Almost a year to the day

[cpwigan]

I sent the following email. In my modest unassuming manner

Sent: 21 February 2009 00:19
To: Mick Hogan; Ian Lenagan
Subject: Can you confirm if the following is correct?


Hi Ian/Mick

No matter what you aspire to do off the field you are still largely dependent on what happens on the playing field.

***** (I have deleted this as it contained confidential information) ******

I honestly never know whether you yourself Ian believe half of what you say in public. I never believe Brian Noble.

You may as well write 2009 off. Our club is in such a mess it cannot be resolved overnight. Brian Noble is not the coach to do it. It is no coincidence that SL has been dominated in the past few seasons by Antipodean coaches or that Wigan was made great from the 80’s again by Antipodean coaches. If you want the best you do not find it in a second rate competition. Whatsmore, even NRL coaches can only stay here for a maximum of 3 years until their knowledge level falls so far behind the NRL that they need to return. You have to bring in expertise not amateurs masquerading as top professionals and that goes across the board as regards the playing side. Ray Unsworth was at least a start but you need to look globally to find top professionals.

Brian Noble has never built a team from scratch. He followed what was laid down by Smith and Elliott by the letter. The only problem is that letter is now very dated. He has never invested in youth development. It was a deliberate policy of Chris Caisley not to. I am an educator. Many current and future professional RL players have crossed my path. The Wigan scholarship scheme used to be highly regarded. All I hear now are criticisms from parents and their sons. I am torn when young men talk to me about their professional aspirations as to whether I encourage them to sign for our club from a personal point of view or whether I say go to St Helens, go to Leeds in their best interests.

I have been following this sport for 30 years. I am not a half wit. I possess an extensive knowledge of RL and sport but Wigan RL is heading to a dark corner and going backwards. Attendances are declining; the fare being offered could not be classed as anything remotely like entertaining and you Ian Lenagan are rapidly losing the support of the Wigan fan base. Your stock has been damaged. You are now being compared to Mike Astley and that is derogatory. If you do not act then your own position may become untenable too.

You cannot run a sporting business along pure business lines. Better men than you Ian have tried and failed. You have to invest in a speculative manner. That speculation should be based on great judgement. However, you will never create your utopian egalitarian equal pay dream across a playing squad. The very best cost and you have to be willing to pay. The secret is to acknowledge that playing squads must be cyclical under a salary cap regime. Ageing players replaced season after season by young players. Those young players have to be playing SL when the ageing player is replaced. Duty of care? So Ainscough is not ready is he not? Ian Thornley or Sam Tomkins on the bench tonight may have meant we did face the situation in the last 10 minutes tonight when we were trying to win the game but neither winger was fit enough to run.


You are killing the club I love. Mick Hogan may as well be P… against the wind because his off field initiatives are being crucified from within. The reason Wigan is not a Hunslet, a Huddersfield or some other historical RL entity is because Wigan regularly enjoys periods of success. Yes there will be barren years between but the gap from the last period of success is now becoming greater and greater to the extent Wigan becomes an historical rather than iconic sporting brand. If you are a fan Ian, whether the club lives or dies is down to you. At the moment you are heading for the person who killed Wigan RL.

Act before it is too late.

I will be at the games but the 15 year old sat next to me. He is not keen to come anymore. Who can blame him. I feel like I am pressurising him to come to an event that should be enjoyable. Wigan youngsters should not need to be press ganged into Watching Wigan RL.

Regards

[cpwigan]

Things turned out very well. However, I was wrong. I imagined that several players were 'finished' because their efforts under Noble were dire. Yet, under a new coach most, virtually all have revitalised their careers. So clearly those players were not to blame, Brian Noble and co were.

A very scary though. If Brian Noble can damage the careers of seasoned professionals what adverse effect has he had on the young academy players in the last 3 years?

For the record I am still not convinced Phelps not Riddell are the permanent answers to a trophy winning Wigan. Strong rumours Riddell wants to return to Aus at the end of the season BTW Pryce? thus far he has struggled under two different coaches, so the onus must be with him.

Amos. I always said he was an outstanding player. The NRL Amos was, the Brian Noble / 2009 Amos was an unhappy and a poor player. The 2010 Amos is the NRL Amos. He is happy and playing superbly. Happy players play well.

The big question is did Stuart Fielden having Noble as his coach for so long see him deteriorate from a leading prop into the world to one that looks finished?

Always watch RL witrh your eyes / mind open. Never defend in indefensable. Such false loyalty is a recipe for decline.

[GeoffN]

Did you get a reply containing anything remotely concrete, or just the usual cliches?

[Mike]

If you had sent that to me and I was Wigan chairman when the club was in the position we were in at the time, I'd have thought your were a little bit mental at best and to be avoided and ignored. You don't half make it difficult to agree with your point of view. Your letter is riddled with incredible overstatement mixed with relatively straight-forward observations. It I were you, I'd do some research into effective communication and see if you get a better rapport with the organisations you are trying to change!

[gpartin]

Did you get a reply containing anything remotely concrete, or just the usual cliches?

You can't build an omellette without sacking Nobby

[FROM A TO B]

Was going to put a long winded reply, but really cannot be bothered. Nobby's gone, get over it.

[Mike]

Was going to put a long winded reply, but really cannot be bothered. Nobby's gone, get over it.

Seconded. And I wanted him to go in 2008 as well. Shall I post all my emails on here to prove that? No.

[cpwigan]

I got an excellent response, very detailed, comprehensive, honest. I think we had just scraped a win v Quins.

If you are right you can be OTT Mike. I did say it was such lol at the top of the post. 12 months on, looks like those of us who kept shouting and banging our heads against brick walls were right.

Imagine had IFL not taken action then what a mess would we be in now. How much criticism did he get for it from the old boys British RL Media network? Even now, the club are having to and will have to work incredibly hard to get the attendances back to what the current efforts deserve. I started watching the games in the very early 80s so I saw how bad things could get and how hard people had to work to build a new era. It is exactly the same now.

How much damage was done to players careers by the past regime? Is there anybody out there who still believe Noble's contract should have been renewed?

How good is it to see the Wigan Way reborn and Wigan RLFC back to where they belong.

[Panchitta Marra]

Did you get a reply containing anything remotely concrete, or just the usual cliches?

You can't build an omellette without sacking Nobby

Clear as the nose on your face.
"Take the cabbage out of the omlette".

[cpwigan]

Was going to put a long winded reply, but really cannot be bothered. Nobby's gone, get over it.

Such a positive person lol