Phone call from Chief Exec!

[adiddy]

1st, 3rd, or now 4th place would have been useless this season due to this fiasco! Imagine the headlines if we had finished top and had to go and play elsewhere?? Mick Hogan called and left a message for me, as I was at work, but he has left his mobile number for me to call him tomorrow! I am impressed by this personal touch, but will be a long time before I forgive the club for this lack of foresight and now seemingly lack of achievement! I hope this can be sorted out, as it will be the last season I have a season ticket if the saints game and many years tradition isnt at the JJB on good friday due to the football!!!


Matt

[GeoffN]

I didn't give my phone number in my email, but haven't had an email reply yet.

I got a call about 9:30 from Mick Hogan. Definitely said that no one saw it coming as everyone assumed Wigan would be away at Warrington or Catalans.

A professional outfit wouldn't make assumptions like that, they'd have contingency plans in place. 4th place has been a possibility for weeks - in fact IL & Noble are both on record after the Leeds win 2 months ago that a top 4 finish was looking likely.

He alsp said that technically it is an RFL qualifying game so could be played wherever the RFL want.

Irrelevant. The situation shouldn't have arisen in the first place.

He said that the club are looking at the fixtures for next year as Latics are due to play on Easter Saturday, and it's our home fixture against the scousers, of course, on Good Friday.

That implies that they don't already do that as a matter of course. Pathetic, if true. It should have been done as soon as the soccer fixtures came out.

He assured me that the club were looking to make sure that this does not happen again .
He also said that the stadium needs both teams to be doing well otherwise it is not viable.

Complete rubbish - what about their first 5 years at the JJB before they got promoted, when they were averaging around 5,000 attendance?

He admitted that the SKY schedule had a part in the decision not to move the game to the Thursday or the Sunday.

Stating the bleeding obvious!

I e-mailed the previous administration several times, and never even got an e-mail reply.
I think this bodes wel for the club.
Nice one Mick. Thanks for the call, and for telling it like it is.

Damage limitation. Still not impressed.

[exile in Tiger country]

You're entitled to your opinion, GeoffN, but I think for a Chief Exec to be making phone calls to fans at that time of night speaks volumes. He didn't have to mention SKY, he brought it up not me. I believe he was trying to be open and honest about the club having made a mistake.
That the club have made this error is unforgivable but at least they are making personal contact through Mick Hogan to try to allay fears and APOLOGISE to fans that have contacted them .
This is far better than a carte blanche press release or bulk E-mail to fans that many clubs would have used.

[Matthew]

If we're lucky, the latics will get relegated and it won't be a factor next season!

[josie andrews]

If we're lucky, the latics will get relegated and it won't be a factor next season!

I have never wished them any ill before but now I also hope they get relegated

[Fujiman]

If we're lucky, the latics will get relegated and it won't be a factor next season!

I have never wished them any ill before but now I also hope they get relegated

I've just said exactly the same to the person behind me in the queue. Always thought it was good to have them in the top flight for the good of the town but now i hope they sink

[ferreira]

they have been close to it the last two seasons!! and as soon as they do go down people will soon be off the bandwagon!!! and the only thing lining whelans pockets will be the warriors fans!! get out off jjb and try claim some compensation and build are own stadium let the "biggest rugby fan in wigan" live like normal people!

[cpwigan]

To be fair Mick Hogan inherited this debacle. He has only been in post a matter of days. Neither DW/ML or IL/JL would have made this effort. I think for the first time in years we now have somebody properly 'running' the club 24/7.

[AncientWarrior]

To be fair Mick Hogan inherited this debacle. He has only been in post a matter of days. Neither DW/ML or IL/JL would have made this effort. I think for the first time in years we now have somebody properly 'running' the club 24/7.

I agree totally, this man has only been on board since last week and the cock-up has nothing to do with him.

His actions have restored my faith in the Management team!

[neilbass]

I exchanged a few emails with him yesterday, and each time he replied almost immediately.

The personal touch and honesty did impress me, as so many people in that position would never get so involved.

I asked several things about the situation, but what I wanted to know especially was - given how much income we provide to the stadium, especially compared to latics - how come we don't have any leverage/power to persuade the stadium company to change this decision? Reply below :


"The issue is that the football club have to have primacy of tenure in order to get in the Premiership. Yes the situation is far from ideal but we understood that when we took out the latest lease with them.

We get a very good deal off the stadium and this can't be forgotten.

Please have my assurances that we share your disappointment and are already working hard to ensure this does not happen in the future."