Re: Wigan : Fri Feb 06, 2015 6:01 pm  

For as long as the Wigan fans continue to revel in their team trying to prove how tough (stupid?) they are and wane trying to prove how passionate (stupid?) he is, they will find ways of reinforcing an already well established grub club reputation.

Eventually the penny should drop that the reputation of a proud club is being damaged, but I'm not holding my breath as they'll just fall back on their "everyone is just jealous" routine rather than seriously thinking about how embarrassing some of their antics are.

Re: Wigan : Fri Feb 06, 2015 6:36 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

For as long as the Wigan fans continue to revel in their team trying to prove how tough (stupid?) they are and wane trying to prove how passionate (stupid?) he is, they will find ways of reinforcing an already well established grub club reputation.

Eventually the penny should drop that the reputation of a proud club is being damaged, but I'm not holding my breath as they'll just fall back on their "everyone is just jealous" routine rather than seriously thinking about how embarrassing some of their antics are.

Christ, if you're blind to the criticism Wigan fans have dished out to the likes of Ben Flower and Matty Smith when they've let us down then you're a lost cause. I suppose next you'll claim Gaz Hock was the most popular player at the club.

Re: Wigan : Fri Feb 06, 2015 6:49 pm  

Saddened! wrote:

What does everyone think of their performance tonight? 12-0 up and handed a huge boost by the referee with that farcical red card and they've been bossed ever since. Widnes would have won this by 20 tonight if it wasn't for that card. Bar Sutton who has been hugely impressive in defense, they look a disorganised and indisciplined rabble. You would think they would have learned their lesson from last season, but it appears the scum and villainy is still a major part of the makeup at Wigan.

They are fortunate that the rest of SL aren't that impressive, but they look very average. A poor pack, average half backs, too many dumb, indisciplined players who cannot handle the pressure. Warrington by plenty for SL this season I think.

Was Phil Clarke about to say they had the best squad ever before it kicked off as well? He told us they had the best in SL about seven times then until he was interrupted appeared to be about to say that.

Hate the use of the word 'Scum' to describe professional sportsmen playing a tough game. You only have to look in the newspapers and what's going on in the world to know that there's a lot worse people out there.
As a fan of a team that has featured the players like Sonny Nickle, Vila Matautia and many others who 'played the game hard' you shouldn't be so quick to get on your soapbox. ( also check out Alan Hunte trying to take Offiah out of the game on Utube, many would be demanding police action on here if Joel did that these days)
It gets on my nerves when players are called Scum. Far too harsh a word

Re: Wigan : Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:04 pm  

Mike-79 wrote:

Hate the use of the word 'Scum' to describe professional sportsmen playing a tough game. You only have to look in the newspapers and what's going on in the world to know that there's a lot worse people out there.
As a fan of a team that has featured the players like Sonny Nickle, Vila Matautia and many others who 'played the game hard' you shouldn't be so quick to get on your soapbox. ( also check out Alan Hunte trying to take Offiah out of the game on Utube, many would be demanding police action on here if Joel did that these days)
It gets on my nerves when players are called Scum. Far too harsh a word

Worse when it's aimed at a whole set of fans.

Re: Wigan : Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:38 pm  

TheElectricGlidingWarrior wrote:

Christ, if you're blind to the criticism Wigan fans have dished out to the likes of Ben Flower and Matty Smith when they've let us down then you're a lost cause. I suppose next you'll claim Gaz Hock was the most popular player at the club.

Exactly. Most Wigan fans here have made their unhappiness with Wane's apparent tactics (?) clear. Like most fans, I guess, I expect to see Wigan play with a bit of style and quality. That was sadly lacking against a determined Widnes side who fully deserved (at least) a point. The worst thing is, we are in danger of making a rod for our own backs for the rest of the season.

I've got my ticket for the Hudd game, and have been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks now. Bur some of the shine has gone off that expectation now. Ire member the same fixture last year all too well, and if we play like we did against Widnes, Brough and co will take us to the cleaners.

Re: Wigan : Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:12 am  

moto748 wrote:

Like most fans, I guess, I expect to see Wigan play with a bit of style and quality.

Like most neutrals, too, I reckon.
Wigan have got some good players, with enough skill to challenge any opposition on their day, which makes it all the more disappointing to see that they appear to be more interested in winning by constant niggling, laying on, moaning at the ref for penalties, etc.

Re: Wigan : Mon Feb 09, 2015 10:59 am  

TheElectricGlidingWarrior wrote:

Christ, if you're blind to the criticism Wigan fans have dished out to the likes of Ben Flower and Matty Smith when they've let us down then you're a lost cause. I suppose next you'll claim Gaz Hock was the most popular player at the club.

I'm with you there. There's plenty of pies who hate to see the clubs reputation tarnished.

Are the current Wigan squad a victim of their own success? For a few year now, they've lost players and everyone's said they'd be weaker for it, but they've managed to stay on top. Other teams' supportors (including myself) have claimed that the Wigan players on the whole are not so special, but it the effective way in which Wane had them playing as a unit that was the ultimate key to their success.
Have they slipped a bit and are struggling to get back on the right line - exposing the weakness in various players? They know they need to play the game as hard as possible, as they were doing a couple of years ago, but are struggling to do that while keeping their cool? Is the fact that older heads like Hoffman and Lima have left and the younger firebrands of Tomkins, Farrell and Batemen can't quite get the orders right without things going skew-iff? All these young men, trying desperately to recreate the success of the last 5 years when, as a squad of 25-30, they might not be quite as good as they think?

Re: Wigan : Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:48 am  

Offside Monkey wrote:

I'm with you there. There's plenty of pies who hate to see the clubs reputation tarnished.

Are the current Wigan squad a victim of their own success? For a few year now, they've lost players and everyone's said they'd be weaker for it, but they've managed to stay on top. Other teams' supportors (including myself) have claimed that the Wigan players on the whole are not so special, but it the effective way in which Wane had them playing as a unit that was the ultimate key to their success.
Have they slipped a bit and are struggling to get back on the right line - exposing the weakness in various players? They know they need to play the game as hard as possible, as they were doing a couple of years ago, but are struggling to do that while keeping their cool? Is the fact that older heads like Hoffman and Lima have left and the younger firebrands of Tomkins, Farrell and Batemen can't quite get the orders right without things going skew-iff? All these young men, trying desperately to recreate the success of the last 5 years when, as a squad of 25-30, they might not be quite as good as they think?

Add in the more recent losses of Green, Taylor and Harrison from the 2013 winners and you can see the experience has been depleted and they guys above all tackled above their weight. They are missed and you can't expect the younger guys to fill their shoes straight up but they are trying to play that style and don't have the physique or skill set to be hard as nails and it is showing

Re: Wigan : Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:15 pm  

Offside Monkey wrote:

I'm with you there. There's plenty of pies who hate to see the clubs reputation tarnished.

Are the current Wigan squad a victim of their own success? For a few year now, they've lost players and everyone's said they'd be weaker for it, but they've managed to stay on top. Other teams' supportors (including myself) have claimed that the Wigan players on the whole are not so special, but it the effective way in which Wane had them playing as a unit that was the ultimate key to their success.
Have they slipped a bit and are struggling to get back on the right line - exposing the weakness in various players? They know they need to play the game as hard as possible, as they were doing a couple of years ago, but are struggling to do that while keeping their cool? Is the fact that older heads like Hoffman and Lima have left and the younger firebrands of Tomkins, Farrell and Batemen can't quite get the orders right without things going skew-iff? All these young men, trying desperately to recreate the success of the last 5 years when, as a squad of 25-30, they might not be quite as good as they think?

Yes, our structured style has been key in filling the gaps left by seemingly irreplaceable players, and perhaps there is only so much that structure can help before inexperienced lads start to feel the cracks appearing, but I wouldn't go so far as to say we have reached a point where they are frustrated and losing their cool.

Besides the Flower incident our players have done nothing really out of the ordinary where discipline is concerned. Other teams still have their own hot heads, I've seen players from other teams twist joints, attack the head, and kick players in the face as they struggle free from the tackle, but it's fashionable to focus on Wigan right now and ignore the usual suspects as they carry on as normal.

Re: Wigan : Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:21 pm  

TheElectricGlidingWarrior wrote:

Yes, our structured style has been key in filling the gaps left by seemingly irreplaceable players, and perhaps there is only so much that structure can help before inexperienced lads start to feel the cracks appearing, but I wouldn't go so far as to say we have reached a point where they are frustrated and losing their cool.

Besides the Flower incident our players have done nothing really out of the ordinary where discipline is concerned. Other teams still have their own hot heads, I've seen players from other teams twist joints, attack the head, and kick players in the face as they struggle free from the tackle, but it's fashionable to focus on Wigan right now and ignore the usual suspects as they carry on as normal.

Probably correct.

How confident are Wigan supporters about this season?