Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sat Mar 08, 2014 10:36 am  

Don't know what the problem is Phil Clarke said Salford were outstanding on Thursday night so noble has nothing to worry about

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sat Mar 08, 2014 11:01 am  

The majority of Nobby's success has pretty much been down to breaking the salary cap.

i.e. by cheating.

He did it at Bradford, he did it at Wigan.

Therefore, the question is not so much as is he "past it" or whether he actually "had it" in the first place.

After all, it is easier to win with an opoen cheque book at your disposal.

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sat Mar 08, 2014 2:58 pm  

Noble relies entirely on Plan A. When that doesn't work, his teams come apart as Plan B is "Try more of Plan A"

Wigan got away with it largely because of Trent Barrett, O'Loughlin & later on Tomkins being able to win games by themselves, but he never won a big game with Wigan really. When it doesn't go their way this season they'll lean heavily on Chase expecting him to produce something out of nothing.

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sun Mar 09, 2014 12:09 am  

CM Punk wrote:

Noble relies entirely on Plan A. When that doesn't work, his teams come apart as Plan B is "Try more of Plan A"

Wigan got away with it largely because of Trent Barrett, O'Loughlin & later on Tomkins being able to win games by themselves, but he never won a big game with Wigan really. When it doesn't go their way this season they'll lean heavily on Chase expecting him to produce something out of nothing.

Which Chase is more than capable of doing. However, if the opposition stick to their game plan, Chase is likely to be the player who gets constantly closed down and will find himself lacking the time and space to actually produce anything.

[Bulliac]

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sun Mar 09, 2014 10:22 am  

Not sure Chase is the wisest signing Nobby has made. For sure he's a big draw on the gate [at least, you'd expect him to be] and an exceptional individual who can win games for a team. Probably shows up best in a team with low expectations and few other individual talents.

Have to say though If I were one of the playmakers in a team with Chase in it, I'd soon be pigged off with the way he plays. Even more so if I'd ever been any good, and particularly so if I were an international class player like some of the ones at Salford.

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:57 am  

Though the title asks is Nobby past it perhaps the question is are some of the older players brought in past it?
It is very unusual in the modern game to be able to match the pace of matches once you get over the 30 mark and legends like the Beaver who can maintain their standards up to near the 40 mark are exceptional.
So for all the chest beating and declarations of love for Salford I suspect a few of their signings were taking advice from their pension advisors prior to signing - good look to them you should never look a gift horse in the face.

[Bulliac]

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sun Mar 09, 2014 1:31 pm  

I think I mentioned something about it earlier in the piece, to be honest NR.

To look the new players in the mouth, as it were, you'd probably have to agree with what you suggest, however to look at it from the coach's perspective, he's trying to assemble pretty much whole new squad, so it makes sense to bring in some solid, [only just, former] internationals. These 'been there, done that', type of players, to whom fitting into new systems may well come more easily, are just what he needs to hold the squad together in the first season.

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:27 pm  

I say to early to make judgements as takes time to gel a new team.Look at Widnes in the first season in Superleague getting thrashed every week. Make judgements come june time.

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:19 pm  

Noble is one of the best British coaches the game IMO we all know what a fantastic job he did at the Bulls has we all know, he also did a great job at Wigan keeping them in SL (although breaking the salary cap in the process) and making them Super League competitors in the process the only thing he couldn't do was deliver silverware which led to his sacking, did a great job Crusaders with a slim budget and got them into the play offs in their second season in SL and did reasonable job has GB coach too, but I do think he is IMO a short term plan to Koukash's ambitions for Salford a bad string of results and I think he will get the sack.

Re: Is Nobby now past it? : Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:37 am  

Bulliac wrote:

I think I mentioned something about it earlier in the piece, to be honest NR.

To look the new players in the mouth, as it were, you'd probably have to agree with what you suggest, however to look at it from the coach's perspective, he's trying to assemble pretty much whole new squad, so it makes sense to bring in some solid, [only just, former] internationals. These 'been there, done that', type of players, to whom fitting into new systems may well come more easily, are just what he needs to hold the squad together in the first season.

Perhaps it shows you need more patience to build a team with solid foundations with your backers cash - though not necessarily taking a 100 years like Huddersfield