Come off it. If agents and players know it would have leaked out by now and the press would be all over it.

As to the fans not needing to know I have no idea when it became the case we had to know our place, be happy with being looked down upon from on high and that we ought to be grateful if the club ever deems to tell us anything.

Dave do you think we would be looking at appointing an assistant coach, something the media do seem pretty sure about, if we had not appointed a head coach?

As for it being leaked seems nailed on from more than a few people in the know it will be Wane and Sculthorpe. I think you are extremely naieve at times. In relation to a few issues like this and things being made public etc. Firstly anybody who needs to know will know including any targets and their agents. The head coaches roll will not be the deciding factor in us missing out on targets.

Finally timing of the announcement to the media. You seem to expect as soon as it is agreed IFL should throw the board room doors wide and shout it from the rooftops! If Wane is confirmed publically it is right and propper to wait till the end of the season rather than destabilising the fans support away from the current coach.

The mentality that we should know or need to know what is happening next year when we are in the middle of a close run competition this year is a bizarre concept to me. I am sure our recruitment for next year willbe at an advanced stage too we may have already finalised some contracts, let's announce them too then the paying public will have nothing to focus on for the build up to the 2012 season.

It's no coincidence Dave that most clubs announce a big signing around the same time they are looking to push season tickets. Timing is the key to making things public just as it should be.

It is Wane. You do not need to read it in the Guardian for that to be so. Hope that helps

The only only nativity is you saying numerous people which includes all the players, any prospective player and their agents know who our coach will be and it not coming out in the open.

As to it not being a deciding factor on us missing targets I am sure top players are queuing up to join a club when they don't know who the coach will be. No really.



As opposed to fans getting annoyed we don't know who our coach is and blaming poor performances on a unsettled playing camp because the players don't know who the coach will be? The fans know Madge is leaving and have made their minds up about what that means one way or the other. Regardless of any announcement you [iwill[/i see doubts cast (as there already have been) on Madge still being here so I don't think you have a point there. And I guess Souths must have really screwed up because they announced they had a new coach already???

In any case according to you all who need to know do know so there can't be any reason not to announce it can there? No one "who needs to know" can have their nose put out if they already know.



Why on earth is it a bizarre concept to wanting to know what is happening next season? We all know we have a coach who is leaving plus a few players and I have never known the fans not to look forward as to what's happening in the future and to want to know about what it brings. I fully appreciate it's daft to say we are after signing X player or Y coach but if the deal is done as its supposed to be on the new coach front there is no reason not to announce it.



Sometimes your hand is forced and once Madges departure was confirmed we became coach-less for 2012 and given we need to plan for 2012 we need a coach confirmed well before the end of the season. Madge will be involved in South's recruitment for next year [inow[/i. Who's involved in ours?

So Dave you seriously think we are looking to appoint an assistant prior to making a decision on the head coach?

Dave also we will approach the players who are available not the other way round, lists are circulated to all clubs by agents of which players in and out of contract and from that point we then make an approch.

Our coach for next year perhaps? Just because we don't know who it is doesn't mean it isn't sorted. Stop keep thinking the club HAVE to tell us everything.

IMO it's got to the stage now where we need to announce the coach. Recruitment for next season will heavily depend on who is at the helm, and currently it looks like Sean O'Loughlin will be taking training next season.

Come on IL, make a bloody announcement.

I'm certain the coach, the assistant and plans for recruitment for next year are all sorted.

No need to panic!

Coach : Agent Milward

Assistant: Agent Scully

Plans for recruitment: Dad's Army

As Dave has said, if it's already sorted, it might be better for the club, players and fans to know, unless it means signing someone who has yet to leave a job.
Most employees in a business work better when the future is mapped out, and any upset or confusion is bound to affect confidence, motivation and performance.

I'm not panicking. I'm with DaveO on this one, IL should make an announcement and tell us who will be in charge next season, or if no-one has been appointed how far along the process for appointing a head coach will be.

I'm sorry but it doesn't make sense every 'player and agent in RL' knowing who the head coach for 2012 is and it not leaking out. That is unless IFL has taken out an injunction, which is highly inprobable.

Just make an announcement, have we hired a head coach or how close are we to doing so.

The thing is, if the new coach is sorted I really don't see what the club gains by delaying any announcement. Speculation can only causes unrest with the fans and, more importantly, the players. It does more harm than good to keep everyone in the dark for this amount of time

Hit. Nail. Head

People keep saying it would leak out if people knew, now am I just being dumb but was the Wane Sculthorpe combination not been leaking out for the last 2 weeks?

That's the one thing about Wigan fans I never understood even in the good times they always look to next season, the next signing, the next nit of big news.

And they have a genius for finding things to worry about.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not worrying. I trust IL 100% to make the right appointment. All I'm saying is that if the club has indeed already made the appointment they would have nothing whatsoever to gain from trying to keep it under wraps. In fact, I can't think of any logical reason for doing so

But if the appointment is coming from in house is it not conceivable that at least to the fans the coaching dynamic this year could be seen to shift possibly?

If we win our game in hand we are top of the league, we have a massive derrby game tonight still in the cup with a massive game ahead, we are on the verge of Hock, Fielden returning and still some are stressing about next year? I have no doubt within a month or two of it being announced along with any new signings some will be looking to 2013.

Any saints "fan" who boos Scully is an utter ars[size=85e[/size

I sympathise with this viewpoint, but as Jon says, now is not the time for us to be holding press conferences about next year.

And I've heard this so many times before - "there is no logical reason" for this not to be announced.

What does this mean exactly - that Wigan are deliberately being illogical? That IL is sitting around laughing, saying "I've no reason for not announcing this, but I'm not going to announce it anyway." That's an illogical viewpoint to take.

We - or rather some of us - went through this kind of angst after Noble didn't get a new contract. There were people demanding to know what was going on, calling for IL's head. Again, there was "no logical reason for not telling us what was happening". Except that there was - we were going through the complex process of seeking out and appointing one of the best young coaches in the world, and IL didn't want to tell us until it was signed, sealed and delivered.

I also want to comment on the "if it was sorted, we'd have heard about it on the grapevine" argument. Erm, people ... we HAVE heard about it. Who are the two new coaches who everyone has been unofficially talking about?

So tempting to remove 'who boos Scully' there