Would that be the likes of Gary Chambers, currently employed by Tony Smith as our u-18s coach?

Des Hasler thought he was ok as a scrum half.

Just because he uses long words and some technical language doesn't make it psycho-babble.

I think it is quite telling that he has yet to return to SL level coaching. I said at the time, and I'll say it again, when he was at Warrington he was coaching at the biggest club he ever would.

We can give him some, but not all, credit for signings. Oh and he saved us from relegation with P6 W2 D0 L4.

Some good comments here.
One thing that always struck me when Cullen was in charge was how he often used to talk about taking the emotion out of games. I can see what he was getting at, but it always seemed strange to me. You would think that someone Warrington born and bred would be able to use emotion in a very positive way, in terms of team motivation. But the spirit on show now, under Tony Smith, appears so much better than in the Cullen era.

Cull appeared to use the emotion of "Wigan Week" to good effect, but the emotion associated with St Helens' matches destroyed us.

Bit of a transitional coach at best to be honest. We've been through the ins and outs of his time so many times, but in short, he could never do anything more than take us to mid-table competitiveness and I agree with Wires74, I don't think he'll ever coach at a club as big as Warrington again.

Very true.

I think Cullen's problem was not knowing how to handle some players. When Smith came in he got rid of Gleeson and imo that sent the message through the squad that woke them up and made them work. The players new from that point that if they didn't try to achieve then he would bring players in that would.

I don't know whether Cullen tried to do the same or not, maybe he did but was not supported by the board.

When Smith came into Warrington I imagine that Cullen would've been watching events closely and may well have learnt a few things that he can use at Widnes. He could well prove to be a success at Widnes if they got a franchise.

People talk about him now like he never played for the club. I am not talking about this thread as it is obviously aimed at his coaching tenure. Just an observation in and around town whenever I hear anyone talking about him. I think it is a shame that people still hold some sort of childish grudge against him.

In 2005 he did coach us to 4th in the league, 1 point behind 3rd.

Admittedly he coached us to much more average positions than that during his time at the club but is this not demonstration enough he could have the ability somewhere to take a team to the 'next level'??

Thought that PC took us as far as he could of. With hindsight he should have
resigned earlier rather than let events carry on during 2008, when it was obvious that
everything was not right at the club.

Wish him all the best at Widnes and that he can take them back into superleague.

Tony Smith has shown was required as I never thought that we have the best defence in super league.

i only started watching 6 years ago so cullen was the only thing i ever knew....

He's a Warrington legend, and always will be.

I'm still a bit bitter about the way he was treated by supporters at the end of his days at Warrington, it was absolutely disgusting.

The bottom line is, he took us as far as he could, and that was still a hell of a long way.

An absolute legend as a player for us.The man oozed primrose and blue and played with a determination and desire that was largely unmatched by his peers.He gave his all for this club,on and off the pitch and i for one will be forever greatfull.
His time as coach had many highs and lows that largely mirrored the state of the club.But as the club has grown it probably just moved forward a pace faster than his coaching abilities allowed.He's a decent coach and good analyst and should be remembered for all the good things he did for us!

Said it loads of times. Coaches do different things in different scenarios. If you looked at Millward as a Wigan coach, you would think he was e. Noble now looks very poor compared to Maguire.

Coaches have different things to deal with. Cullen did a decent job IMO. People forget that when we moved into the HJ, we were still playing under the 50% salary cap rule, meaning we were still spending less than the top clubs. I think he had 2 years (maybe 3) of spending full cap.

As we have seen at Hull, who have been spending full cap longer than us, injuries and circumstance can completely cock you up. Leeds are showing that this year, despite people thinking they have far and away the best squad, and a champion manager.

I think it is a shame that once a manager has a bad run in a job then he is out of work at the top level.

I was really pleased he described Warrington as "well coached" tonight.

good luck to PC at widnes,

warrington born and bred,

top bloke.

I picked up on that as well. He said it a couple of times. It made me smile strangely. It was like we've all made peace. I think if you asked Paul at any point he would admit that Smith has aspects of his coaching that is better.

Paul will be with Widnes a long time, just like the job he did at Warrington he will repeat at Widnes. He's well respected and certainly has the full backing from us.

Cullen has been a great servent to our team - warrington through & through.

brought many fantastic players in who are only now settleing into our team/play/culture and smith is reaping the praise for this.

cullen doesn't have the man management skills of smith, but he did set up a team that smith was willing to take to the next level, of which cullen should be given praise for.

I felt sorry for cullen in the end by the way he got treated by the fans but saying that, he should have left before it got to that point!

Good luke to cullen and all he does in the future

The Ian Dowie of Rugby League. He talks a good game but its not as if he has ever been able to put it to practice effectively.
That said, I hope he does well in future, as previously said, he bleeds Primrose & Blue. But he wasn't good enough to take us to the top.

Did a fantastic job from pulling us out of the shambles of 02 to the move from Wilderspool to HJ - be honest would Wire fans have wanted anyone else but a cut in half & bleed P&B man to oversee that transition? First couple of years at the HJ went well under his tenure, but the time for him to step down was in 06. After the euphoria of the Joey games it became clear he didn't possess the mental strength & detachment to coach this club towards winning trophies - it simply meant too much to him & that clouded his judgement. Players were stuck with long after they could not produce & expensive signings were kept in the team to justify their price tag & wages. PC would not have dropped Vinnie Anderson for Ben Harrison for example. He's a good coach with a very good understanding of the nuances of the game, sadly he seems to confuse players with his overcompliaction of things and that affected performances at Wire.

He's a man to remember as someone who did a job for Wire at an extremely difficult time. OK he stayed too long in the job, but maybe that's the board's fault as much as his. He was never going to win a trophy as Wire coach, but he's a Wire fan & Wire legend and deserves to be remembered as such.

Pretty much a perfect summing up of the situation. I'd only add one thing; he was, and hopefully still is, one of us. That ought to count for something too.

What absolute poppycock. He's one of the country's elite coaches. He may not be in the top 5, but he's one of the best.

IMO...he is currently at a level that suits him...and its no coincidence that we won a major honor the season he leaves the club.

I have nothing personal against the bloke...he can't be faulted for his commitment to his home town...simple fact is he just isn't good enough to be top coach. average player and an average coach.

I still think Cull is a good SL coach. I think he's a quality recruitment coach who's philosophies benefit the game & who's approach to the fans & media is spot on. He's probably a coach who has his limitations but the Warrington job was his 2nd job, there's plenty of time left for him to overcome these limitations.

If I was a Salford fan, Catalans fan, Harlequins fan - I'd rather have Cullen as oppose to their incumbants. He'd take them further, and he'll do so trying to entertain.

I think it's crystal clear now that he perhaps stayed too long, and that we needed a 'top' coach to really move us along, but that's because the clubs aspirations changed whilst he was at the helm and he couldn't adapt with that. Any club in SL that is happy to 'be in the eight', have a cup run & play good, attacking rugby should get Cull now, as he'd more often that not deliver that. We want far, far more than that.

I think he can take a degree of satisfaction from where we are now, he integrated Riley, Harrison as first teamers. He saw the potential in Bridge & Grix and went and got them. He created the monster that is Ben Westwood the backrower. He brought Morley back, even given his age etc, he backed his instincts when others didn't - an extension later he's still going strong.

In summary - he did plenty well, plenty wrong. (Bracek - shudders.)

If you can be too close to something, I think that was Cull. It wasn't life it was love.