[batch]

i got to go in dave whelan's hellicopter Cool

I see Sir Dave of Parbolds chopper quite regularly. It flys over my house on its way to landing at JJB HQ :cool:

[Mardy_Bum]

He was always such a good guy, whenever i saw him. (whelan this is)

obviously at the time, due to being young i didnt take much interest of the fact he was worth a fair amount of cash, and owned JJB. but i was best friends with his grandson so used to see him a fair bit.

he used to bring his grandson signed beckham shirts etc, and even got me tickets to a few england games with my dad. I heard a few years back his son in-law killed himself? that was the guys house i used to stay in.

anyway, somehow there seems to be a massive group of friends of mine that are from wigan at my Uni, and they HATE whelan, mentioning the rugby club going bankcrupt and Whelan doing nothing about it? im not sure, but i hope you stay up this year anyway.

yeah rambling over. :*)

[batch]

mentioning the rugby club going bankcrupt and Whelan doing nothing about it? im not sure,

Well he had some dodgy dealings regarding Orrell Rugby Union going to the wall but i can see it being that they are bothered about cos no other person in Wigan was, which was unfortunate.

If its Wigan Rugby then he bought them so late in the day that they had already written the statement saying they were going to the wall, all it needed was it to be issued as a press release. Many of the Wigan Rugby lot dont like him for some reason. I cant quite work out why because if it wasnt for him at worst they wouldn't exist anymore and at best they'd be playing at the Reebok Staidium.

[batch]

I heard a few years back his son in-law killed himself? that was the guys house i used to stay in.

Yeah, Duncan Sharpe who apparantly encouraged Whelan to buy us in the first place. He was vice chairman at the time and was all set to take over at JJB (Whelan still owned about 80% at the time) and Latics when Dave wasnt able to do that any longer.

Now we are a bid screwed if anything happens to Dave, in the short term at least, as there is nobody ready to step into the void.

[batch]

Bid for Koumas accepted :thup:

Little more than i'd he liked but never mind. Probably here for talks tomorrow.

Reckon it will fall through though

If it doesnt we could have most of the squad together before the trip to Holland which is a bonus considering Jewell never had any in before the pre season tour :cool:

[Darko Pancev]

Still not sure about Koumas, West Brom fans seem genuinely gutted to see him leave if he does. Can't help but remember when he was last in the Prem, and seemed too lightweight in midfield- didn't Gerrard say if you hit him hard early doors, he dissapears.... still, he seems to have swung opinions at the Hawthorns and saw bugger all Championship football last season, so maybe he has come on. Possibly overpriced as well, but at least this shows intent on our part.

Think we have a decent side getting together, though we will need someone to replace Lee Mc when he goes, and another forward if Camara is shipped off. Two potential England fullbacks,and England squad keeper (when fit), a Dutch Midfield International who has found his feet with the pace of the English game, and a rejuvenated Heskey. A lot depending on how well Bramble settles.

What you said on the previous page about Andreas batch, like him Koumas could be a little lightweight in midfield as part of a pair, so maybe Hutchings will change the formation- we would would have two players who could play just behind the front two and Valencia can play inside Right.
:prays:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> KirklandTaylor Boyce Bramble Baines Valencia Landzaat/ Scharner ???/Kilbane Koumas/Johansson Heskey ????/Folan/Aghahowa </pre>

[mangelito]

Originally posted by batch:
Who knows. He could be first choice or last choice next season under the new manager.

Technically he's the best player at the club though. Unfortunately our last manager played 4-4-2 and nothing else. When Johansson played it was usually as a striker. It was easy for everyone (apart from the manager_ to see that this wasnt his best position but AJ never complained, got on with his job, and scored 8 goals for us two seasons ago.

Last season he played even less for us and did tell the local newspaper that he would consider his position this summer. I've not heard anything about him going anywhere though. I think if an offer came we would let him go but i think with the new manager he will get more chances this season and may play just behind the striker - which i've heard is his preferred position.

Thanks for the info. You are right in that AJ's best position is just behind the strikers. In Djurgården he played at the top of a 3-man midfield triangle behind a forward line of 3. He got the space he needed, and with space and facing goal with the ball at his feet he is deadly.

Comparing to other players that have left the swedish league for the premiership, he is defineatly good enough for the premiership. He was so dominant in Allsvenskan.

[bluearmy]

Off our official site.

Wigan Athletic to make announcement on new player this morning

Club confirm that it will be announcing an exciting new signing later this morning, keep checking the site for details!!

Come one Koumas!

[bluearmy]

Jason Koumas becomes 6th summer signing for Chris Hutchings

Wigan Athletic have won the race to sign the exciting Wales international playmaker Jason Koumas from West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee, who joins Titus Bramble, Antoine Sibierski, Mario Melchiot, Andreas Granqvist and Carlo Nash at the club, becoming manager Chris Hutchings' 6th signing since taking over.

Right: Koumas, the first picture, Jason shakes on it with his new Gaffer Chris Hutchings prior to signing his deal at the JJB Stadium this morning

Koumas was named the Championship Player of the Year at the Football League Awards in March and Hutchings was absolutely delighted to land the Wrexham-born 27 year-old, who was in Wigan this morning (Tuesday) to undergo a medical and sign a four year deal at the JJB Stadium.

"Jason is a touch of class," said Hutchings, "and I am convinced he will add a new dimension to the team. There were a number of other Premiership clubs interested in him, which makes me even more delighted he's chosen to join us.

"He has tremendous ability, fantastic vision and I sincerely hope he can continue where he left off in the Premiership, because his skills deserve to be seen at the highest level."

He added: "We've pushed the boat out to get him but now we turn our attention to other targets. We've done well in the transfer market so far but there's still room to improve the squad further."

Koumas began his career at Liverpool as a young boy alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen, before joining Tranmere Rovers as an apprentice and breaking into the first team at the age of 19 and scoring an impressive 25 goals in 95 league starts.

Gary Megson paid £2.25 to take him to West Bromwich Albion in 2002, where he was voted Player of the Season during the Premiership season of 2002-03, and has twice inspired the team to promotion. He has scored a highly impressive 23 goals from midfield in 103 starts at the Hawthorns.

He has 15 Welsh caps and is a member of John Toshack's current squad, alongside David Cotterill.

Koumas will join the rest of the squad in training this week, and then travel with the team on their pre-season trip to Holland next week.

Another one in the bag :thup:

[batch]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> KirklandTaylor Boyce Bramble Baines Valencia Landzaat/ Scharner ???/Kilbane Koumas/Johansson Heskey ????/Folan/Aghahowa </pre>

Would be my prefered. WE'd need Scharer in the middle to break up attacks imho. Landzattand Koumas woudnt be able to do that. Both seem scared of sticking a foot in.