I have watched RL since 1963 and believe me when i say Ian Millward is one of the best without doubt
this season at Leigh every single player has improved from last season he his a great believer in bringing young players through and has great man management skills , great motivator and a really nice bloke who always has time for the people who matter the supporters, his knowledge of the game is second to none and hes won trophys at the highest level Cas have got a top bloke in Millward and a brilliant coach..Everyone who supports Leigh Centurions is gutted Ian is leaving what does that tell you !!!

Let him sign the contract first then you can pay that up before sending him back

When is he going to start promoting the local merger hes been spouting about.

Glad you have him and not us. Dont rate the guy TBH. He was a top choice for Wakey if the rumours are correct bt again I am very pleased he chose you.

not as much as us leythers, i tell you mate come back on this baord in 12 months and tell me if your gutted then, you have signed a imo for what its worth a fantastic coach, what he has done with us with limited funds is truly amazing. good luck ian, you'll always be welcomed back at leigh anytime pal.

Would probably have had the same (mixed) reaction had Basil been announced FC's new coach.



FWIW I think the odds are that this will prove to be another excellent appointment to follow TM.

Best wishes for 2012, Cas are as you know all FC supporters second favourite team.

Bad move for the cas faithful i think, the guys full of himself, smug, arrogant and a complete A-hole, you only have to read Sean Longs book to to see his discapline with his players isn't very good. Training then off round the bars at Xscape anyone???????

Millward has forgotten more than Terry Matterson will ever know about RLyou don't have to believe me just wait till the end of next season and see where you finish and i guarentee it will be a lot higher than this season

Rubbish! Millward played at school level then his career ended cause of injury in 83, how can you say he's forgotten more than Matterson knows?

Do you have to have played at the top level to be a good coach? Wayne Bennett? Typical Yarkshire strong inth arm weak int Yed!

So Wayne Bennett didn't play at the top?

North Queensland he took over someone elses team amidst mid-season turmoil.
Wigan-took over from a Dennis Betts team-enough said.

You believe that's why he got sacked at Saints?

Really? IIRC we didn't finish top or win the Northern Rail, couldn't beat Rochdale away and took pannings at Whitehaven and HKR while struggling at places like Doncaster/Oldham. To mention him in the same breath as Millward is frankly as absurd as bemoaning his appointment because of non-coaching things he may have said/done in the past.

But what the hell, lets bag a proven SL achiever who wants the job as opposed to some fancy dan Oz-based newbies who apparently didn't.

What Basil has achieved this year at Leigh is to lose 2 games all year with a smaller part time squad than last season, less reliance on DC's and a 25% less budget, whilst coping with the financial insecurity caused by the benefactors business going pop.
Cas were FT in a PT league - hardly a comparison.
I have stated before you are very lucky to have him, soon you will realise why.

My dear man/woman if you are going to use yorkshire slang please get your spellings correct this is a terrible effort and insulting to us.

Run along and get a pie in Wigan

You shouldn't be. I congratulate Cas' on the appointment I wouldn't have minded him at Belle Vue! At last he is a proven coach and as an added bonus he has a personality which is more then can be said for your previous coach!
Good luck with the ground and for next season (except against WT of course!)

Very dignified!



Hopefully he will bin the column at the end of this season and concentrate on builing on the progress we have made this last few years.

So what does this mean for the assistant coach position?

Will Andy Hay stay? or will we be seeing someone else stepping into this role? A certain short ars@ Kiwi maybe....RHP ?

or use his column whenever possible to Big up your club

Not gonna be a lot of use to the Tigers then, if he's forgotten it!

I think this is a good appointment for you and he can certainly take you to the next level. He is proven by winning trophies and has a magic touch at Leigh. As we all know Leigh have had major financial problems this year but just look at them in the table!

I would have been happy with IM at BV but we have to keep waiting for ours to be decided. I think on the pitch Cas will improve and be on the up, just hope we are too.

This is said in jest !! Right ?

millward did a tremedous job with us winning everything..then when he got the push he went to wigan..(our biggest rival's).
and truth be known i dont hink he's heart was with them.he seemed to lack intrest after having been with saints with all the trophys he'd won.
i think he'll be great prospect for you lot at cas.....think you'll have a great year next season with him in charge.

No jest, just my personal opinion. Not necessarily the same as everyone else's, just mine. I also know of an FC fan who'd much rather have IM than Agar but that isn't saying much.

Common sense dictates that we give Mr Milward a go, his CV is actually very impressive.

Who is to say that unproven assistant coach's from Aus would be any better?

Still how often does common sense every rear its head on these forums??