Noble is maintaining mediocrity at Wigan. The whole "he saved us from relegation" thing is quite funny - you would have missed the drop with no coach as long as Millward left, and done so without rinsing a huge proportion of the cap on a spent prop.

I hope he stays, Wigan will win nothing under Noble.

You'll do ok with Nobby, who else could do better

Do we (Wigan RLFC) do anything wrong in your eyes?

The worst part of Noble is he seems the first coach we have ever had who is incapble of understanding the importance of the Wigan v Saints derby. It's importance has meant that being the better team often counted for little when it came to the derby. When we had great teams in the 80's / early 90's, Saints still turned us over on several occasions. In SL, saints were dominant but we regularly turned them over. However, since Noble came it has been

Anderson in particular had Noble in his pocket. He comprehensively outcoached Noble match after match.

Numerous Australian Coaches,

Shaun Edwards

Ellery Hanley

Nobody could do better at getting owned by Saints for years.

As much as it pains me

i have to agree.

Jon you are rational

Now convincing Brett Kenny of anything is a monumental task

What a stupid statement

Sorry, he's excelled against Saints.

Arguing about the pro's and con's of playing style is a seperate issue. It's a personal, subjective opinion. As I have said I sometimes disagree with his decisions - e.g. if he plays Lockers at 6.

What you cannot argue with is Nobby's record in SL both at Wigan and Bradford.

If you honestly think that any coach could have turned us around like he did then I think you need to open your eyes. Teams just don't gain form/systems overnight.

Also given our squad imo 3rd was about the best we could have hoped for in the last 2 years.

Were you happy with the performances, did you think that we closed the gap on the top 2 at all?

For me we did not.

You keep alluding to his record but again do you think when he left Bradford he left them in as strong a position as when he took over? Same question regards GB.

I have stated i am not his biggest fan but i do think he has earned a shot at proving his doubters wrong regards his limitations this year.

I agree he has met his remit with Wigan, he has done what he was brought in to do, now for me as i said earlier he is taking a huge career risk into 2009, there can be no more excuses.

His record with Wigan is not too bad, as said he saved us from relegation, and got us into 2 semi's in the playoffs.

However, the standard of rugby we have played has gone down hill dramatically. To say we play negative rugby is the biggest understatement out there.

We definitly go out not to lose, rather than going out to win.

I like Nobby and have backed him 100% since he's been here. He has turned the club around and turned us into a very competative side again. The rugby is not the most entertaining but nobody would complain if it led us to a trophy. If he had the right quality of player around him i think he'd get us back amoungst the silverware but the salary cap restraints have held him back from building the squad he wants.

On the downside though he seems unwilling to give the youngsters a 'real' shot unless his hand is forced. I really hope he'll use a couple of them this year or we risk losing them.

It's a big year for him.

I am not anti Noble in any way, however all this talk about he saved us from relegation irritates me a little bit.

What helped us was naming a fully fit side for the last ten or twelve games of the season, the fact that nearly all these games were at home and also breaking the cap when signing Fielden.

I believe that if Wigan hit a similar injury crisis this year to the one in 2006 then we will be bottom 3 regardless of who is coach.

We didn't break the cap.

i think with a lot of the fans and i admit i am one of them it's not really anti nobby,but we would love to see the same passion he showed for bradford here at wigan.ok he is a bradford lad but now wigan is his club.

3rd (and battered out of the play-offs) in Elliott's last season and three years since the '97 title, that's a funny, Saints-esque, definition of "dominant".

You mention systems but, as a major part of the coaching staff, surely he was part of developing an maintaining such systems?

Noble isn't perfect but if an Aussie coach had come into SL and had a similar record he'd probably be feted as some kind of coaching guru, unfortunately we generally don't seem to like one of our own doing well.

Do you feel that Bradford were in a stronger position when he arrived or when he left?

Weren't they Current SL & World Champions When they Left?

Jonh, without entering into the debte, you can't use that as the arbiter of a good coach! He was there 5 years and during that time were very successful. That is the correct measure of a coach. Otherwise practically every coach who ever lived would be a 'bad' coach' as they almost invariably leave a job when they are least successful. Very few exceptions apply. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong as I don't follow Union, couldn't you call Shaun Edwards a bad coach under these guidelines were he to leave Wasps now!

Very Perceptive Young Jedi!

But that still won't convince them! It doesnt suit their Agendas (I Omit JonH from that Statement He doesnt take EVERY Oppotunity to Bag Noble, Just Some!

)

It is as valid a line as pointing towards his trophies won with another club in my opinion.

Regards Edwards you could say he is having a bad spell, but for him to be considered a failure he would have to walk away when the club was on a downward spiral. Not sure what state they were in when he took over though so its hard to say.

I do not necessarily think Noble is a bad coach, but i do think he is very limited and his career has proven this to date in my opinion, this year for me will be the acid test where he has the chance to prove he is not as limited as i and some others think.

How long did it take for Alex Ferguson to win something at United ?, that was'nt a bad decision to keep faith with him was it !!!

United (as much as I dislike them) play an attractive game, though. That is Jonh's point. One I fully agree with. We play dull rugby!!