That's OK provided we sign the new coach quick enough so there are some players left who are worth signing.

Another reason why sticking with Noble to the bitter end and not sorting a new coach out sooner is counter productive.

Dave

Even with resigning Coley and Bailey, i cannot imagine they are on the money of their orginial deals.

Surely they are on less, therefore more cap money left. Add that to Hock and Smith and even with improved offers for some of the youngsters there must be something left.

I think we have to remember last year when players came in when we thought we had no money left.

I still think IL has a few cards up his sleeve.

One rumour is that Gleeson will be taking up a large wad of salary cap money next year as he played for a small contract this year with a guaranteed increase next.

As to other clubs doing sneaky things to get round the cap mentioned byu other posters I think the only thing they can do now is pay overseas players wages into an offshore benefit trust so when they leave the cash is tax free.

I think most of the other loopholes have been closed in that payments from image rights count on the cap but where the clubs saved cap space is that image rights didn't attract employers N.I. contributions and employers N.I. contributions did count towards the salary cap. So if you paid a player for his image rights you were paying out less due to no N.I contributions so your cap money went further.

When the cap went down to £1.6M N.I. contributions were no longer counted so you didn't gain extra cap space by paying a player for his image rights as opposed to a normal wage that did attract N.I. contributions.

As to paying a player £50K in a brown paper bag that would sooner or later be exposed. Someone would either investigate it such as the Inland Revenue auditing a players tax affairs or someone would simply spill the beans.

The risk of that happening is too great IMO for chairman to risk it.

Dave

I'm starting to agree with you on this.

Unless Wigan have been involved in a real arm-wrestle to get the new guy - i.e. if it's someone pretty good, and it's taken masses of prolonged negotiation - then there won't be much excuse for the delay. If it turns out it's someone like Shaun Wane, who - promising though he may be - has been here all along and could have been appointed straight away, then it's going to be as bewildering as it's disappointing.

It depends as you say what negotiations have been going on but even if that is the reason for the delay the process will have simply taken too long with the consequences being discussed.

If it is Wane after all then it will have been a huge error not to have had him in-place much earlier in the season before the cup semi-final IMO.

Dave

Maybe he's signed from another club and we cannot say until their season is over.

Think we are going a bit off topic here.

People are saying that they wonder where Smith and Hocks money has gone, players like Tomkins, Mossop, Ainscough [to an extent] are now first team regulars [or at least Ainscough was at the time that he signed a new contract] and I imagine have therefore had significant increases in their salaries.

I imagine that firstly Sams wage possibly isn't that far off what Smith was on, given that Smith will have been on quite a low wage given the circumstances, plus the fact that the whole of superleague knows what an outstanding talent sam is.

Mossop is another who we didn't have on the cap at all when Hock was around, nor Goulding for that matter, so I personally can believe that a lot of Hock and Smiths money has gone on upgrading some of the juniors contracts.

There is that possibility of course.

As I say, if the new man had good reason for not publicising that he is joining Wigan - i.e. if he is still serving time somewhere else and they don't know, or he just can't be bothered with the publicity because he wants to concentrate on the job in hand - then fair enough. There is no argument with any of that in my book, especially if he's insisted on this before signing the contract.

If however, it's Shaun Wane, who's already at Wigan, then I'll be puzzled and disappointed that it wasn't sorted sooner. I'll also feel let down, given the air of expectaton that's been allowed to build. (I'd still like Shaun as assistant, though).

I agree, if McGuire is are man for next year then I can understand why it's not been announced with Melbourne still alive in the play-off's.

Lets just say Hock was on £120,000 and Smith £70,000.

Tomkins put up from £10,000 to £40,000

Mossop put up from £10,000 to £25,000

Ainscough put up from £10,000 to £30,000

This to me seem like decent wages for young players I don't even see us using up Smiths money I still think we have around £100,000 to play with plus whatever Bailey is on (If he goes) which is rumoured to be £100,000 plus and a quota spot, we could get a superstar for £200,000 and a quota spot.

Add to that Flannagans money which would probably be around £20,000

Coley and Pryce have signed extensions which I very much doubt are improved deals especially in the case of Pryce.

Rumour has it that Bailey has signed a much lower deal with us.

There is no way in hell we haven't got the funds available to buy new players starting with a prop (Morley, LMS, Burgess,Ferriol, Guissett, Kite, Bailey, Webb, Moi Moi etc), then a prop/second row (Burgess, Webb, Pritchard, Fa'aoso) and finally if there are funds available a 6/7 (Brough, Orford, Anasta).

Lets just say Bailey takes a drop from £140,000 to £80,000 add to that Hocks money you have £200,000 so if we don't sign a decent player I will be dissapointed.


It said in todays Sun that Danny Brough wil be looking at moving to a bigger club to improve his chances of playing for England.



Feasable signings for next year Richard Fa'aoso, LMS and Brough.