Firstly I like to believe that I am impartial in every sense. I cannot think of any way that I am biased, or have any prejudice.


I am therefore baffled by the "anti Nobby " brigade on here.

If I look at his record

Not only did he save Wigan RL from relegation, he also steered us to 3rd, twice in a row- a position arguably far in excess of what our squad would normally have merited.

What on earth does this guy have to do to convince some people?

Has there been anti nobby comments recently?

Quite a bit m8 if you look at some threads.

No matter what you say, I say or anyone else who is behind Noble, you will never, ever change the anti-Noble brigade's minds.


(Unless Noble leads Wigan to an unlikely SL/CC success in 2009)

Fair enough. Can't understand it then. We ain't even kicked off yet. Maybe they'd like Millward, Maurice and Whelan back in this club?

Cue Charlie & DaveO Again!

Nooooooooooooo!!!!

Therefore, isn't it fair to lay of Noble? (Note: this isn't directed directly at you!)

I honestly don't know what some posters expect, he came in saved us from relegation, took us to a whisker of the GF for the past two seasons and yet it is not enough? Considering the position we were in in 2006, its a bloody damn good showing from Noble.

I refuseto even give a poster an answer when they make comments like that

It has been very bemusing to see.

We have not thrown a ball in anger yet and there is already a lynch mob forming.

Look at his record as a coach, look at the progress made while at Wigan and I think he deserves a bit more support from us imo.

Trent and the players got us to a final eliminator. On both occasions we were a million miles from making the GF. Our players achieve what they do inspite of noble not because of him.

I will leave you to the mercy of Dave O

We went backwards in 2008 compared to 2007 and Dave will show you that.

I knew it wouldn't be long til you showed up





But seriously, yes you could say Trent and the players did, but they didn't coach themselves to it. At times last season we were awful, but every team has a bad stint. It's how the club (that includes coaches and players) respond to them, IMO taking us to 3rd overall, was a good response.

I do expect us to be better this year. Some people may disagree because of the squad we have and although I don't believe we'll win it (Leeds have it in the bag IMO), I think we can push it close and maybe make the GF.

Elucidate.

It's easy to "rolleyes". It's far more difficult to actually contribute a thread that is worthy of consideration.


I look at the facts.

The fact is that Nobby saved us from relegation.

The fact is that Nobby coached us to 3rd twice on the trot.

The fact is that he did this with a squad that wasn't his e.g. Calderwood and Higham.


Now I disagree with many of his decisions, but I cannot argue with the results, and am genuinely bemused by people who do.

There's no doubting his past record, what he's done for the club and how far he's took us, but i just think he has took us as far as he can. Although i am willing for him to prove me wrong and win us a few trophys this year

Win a trophy.

Change your name. I cannot tolerate the desecration of a legend

You keep making silly comments re the squad. I thus deem you unworthy of my time.

Well if YOU deem me unworthy, then I guess I must........


Or alternatively I ask you again to explain specifically why you argue against my post.


I'll tell you what, as you are clearly struggling with the principles of debate, I will make it easier for you:

1. Explain specifically why my opinion is in some way a desecration of a legend.

2. Explain specifically how my "comments" about the squad are "Silly".


Now personally I am heartbroken about not being worthy of your time. Please treat me more gently in future........

Still avoiding the subject though.

I got some major stick last year for doubting Noble and expressing that opinion, but it still boils down to one simple fact for me. I look at performance not results, i can stand losing if we play well, but under Noble we very rarely have, in fact as the squad has become more "his" the worse the performances have been.

The playoff run papered over some massive cracks, i do not think he should have had his contract renewed and i think he played the club like a fiddle when he did, with the leaked stories of him being interested in the Les Cats position.

He took over a team that the previous coach had lost the dressing room, and were totally underacieving, arguably his best spell as Wigan coach regards both performance and results was in that spell after he took over. Have we reached the consistency since that point, has the points for and against improved or deteriorated?

I personally am not convinced he is the man to take us to the next level, i feel he is very limited but has done a job stabilising the club, for me he has taken us as far as he can, and done his job.

I do feel he has earned a chance to prove me wrong in 09 and hope he does.

For those who back his record and use it as an example of his greatness, i would counter he took over a team at Bradford that were dominant and had the systems in place to ensure success. He left the club in a worse state than he did when he arrived there. With GB i think he walked away from the job with the team in a worse state than he took over. That to me is the measure of a coach.

With Wigan he took over with us at a very low ebb, but he has brought stability to the club, so for me it is job done. I said at the time we employed him he was not the man to take us to the top level and i still doubt he can, but he has done the job he was hired to do, and i would actually say had his contract not been renewed for this year his time would have been remembered as a success. I feel this season and taking the contract extension is a major career risk for him and a true test of his ability.

To reitterate what Jon said,

The legacy left by Smith/Elliott at Bradford meant virtually any coach could have ben successful. Interstingly the legacy Noble left behind for McNamarra was far worse. So on that basis hardly a success.

Noble has never built a team. Indeed, he is now telling porkies about his time at Bradford. He claims he was very good at developing young players. The evidence contradicts this claim. Chris Caisley states in terviews that it was Bradford's policy during Noble's time to waste as little money as possible upon youth development. IS THAT GOOD FOR A WIGAN COACH? Noble inherited a great team and he simply signed ready made players to keep it going.

Wigan pre Noble. Until the end of 2004 were always a top 3 or 4 club. Thrashed lesser teams, played good RL. It went pear shaped. Under millward the players threw the towel in and stopped playing for him. Injuries to Hock/Lockers did not help. Whomever came in for Millward was going to have a positive impact.

For Brian Noble to achieve an impact we cheated the salary cap. ML/DW gave him eveything he asked for. we escaped relegations. Was Noble as important as Dobson? Since then we have played poorly despite having better players han nearly every other club, the best player in SL and a great youth policy. Dave can show you statistically that 2008 was poorer than 2007. We went backwards.

Lions led by donkeys sums Wigan up.

No we didn't.

So you agree with the other points raised?