I respectfully disagree with you Cruncher.

A contract would mean that Wigan now had Edwards and any future club that may want to sign him, over a barrel. Wigan could decide it isnt worth bringing him here if he doesnt really want to come and be owed a nice sum in compensation that could of been used as a transfer fee for a top class player but to be honest i do not think it would of got that far. Edwards would not of backed out of the deal if he was legally contracted IMO.

If he gets the England or Wasps job, it will be because Wigan did not tie him down when they had the chance. He was there, he expected to sign on the dotted line and was told to leave it for the time being whilst the club was busy telling us all he had signed a 3 year deal.

Fully agreed Dave.

Contracts are pretty meaningless at Wigan nowadays due to how they’ve been managed over these last few years.

The latest on George Willian’s today according to the League Werkly is the 500k asking price has been bartered down to 175k by Canberra. No doubt in return we get a promise he’ll do us a good turn and come back (on marquee money) should it all go pear shaped for him.

If contracts are meaningless why are they offering any compensation at all?

Must’ve lost their nerve. Had they held it a bit longer I’m sure we’d have just got his wage off the books in return for a promised return ticket.

I heard that Bateman has a return ticket? Cant wait until he comes back to Wigan and all the other clubs are naffed off because we have first refusal.

It doesn't surprise me that you take that attitude. I'd imagine pickings have been scarce since Old Trafford, and then this comes along.

But who knows, on this occasion you might be right for once.

Looking at him yesterday I’m not sure any club will be seeing him back here anytime before he’s acient. He was absolutely superb which was pleasing and sad all at the same time.

I’m certainly not trying to defend Lenagan because the whole thing is a sh*t show. But the more I think about it, the more I think Edwards has done one over on us. Lenagan has (very naively) trusted in a gentleman’s agreement with one of his hero’s and Edwards has put a huge statement out to England RU - coincidently just after the six nations. A contract should have been signed to tie him down though, which is where (if true) Lenagan has let us down.

I wonder if & when the UK starts to trade under the WTO rules if contracts operate the same?

Why wouldnt they? We are leaving the EU not the universe!

Don't think he'll be Lenagan's hero any longer, by the sound of things, and a contract would not have made a scrap of difference. Edwards doesn't want to come and he's got the media to say it for him. Time for Wigan to look elsewhere.

I meant hero at the time, obviously not now after this saga! I agree, the whole thing has turned toxic whoever is at fault. Can’t see it working.

He cant even do the bloody double over London or Huddersfield!

Edwards recent comments about doing a year or two at Wigan now have some context. Maybe that was his first subtle hint that the "3 year contract" didn't exist.

There has to be a bad guy in this somewhere but can anyone honestly see Ian coming out and saying "yes, we messed up"?

They need to tread extremely carefully how they play this out now, because fans won't be hoodwinked by more spin, not least aimed at a home town legend. Could have all been avoided though, how sad.

The way the club have been run over the past few years is embarrassing. From the Millwall debacle, to taking a home game to Australia whilst still charging ST holders the same as the previous year. The Bateman/Mossop incident. Bateman's supposed return after the NRL. Selling the Tomkins two for big money, getting them back for a fraction, yet never having a pot to p!ss in. Salary Cap Breaches. Drunken Tomkins. Kick-off dates/times not confirmed until last minute. Widnes game switched at short notice. SW's sudden departure. Lam. Edwards.

We are the laughing stock of the RFL at the moment. IL & KR need to do one this week as the trust in them has been obliterated.

4 Championship titles, 2 Challenge Cups, and a World Club Challenge.

I'm not saying this isn't a debacle, but you really are a joke.

If there's a bad guy in this it's Edwards.

Follow the money - he won't be signing a deal for less money than he was offered at Wigan.

Surely both parties are in the wrong and there is more to this than meets the eye?

I was looking forward to Shaun Edwards taking charge next season but even if if he still ends up going to Wigan wouldn't the relationship between Lenagan and Edwards be soured by this episode?

If he doesn't come to Wigan what should the contingency plan be? Shaun Wane and a decent attacking coach as assistant?

Ha ha.

With all due respect Mutty I do reference this in my post that with hindsight this is way off the mark but prior to a ball being kicked no-one really knows how things will play out.

To me whoever is at fault and I think there’s plenty to go round,I hope that Lenegan grasps the nettle and moves on from Edwards,he doesn’t want to come that’s clear from the interview so move on and get someone in pronto

Aye, no chance he can come now regardless of who’s right and who’s wrong. As somebody who was against it from the start, the end game of all this suits me fine but the mess it’s created is really sad and has done the club no favours at all.

As for the future, it’s a really unique situation in that we have a caretaker coach already but things aren’t going very well at all. I’d give Lammy until June or so to try and turn this around and put himself in with a shot of the job full time but if things aren’t going any better then a new long term appointment will need to be made. My first choice would be Wane but I doubt he fancies working for Lenagan again and with it looking like he left due to cuts to the playing budget and signs that the budget will be cut further, I don’t see that happening. A young British coach like Danny Ward or Ian Watson would probably fit the bill. The work Danny Ward in particular has done with a limited playing budget would seem a decent fit for what looks like our plans to spend less going forward.

Lenegan has rightly been at the forefront of sidelining the RFL as much as possible given how badly they're run. However at the moment he'd fit right in - it's pretty embarrassing pointing the finger at the RFL and then appointing a new coach in a manner and process even they wouldn't handle as poorly.

Shaun Wane and Paul Deacon

I’m disappointed in this. Not because having Edwards back would be a big deal for the sport, but because I always thought it was a terrible decision by Wigan to bring in someone who hasn’t been involved in the game for so long as head coach.

It was and is a massive helping of nostalgia over common sense and would have ended badly for your team IMO. Shame it won’t happen now.