Only Cooper?

I think only Atkins his brain fart aside at London comes out of this season with any credibility.

I couldn't be bothered typing up the rest

He didn't [ugive[/u anything he would arguably have been paid more than any other manager in the league and didn't deliver the big prize, while promoted assistants all won it a year or two into their head coaching careers.

Thanks for the wembley finals.... beating Wigan in the semi in 09 was a massive highlight for me. ...but his record will forever be tarnished with awful recruitment and this awful season. He has left the playing squad in a worse state than when he took over.

Thanks Tony

I find it difficult to give you an argument

He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy

5 to choose from at Leigh. Please take at least one of em

Just wait til they put a bronze of Cunningham outside your stadium.

For me, Cooper has been the biggest let down due to his proven ability. I wonder if he and Chris Hill will be in the world cup squad- highly unlikely.

Surely he wont be remembered as his tenure being tarnished. He has had a poor season, he got you to the Grand Final last season. many semi's and Challenge Cup wins and for a few years you looked unstoppable. He will be remembered for taking your club from mid table to the top and be considered one of the powers in the league (this season barring) you cant get it right every year but he has put you on a very good platform for the next man to come in

The King is dead, long live the King...when we eventually find one. I will always thank Tony for bringing trophy's to the club. However he could not get over the line in the big one, even when we had the best team in the comp by a mile.

Some of the recruitment decisions over the last few years have been a disaster. The right decision has been made by both parties to go our separate ways.

I will be there a week on Saturday to say thank you very much.

Spotted a large group of players out yesterday afternoon. Maybe celebrating his departure, which could mean they’ll be putting the effort in now.

Or it could just be coincidence, or, as it’s not the first time I’ve bumped into them out boozing in the afternoon, it could be a drinking culture at the club. It’s always the same faces. Fair play to them though, I’d be a hypocrite to say otherwise.

In better news, a friend of mine has been booked by the club, for what has been described to him as an ‘event to promote our new signings’ – sounds promising.

Great news. Smith gets to leave on his terms and will now get a good send off from the fans against Hull KR... which is the way it should be.

We can now move on as a club to the next chapter in our history, whoever that will be with... its just a bit of a shame the next person has a massive rebuilding job on their hands.

and

Agree with this, no matter what this season has brought he has definitely raised the bar at the club in terms of expectation and success. In terms of wire coaches he's the hardest act to follow for at least the 20 odd years I've been watching. I would think we would all want and expect a high profile successor at the club, in years gone by that would have been a pipe dream.

Challenge Cup wins and Grand Finals to one side, "Thank you Tony for showing me how Rugby League should be played and that my team could deliver it, for a few seasons WE were the Entertainers."
Sad that it has ended this way but some of the memories are irreplaceable, this season however needs to be deleted from the memory as quickly as possible.

It seems odd if we're going to announce a bunch of new signings when we haven't got a coach, unless:

a. Agar is the continuity and advised on the signings and will still be around next year.

b. We've been in secret negotiations with someone, and they've provided a 'wish list'

c. The signing of players is done by someone else in the club regardless of what the coach wants.

I will say c is whats happened on occasion and Sith has paid the price

At the first fans forum it was said the decision of signings lay with Simon Moran and Tony Smith.

How Many new Signings are the club looking at unveiling?
I’m really concerned for the new Boss and the team they are going to inherit.
With all of the outgoing players and those out of contract there’s going to be no one at training.
Does anyone know who out of the current crop are contracted for next year?

This is why we should have struck whilst the iron was hot and made this decision months ago - probably after the Huddersfield game. We could have had someone in place now preparing for next season.

Sure you guys don't want Betts? He knows Brown really well. Perfect fit for your team. We won't even charge you £100k this time!

Unless your mate works for The Samaritans.



We're acting like a teenager whose first girlfriend has broken up with them. We think that we are never going to get anybody as good again.

Wigan, Saints and Leeds all go through coaches every few years and it never seems to stop them getting to finals and winning things. Our club needs the same mentality.

^^^THIS^^^

I think it should have been made 8 games into the season when it was clear we couldn't turn things around.

That way a new coach would have had the rest of the season to secure at least the Top 8 and a good cup run (a la Smith 2009) and then use the off-season to work from a clean slate and have a good first full year in charge.

Look at where we are now - no signings and struggling to get a coach all because of the uncertainty of whether we'd be playing in the top flight.

Don't want to rain on your parade BUT, Wigan have stuck with Wane, Leeds with McD. Saints have chopped and changed with little to show for it, and then stuck with Cunningham through thin and thin for longer than any right minded person would have thought possible.