a complete non-starter.

To be honest, I heard that it was a possibility, but that Wigan weren't interested. I just hope that means they've got someone better lined up.

If he was interested and we werent, we must have a cracker lined up instead.

I hope you don't mean another Fielden

The fact Warburtons sponsored the family day was a hint.

As for IL taking his time, its no suprise to see certain people leaping down the throat of every poster to defend IL.

The reason IL should let us know is we are the people who will see his business succeed or fail, to treat us with contempt and simpily ignore us is frankly not acceptable.

We wont find out about a coach, sponsors or kit before Xmas imo, why would we, it would only help make his club money.

In what way are you being treated with contempt?

I appreciate that you have an issue with IL, but your posts are starting to sound very self-pitying, which suggests to me that you haven't quite got a handle on this 'fan' thing.

You now feel that 'making his club money' and making Wigan RL money are two different things? You must do, because a genuine fan would regard making Wigan RL money as something to applaud, not something sinister.

Apart from that, it's all nonsense, isn't it? We won't find out about the coach, the kit or the sponsor before Christmas. Says who? You apparently, without a shred of evidence to back this assertion up. And yet you've got the nerve to criticise people who 'always defend IL' as if they're part of some conspiracy. I could very well argue from posts like this that you appear to be part of something similar - except I'm not sure who you think you're going to replace him with. DW maybe? Because he seems to me to be the only viable contender. And then wouldn't our world be wonderful?

The fact that IL doesnt deem us worthy to let us know what is going on, his consistant no comment stance is a strange one considering he is normally so forward when getting his name in the press.



Oh, so you are a superior fan, thats quite the attitude considering you know nothing about me.



Did I say they are two different things, Wigan RL is his club, so it is clearly the same thing. I have no issue paying my hard earned to help the club, but the way IL treats the fans is hardly from a position of thanks is it.



Clearly, looking at IL's reign so far its not hard to imagine that we wont. Lets use last year as an example and there is every reason to believe exactly that. Oh so now I have a nerve expressing an opinion, it was clearly no suprise that you have lept on this post, clearly to you IL can do no wrong. Ahh, I knew it would come eventually, the DW argument, I can see nobody who would want him back, but yet you try and attach anyone who doesnt get moist over everything IL does to DW as your way of defending IL.

Nobody wants DW back but that doesnt mean IL is perfect or has done a perfect job so far in some aspects. One being the coach, which frankly, is farcical.

Personally i don't give a shiny e whether IL 'keeps us in the loop' or not. Its his decision, not mine or yours. I can't see any evidence that the club is being mismanaged so i am happy to keep rolling up and watching some rugby.

We will.
Sponsorship is very hard to come by, and that is a major problem. If you know of any major companies willing to sponsor I suggest you get on the phone to Mick Hogan NOW.

The new shirts WILL be released before Christmas.

Times are hard at the minute and everybody knows that but other clubs don't seem to be having the problems we have each year in finding a sponsor.

We're setting the bar too high imo in terms of what they're asking for the sponsorship. I remember last year Lenagan saying he wouldn't see it on the cheap and was looking for a record deal.

The times just aren't right for us to be demanding that sort of deal.

Being a fan doesn't authorise you to know what's going on all the time. In fact it doesn't authorise you to know anything. Not at Wigan - now or in the past - nor at any other SL club. If you feel it does, you haven't got a handle on the reality of what being a fan means. Being superior or inferior doesn't come into it. You pay money to watch a team who you want to win; in return you are entertained and occasionally get satisfaction from seeing them lift a trophy. Your turnstyle payments entitle you to no more than that - certainly not inside information on how the club is run.



IL could argue that trying to create a financially viable club and put it on a proper business footing is the best thing he can do for the fans. We all saw the result of Mo and Whelan's style, which might have been well meaning but, though it saw us paying out big money for star names, still won us nothing, in fact almost got us relegated, and meant we'd be struggling to balance the books for years to come. We won't necessarily always have a wealthy benefactor running things. A time may come when the club needs to stand on its own two feet. IL may be doing us a huge service in bringing that about, and in the process making Wigan more than just a brand name underpinned by debt.

You keep trotting out this phrase 'the way IL treats the fans', but I've still seen no evidence that he treats them badly. He occasionally posts on this message board to enlighten us re. impending events - I know of no other club chairman who does that. He also holds regular fans forums - you may buy into this paranoid notion that these are nothing more than stage-managed affairs with lots of plants in the audiences asking easy questions, but even if that was true it's still more than you got under the previous regime. If the only evidence you have that he treats the fans badly is that he hasn't informed you who we're going to sign next, then I'm unimpressed with your argument. As I said before, you have no automatic right to any such information - especially if it may put sensitive negotiations at risk etc, and why he would break that rule to THANK you when all you've done is pay a reasonable price each week for something you get personal enjoyment out of, is beyond me.



So because things went wrong in the past, that automatically means they'll go wrong again in the future?

It's possible, but I hardly think he built his business empire by making the same mistake over and over again. I think there's at least as good a chance that these mistakes won't be repeated, so forgive me if I don't rush to subscribe to your doomsday scenario just yet.

As for the DW thing ... sorry if the truth hurts, but there are many rumours that, with his footy experiment now on the wane, DW is trying to get back into the club. If that's true and IL, for any reason, decides to sell up - we're in big trouble. So while I don't think for one minute that you're in Whelan's camp, I find it a mystery that you're so vitriolic about IL with so little reason.



IL has not even done half a job yet, or even a quarter of a job - so you're not really in a position to pass judgement ... unless you're one of these people who wants immediate massive success straight away, which I'm sure you've said in the past that you're not.

The coaching situ is certainly IL's Achilles heel, but as there is still plenty of time for him to sort it, I'm not overly worried. Your confident assertion that because the new man hasn't been announced in September that means he still won't have been announced by December reads as nothing more than blind, pointless panic.

Doesnt that seem logical when you say it like that?

It also seemed logical to come out weeks/months ago and tell the fans if Brian Noble was going to be here next year or not. IL didnt even have to name the new coach other than say Noble will/wont be here next year and the new coach is/isnt lined up already. To me it seems like one big b@lls up!