Bilko wrote:but in those days all the other sides had quality players as well. Don't think that's the case today.

Bilko wrote:I don't think its Wigan its the game as a whole. They brought the cap in but fact is if we'd have a top wins the title system Saints won be on course for a sixth consecutive championship and a fourth consecutive Challenge Cup this year. That's a Salary Cap working according the GMR commentary lads and those Sky pundits.

Like I said in the other thread I geniunely believe it's the Aussie imports that are ruining our game for all clubs. There are odd gems but most of not better than what we have. The NRL is equally as poor for me.

I don't want to go back to the days of when Wigan dominated, I don't want to see any side dominate, but in those days all the other sides had quality players as well. Don't think that's the case today. That test match may have been a walkover on Saturday but on paper I'm embarrassed by it.

Bilko wrote:I don't think its Wigan its the game as a whole. They brought the cap in but fact is if we'd have a top wins the title system Saints won be on course for a sixth consecutive championship and a fourth consecutive Challenge Cup this year. That's a Salary Cap working according the GMR commentary lads and those Sky pundits.

Like I said in the other thread I geniunely believe it's the Aussie imports that are ruining our game for all clubs. There are odd gems but most of not better than what we have. The NRL is equally as poor for me.

I don't want to go back to the days of when Wigan dominated, I don't want to see any side dominate, but in those days all the other sides had quality players as well. Don't think that's the case today. That test match may have been a walkover on Saturday but on paper I'm embarrassed by it.

Rogues Gallery wrote:There are a few questions asked in the League Express today in the Leeds v Huddersfield match report.
Basically what they are saying is that the teams are levelling out but the standard is levelling down.

FearTheVee wrote:I'm not surprised the level in that game was down without McGuire, Peacock, Hall, Moore and Crabtree.

I listened to it and it did sound very poor though.

[Gareth] wrote:i think he means levels are dropping across the board, not in that particular game

could be wrong though

Rogues Gallery wrote:I do, I was using that game as an example.

Cruncher wrote:It's very difficult to keep the enthusiasm going when it's not being reciprocated on the pitch.

We've now had three years of Brian Noble, and a harsh truth is that many aspects of the Wigan team we knew and loved have deteriorated under his stewardship.

We've heard a lot about the traditional 'Wigan culture' being absent these days. To me this is a key issue. When Millward was sacked, it was plain the culture was still there, because the team and the fans embarked on a phenomenal winning run, which enthused the whole town, and saved the club's skin; there was more excitement at Wigan at the end of that season than there was at the top of the table. True, Noble was part of that, but he'd only just arrived. Since then, we've seen an alarming decline in playing standards until we've reached the point where Wigan can't even seem to do the basics correctly. We've also seen a very worrying change in team attitude. The fans boo them for being diabolically bad, and they sulk. The chairman tells them off for being diabolically bad, and they run their mouths off to the press. The coach tells them off for being diabolically bad, and - some of them at least - walk out of training in a huff. This is NOT the Wigan attitude, and it only seems to have come in during Brian Noble's reign.

It's plain to me that team matters at Wigan are in urgent need of root and branch reform. We need an entire tactical overhaul, new levels of fitness and conditioning, and a new era of iron-hard discipline. If the current players won't adopt the 'Wigan attitude' willingly, it needs to be brutalised into them on the training pitch.

Whatever positives there are about Brian Noble - and there are some, I'm not denying that - he's plainly not the man for this job. I'm not trying to be clever after the fact here, but I worried about this last year, when it took a bollocking from the chairman to make the team get its act together rather than a bollocking from the coach. This year there's been further evidence. Nobby seems to have spent more time whingeing in the press about not getting a new contract than he has trying to earn one.

It's simply not good enough. I really wanted things to work out with Brian Noble. I've met him and like him as a guy. He had a great track record at Bradford, he seemed to have the correct attitude when he first arrived here (though anyone's attitude would have seemed good after Millward's), but he's clearly a poor motivator, a poor disciplinarian, he's no tactician and he lacks technical expertise.

Wigan have been more than patient with him, in my opinion.

But to get back to the point of this thread, the club can't really move on this until the CC is sorted out one way or the other. I think we've got past the stage where even winning at Wembley would save Noble now (his comments in the press alone would be enough for some chairmen to sack him), but if we get rid before the semi it might cause so much disruption that we'd be handing it to Warrington on a plate. I'd suggest that the club hang onto him at least until then, and that we supporters keep attending, keep cheering, keep doing everything we can - though it's precious little when it's so poorly responded to by the players - in short that we don't give up the way fans at other clubs not too far from here are famous for doing. We're probably still not as far from success as we may think.

I refuse to believe that Noble and his ineffective regime will be here beyond this season. Only a Grand Final victory could make that happen now, and to be honest, I doubt we'll even make the play-offs, so there's no chance of that.

It is't too far off. We've just got to keep our nerve.