Wigan Administration

[tomphil]

2 hours ago, arbitro said:

What this whole sorry episode needs is not some wishy washy investigation by the toothless football authorities but a criminal investigation by the fraud squad and expose the whole 'fit and proper' sham and illegal operations for what it really is. Football really needs a new brush to sweep away the ineptitude and corruption that runs through it likes stick of rock. Unfortunately the likes of Wigan (and even ultimately us) could be collateral damage in the process.

There needs to be a special branch of that squad dedicated to football investigations. Boxing has always been bad for that sort of thing but football will be 100 times worse.

[Stuart]

4 hours ago, philipl said:

Back in the day, I posted something not dissimilar about people surrounding Rovers and our relegation from the Premier League.

Brentford v Wigan - what a game today. The skills and abilities of management and players of both in a raw test. 

I just wish more people had listened to you and the team at the time - especially the Sweet F.A.

[chaddyrovers]

A very in depth article on Wigan situation 

https://theathletic.com/1907722/2020/07/04/wigan-athletic-royle-efl-paul-cook-hong-kong-yeung?source=user-shared-article

[arbitro]

26 minutes ago, tomphil said:

There needs to be a special branch of that squad dedicated to football investigations. Boxing has always been bad for that sort of thing but football will be 100 times worse.

Hopefully this will be the straw that broke the camels back. It has to be said that a lot of this corruption and poor ownership has come about through foreign 'investors' taking advantage of real weakness in the hierarchy of the English game.

[AllRoverAsia]

19 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

A very in depth article on Wigan situation 

https://theathletic.com/1907722/2020/07/04/wigan-athletic-royle-efl-paul-cook-hong-kong-yeung?source=user-shared-article

I have to download an app for a Chinese owned club? Well that's not happening.

[OldEwoodBlue]

First thing the EFL should do is put out a statement that there will be an investigation therefore the 12 point deduction will not be appied this season.

If this was because of a multi million pound bet in the Philippines then the priority should be to ensure it is lost.

This then puts that one to bed and buys time. If they send Wigan down knowing full well there is (or may be) a bet behind it, then the only conclusion is they are in on it / bought off.

[Mashed Potatoes]

Just now, OldEwoodBlue said:

First thing the EFL should do is put out a statement that there will be an investigation therefore the 12 point deduction will not be appied this season.

If this was because of a multi million pound bet in the Philippines then the priority should be to ensure it is lost.

This then puts that one to bed and buys time. If they send Wigan down knowing full well there is (or may be) a bet behind it, then the only conclusion is they are in on it / bought off.

Is it not the rules of the EFL to apply the deduction ? In which case if it wasn't and Wigan were not relegated the club which were  would sue.

[JHRover]

If the EFL don't apply the points deduction then there will be a club getting relegated to League One instead who haven't been into administration. In the cases of Middlesbrough, Hull, Huddersfield or Stoke such a relegation could be financially catastrophic

There would be lawsuits left right and centre and rightly so.

The League will be hoping and praying that Wigan get themselves 13 points clear before the end of the season, apply the 12 penalty and they still survive. That way nobody complains.

[arbitro]

This is the real by product of the wholly ineffective Fit and Proper farce. Once again the lower paid personnel are the ones to be hit. The EFL should be investigated for their inept negligence.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53318930

[chaddyrovers]

Wigan Warriors chairman Ian Lenagan is leading a bid to buy Wigan Athletic.

https://www.wigantoday.net/sport/football/exclusive-wigan-warriors-led-bid-buy-wigan-athletic-2906124

4 or 5 serious offers for Wigan

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12023009/four-or-five-serious-offers-for-wigan

[MarkBRFC]

So there are "4 or 5 serious offers for Wigan", yet there's enough people out there who would have you believe that nobody could ever possibly take us on if that glorious day of Venkys leaving ever happened.

Do me a favour. 

Edited July 7, 2020 by MarkBRFC

[Mashed Potatoes]

39 minutes ago, MarkBRFC said:

So there are "4 or 5 serious offers for Wigan", yet there's enough people out there who would have you believe that nobody could ever possibly take us on if that glorious day of Venkys leaving ever happened.

Do me a favour. 

We'll see over the next 12 months or so how "serious" those offers turn out to be.

[Norbert Rassragr]

It could be a load of Bassini types, or even the man himself allegedly leading a foreign consortium of business people.

[Claytons Left Boot]

I have been watching the Warriors for over twenty years now and had a lesser interest for a few years prior to that, taking in my first game at Central Park in 1994.

Since taking over from Dave Whelan in 2007, Ian Lenagan has proved himself to be a man of the upmost integrity, as well as being a highly successful chairman of the rugby club. I can assure you that, assuming he gets a consortium together, he will have the best interests of both the football and rugby clubs at heart. 

 

[Mattyblue]

30 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

We'll see over the next 12 months or so how "serious" those offers turn out to be.

Come on then Masher, what’s YOUR view for how this club moves forward, as you poo pooh every possible suggestion be it manager or owner.

 

[Mashed Potatoes]

Just now, Mattyblue said:

Come on then Masher, what’s YOUR view for how this club moves forward, as you poo pooh every possible suggestion be it manager or owner.

 

Fair question. Firstly I think the economic storm that is hitting is such that just surviving for the next couple of years will put us in front of many others. For those worried about us going down I would go so far as to say that in the divisions outside the Premier League just not going bust my well be sufficient to avoid relegation due to there being so many clubs who will go under.

The present owners are useless and I never "defend" them. Progress is only likely to occur when they go but I would like there to be some kind of face saving deal for the next ownership group to move in, easy to say of course with there being no evidence that the owners think like that- I just can't believe that going in to administration can be the way forward.

With the present owners under current economic circumstances I think moving on TM would be a mistake - the replacement is more likely to be a Phil Brown than a Chris Hughton and FFP constraints are a further deterrent to someone good.

With new owners and a better financial outlook I would agree that it would be best for TM to go and move for a proven promotion specialist like Hughton.

[Guest]

Antonee Robinson has a £1.5m release clause if Wigan are relegated to League One. Christ they need to stay up if they've got a chance of getting out of the dirt here.

[Guest]

As a Saints RLFC supporters I'm not exactly a huge Ian Lenegan fan, but I think Wigan need a local owner.

Their average positions, attendance and standing within English football puts them in League One, maybe even League Two. They've been punching above their weight for some time thanks to some great moves by Dave Whelan in days gone by. The FA Cup win and some Premier League seasons, but they can't sustain it.

Wigan are a team who will be better off under local ownership, paying out more reasonable lower end wages and competing at a level befitting the interest the town of Wigan has in football vs the interest it has in Rugby.

[Mattyblue]

There’s loads of football interest in Wigan... it’s just a load of them support Liverpool and Man Utd.

[Dreams of 1995]

Just remember how they laughed at us. That is all I am saying.

This is further proof - if we as fans ever needed it - that the EFL are not fit to run the English game. Off shore bets, dodgy international mystery men - all sounds very very similar doesn't it? Unfortunately for Wigan they were a less sophisticated scam than ourselves but make no mistake about it Rovers suffered similar fates, and probably would have been wound up in a similar circumstance hadn't so much of a fuss been kicked up.

We had a very, very dodgy relegation under Coyle not so long back. Mass sales, no investment, a last-minute u-turn from a promotion chasing manager to a shyster. Do you not think there was sums of money in the middle / far East put on that outcome?

I think in our early days a lot of people made a lot of money out of us. I think they still do, with the signing on fees and agent involvement in almost every facet of the club.

This is further proof that fans should have a 51% stake in the club at all times. If benevolent super-rich elites really want to blow their money on the 'pride' of the towns and cities they claim to represent then they would still do so if only running on 49%, surely? The truth is that most clubs these days are loss making enterprises for a reason - no rich person ever got rich by throwing millions down the drain every single year. 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

There’s loads of football interest in Wigan... it’s just a load of them support Liverpool and Man Utd.

I live here. I know three people who attend Latics matches, I know 20+ who attend Warriors games. This is a rugby town and it always has been. Every town has United/Liverpool supporters, Wigan none more so or less so than any other, but this town is a rugby town and it will always be that way. Their attendances show that, and they're only getting worse. 

They'd be much better off lower down the pyramid, operating under more realistic budgets with a local businessman who has at least some care for the club at the forefront of his decision making.

[Mashed Potatoes]

4 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Just remember how they laughed at us. That is all I am saying.

This is further proof - if we as fans ever needed it - that the EFL are not fit to run the English game. Off shore bets, dodgy international mystery men - all sounds very very similar doesn't it? Unfortunately for Wigan they were a less sophisticated scam than ourselves but make no mistake about it Rovers suffered similar fates, and probably would have been wound up in a similar circumstance hadn't so much of a fuss been kicked up.

We had a very, very dodgy relegation under Coyle not so long back. Mass sales, no investment, a last-minute u-turn from a promotion chasing manager to a shyster. Do you not think there was sums of money in the middle / far East put on that outcome?

I think in our early days a lot of people made a lot of money out of us. I think they still do, with the signing on fees and agent involvement in almost every facet of the club.

This is further proof that fans should have a 51% stake in the club at all times. If benevolent super-rich elites really want to blow their money on the 'pride' of the towns and cities they claim to represent then they would still do so if only running on 49%, surely? The truth is that most clubs these days are loss making enterprises for a reason - no rich person ever got rich by throwing millions down the drain every single year. 

How do you define "fans" for this purpose ? On the face of it what you are proposing would have prevented Jack Walker from funding our success.                                                                I don't think rich people would ever fund a club without control.

[K-Hod]

29 minutes ago, JoeH said:

Antonee Robinson has a £1.5m release clause if Wigan are relegated to League One. Christ they need to stay up if they've got a chance of getting out of the dirt here.

He’s a cracking player and he nearly went to AC Milan in January. I suspect he will end up somewhere more grandiose than here tbh.

Though I’d obviously love it if he did.

[Dreams of 1995]

2 minutes ago, Mashed Potatoes said:

How do you define "fans" for this purpose ? On the face of it what you are proposing would have prevented Jack Walker from funding our success.                                                                I don't think rich people would ever fund a club without control.

Why couldn't he?

This is a model that works in Germany and in the modern era hold the Bundesliga up as a model to follow. Terrific atmospheres, some fantastic players being generated from them clubs, low ticket prices etc etc.

Being a follower of a German football club seems to be a much happier place than an English counterpart from the outside looking in of course. 

[Mattyblue]

21 minutes ago, JoeH said:

I live here. I know three people who attend Latics matches, I know 20+ who attend Warriors games. This is a rugby town and it always has been. Every town has United/Liverpool supporters, Wigan none more so or less so than any other, but this town is a rugby town and it will always be that way. Their attendances show that, and they're only getting worse. 

They'd be much better off lower down the pyramid, operating under more realistic budgets with a local businessman who has at least some care for the club at the forefront of his decision making.

Get out if it! There’s loads of Man Utd/Liverpool fans in Wigan, which you’ll know all too well living there, which is unsurprising as they were a non league club until the 80s and are unfortunately in the same boat as the other clubs in ‘Greater Manchester’. 

But ok Joe, I’ll leave it there and agree with you.
 

 

Edited July 7, 2020 by Mattyblue