www.wigantoday.net/warriors/Nobl ... 5310691.jp Well, I say ''depth''...But I suppose it is for a WEP report and Brian Noble interview.

www.wigantoday.net/warriors/Nobl ... 5310691.jp Well, I say ''depth''...But I suppose it is for a WEP report and Brian Noble interview.

In all honesty he's right. We are in 100% better state than when he arrived.
Noble has done alot for us, but is the man to take us to the next step?

Its funny that he states i do not really speak to the media (or words to that effect) yet all he has done in the last few weeks is tell anyone and their dog who will listen he wants to stay at Wigan, constantly claiming he is 100% comitted to the cause etc and he works hard. I do not doubt he works hard and is 100% comitted, is that anything really we should not expect though? Hardly something to be shouting from the rooftops. I would hope any coach would give 100% etc, its the ability that sets coaches apart rarely there work ethic.

The Brian Noble PR suvival machine is at full speed now. Just like last year when the Noble to Les Cats story came out, funny how the Noble to Roosters story surfaces, when there is not a cat in Hells chance in my opinion they would be interested.

I think he is trying to play the fans as mugs claiming all we want to see or measure success by is silverware, when in truth most of us judge success as improvement, which we clearly have not had over the last 3 seasons. We have seen no improvement in matches won or loss, we continue to make the same errors week in week out and we continue to underperform and be totally inconsistant week in week out.

I cannot believe the mans front to be honest.

What depresses me most is that Wigan seem to keep needing these 'cathartic meetings'. Why can't they just act like professionals, and give everything they've got in every match, without constantly needing kicks up the backside?

Sounds like he is getting desperate to force the club's hand with a new contract

6 wins from 15 in the league so far doesn't give him the greatest platform to negotioate from.

It's hard to know exactly what to make of that. As Jonh says, I doubt anyone questions his effort and commitment and it's also true that he has been good for the club in many ways, in particular in stabilising the club and setting up a better infrastructure. I also think he's probably right in saying 'we're not far off' and a couple of players added to this squad could make us a force again. However, you can't argue with results and we're simply losing too many....

I hope that, whatver the outcome regarding his contract, Brian enjoys the good wishes of the fans as, ultimately he was a good 'club man' for Wigan.

A Wigan coach with that record should be sacked. Immediately. End of story.

he's getting desperate and is trying to get people on his side because he knows his record this season is no where near good enough

What about all the players earning the 'big bucks' and just not performing. They should be the ones to go first in my opinion followed by noble if changes don't occur . When all said and done its the players who earned that disappointing record and its unfair to sack noble for lack of enthusiasm and energy shown by a select few players thats needed to compete with the likes of st Helens.
I honestly cant see the way forward in sacking yet another coach and bringing in another with the exact same set of crocks on the park week in week out.

sack on man or an entire team? hmmmmmmmm

Who said anything about an entire team sacking....im talking about a select few players who earn the big money and just dont do it

But let's deal in 'possibles' not 'if-onlys'.

Players can't be sacked for being crap. Coaches can. Whether that's fair or unfair, it's the way of things. In any case, Noble is not going to be sacked - his contract will be allowed to expire, which will almost certainly happen to a number of players when their time arrives.

But to say that this nightmare is not the coach's fault is naive IMO. He's in charge of preparation, motivation, fitness, tactics, systems, etc - all areas in which we are very visibly lacking.

The problem with Wigan is not that key players are not pulling their weight (there is an element of that, though most players put in a lot of effort - rather haplessly) - but our very poor organisation at team level. Let's be honest, we are long due a complete tactical overhaul. And that's down to the coach, no-one else.

Yet again however, Brian will get a chance to put his money where his mouth is. Friday night is a bigger game for him than for us. If Wigan get put out of the cup by Salford, Noble is out the door come the season's end - with no possiblity of a reprieve. For us, that may actually be a good thing if we can get someone better to replace him.

But don't be under the illusion that this is some kind of knee-jerk reaction by Wigan. Noble's been here for three years now - as long as most other SL coaches, if not longer. Not only that, they've been lean years, so we've been very patient with him by our former standards. If his contract isn't renewed, there's no way it can be portrayed as Wigan dispensing with another coach prematurely (though many will doubtless try to paint it that way).

Don't get me wrong, I too want Noble to do well. But only because that'll mean Wigan are doing well. Noble is a nice guy, but nice doesn't win you trophies. And frankly, I'm past the stage where I can be bothered listening to self-justified bleatings in local newspapers - that sort of action has 'John Dorahy' written all over it, which should be a turn-off for anyone.

IMO Noble has built a good team now and has helped some young players through. On Paper we are a far more balanced side than 2006, but sadly I dont think Noble (and most of the current backroom staff) is the man to get the full potential out of those players.

Reading my own post there it seems a very Warrington/Cullen-esque situation.

He is right, we are a couple of players from being "there". If IL accepts we need a world class halfback and a world class prop then why do we expect Noble to produce miracles with the squad.

WE SHOULD BE DOING BETTER THAN WE ARE, NO QUESTION.

But, our squad is vastly overated by many on here who have delusions of grandure. It is nowhere near as good as people make it seem, it may develop to be so, but it takes time, look at Liverpool FC currently, or the current Man Utd team it took Fergie 3 years to rebuild why Rooney/Ronaldo developed.

I think an apperance at Wembley is all that will get Noble a new deal, as on the face of it, we will have improved.

But to have a pop at the man for saying he wants to be our coach, is frankly sad.

I really hope you are wrong on this but fear you could be right.

Improvement ( which is arguable) is all well and good but, ultimately, silverware is all that counts. When a team wins a trophy they've done something that lasts forever. When a team improves and is competitive, it's good for the present term, but soon forgotten. Twenty years from now, people will look back in the record books and the only Wigan team they'll pick out is 2002 - because they won a trophy. That's what Brian needs to remember. In years to come, no one will remember or care whether Brian left the team better than he found it if they didn't win anything.

I have been one of Nobles critics, but he is right in what he says in that interview.

The biggest problem now is can he take us to that next level? that's the question we all have i think

It's been up to now another stop start type of season, let's hope Wigan can get on a run again starting tomorrow against a very good Salford side.

Exactly.

To me now he's been here for 3 years you'd expect if he were the man to take us on a notch we'd be seeing little signs. I'd expect one of those signs would be an ever increasing ability to grind out close fought games and to win ugly but we just can't seem to do it. Those are the type of wins that will get you up the top end of the table but we've not won one all year.

He has got us back on a good footing and to think back to when he first took over makes you realise what a good job he has done. Not one Wigan fan should slate the guy for his overall job because it has been a success but i can understand people thinking we may need a change to take us forward.

We'll see.

But I don't think he's done a good job overall. We are far too inconsistent, with some performances (e.g. the Hudds game last season and the Wakefield match at the start of this season) frankly disgraceful.

More importantly we simply have not won anywhere near enough games this season. It simply isn't good enough. I can't see beyond that, I'm afraid. He HAS to go.

Wigan were bottom of the league when Noble took over, he kept us up when it looked impossible and since then we have been to 3 semi-finals, 2 of which meant we were 1 step away from a grand final, over the past 2 years we have finished 3rd twice making us the 3rd best team. Awful record to take us from rock bottom to all that.

We were cast adrift at the bottom of the league when he took over and in the 3 years he's been here he's had us in 3 semi finals and has had us finish 3rd for the last 2 years in superleague(after the play offs).

We look to have gone abit stale and aren't moving forward anymore but from our position when he took over he's done a good job.

I fail to see why finishing 3rd in a 2 horse race is something to crow about, especially after the dross we have generally had to watch in the build up to these 3rd place finishes.

Regards "saving" us from relegation was he the only man that could have done it, personally i think not. In my opinion what saved us actually from relegation was the sacking of Millward. I think it is more appropriate to judge BN on what has happened after the relegation season, he has brought stability and structure to the club, but we have not significantly if at all improved in that time on the field, i think he as a coach has taken us as far as he can. I would be all for him taking a Director of Rugby role with the club as i think that is where his skills are best utilised and i think he has and could continue to do a good job in that capacity behind the scenes, would he accept such a position with us? I doubt it. I personally think though as a direct coach he is flawed and has taken us as far as he can.

Not sure what that has to do with where we are now.

Are you suggesting that the squad he has now is as weak as the one he inherited?

The question is surely whether we are happy with the way the team is playing and its results this season, based on the squad we currently have.

I think our team is seriously underperforming and desperately inconsistent. I'm not saying BN is solely to blame, far from it - poor signings and sub-standard fitness and conditioning are massive factors too, and some of the players are just not delivering - but his record with this squad this season is just not good enough.

Dobson also played a massive role in saving us. (Why on earth didn't we fight harder to sign him rather than wasting money on Riddell?)

Just out of interest, if relegation was still in force this season, how comfortable would you feel at this moment?

Not very, I'd guess. I know I wouldn't.

Okay, I know relegation isn't in force any more - and, if it was, maybe Wigan would have pulled their socks up by now, but that's the point. We only seem able to turn it on now and then. That's not the culture of a trophy-winning team (or even a top-4 team). Friday will be very interesting for all sorts of reasons. On current form, Salford look favourite. But if Wigan can raise their game the way they did against Saints, they should win comfortably. But will they? And if they don't, how will we feel about Brian then?