If it is McGuire, it's difficult to imagine that he would leave Melbourne to come all the way to Wigan if there was anything in the contract at all - such as a questionmark against his having a major say in recruitment - that he didn't like.

But no matter who takes over there will always be someone who has '[iheard[/i' that IL makes all the signings and the coach has no say.

At the shareholders meeting someone suggested that we should go back to the "old way" of the board picking the players and the coach coaching them.

IL said that was not his way, and the coach had the say on which players were brought in, but obviously he (IL) had the final veto as to whether we could afford them.

So who offered Sean Long a deal?

I can say that i like strawberrys and you would believe it but it doesnt mean a great deal.

And that’s the way it should always be imo.

Do you remember the last Wigan coach that was given full access to sign who he wanted? We ended up swapping the then current GB hooker for a one trick scooting pony!

There always has to be that control imo.

Or if he hasn't heard it, he'll simply make it up to suit his agenda, no matter how ludicrous it sounds - as RHJ's strawberry analogy amply illustrates

It’s all IL fault and we are all doomed!!

In the space of two days you’ve managed to call IL a to$$er and a liar! Well done……….

True but he poses a genuine question IMO. Who offered Sean Long a deal?

I dont see how that has anything to do with Sean Long being offered a deal do you?

Would you expect Noble to have been involved in that given that both he and IL knew he'd have no part to play at Wigan next season?

Depends when the offer was made. I'm sure it was months ago when Long announced he would be moving to Hull but IL only made his mind up about Noble "3 or 4 weeks ago".

Personally I don't think Noble was consulted nor the new coach. I also don't think either would have been involved in the decision to renew Coley and Pryce's contracts. Purely my IMO though of course.

That would have been IL but we couldn't stop the recruitment process just because we were waiting for a new coach to get a visa. Who's to say that Maguire/Wane weren't consulted regarding Long or even Webb?

Who's to say an actual deal was offered? As far as I'm aware it was an enquiry to his availability which wasn't taken any further due to his wage demands.

No one. I'm just speculating that they weren't. If I were the new coach I wouldn't want to be linked with any move to bring Sean Long to this club. Whoever made that decision is clearly out of touch with the Wigan fans feelings towards this player as evidenced by the thread when we were linked with him.

It's obviously IL isn't it Woody.

Look at it this way;

On the one hand you have people like RHJ calling for Noble to be given till the end of the season to prove his worth

On the other hand you have people like RHJ slating IL for going for players that are out there mid season? Who else is gonna sign them? The coach he’s not allowed to sack or the new coach coming on Wednesday which is far too late to sign anyone?

You can’t have your cake and eat it! Either give Noble time and jeopardise any possible recruitment or tell Noble mid season he’s not going to get a new contract and recruit another guy for the next season and let them pick the players he wants.

He can’t win as he’s dammed if he does and he’s dammed if he doesn’t.

I agree it would actually be an issue if it happened next season when a coach is in place but the current situation IL is in is a tough one either way.

That's exactly what I heard.

No chairman worth his salt would let a player like Long announce that he was available without at least enquiring.

But you've got to admit, it's a killer. Even in the event that Mike McGuire may sign in two days's time as Wigan's head coach, the anti-IL Brigade are more interested in what they consider to be the latest chink of weakness that they've found in the chairman's armour.

AILB: Shock, horror - how dare you talk to Sean Long without first consulting your coach (even though he was leaving, and even though the new one was still unsure whether he could come because he was trying to sort out his visa)!

IL: Listen, on Wednesday we may be able to report that one of the most exciting young coaches in the NRL - not my words, those of Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy - is joining Wigan.

AILB: Yes, but what about Sean Long?

IL: What about Michael McGuire?

AILB: Michael McGuire is irrelevant in the light of this devastating development. You had the nerve to speak to Sean Long's agent without - we assume - consulting your outgoing coach. That should be of far more importance to all those Wigan fans who put absolute integrity ahead of advancing the club's interests.

It's a difficult one, isn't it?

I know, I was being mischievous. The point I was making was he showed bad judgement in making this approach.

I like IL but he too has his flaws and I was just trying to highlight this.

If he felt Noble wasn't the right man for the job he should have been in consultation with the new man with regards player recruitment for next year. As it is it looks like he's gone it alone. Hopefully Maguire can persuade someone to come with him.

Yes as you are calling IL a liar for some reason?

Thanks for proving the point many of us put forward a few weeks ago.

If Noble was not staying he should of been told and it should of been announced weeks/months ago. I remember this argument and as always Cruncher and his band of happy clappers said IL would of looked like a prat etc. etc.

The new coach should have been sorted out ages ago so he had the chance to have a say in any new players or any current players off contract. If the new coach would not commit to Wigan until the last minute then that does not mean IL should automatically just go out and sign any old players and hope the new coach is happy with them eg. Sean Long

Can you show me where i called IL a liar please. Feel free to quote me otherwise button it.

Why do people have to be in one camp or the other? Can you not like someone but criticise some of the things they do? I liked Noble but didn't always agree with everything he did.

I'm not overly excited about signing Maguire but can understand why some people are. Personally I'll take the approach that I do when we sign NRL players and wait and see for myself. We were told Riddell and Roberts would be superstars by the NRL experts on here but although they've been decent(ish) they've hardly set the world alight.

Not if its IL.

Any criticism of IL will result in Cruncher spitting his dummy into next week!

Easy…..



You’re saying IL says one thing to and does another hence him being liar.

So what is it you wanted IL to do? Sack Noble mid season? Are you saying you would have been happy for this to happen? Or was it a case of saying the only part of the season that matters is the final part and Noble should have been given time as we were going to win the GF?

Well IL left it till the last moment like you asked for and now your slating him for it.

Get a grip man Noble has gone so stop trying to twist and undermine everything IL says or does.

Please show me where i call IL a liar.

Like i say,show me the proof or button it.

Now the dust has settled and Noble's future made public I am more convinced then ever this has been handled the wrong way. Ever since the Kearney rumour it has been one huge distraction who was going to be coach for Wigan in 2010.

The way it should have been done was either

Sack Noble and appoint Wane caretaker about half way through the season

Or

Make it public Noble was not going to get a new deal but he had the full support of the board and the club was right behind him for the remainder of his contract.

The idea you can keep silent and let a coaches contract run it's course when you are not going to give him a new deal has IMO been blown out of the water by this saga.

It doesn't look professional and it is just simply unfair. And before anyone says Noble was off looking for jobs anyway that is irrelevant IMO. He was in the last year of his deal so was quite entitled to do so given the lack of response from Wigan.



I agree the issue should have been sorted a while back but I don't know how realistic it is to expect the new coach who will still be working for his current club to be concerning himself with recruitment for his new employer.

When Nobby arrived people often made the excuse when things were not going right that "it was not his team". Well of course it wasn't and its inevitable a new coach inherits a team. He is being employed to make that team better. That is why Noble got the job in the first place over Millward.

So the new coach this time around will be in the same position as any other new coach at a club. He will be presented with a squad of players already on contract and told to go away and coach them.

Dave

I too don't think it was handled in the best possible way. But I'm in no way convinced that Noble only found out last week. I, like a few on here, was told this a couple of months ago.

One of the reasons that it perhaps wasn't public knowledge was due to the fact that we weren't 100% sure that the guy coming could get a visa. If it was announced that Noble was leaving and no one was ready to take the step up, it would have made us look unprofessional. If we then said we're after Maguire but we're waiting for a visa, visa denied and Wane gets the job. Everyone knows that Wane isn't IL's first choice and he won't have everyone's backing.

It's a tricky situation to manage and one that I'm ultimately not too bothered about as long as the outcome is we get a coach who's ready to take us to some finals.