Perspective : Mon Jul 05, 2021 2:09 pm
A lot of anger and vitriol about on social media again (predictably) – definitely think a bit of perspective is needed. I personally don't worry too much about our results at the moment for four main reasons.1. We're still in a pandemic and there are far bigger things to worry about in life at the moment.
2. I'm far more concerned at the moment about the sport as a whole getting through the crisis and then getting its act together to address the issues that pre-dated Covid. A lot of sympathy too for the stress that club directors are under so a pile on for a few bad results doesn't feel particularly tactful at the moment.
3. The club has won 10 trophies in the last decade with 4 other final appearances. I've seen Wigan win everything several times over and maybe as fans we're lucky to support a club that is almost always in the mix. We've had a great run under Ian Lenagan so some support and patience during a difficult period is warranted.
4. The foundations of the club are still strong and it won't necessarily take that long to fix the obvious issues with the return of players some smart and targeted recruitment. I suspect the best we can hope for this year is a 5th-6th place finish and a good crack at the playoffs but no reason to think we can’t be competing right at the top again next year – its hardly crisis territory. We've been missing our main line breakers in French, Field, Manfredi, Marshall and Gildart for pretty much the whole year and now we're missing Zak for a stretch. If we knew at the start of the year that we'd be missing these players for so long, everyone would have predicted we would struggle without seeing us kick a ball. Get some line breakers back in and things will be a lot easier.
We know some strong recruitment in the front row is needed and this is the main area where the club has frustrated me a little. Its been a problem for 5+ years – very confusing why this hasn’t been addressed with more urgency. Difficult not to feel sympathy for Wigan's young forwards for the pressure they’re under in the absence of some more experienced quality.
I think we now know with near certainty that the coach will change and with that will come an opportunity to move in a fresh direction. I feel for Lam in some ways - I don't think he's had a lot of luck with availability of big name players and he's clearly desperate for the team to do well. But a fresh outlook is needed, particularly with our attacking structures. If we can get lucky with a Maguire/Holbrook candidate then we know how quickly that can turn a previously average team into a very good one.
Final point - there is absolutely nothing wrong with the players attitude and they deserve praise for that. Their defensive commitment is clear to see - the fact that they were pushing Saints' players back in the tackle towards the end of the game despite the game being gone is extremely impressive in my opinion. I see no reason or value in criticising players who are giving everything, are low on confidence and struggling for reasons outside of their control.