We have no choice but to give him a chance. The die is now cast.

Hello Denis, How are you this evening?

He is tactically proficient I feel, and with a greater spending budget will be able to motivate the players highly

Now that the dust has settled and we're getting used to the decision,we did WANT an early announcement so that the coach could have his own choice of the players he would like in his squad.
We don't have any choice but to give him a chance to see if he measures up to the job,at least the uncertainty has gone and everyone knows where they stand.I hope he does well,won't be easy but here's hoping.

Well at the very least we're not going to be fighting a relegation battle. If there was a time to be taking a bit of a risk on a coach it's probably now.

Obviously there's the support to think of with regards to Stronghold membership, but we had our highest attendances in Super League fighting (and losing) a relegation battle. It might not be as simple as, "only if we're successful people will come".

If people don't come to your games when you're in SL just because you didn't get a big name Aussie coach who would undoubtably only used the club as a stepping stone to get a glamour job in SL or go to the NRL.

If I was a Widnes fan I'd be very proud that my club has appointed a young british coach. Denis inherited your current squad and was unable to bring many players in during the summer due to uncertainty as to where you'd be next year.

Denis did a good job in SL when he was Wigan coach with a young squad that had just lost its big names. Wigans Decline to near relegation came from Millwards time as coach not Denis'. Maybe I back him with blinkers on as I'm related but I hope he proves you all wrong and this time next season you'll be full of praise when he has the chance to get a squad of his own.

At last, a bit of perspective on the subject.

I think it's disgraceful the vitriol that has come out from some fans regarding Betts' appointment. People boycotting the Stronghold, claiming it's a Wigan Old Boys conspiracy, blah blah blah. I'm embarrassed to call them my fellow fans.

Yes we're in a sticky situation but if fans from other clubs can see that we should give him a chance to build a squad for Super League, then surely we can.

I've not even bothered to look on TiW since yesterday as I can imagine the blind hysteria going on there, Facebook has been the same with similarly ill informed cretins spouting all sorts of guff, some people should hang their heads in shame with the amount of crap being spouted.

Get behind the club ffs and give Denis a chance to prove what he can do with £1.6 million to spend, that is if the people of Widnes actually want SL rugby, which on recent comments I've read, I don't think many outside the current die hards are which is pathetic.

Fine, you're a better fan than me. I can live with that.

Nothing to do with being a better fan. It's about having perspective.

I was disappointed after the announcement as I expected a press conference to lead to a big name signing, but unlike some I've not spent the last 24 hours spitting my dummy out, typing furiously on the internet and tried to rationalise the decision.

Most of us felt disapointed with the decision but lets give him a extra special reception at the next match and let him know we will be behind him.

I did have a perspective. It was as follows.
We have recently been awarded a franchise to SL in 2012. In the euphoria immediately after the announcement club officials made noises about us being competitive in SL rather than just making up the numbers.
We have seen the team serve up some pretty rubbish displays this year which I lay the responsibility for at the feet of the coach. Defence, discipline, organisation and fitness are the things missing this year all of which a coach worth his salt should be able to help develop but it seems to elude Betts. The team is decent enough to put in a great performance against Fev and in two spells against Leigh so I'm not buying the team isn't good enough excuse. Looking at it when it was assembled I would argue it was fine and someone like Neil Kelly would have done wonders with these players.
I'm also not subscribing to the 'problems' of us finding out now that we are in SL next year. The same was true of Salford and Celtic and yet they finished 1st and 2nd respectively in 2008 winning the NR Cup also.

We have also heard that following SOC's claim that we will be spending to the full salary cap once we are in SL it actually requires us achieving membership figures of 7,000 fans. I was expecting there to be a number of big announcements made in phases to help drum up the numbers. This was the first big announcement and to me it will do nothing to push us up towards the 7,000 mark.

I'm gutted, I was excited about next year, but right now I feel pretty flat about it. The coach is the most important post to be filled in the club. Take a good coach and average players and you are in business. Take an average coach and good players and you will struggle.

Salford had SL level players still in their squad in 2008 as they had only been relegated in 2007. As for Crusaders I believe they we're spending alot on their cap even when in NL1, as it was then. Having Denis as your coach gives you the chance if he's successful to have a long serving coach, something that I don't believe would happen if you had appointed as Aussie. And with the NRL's new wage cap it wouldn't of mattered who you had in charge all SL are going to struggle with signing overseas big names. You seem to have a good youth team ATM from what I've seen when I've been on your official site and this is what Denis works best with in his coaching. He had a young squad at Wigan and he helped bring good youngster through during his time in Union at Gloucester.

Not many people were happy with the "Big" announcement only to say Betts is our coach for Superleague but at the end of the day he is our coach and we have to support him and trust he knows what he is doing and can take the club forward.

I think the biggest responsibility rests on whoever is doing the recruitment and for them to ensure we have a mixture of proven experience in the superleague and a few overseas signings that are good players but might need a little time to adapt which would be upto the established players to do and assist.

Even if we end up near bottom in the first season ( Not bottom) many will see it as a success and something we can build on.

I have read many posts on here and the trust site, and it is all depressing to read.I always like to post but prefer positive vibes.Nobody knows what goes on such, as players attitudes and they may not listen.In my opinion i think Betts has tried everything and patience runs out, due to their attitude.He does not miss tackles,dropballs, or do crap kicks etc.Seen as your a family member tell him to play some more of our youth, who will show more skill,commitment, determination and want to play in Superleague.Mullaley looks like he is doing very well in australia, and i think Grant Gore should get more chances.Alex Gerrard should and a few young props are better than the lazy Pickgersgill the penalty machine.

I think this seasons IS the season to throw caution to the wind and play some of the youngsters or fringe players and see how they cope and do.

Yes it would be nice to win matches every week but as we are already in the superleague then lets take the bold and risky move and play them, whats the worse that can happen we lose both halves of the game instead of just the 2nd half.