Ian Millward

Well, the Ian Millward saga rumbles on and on. Rumour, claims, conjecture and speculation are still the order of the day. Personally speaking (and let’s face it, who else would want me speaking for them?) any sympathy I may have had for the man disappeared the moment he signed for Wigan. I know he was unemployed and needed work but to go to the Pie Eaters is the biggest kick in the teeth he could have administered to the Saints fans short of … well it’s hard to think of what would be worse.

When his suspension was first announced there was widespread disbelief that the club could treat their most successful coach in this way. There were long and vocal protests at and after the Challenge Cup game against York and most fans understandably took the side of the coach in the absence of any clear indications from the club about why they had proceeded in this manner. When the news filtered out that it was about swearing there was incredulity in abundance. Swearing? You must be joking. Or as the terrace chant had it – “F*ck off, he only said F*ck off!”. When the news got more concrete it appeared that there was more to it than just swearing – abusing an employee of Saints, abusing an employee of Warrington Wolves (using sexist language allegedly) and abusing an official of the RFL. Still some fans stuck by Millward although the mood on the Messageboards was shifting somewhat. Rumour persisted that despite the seriousness of these allegations there was something more serious which had not yet been revealed publicly – a rumour that still persists.

Millward continued to express his desire to continue coaching at St Helens, his love of the club and the players and his special relationship with the fans. He has allegedly previously expressed his hatred of Wigan and Maurice Lindsay at supportes’ meetings and now he has joined them as coach. Apparently it took him only five minutes to decide. I have seen his position compared to that of Gordon Strachan who, after leaving Southampton, was offered the job at their arch-rivals Portsmouth. Strachan said that the Portsmouth job was a great opportunity but not for a former Southampton manager. He has retained the respect and admiration of the Saints (football variety) fans for that. Had Ian Millward acted similarly he would have had the keys to the town for life and would have been welcomed back by the fans no matter which club he was with.

As it stands the fans are stunned that he could jump straight into bed with Wigan. Already he has started the mind games for which he is notorious by saying he would not flinch from signing Saints players leading to the inevitable speculation about who will jump ship. I see this as nothing more than an attempt to destabilise St Hellens before the new coach, Australian Daniel Anderson, has had a chance to establish himself. The players need reminding that their loyalty, such as it is, is to the club not to their ex-coach and that they are all under contract. Having said that if any player is still not 100% committed to St Helens after that reminder they should be told where the door is.

Eamonn McManus (Chairman) and Sean McGuire (Chief Executive) have done a tremendous job in turning the club around financially and should receive the backing of the fans.

It will be interesting to see what the reaction of the fans will be when Millward returns to Knowsley Road on 26 June in the Challenge Cup. Some Saints fans on the Messageboard have been wishing him luck in his new job. I’m sorry; good luck for Millward now means good luck for Wigan and I am not going to hope for that. I hope they stay a trophy-free zone for as long as they exist. I won’t boo Millward – I will concentrate on supporting my team and its new coach. I have seen Millward called Judas and I can’t disagree with that at the moment. It’s the ultimate betrayal. The only saving grace is that the issue has also divided the Wigan fans, who for years have referred to him as “Goldfish Gob” and worse.

We all need to move on now, however, and the best way to do that is to get behind Daniel Anderson and the players on Friday in their game against the League Leaders and current Champions Leeds Rhinos. It promises to be a hell of a night.