king_dezeeuw06
Vital Champions League
To be fair it's not total BS as Admin have confirmed they recognise him, but if his promises are is another question no one knows for sure.
Thought provoking?
- Thread starter moonay
- Start date
To be fair it's not total BS as Admin have confirmed they recognise him, but if his promises are is another question no one knows for sure.
FrancosLoveChild
Vital Football Hero
But people form their opinions based on another sport and on a person who does not deserve the shit he gets. I didn't like he was just after the stadium but it's not like he was trying to kill us.
If warriors was in admin and Whelan just bid for the stadium we would laude him for taking the best interest of our club.
king_dezeeuw06
Vital Champions League
Spot on - also his bid for stadium only came in after Americans made it clear they didn't want it.
If admin had let Lenegan buy the stadium we'd have probably had good new owners about 2 months ago, we'd have had a deal the SC, council and Nandy would've backed, we'd have a manager and a new set of players recruited before the window shuts and be looking at a promotion push rather than relegation. We'd still very likely be playing at the DW but not on the hook for the annual running costs. I still think Warriors taking over those costs would've been a worse deal for them than us to be honest - stadium running costs only going to keep going up as it gets older, our attendances will never fill it and can't be sold on. It's a milestone rather than an asset.
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moonay
Vital Football Legend
I don't think that's quite right KDZ. I'm fairly sure that Krasner stated in one of his early briefings that Lenegan hadn't bid for the club ...... implying that he had made a bid, but not for the whole shebang.
I may be wrong, let's face it, a raging river has passed under the bridge! For what it's worth, I agree the stadium is currently more of a millstone than an opportunity, but I guess that may change if new ideas were to be introduced.
Kenny Morris
Vital Squad Member
East stand is where most of our supporters go!!
I much prefer being on a side view to behind the goals, leave that for away supporters.
Demolishing stands is not the way to go, they could be modified but there is little or no point in doing this as it would cost far more than leaving them as they are. And would not affect the running costs anyway.
Waste of money that we will not have.
Made in Wigan
Vital Champions League
I don’t disagree that the ground can be soulless at times and the design doesn’t make it natural to portion unused sections off as it’s single tiered. However there are several things that could be done to create more atmosphere and intimacy. Lockdown has shown has stadium dressings can fill space. Huge montages of our most famous moments, players and managers filling the top 3/4 of the south so fans are housed closer together toward the pitch. People will and have complain their hair will get wet but they need to show some resilience. It should be inspirational for fans and players alike. Likewise do the same down the sides of east and west - even the north depending on size of following.
The Spanish certainly won’t be touching ground improvements and we’ll be lucky if they touch team improvements. Non league football won’t be fun in there with about 3000 rattling around but effectively we’re stuck with it so need to be creative in how it’s improved for low cost and revenue from the grounds usage increased to make it more commercially viable.
The Spanish certainly won’t be touching ground improvements and we’ll be lucky if they touch team improvements. Non league football won’t be fun in there with about 3000 rattling around but effectively we’re stuck with it so need to be creative in how it’s improved for low cost and revenue from the grounds usage increased to make it more commercially viable.
Mighty Bongsmon
Vital Squad Member
I don't have any issue with Lenaghan if I'm honest.
I think that his initial statement about "Sporting Club Wigan" was sincere, he may have got a team together to fund it & then he took one look at the books, & thought "no chance." I think he was then too embarassed to go public with a backtracking statement & who knows, he may well even have thought, that doing so would have scared off potential bidders
As Chairman & majority shareholder of the Warriors his primary concern has to then be the survival of his business/club so he looked in to buying the stadium on its own.
Even if he has kicked off regarding any change to the rental agreement, I don't blame him. His club & his sport is hardly awash with cash and any increase in rent will have a significant impact on them, who they can buy & what they can pay their players. I think a rent increase is long overdue if the stadium company loses £1.5mill a year & i don't think he has a leg to stand on arguing against it but I don't blame him for trying to fight it (if he has)
Do I like what he's rumoured to have done? No. Just that I understand why he's done it
I think that his initial statement about "Sporting Club Wigan" was sincere, he may have got a team together to fund it & then he took one look at the books, & thought "no chance." I think he was then too embarassed to go public with a backtracking statement & who knows, he may well even have thought, that doing so would have scared off potential bidders
As Chairman & majority shareholder of the Warriors his primary concern has to then be the survival of his business/club so he looked in to buying the stadium on its own.
Even if he has kicked off regarding any change to the rental agreement, I don't blame him. His club & his sport is hardly awash with cash and any increase in rent will have a significant impact on them, who they can buy & what they can pay their players. I think a rent increase is long overdue if the stadium company loses £1.5mill a year & i don't think he has a leg to stand on arguing against it but I don't blame him for trying to fight it (if he has)
Do I like what he's rumoured to have done? No. Just that I understand why he's done it
TRUE BELIEVER
Vital Football Hero
If I were looking to make savings with the stadium the first thing I would do is close down the North and South stands and mothball them. Use the East for visiting supporters, as it was intended and home fans in the West.
I know this will cause many of those who populate the East stand to curl back in horror, but you could then have your enclave in the West stand and bring some life to the soulless side of the ground.
The East stand could then be sectioned off to take into account how many travelling fans there were and security, stewarding and catering facilities adjusted to match saving matchday costs.
I know this will cause many of those who populate the East stand to curl back in horror, but you could then have your enclave in the West stand and bring some life to the soulless side of the ground.
The East stand could then be sectioned off to take into account how many travelling fans there were and security, stewarding and catering facilities adjusted to match saving matchday costs.
We would still have a security problem though being a policing one
Home fans leaving west stand heading towards river and canal bridge bumping into away fans could be a nightmare for the vulnerable fans with kids
ZAKKY
Vital Football Hero
Like I said it's not feasible in the present climate but it is my opinion of what should be done You have your opinion Kenny but is only that your opinion. As regards the East Stand I was projecting more into the future to a time when we may be back in the Championship or Prem when more income would be gleaned by filling the East with away fans. People have moaned for years about the soulless atmosphere inside the stadium and making it more intimate yes and filling in the corners would help after all we don't need a 25,000 stadium in Wigan.
Life's all about opinions Kenny
TRUE BELIEVER
Vital Football Hero
Easily solved with a fence at the end of the East to prevent away fans going that way and home fans being directed around the South stand to exit over the bridge. As it stands at present I would say there is more opportunity for away fans and home fans to come together given the proximity of the East to the North stands in that corner. There is also the option to hold the away fans until the area is clear.
walgarthjohn
Vital 1st Team Regular
Money can be made from the ground. Not mega. But money could be raised. Just needs some one to manage it better. Large car parks never used only on match days. Could be used for. Classic car shows. Any income better than none
Mighty Bongsmon
Vital Squad Member
I think that it's inevitable that sections of the ground need to be shut down for the foreeable future.
The South Stand is the obvious choice, but I wouldn't shut down the East Stand & I'd put the family stand back in to the end of the East Stand where I seem to remember it being once before.
Away fans are the issue as we don;t get many at this level so I'd be tempted to say close down the North Stand but I don't see that it's feasible to put the away fans anywhere else as its ridiculous giving them the entire East Stand as it was the last time they did it. I believe though that the North Stand was originally designed so that in the future it could be sectioned off 50/50 for home & away fans & if that's the case, you can easily shut down half of the stand. With a bit of work you might be able to create an away section in the last 2-3 sections of the West Stand - we've certainly been to grounds where home & away fans are in the same stand albeit with a divider between the 2 sets both in the seats & under the stand
The East stand was never ‘intended’ to hold away fans as I recall. When the stadium first opened, wasn’t it used because the North wasn’t fully ready to host visitors....or visitors of any significant number ?
I can’t remember now but when was the East stand last routinely used to host away fans ?
I can’t remember now but when was the East stand last routinely used to host away fans ?
Season we got promoted to prem away fans where in East stand last I remember
moonay
Vital Football Legend
Last season in the Championship, yes ......first season in the Prem, no.
TRUE BELIEVER
Vital Football Hero
The point is that we keep saying that the ground is too big for us and yet we continue to open all the stands for league games incurring the costs for security, catering and stewarding, plus the cleaning costs after the game and maintenance throughout the season. Mothballing both the North and South stands must make savings and squeezing all the home fans, post covid, down one side will also add to the atmosphere.
The East stand could be split into sections to allow both home and away fans but would it be necessary given that we will no doubt be getting smaller crowds when we do get back in. Surely it makes more sense to condense the crowd into one area and reduce the running costs and improve the match day experience by having more of an atmosphere in the stadium. It is very apparent when you travel to away games that our fans become more vocal when herded into one side of the ground whereas at home they are spread around a large stadium and the space between them seems to be a dampening force on their enthusiastic support.
Like i said the season we got promoted to prem confusing too some laymans terms as yous said last season in championship
