<t>Is it any wonder we have so many underperforming prima donna's in the squad when contracts seem to have nothing to do with form?<br/> <br/> Tim Smith (& Todd Carney for that matter) may come cheap, but they're not long-term solutions. If Tim Smith was playing in partnership with Sam Tompkins,...

<r><QUOTE author="turf"><s>[quote="turf"]</s><QUOTE author="Matthew"><s>[quote="Matthew"]</s>Thought it was a shocking decision!<br/> <br/> Who was the video ref? <B><s>[b]</s>Mick Potter<e>[/b]</e></B>?!?!!<br/> <br/> At least Dick Turpin wore a mask!<e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE> Might as well have been ...

<t>This story has done the rounds once and been denied. <br/> <br/> On one hand, I'm surprised the club can break a contract with a player at such short notice, so I don't buy it.<br/> <br/> However, if we are chasing Carvell, I wonder if a player swap is under discussion and this means the contract...

<t>A few people mentioned the lack of team spirit in this thread. I think that's part of it, we seem to be a quiet team with few leaders on the field, for example, I think we're really missing Fletcher this year. But I'm not sure if bringing in another veteran like Wiki will solve the problem. For m...

<t>O'Loughlin aggravated his shoulder in the last game, so with Smith coming into the side, it's an obvious opportunity to push Barrett to LF.<br/> <br/> A lot depends on Smith's fitness - but if he isn't match-fit (and I don't see how he can be), he might start on the bench with Tompkins or Hock at...

"Right lads, I'm excited about this challenge, you should be excited by this opportunity to put Humpty Dumpty together again etc. First of all, let's forget about St Helens - imagine we're playing Leeds. Because this game is almost as important as when we play Leeds..."

<r><QUOTE author="DaveO"><s>[quote="DaveO"]</s> What is worrying is that it is a catch22 so what needs to change? Next season from the current team we have playing now we are losing Barrett, Higham and Calderwood (and maybe Colbon) and only getting Riddle and Smith with Pryce a possibility. I think ...

<t>I think the issue of player quality is always loaded for Wigan fans, because a lot of us can remember when we had quality across the park. The thing we're missing in terms of individuals is real leadership on the pitch, like we had with Farrell. This is a well-worn debate (and I don't want to ope...

<t>I don't have strong views on O'Loughlin one way or the other. I think we need a lot more creativity at LF in attack, but on the other hand, he works hard defensively.<br/> <br/> BUT.. the stats quoted earlier show that he misses 9.7% of his tackles - which is very high compared to Hansen (3%). Qu...

<t>I don't think anyone doubts that there's a large question mark hanging over Tim Smith's signing. Nevertheless, given that we haven't much room under the cap, he looks like a shrewd acquisition to me - as his contract is structured to reflect his level of risk (according to the press release from ...