One thing I was annoyed about with my own reply was that I'd forget to reply to the "some of the more recent signings haven't been of the standard tmexpectrd of a top club like Wigan".

I appreciate there are some risk signings, there always has been, even when the gang of 4 were here.
Now obviously this is aimed at signings like :-
Mitch Clarke
Sammutt
Joe Bullock
Bibby

In fact, other than those 4 I'm not sure which other signings could be described as signings made in the name of cutting your cloth?
Bibby has been a pretty good signing for mine and 2 of the other 3 (Sammutt excluded and injury meant well never know how that would have gone on) just haven't really worked.
Joe Bullock being the most frustrating one whilst Mitch Clarke doesn't seem to be a player Lam wants to pick.
I would certainly say I would have hoped Lam would get more out of these 2 than he has, and ill always wonder what if they'd played for say a Wane.

So on reflection, is that really that bad?

And this is my point
In the same time frame IFL/Rads have brought in

Hardaker
Hastings
French
Burgess (ok, but he was top dollar so deffo not bargain basement shopping)
Field
Singleton (not sure which of the 2 groups to put him in, but he's a tried and tested SL player)
John Bateman

I'm not really sure how that is penny pinching etc certainly under the backdrop of Covid and certainly up until last year being the highest spending club on wages in the country.

It's not all about the signings that we have made It's also about player's that get released as well which saves money

South stand sold out.

15,000 already sold (must include travelling saints fans), hopefully a good walk up with decent weather today.

When i spoke to the ticket office yesterday Stains had sold 3000 tickets

Looks a pretty pleasing crowd expected all things considered. This later season game is never anything like a sell out, so it shouldn’t be too far down on what we’d usually expect.

Oh yeah, didn't think of that
I mean no one comes in as per above new signings to replace thise players do they?

Not sure what you mean?
Yes players leave, yes players come in

Up until end of 2019 we paid the highest gross money out in the league on wages, how is that penny pinching? (I can't comment about 2020, but with the signings of Hastings and Burgess ill guess we were still near the top of the pile).

Fair points.

I'll admit that I've been very critical of IL as of late. I know something is wrong, but if you asked me what, I'd be somewhat stumped. Maybe it would be a mixture of issues, some of which contradict eachother i.e I can't say penny pinching as he signed Hastings and Bateman, but he's also not invested in the front row.

I'd probably summed it up as this - IL and KR have been slightly negligent in the way they've pulled together the 1st team squad & coaching staff. It seems like mates looking after mates, when we needed to be a bit tougher.

The spend hasn’t been off but the recruitment and retention has been. If we’ve spent the most in the league for the last two and a half years, than clearly we haven’t had value for money. It’s a tough job signing players, especially when you’re replacing some top class talent but we’ve certainly fell short.

I did say 2019
No idea about 2020/21, but as I said earlier we've brought in decent to good quality in French/Hastings/Bibby and Burgess (obviously other issues there).

I think in what is a very complicated situation thats as close to my feelings that I've seen/read.

I do have some/quite a bit of info relating to off the field issues and it can't be underestimated what effect the Latics situation as also had on our fortunes.
I can't go into a lot of it, but IL spent A LOT of time and effort in this area for about 10 months and I'm not 100% sure its been the best outcome for us (not saying the new guys are doing anything wrong BTW, just that the cards fell a certain way and if they'd fell differently it may have worked out better for us).

However

I do see more issues in the last 2/3 years than I have in the previous 10

A bit like you I can't quite put my finger on it, he seems to want to stay in control, however the decision making doesn't seem to back that up.
Hes spent money in some areas but neglected in others
Hes obviously backing the club with his own money, but seems to be throwing it away with some of the decisions made.

I'm all for new investment, as log as we don't discard people who have played a great part in our success if they do want to still be involved etc.

I just thi k people being critical and picking out negatives continously is a disgrace especially when we have no idea if there is anyone out there who would step into ILs shoes etc.
How many people with 100m and willing to underwrite possibly 1to2m pound of loss per year are actually out there?

I'm personally hoping that, bringing Wane back & at director level will solve some of the playing side issues.

Maybe both IL and KR have been too stretched and having someone dedicated to looking at the squad, coaches and signings will see things improve.

What will annoy many supporters who visit the website is the way that a minority including yourself continue to see there is nothing wrong with the present running of the club and the present state of what is supposed to be a professional sport.

To think that that the club and the game will return back to normal and what it used to be prior to 1996 in the next 18-24 months is only showing how out of touch some are with the reality of the present state of the club and game at the present time.

If Lenagan is having to put in 500k a season to keep the club afloat, it only shows the unhealthy state of the club finances and might explain why the squad is not as strong as it should be and the club having too many in administration and other non playing jobs!

Perhaps. that's where the cloth needs to be cut accordingly!

Minority? Yeah ok
You do know just saying things doesn't make them true
And as for cloth cutting in administration etc rather than the squad, absolute codswallop from someone who has no idea whatbthe set up is behind the scenes

Why is it that the ones who make the most noise are the ones who refuse to attend matches anymore.

Weird that.

Look at the club website and the number of positions within the club which have nothing to do with the playing side of the club both in terms of the playing squad and the back up of academy Coaches, trainers, physio's etc.

Like the NHS, the people that matter outnumbered by administrators!

And can nobody say anything about the way the club is being run without you being defensive of it or sarcastic about their opinions.

Anyone would think that you are one of them!

Why do people like yourself who are always critical and use the "you can't say anything these days" or "when anyone says anything negative or has a different opinion we get attacked" so scared of different opinions?

You have a different opinion that's OK, but someone else has one and its ridiculed or you say your being attacked or there's some conspiracy theory behind it.

You carry on saying what you want, but don't be surprised if your called out when what your typing is complete rubbish or lies (as per the other thread)

I'm sure he's said before that he doesn't have sky either. Makes me wonder how he's forming an opinion.

If the small minority on here who see nothing wrong with the way the way is now being run, I suggest they take a look at the rival Wigan Fans website and look at the number of supporters who are questioning the way the club is being run by Lanagan and Radlinski.

The supporter called Josie has even said that the coaching and game plans are now being done by the trainer Matty Peet who is rumoured to be the Head Coach from next season, while Lam is nothing more than a front man to deal with the media.

If the performance and game plan on Friday Night was by Peet and if it is true that Peet will be Head Coach from next season, it will not give the majority of supporters any confidence that it will be any improvement on the present Coaching position of Lam.


At the end of the 2019 season, I decided that after supporting the club for exactly fifty years, I would join the rest of my family and the many other supporters in no longer going to games at the DW Stadium for the following reasons:-

The decline in the state of the game, a great deal of which has been due to constant rule changes, some of which have made the game soft!

The ending of star signings from the rival code of Rugby Union and well known signings from down under as a result of the NRL saying that if any of them signed for a RFL club, they would not be considered for the Origin and International teams which is not the case with our signings playing down under.

The lack of atmosphere at the soulless DW Stadium compared to that of Central Park, a great deal of the atmosphere being created before and during a game by the standing area in front of the Sullivan Bar and before and after a game by the many pubs and clubs around the Scholes and Wigan Lane areas. Now, most supporters just turn up for a game, sit in near silence and then go straight home.

The club now having no spiritual home of its own and playing in a too large a capacity Stadium which unlike the new Stadiums of Leigh, Salford, St Helens and Warrington has no standing areas which also help to create a good atmosphere.

The final nail in the coffin for me was the way that the club has been run in the past five years or so, as a result of bad financial decisions like the game at Millwall and the tour to Australia and the owner no longer, it would appear having the same interest judging by his silence on the state of the club these days.

The way the club has declined since the late nighties as a result of the sale of Central Park, the ownership of the club by Whelan and the mistake made made by Wigan Council in supporting Whelan has not been good for not only Wigan Warriors or indeed the town of Wigan which will never be rectified as proved by the decline in attendances and the club no longer being given Internationals and other special games like the Wold Cup.

The sad thing is that there are some on this website who need to take the blinkers off and face the fact that Rugby League in the town of Wigan is no longer the dominant club in the sport like it was in the days of Central Park, especially now that there is a rival football club in the town who are no longer a non league club and owners of the Stadium in which Wigan now has to play as a result of the bad mistakes of the past.

Now, where did I put my tin helmet!

I’d take the other site with a pinch of salt as I’m sure you know. Wigan could win the rugby league World Cup and some would moan. There are also a few characters who like to think they’re well in the know like the rumour man Dan (I’m doing it again), DDJTT summat or other and Josie. The rumour man who claimed the other day that he tells people things and they always happen a few days later. That’s apart from the Ellis, Mago and Miski signings but yeah bob on

We’ve now offered contracts to two superleague players but he can’t name them and they might not happen. Ground breaking that! The whole forum is a mish mash of characters, who either seem like they hate the club or make out like they’re invited to board meetings. The ones who are sensible seem to be the odd ones out.

I don’t think anybody on either board is denying there are problems by the way but it’s nice to look for positives sometimes and keep perspective. A club like this is never far away from a crisis but it’s also never far away from getting back to the top. We’ll get there soon enough.

I've got the answer you want

Now, where did I leave that DeLorean ?

Quoting the other site as some kind of compass or barometer is the lowest you can get

As I said Friday night
Whats happening here reminds of St Helens circa 2015/16/17
Just one change can make a lot of difference

IL should sell to the gang of four

It reminds me more of Wigan 2005… and we all know what happened next.

Man in sixties complains that things just ain't as good as it used to be.

It's like any scene from The Simpsons containing Grandpa.