Re: rl : Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:32 pm  

Father Ted wrote:

It's almost two years since IL bought the club and the appointments he's made really are first class.
A new CEO, Finance Director, New head Coach, Asst coach, Fitness etc etc etc.
New people running the club in addition to some very good people we already had on board, new thinking too.
Let's hope all this will bring success on the field.

I agree. I've said and said and said over the years that our club had been badly run under Whelan and Maurice and for me positive moves from those at the top rubs positiveness right through the whole club whether it's fan support, marketing, playing staff, youth academy etc. I haven't looked forward to a new season like this one for a long time.

Under Maurice it all felt flat to me and thats why in my view we failed at the final hurdle so many times on the field and in wasting so many academy talents.

This season will be the first that the chairman has wiped the slate clean from the previous regime. These are his appointments and because of that we should expect the club to lift from the slump it's been in for the past 10 years. I think he will achieve that but we shall see.

Re: rl : Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:36 pm  

Bilko wrote:

I agree. I've said and said and said over the years that our club had been badly run under Whelan and Maurice and for me positive moves from those at the top rubs positiveness right through the whole club whether it's fan support, marketing, playing staff, youth academy etc. I haven't looked forward to a new season like this one for a long time.

Under Maurice it all felt flat to me and thats why in my view we failed at the final hurdle so many times on the field and in wasting so many academy talents.

This season will be the first that the chairman has wiped the slate clean from the previous regime. These are his appointments and because of that we should expect the club to lift from the slump it's been in for the past 10 years. I think he will achieve that but we shall see.

As the saying goes Rome wasn't built in a day!

Re: rl : Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:50 pm  

thepriestman85 wrote:

As the saying goes Rome wasn't built in a day!

What have the Romans ever done for us? ...

: Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:54 pm  

As a Wire fan first and RL fan second, the first thing Wigan need to aim for is to get the average gate higher than the Latics, which on the basis that they only got 18,000 for Man U, should not be too difficult. Proper marketing of the game would do wonders for the crowds at most Clubs. Wire Saints, Leeds, Wigan, Hull, HKR, and Bradford should all be able to average well over 10,000, and given a successful season Les Catalans shouldn't be far behind.
RU seems to make a positive out of a negative (the Quins affair for one), and we seem to make a negative out of a positive. Reading League Express and League Weekly each week all I see is people putting the game down. We have a far superior product to RU, it's about time we (the fans) started to sell it.

: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:19 am  

Teessidewire wrote:

As a Wire fan first and RL fan second, the first thing Wigan need to aim for is to get the average gate higher than the Latics, which on the basis that they only got 18,000 for Man U, should not be too difficult. Proper marketing of the game would do wonders for the crowds at most Clubs. Wire Saints, Leeds, Wigan, Hull, HKR, and Bradford should all be able to average well over 10,000, and given a successful season Les Catalans shouldn't be far behind.
RU seems to make a positive out of a negative (the Quins affair for one), and we seem to make a negative out of a positive. Reading League Express and League Weekly each week all I see is people putting the game down. We have a far superior product to RU, it's about time we (the fans) started to sell it.

Don't we get the same average attendance as the 'Tics? Which is rather good considering they play Liverpool, Everton, United, Chelsea, Arsenal who all bring 4000 fans.

: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:23 am  

Jeff the God of Biscuits wrote:

Don't we get the same average attendance as the 'Tics? Which is rather good considering they play Liverpool, Everton, United, Chelsea, Arsenal who all bring 4000 fans.

They actually play Liverpool, United, Everton, Chelsea, Arsenal, Sunderland, Newcastle (last season ) who all bring/brought 5,500 fans.

The rest of the teams appart from Fulham bring 3-4000 always 2,000 at the very least.

: Thu Nov 12, 2009 11:42 am  

It was a slow start for IL, but he certainly seems to be pulling things around now. I used to get accused of defending him all the time - I think that owed more to blind optimism than anything else (and a fear that, if he got slagged off too much he might just walk away).

I don't totally subscribe to this theory that he inherited a pile of crap. There were definitely problems with the prior administration - I think Mo was too old, while Whelan had other priorities and had assumed that the rugby would take care of itself (either that or he'd just planned to throw money at the club and, when the SC was imposed, found that he had no Plan B). But I suspect it's taken IL two years to clear things up mainly because he's his own man and he wanted to make his own judgements about the people currently in place, before going out to find the right replacements if necessary. When you consider it, that would never be a quick fix in the world of RL, where there's a finite number of effective operators.

Now that nearly all the backroom pieces are in place, I hope IL casts an equally discerning eye over the player roster, though I don't expect to see any major signing activity until Maguire has got familiar with the place and the people, and made some decisions of his own.

But yes - I feel a lot more optimistic this close season than I did during the last one.

Re: rl : Thu Nov 12, 2009 6:50 pm  

piemandan wrote:

What have the Romans ever done for us? ...

The aquaduct.

Re: rl : Thu Nov 12, 2009 7:01 pm  

piemandan wrote:

What have the Romans ever done for us? ...

Education,.........and err, the roads, they built the roads..............wine, dont forget the wine.............

: Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:43 pm  

wigan_knight wrote:

Good to see there going to america having meetings with some of the best marketing in world sport.

Who better than the biggest marketing francise the yankees to get ideas from.

I think learning from the biggest brands in US or world sport would be great for us as a club. Bradford seemed to have mastered the brand image before everyone else in SL when they where the number one SL club. If we can get a fraction of Yankees, Knicks or Jets marketting knowledge or brand prowess then we will be going in the right direction financially.

But being successful off the pitch only works if you are successful on the pitch.