WiganWarriorsFans.com

So Lindsay has painted over the cracks by saying we are in a transition period.

My question is how many transition periods do we have to go through? Since Lindsay took over in 99/00 he has said we are in a transition period.Firstly,when he arrived he said it would take 3 years to restore Wigan to the top of RL.That three years has now passed and we are now in yet another transition period.This transition period looks to be a very long one because these kids will not suddenly become world class in one year.It will take at least 2/3 years. In 97 we where said to be in a transition period when Eric Hughes took over.Then Monie returned and instantly brought back much sucsess to the team in 98 before being sacked in 99 for losing a couple of games.

In 2/3 years,there is nothing set in stone that says these kids will be good enough,we just live in hope.What happens if they dont turn out to be SL standard? Will Lindsay say we are in yet another transition period?

Our team has had far too many baron years.This is the most sucessfull and best known RL team in the world.Anyone who accepts making the play offs as being sucessfull with our high wage bill is living in a dream world.With our club spending 1.8 million on players we should have all the senior players to challenge for honours whilst also bringing a few kids through for the future.To find ourselve in such a mess on the playing front with such high wages you have to question Lindsay and Whelans management.

Hooray. Another fan who can see the current situation is not part of some master plan but is instead a rather large c@ock up.

Papering over the cracks is the best way to describe it. Sums it up pretty well because if Faz and Cass had not got injured our results might have given the impression we were on a par with the best when in fact we are walking a tightrope with such a young squad. A coupe of injuries and the wheels come off.

I have heard all sorts of excuses. Such as we have to do this because of the the salary cap. Well the other top teams seem to manage without half a team of last years Alliance in week in, week out. ML should have managed the transition into the cap much better than this.

Its ironic with O'Neil gone we could probably have kept GC or Furner and that would have helped the "transition" with one less kid on the park where it matters most had Furner stayed - in the pack.

Another favourite is, the team and/or kids will come good by the end of the season. Well as you say JohnM what guarentees are there of that?

Most of these kids are two or three years off being ready to play full time SL.

I see Faz wrote in the paper over the weekend he does not like people referring to them as kids anymore because they are now first team regulars and would get a game at any SL club. Not all at once they would not!!

I am sure any club would sign Hock but they wouldn't sign and play Hock, Wilde and Tickle as their back row en-masse.

I think the state of the current Wigan squad is down to deeper problems than the salary cap. Its the same sort of problems that mean we have no marketing and so on.

Having said all that there is one thing that really gets on my nerves and that is people having a pop at the young players themselves. It's not their fault they are all in it at once. The flak needs to be directed at ML and to a certain extent the senior players who are underperforming.

Raper is not blameless either with some dodgy selections and the seeming inability to coach an attacking move into the squad he as available. OK he has drawn a duff hand with the squad this season but I am sure he could and should be getting more out of them.

Dave

Normally i wouldn't be so bothered about a 'transition period' but i can't help but think when i read the injuries list this morning, we are transisting to a team of players with no experience and getting further and further towards the bottom of the league. I know not many people will like what i've said, and its true that in time the young players will gain experience and we may start doing well again. But surely there is a better way than this?! (And who's this Andy Farrell i've been hearing about?!

I honestly dont think many of the younger members of the squad will make it anyway i feel a major clearout when the dust settles on this season. The only players i can see being top 4 standard in a few years are Aspinwall, Hock Robinson Wild. As for Ologhlan i cant see the big thing about him hes defo not got the game for a standoff lacks the pass/speed/decision making skills thats why lam is getting smashed and is too slight for the pack dont think he should be starting for us.

Just thought i'd add, there is no way i am losing support for our boys, as i frequently love to sing 'Wigan 'till i die' I would support the lads if they were at the bottom of the NFP! (not that that's gonna happen) but being born in the 1980's i guess i am just so used to beating teams like London or Hull. I aslo do have faith in the team and that we will recover from this and return to former glory, i just think that we are being FORCED into this change rather than it being something that SR planed. (P.S. i am also aware that 'transisting' may not be a word, im not sure, but you know what i mean.)

Agree with John and Dave.

The main source of the problem has been the disproportionate amount of money paid to players such as O'Neill, Ainscough, etc. Its also true that the pack has been left badly exposed, with younger players needing several years in order to become adapted to the rigours of the game at top flight level.

All in all I believe we do have a very good crop of young players, but they look to have been exposed badly so far this year, with a lot of pressure comming on them to perform.

Some of the criticism given out to O'Loughlin has been laughable. For me he is still the player most likely to suceed at the highest level, he just needs time to develop physically, which will then give a better idea of what position he will be best suited to.

that is the thing i have noticed most this year, how quick some fans are quick to jump on the younger players backs if they make a mistake or whatever,
like the above posts all mention..

all of the young players SHOULDN`T have to be put in toegher was should have enough experience & depth to cover, without playing 4-5 19-21 year olds in the starting line up,

they didn`t ask to be thrown in, i`m sure however they want to grab the oppertunity with both hands..
we got a decident crop, i doubt if they will all make it, but i reakon 3 of em more than likely will!!

the senior players have to take resonsiblity out there, no if`s or buts...

Yep,i cant agree more that the kids are not to blame.I sometimes get annoyed when i see O'Loughlin throwing wild passes but its more like out of frustration.You can see the look on O'Loughlins face when he gets the ball,its like hes thinking 'what should i do with it'.He just isnt good enough just yet to be playing every week but i deffo think that he has a lot of potential.I think our senior players look so poor because the kids are just not in the right places at the right time.Lam is just taking on the defence everytime because there never seems to be anyone supporting him.

The team is in a woeful mess,there is no doubt about that and injurys have made things even worse.Whilst i dont blamer Raper entirely i think he has been caught out this year.He has shown some dodgy team selections and the team has not looked to be well coached but at the moment i still give him benefit of the doubt.

The buck must stop with Lindsay this time.It is he who has given fat contracts to certain senior players and forced us into bringing in so many kids.We all know from past coaches that Lindsay signs the players and then leaves it up to the coach to get the results.

I realise many of the posts in this thread are supportive of the kids. However, I think the critism that O'Loughlin has received in unjust. He seems to have been singled out in this thread as a player who will not make it. In his defence let me say that the ball-handlng positions of scrum half and stand off rely heavily on the other players to provide them with options. It is no supprise to me that Lammy has not shown his best form in the current team. He is forced into taking on the defence by himself on many more occassions than maybe for the best.

If a standoff has two or more men making good runs on the back of a pack that has been rolling up-field for the last couple of tackles, he has options and a defence on the backfoot - and an average player can look like a genius. This simply doesn't happen at Wigan at the moment. Its hardly supporising that O'Loughlin has to force the occasional pass. In the Hull performance there were far less mistakes, but hardly a sparkling attacking performance. The easy passes just won't break a well set SL defence down.

I'm perpared to admit that not all these youngsters will make it, but we can't judge them until at least the end of this year - not until the end of next if you ask me. But - are the management prepared to wait that long? I think perhaps now.

One last thing, lets not forget how the "world's best player" Matthew Johns played when he was Wigan.

i totally agree with you mike i think that people have been to harsh on him he was the captain of england 'a' last year he is good at tackling and not a bad kicker either(did you see that one where he kicked the ball right to the other end of the pitch without it going out against hull) he has scored a fair amount of tries and got about 2 motm. if that dosn't sound like a brill RL star in the making then i dont now what does. he might make a few mistakes but everyone does and he will learn from this after all he is only 20. he is well gorge as well from his number 1 fan!!