I think a lot of fans would appreciate an interview with Ian Lenagan on Wigan TV - with no propaganda, tough questions and honest answers.

It’s much needed and something I hope is in his thoughts once he clears a couple of issues up.

Agree with this. More so than a fans forum where Q&A is littered with idiotic questions (what cereal does KR eat....etc). Maybe questions from fans that have been filtered in advance and can be responded to in a detailed manner.

I do think there needs to be a period of ‘settling the boat’ although I think a few much needed wins over the next couple of weeks will help with that. I don’t think anyone was thinking Wigan would win the GF this year (difficult to win back to back) but to be at least competitive is a must for us.

Same here,if I’m honest I thought their deal had fallen through it took so long to complete

I wonder if Latics' new owners would take an interest in buying us out too. There wouldn't be much in it for them financially but surely savvy business folk could see some opportunities in a single ownership arrangement. Who knows!

I’ve never known a deal to take so long to go through and as a Latics fan I think it’ll be a move which will eventually go sour. The signs so far are that they’ve not got two pennies to rub together but we’ll see.

Don't be surprised if you hear soon that the new latics owners actually what to sell, so I wouldn't worry about them wanting to buy us.

If we are up for sale then surely the club has a duty to let the fans know. If the chairman and board are starting to asset strip the club with no intention of investing in the team or trying to win trophies then the fans will vote with their feet as opposed to pouring their cash down the drain. For chaimen etc money is easy to come by, they just expect people to turn up and they and they don't understand the toil the man on the street must go through to rub 2 pennies together. If the club has no intention of wanting progress they can expect a sharp decrease (again) in attendance figures. People aren't stupid, money men think they can churn out all types of excuses and the man on the street will swallow it because we are all inferior.

Perhaps we are going to be the new American team.

I wonder if that new matchday bus service will run to New York?

So basically, what this whole thread boils down to is: we need an announcement.

But what if there's nothing to announce?

It's amazing what a few losses and a story with no facts can lead to.
This will undoubtedly become fact and at some point be used as evidence that he is either:-

A/Tight
B/lining his own pockets
C/only in it for the money

Definitely going to have to see some further evidence to support this claim.

I’m sure Lenagan was proudly brought up in Scholes in a working class family. Just because he’s made a success of himself doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand what it’s like to be the man on the street.

Nice one!

With respect, why would IL “asset strip” the club if he had intentions of selling? He wants to make it as appealing as possible to buyers, notwithstanding the club doesn’t have a massive amount of tangible assets to begin with. There is a difference between flogging the family silver and tightening the belt.

Whether he plans to sell or not, you will never cut your way to success - least not in a sporting environment. And no businessperson should ever enter into sports club ownership unless they are willing and able to bankroll operating losses (yes I know he has done this).

The assumption that IL will asset-strip the club before moving on stems from an odd but firm conviction that he is either a villain, or incompetent, or both.

For some reason, IL has faced this kind of suspicion - in some quarters of Wigan fandom - since the moment he took over (which is why certain posters' views on the current belt-tightening operation are irrelevant, as they complain and spread calumny whatever he does).

If we are on some kind of economy drive at present, he - as chairman and owner - is fully entitled to adopt that strategy. I know we don't like it, and as fans who can blame us?, but it doesn't mean it will last forever or that it's a sign he's about to sell up.

If he is about to sell up, I personally feel it'll be a big loss. He's supervised some great trophy wins for this club, having taken over the reins from two men - Mo and Whelan - who proved to be utterly clueless when they couldn't just throw money around anymore. Even when chairmen were allowed to spend like there was no tomorrow, the Gang of Four, who were in charge during our Golden Years, ultimately overreached themselves and we lost Central Park as a partial result.

That lesson clearly wasn't lost on IL, even if it was lost on a lot of fans. You shouldn't spend what you don't have. Yes, it's torture, but it's also a no-brainer.

Of course, if we've reached a point where, for whatever reason, IL can't afford to run the club anymore, or doesn't want to, then that's a different matter. We'd just better hope and pray that the next guy is even half as keen to make Wigan RL great again as IL has been.

Short arms, deep pockets, as he's known by some.
Completely baffles me why people think he's tight.
I'll wager with anyone that Wigan has paid more transfer fees than any other club whilst IL has been here.

He’s apparently been “trousering” money for years

No, it's what 'businessmen' often do. Mr.Lenagan is a businessman ...yes ? They, business men, also have 'business plans'.

For example; the guy who owns Peel Holdings, John Whittaker , built up his 'portfolio' by asset stripping the old cotton mills in the 1970's. A number of these cotton mills got grants for new weaving machinery . Very quickly then the mills got closed, and the new machinery was sold off in places like India.

So it is not an 'odd' conviction at all. Our best players over recent years, have all been sold.

He's doing a bad job of it then isn't he, given that he's put in more than he's taken out?

I bet hes received more than anyone in fees also.

Would you rather he let players go on a free?

Its quite incredible isn't it that argument.
He signs players on 4/5 year deals, and gives them a get out clause at say 2/3 years on receipt of a transfer fee.

Who's to say these players (Tomkins/bateman/Farrell/Gildart etc) would have signed the contracts and stayed for the first 2/3 years without those clauses? They could have walked away sooner for nothing.
And at the end player either stays or we get a nice transfer fee.

He's now being criticised for being a bad businessman who gets transfer fees, by people who think we should either have let them go on a free or not resigned them in the first place because after 2/3 years all were going to get is a transfer fee?



There's definitely been problems behind the scenes and I'll elaborate more later when I have time on what I think the most significant change in the last 2/3 years has been, but It beggars belief what some people will use to try and criticise the chairman with. Posters who disagree on what leneghan should and are.polar opposites on subjects agreeing with each other because they share a common goal, get rid of him.
Not too disimilar to the Wane scapegoating for the last 2/3 years

not at all, just stating a fact. Ive never called IL tight as we make a loss every season and he makes it 0. It was a response to a comment saying he spends on transfers. All clubs do.