By the time Noble left Wigan he had built a very good team IMO. They were very close to a GF that year and I feel he left a good legacy which Maguire benefited from.

Not saying I want him or don't want him but I feel he did a better job at Wigan than he is given credit for.

Mmmmm! the fact as you have stated,he may have had issues at both clubs would be enough to start the alarm bells ringing for me, the question would be, what were those issues that he had with two top clubs? and whats to say those issues would not become apparent again at another club, just a thought.


Anyway, everybody will no doubt have their personal choice of candidates in mind for the job if it becomes vacant( and it is still an if at this present time), the next few weeks could be very interesting indeed.

Fair comment...and you are right interesting times ahead.

If Morgan goes I wouldn't mind McLennan.

get stanley gene signed up, he would do a cracking job coaching!

Where will you hide the rum

Surely you would prefer a tried and tested coach at the top level rather than taking a risk on Gene who has minimal coaching experience.

I'd agree with that. Maybe one day, but as a [uminimum[/u I'd want somebody who has been a head coach in the championship or an assistant in SL for a couple of years.

what about Daryll Powell featherstone,?

Be careful what you wish for. Agar fitted those criteria when Hull appointed him.

Challenging for what?

He won the Challenge Cup with Sheffield Eagles and at Hull FC, I think its safe to say if Hull KR won the Challenge Cup with Kear in charge, it would be regarded as having taken Hull KR to the 'next level'.

I agree...TBH I think most people forget the full season boils down to only 2 pieces of silverware. If your team has no chance of reaching the G/Final most would take the C/Cup every time to finishing 3rd or 4th in the league.

Would bloody love John Kear as coach. Morgan to Castleford at the end of the season, Kear to Rovers on a 2 year deal when Wakefield lose their licence.

*shudders*

There should only be one option available and that's Brian Mcclennan a.k.a Dr Evil.

netherton, player coach

Although there are other influences, for example a superior squad, the wiki stats make an interesting read.

John Kear:


Brian McClennan:


Brian Noble:


If that's our choice, I'll take McClennan.

Just for good measure, our fine coach Justin Morgan lines up like this:

What we have to remember is, Bradford were an awesome side with players like the Volcano and Hape ripping up due to their sheer size, the Paul brothers at the peaks of their careers, Tevita and Gilmour making names for themselves, Jimmy Lowes also at the top of his name. Then their pack was HUGE with Vagana, Peacock, Fielden, Anderson, Radford and McDermott to name just 6!!! And I should really mention the 'Baby Face Assasin' who kicked goals for fun when he wasn't kicking teams into submission! Oh and Withers was a brilliant player in his own right while Leon Pryce really had some great first seasons under Noble.

Honestly I think any coach could have won 80% of games with a squad like that, his statistic at Wigan with a depleted squad for his first challenge there and to then have to change your squad in such a short space of time that you become competative and challenge for honours, that 55% is more what I think we'd get from Noble.

What you have to think about with Jusin is that his stats are made to look very pretty due to his first full season in charge being the one where we were head and shoulders above everyone in our league, losing games in that season were calculated and although you never go in to a game to get beat I still maintain that we lost to Leigh before we played Saints because Justin wanted us to lose and know the feeling as he knew we'd get humiliated by Saints and it could have derailed our season. (Personal opinion but too many factors for us to have lost that game just on merit alone).

Now I don't know a great deal about him but former Hull player Ivan Henjack could be a good option, he has good contacts within the NRL, a solid coaching background at the highest level and while like Noble he took on an all conquering side and it went backwards it would be hard to say they didn't at least compete. He is however being looked at for the new Brisbane side for 2013 but it may be worth trying to nip in there and offering him a 3-5yr deal.

Just to touch on the topic of Andrew Webster, the players do respect him, they enjoy his sessions and I'm yet to hear a bad word spoken. What is a little worrying is that he was tasked with our defensive work and we're no further on with this so that may be where he falls down a little, but then his assistant could be someone with much better abilities in this area? I certainly won't be disapointed if Drew is given the role on a trial one year basis with the option for the club after that to give him a longer deal. It would also make derby day a bit more interesting especially if Agar is suceeded by James!!!!

Kears teams are well drilled and he gets them organised but he isn't a step up from Morgan IMO. For that to happen it would have to be another Australian.

I would be totally disgusted it Andrew Webster got the job.
Its looking more and more likely that the players are in the 'comfort zone' so to speak.
You wouldn't be disappointed replacing one coach with another that is part of the same setup?
A coach who has done nothing in the game apart from being given defensive duty's that are clearly above him?
Is that what you are really saying?

Does anyone remember seeing Kear doing a bit of stewarding at Boundary Park?

The game where it snowed like mad and loads of people got stuck on Windy Hill trying to get back over t'Pennines.

Yeah it was a freaky day.
The snow/hail came from nowhere.
TSB put on the free buses, Oldham must have thought their birthdays had all come at once when they saw how many of us turned up.

Aye, forgot that about the buses. We managed to sneak back over the hill before people started getting stuck.

I can just remember James Webster with a "why did I think this would be a good idea?" look on his face.

2005 iirc.

The players comfort zone is Morgans responsibility not Drews.

His reccomendations from the players he coaches are very good.

Those players have been coached by some of the greatest coaches in the game.

Although a coach that is a part of the same set-up may bare some responsibility to the performances he like the players is under orders and shouldn'd deviate from the instructions given from above. Would he do things differently? I should asume he would but this can only be proven by a trial or short term contract basis.

I would also challenge that the defensive duties are above him, while yes our defence is poor it heralds from poor reads more than poor structures.

Craig Hall on here was being raved about after a couple of good performances yet he was dropped when injuries returned to action and people asked why? He then ripped it up in the U20's competition and rightly gained another shot when Webster became sidelined. In this spell his reads and frailties are much clearer for the fans to see and that is a personal issue that other coaches have too struggled to rectify.

A massive problem that would effect any top rate defensive coach is the fact so many of our players are poor defenders or readers of play. Welham, Hall, Lovegrove, Galea, Murrell...etc all miss far too many tackles, someone pointed out that Welham is the only centre to make the top 10 missed tacklers since 2003 and he has been in that top ten for 3 years!

I do not see how Drew could be expected to change all of these players by trainining methods, in fact I don't think black magic would have helped!

Shaune Wane was a part of the set-up that took Wigan close to relegation, he is now being talked about as the next Wigan coach and comes with great reviews from the players he coaches. This guy has brought through some of the best youngsters to play the game, producing some of the internationals such as Briscoe, Brown, Robinson, Ashton, to name just a few. Drew similarly has been a major player in the youth development at Rovers and we are starting to see some good signs and over the coming 5-10 years I think we'll see some fruit on those branches.

And this comfort zone you speak of comes predominantly from our senior players, those that Morgan respects so highly he is willing to trust them even though it is not putting the club first. Why Webster deserves to be tarred with the same brush is beyond me.

the top sides tend to change coach every 3 or 4 years, maybe thats just to keep it fresh, players have to prove themselves over again etc, soon as it goes stale ish new ideas and a fresh outlook. i don't think its a coincidence about coaches moving on for fresh challenges just a cycle that keeps it fresh at the clus

Wayne Bennett spent 20 years at Brisbane as a coach with a 64% win rate. What he hasn't done down under probably isn't worth doing but if one man can keep things as successful and fresh at one club for two decades you have to ask why any other coach cannot do similar for at least 6yrs?