Quote jonnydawarrior="jonnydawarrior"What about all the players earning the 'big bucks' and just not performing. They should be the ones to go first in my opinion followed by noble if changes don't occur . When all said and done its the players who earned that disappointing record and its unfair to sack noble for lack of enthusiasm and energy shown by a select few players thats needed to compete with the likes of st Helens.
I honestly cant see the way forward in sacking yet another coach and bringing in another with the exact same set of crocks on the park week in week out.'"
But let's deal in 'possibles' not 'if-onlys'.
Players can't be sacked for being crap. Coaches can. Whether that's fair or unfair, it's the way of things. In any case, Noble is not going to be sacked - his contract will be allowed to expire, which will almost certainly happen to a number of players when their time arrives.
But to say that this nightmare is not the coach's fault is naive IMO. He's in charge of preparation, motivation, fitness, tactics, systems, etc - all areas in which we are very visibly lacking.
The problem with Wigan is not that key players are not pulling their weight (there is an element of that, though most players put in a lot of effort - rather haplessly) - but our very poor organisation at team level. Let's be honest, we are long due a complete tactical overhaul. And that's down to the coach, no-one else.
Yet again however, Brian will get a chance to put his money where his mouth is. Friday night is a bigger game for him than for us. If Wigan get put out of the cup by Salford, Noble is out the door come the season's end - with no possiblity of a reprieve. For us, that may actually be a good thing if we can get someone better to replace him.
But don't be under the illusion that this is some kind of knee-jerk reaction by Wigan. Noble's been here for three years now - as long as most other SL coaches, if not longer. Not only that, they've been lean years, so we've been very patient with him by our former standards. If his contract isn't renewed, there's no way it can be portrayed as Wigan dispensing with another coach prematurely (though many will doubtless try to paint it that way).
Don't get me wrong, I too want Noble to do well. But only because that'll mean Wigan are doing well. Noble is a nice guy, but nice doesn't win you trophies. And frankly, I'm past the stage where I can be bothered listening to self-justified bleatings in local newspapers - that sort of action has 'John Dorahy' written all over it, which should be a turn-off for anyone.
