Who's to blame this week?

[exile in Tiger country]

What about giving Cullen a go till the end of the season?

Godd God no, there are dyed in the wool stains fans that hate Wigan less than that idiot!

[pedro]

i was one if not the very first person on here to state

Noble is not good enuff for us

i stick to this statement

mathew elliot built the Bradford team then Noble took over


he is i am afraid a very much over rated idiot

Brian Smith built the team

[wooder]

what we need is a good stand off the best in this country ?he is now 15 stone kevin brown .i bet he would come back to wigan.

[cpwigan]

Boy I have read some right winging statements on this thread. I would not let 99% of the people near our dressing room. We are once again crying before we are hurt. One freak win by Wakey and a ref led win for Hull and you all start crying.
This coach saved us from relagation and got us to the bronze medal position twice in two seasons. That means we were 80 mins from a shot at the grand final.
It also shows up every other coach in the league bar two, the one at Leeds and the also ran at St Helens.
We have the best squad for the last 10 years and the winging cry of Nobel out is so stupid. We now have structure in the club that was never there only two seasons ago . We have youngsters on the brink of stardum and we have stars that will shine as soon as they bed in. So for goodness sake all you defeatist out there wake up and smell the coffee

Well Jim I would suggest you wake up and smell the coffee. Wakey was no freak win. They earned it big time. Hull won because they deserved it too. You cannot blame referees.

Let me tell you the pre season friendlys pointed to this hppening. 30 point v a bunch of Wire kids and a NL team and a very fortunate win v Huddersfield who were by far the better RL team.

It is quite possible we could after everybody has played 2 games, have the worst attack in SL. How did we score our 2 tries v Hull?

[Shaun1967]

Boy I have read some right winging statements on this thread. I would not let 99% of the people near our dressing room. We are once again crying before we are hurt. One freak win by Wakey and a ref led win for Hull and you all start crying.
This coach saved us from relagation and got us to the bronze medal position twice in two seasons. That means we were 80 mins from a shot at the grand final.
It also shows up every other coach in the league bar two, the one at Leeds and the also ran at St Helens.
We have the best squad for the last 10 years and the winging cry of Nobel out is so stupid. We now have structure in the club that was never there only two seasons ago . We have youngsters on the brink of stardum and we have stars that will shine as soon as they bed in. So for goodness sake all you defeatist out there wake up and smell the coffee

Jim,
You are quite entitled to feel that 99% of the people of this site shouldn't be allowed near the dressing room. Personally, I feel that should be 100%.
On a more serious level, if you feel that Wakefield won by a "freak win" then you saw a different game to me because they should have won by many points more than they did. The final result was a false scoreline.
The "also ran" at St Helens got them to the top of the table every year he was in charge of them.
If our young players were being kept out of the first team by Origin stars or proven overseas international players then there may not be such an outcry, however, need I say more?

[TedMac]

Noble is lacking on these counts (and maybe a few more):

Can't motivate / fire up the team at the beginning of a season, for crucial matches (v Saints for instance).

Doesn't seem greatly bothered when we lose and makes some bland comments about 'learning from mistakes' or 'bruised egos. We've started the season not badly but disastrously.
Another season of scrapping for sixth or eighth place in the play-offs? Is that the best this famous club can do?

Never has and never will be a man to advance the career of youngsters. Wigan's record of bringing on good Academy players in recent years has been pathetic. We neglect them : other teams come in and snap them up. Our young players were the envy of SL but not any more because hardly any really make it. How long before Sam T gets fed up and goes?
Saints, Leeds and others bring their lads on well, give them plenty of first team opportunities and they thrive on it.

Noble's 'game plan'??? Noble's 'plan B' if things ain't working?

Selection / acquisition of new players?

The simple final question - is BN going to lead and inspire Wigan to win silverware THIS season or even NEXT season. I know what I think and I would love to be wrong!

[ByeByeLatics]

I remember a 17 year old Shaun Edwards being given a marvellous opportunity to play. I hope I don't remember a young Sam Tomkins being deprived of that same opportunity.

I also remember a 17 year old Ellery Hanley playing for Bradford against Wigan in the challenge cup and nearly tearing us appart. That was the first time anyone had seen him. I hope I don't remember a young Sam Tomkins being deprived of that same opportunity.

I remember a young Luke Robinson scoring a hat trick against saints and then getting naffed off because he wasn't getting picked enough. I hope I don't remember a young Sam Tomkins being deprived of that same opportunity.

What I've seen so for. Same old story. Warrior came, warrior wasn't picked, warrior left and joined saints. Reason: Cause he wasn't an over rated Australian!

[warrior till i die]

the only thing i can criticise nobby for is not playing our youth players such as sam and shaun ainscough. at 19/20 they both should be getting first team game time, weve got cas at home and if we do not see either of them i think it is poor management.

they will play with more pride than most of the aussies we have, look how JT plays for us, our best player without a doubt joel tomkins a wigan lad playing for wigan with wigan pride.

sam will play and be a revelation, he will cause damage with his play.

ainscough will play and be a revelation, he has pace to burn and a rarity with wingers these days he can defend! why not give the lad a go?

mossop should be loaned out to celtic/salford this year, same with liam farrell these two are on the verge of breaking into the 1st team and they need to play first team rugby at a lower level. i do hope we get rid of bailey at the end of the year when his contract runs out and invest into lee mossop. same with coley he should be gone at the end of the year, giving prescott and o'carroll regular game time.

[cpwigan]

One of the unknowns IMO is who is actually signing players and on whose recommendation? Does Noble have total control or does IL play a much bigger part.

I know what was said at the fans forum but sorry I take what our club says officially with a pinch of salt.

[GeoffN]

One of the unknowns IMO is who is actually signing players and on whose recommendation? Does Noble have total control or does IL play a much bigger part.

I know what was said at the fans forum but sorry I take what our club says officially with a pinch of salt.

Whichever way round, Noble still seems to be of the opinion that anyone he's signed is better than home-grown options, even when that's clearly not the case on the pitch.

He gets rid of players he didn't sign, like Higham & Calderwood, in favour of what look so far to be inferior replacements; he refuses to drop his favourites, like Mathers, Riddell & Coley, despite them being "out of form" (putting it kindly!), he's obsessed with a player's size, and ignores their ability, he tries to fit the players to his game plan (such as it is), instead of the other way round, like most successful coaches do.