Wane. Brilliant Strategist or Bumbling Idiot?

[Wandering Warrior]

Am I being silly in thinking Mr Wane could be influenced by a voice from above re. team selection at this time as an explanation to this current pantomime? I have a bad feeling of a " Sheffield" looming in a fortnight!
The current goings on could indicate over confidence and cocky arrogance to a casual observer, and that is a bigger barrier to overcome than the opposition in big matches.
Just a thought.

[cow yeds]

Read this this morning.

Going to Wembley for the Cup final on 24th. Aug. has not taken our eye off the ball. We were not that far off tonight. It's not a crisis, we are playing some good stuff.
This was one v two in the League table. If it was one v eight i would understand the crisis comment.

A couple of weeks ago we played Saints that was one v seven so was that not a crisis moment.

Bumbling Idiot.

[Exiled Wiganer]

I am no expert on training techniques but we have some clever people behind the scenes at Wigan who will have looked carefully at the physical condition of our players. It seems to me that the one thing we have got consistently wrong over the last few years - and many on here have repeatedly made the point - is that we have run out of steam at the same time as others -'especially Leeds - have found their form.
If a team can sustain its top form for only 6 weeks, which seems about right to me, then this year we have a chance of targeting both trophies.
It seems to me people want it both ways and that SW is damned if be does and damned if he doesn't. The only big games we have played this year have been cup matches and we have win every one of those. None of our players has many miles on the clock and losing last night takes away any LLS distractions.
I am not saying we are deliberately losing but, having got to Wembley while securing 4th place means we can happily lose every league game till the play offs and still be well placed to win the next few big games. There are only 8 big games a year and we have already won 4 of them.
As for this intangible momentum argument, I think it's rubbish. Sam and Lockers can slot in any time and lift us to another level. Trying to keep up momentum when others were keeping their powder dry was exactly the sin that Wane as accused of in the past. Now he adopts a Leeds like approach and gets slated.
Finally, If anyone genuinely sets any store by what Wane says in his post match interviews they are wasting their energies. What he says by no means reflects what he is thinking.

[weststand-rich]

Well, I've not seen Wigan play at home since May with a combination of work, life and holidays and last night really struck me how Wigans quality of play has become detritus in the space of 3 months.

If Waney rested Lockers, Sam and Smith to keep them fresh and rotate for the CC, then that's his call. But last night was strategic pants. Wire took Huddersfield to cleaners with quick shifts to the edge, but Waney has us trying to blast holes down the middle for huge chunks of the game. With our current front row available, that's not going to work. Throughout the first half of the game, even with the advantage of the rub of the green, Hudderfield were making better yards and looks threatening. Poor.

[jobo]

It's difficult to argue against that. It is after all what the game is all about, winning the major trophies and if we get one he can say mission accomplished.

However most people on here are kind of students of the game at least a bit and will they really consign some of the obvious problems with the team to the back of their minds if we have a successful 80mins v Hull?

A CC win will give us plenty of bragging rights and keep the trolls at bay but will it mask deeper problems?

I think the CC is win or bust for Wigan this season. I don't think we are going to get any form good enough for the play-offs and for the final we have to hope Hull's new found form and confidence slips and they live up to (or is is that downto ?) their league position.

Dave. I'm sure Wigan could win the CCF, GF, FA Cup, Champions League, Croix de Guerre, DSO and Bar and you
would still sit up all night desperate to find a negative!

You missed out the FA Premiership but you are spot on otherwise!

And the Victoria Cross

[LORENZO]

I'm not sure about Wane but,looking at the tables and the points difference over several weeks. I am worried.

20th May 24th June 22nd July 10th Aug

Wigan 405 412 398 385
Hudd 156 216 282 342
Wires 139 305 348 358
Leeds 135 125 142 187

So Wigan -20, Hudd +186, Wires +219, Leeds +52.

As so many on this site have stated - Its not how you start it's how you finish.

[phild1]

time will tell.he has one hard job putting confidence back in the team.senior players will have to step up an earn their corn! :

[DaveO]

I am no expert on training techniques but we have some clever people behind the scenes at Wigan who will have looked carefully at the physical condition of our players. It seems to me that the one thing we have got consistently wrong over the last few years - and many on here have repeatedly made the point - is that we have run out of steam at the same time as others -'especially Leeds - have found their form.
If a team can sustain its top form for only 6 weeks, which seems about right to me, then this year we have a chance of targeting both trophies.

But unless you missed the last few weeks you must have noticed our form is pants going into one of those two finals.

It seems to me people want it both ways and that SW is damned if be does and damned if he doesn't.

Not true. The reason Wane is copping flak is for reasons like his tactics are rubbish. As others have pointed out we spent most of the night running it up the middle and clear Wane learned nothing from how Wire beat Hudds.

This is nothing to do with prioritizing league over cup, cup over league or anything else. It's a reflection of how the team he does pick is playing which is poorly and a big reason why is the idiotic tactics he employs which he never changes to suit the opposition.

Finally, If anyone genuinely sets any store by what Wane says in his post match interviews they are wasting their energies. What he says by no means reflects what he is thinking.

How on earth do you know that? Are you psychic?

Wane isn't smart enough to continually shoot a line to anyone IMO.

Either way, coming out with "We are playing some good stuff" when we have not been for weeks just makes him look like an idiot.

[cpwigan]

At least Dave O can be positive and negative depending on what he sees WW whereas you are 'blind'

For Wane to come out with the comments he did is laughable. Lest we forget Mr Wane criticise Madge and his teams for not taking team to the cleaners and saying how much better the team / players would be under his coaching. 2/3rds or more through a season and we are going backwards. The results WITH / WITHOUT Tomkins tell the truth. Whether we win the CC or GF or not the overiding impression of Wane I get is Dorahay MKII !!!

[Exiled Wiganer]

Please excuse my inability to cut and paste, but taking Dave O's 3 points in turn:
- my point was that we are playing pants, but that need not necessarily be the cause for concern many believe it to be. If we are holding back players, or working on conditioning them so that they can peak for a long period later in the year then that explains why we are now playing below our potential. Given how well we have played in the 4 big games so far this year, I am happy to wait and see. If this is as good as it gets then I'll hold my hand up;
- really? Can a reasonably held and argued opinion on an unprovable point be asserted to be categorically "not true"? My point flowed directly from my starting point, which was because we are training to peak later and losing league games, he is getting stick when for most of the last year he got stick for adopting the opposite approach. It seems to me that if your forwards are unable to get the upper hand (for reasons already stated), then the lateral/direct point never really comes into play in our game. Without momentum your "tactics" will always look rubbish. His tactics have been good enough to get us into the top 4, to Wembley and allowed us to ensure nobody is over worked. I'll take that for now;
- I am not psychic, but I don't read much into what people say after games, as I doubt it even remotely tells the whole story, particularly when he states something so far removed from reality. Perhaps you are the psychic one?