As those who attended the match will know, the Coach did not make the individual mistakes that led to the tries.
Fitz, Tyrer and Broughton did but, they are decent players that most people would have had in the team.
One thing I would fault him for ,though , is that he had Gibson on the bench ,as cover for Mal, and then brought him on even though Alker stayed on.
He looked lost.
If Alker is not going to be spelled ,and he needs to be , then Ratchford should make the bench

brilliant! keep the slug i say

Blimey - cannot believe this sentence from the mouth of Bonita. Make the bench?

Ratchford is not a joiner he is a talented and creative player who we will lose because of SMc preference for tawdry plodders and desire for damage limitation which is driving Salford's Rugby loving fans to despair.

Just been watching the highlights of the Hull game again. How bad was some of Alker's passing? Gibson didn't look much better though, infact he looked even worse, and Jeremy Smith hasn't really impressed me either.

Other than appearing to sign anything in our price range, I can't work out what our recruitment policy was for this season. In Fitzy, Ratchford, J. Smith, M. Smith and Dan Holdsworth we now have 5 possible half backs, none of which are managing to form partnership. I know Fitzy hasn't played at 6/7 for a while, but I feel he's more a ball playing full back than an out and out full back.

We have a list of second rowers as long as your arm, but not enough grunt in the front row. Jewitt and Sidlow do seem to be making a difference and should have been in the team from the start of the season.

We have strengthened the backs, Jodi Broughton looks to have some ability and showed good strength to score his two tries at hull. Not sure about Gibson, and Tyrer needs extra tackle practice though. We'll be in trouble if Talau gets injured for any period of time.

There are, in my opinion, three problems:

1) A desperate need for proper leadership throughout the club.

2) We need to stop recruiting second rowers to play on the front row.

3) Until Alker gets hit with a bucket full of reality this isn't ging to change, but we need to recruit a hooker instead of Half backs to play hooker.

Agree with a number of points on here, particularly about problems at halfback. It is obvious to all (including our coach who has swapped players looking for the right combo) that this is an issue.

But again some seem to criticise the coach for things out of his control. I like Ratchford - he is a talented young player, who the coach gave a good opportunity in the 1st team - but he didn't take it. He has been poor in pretty much each game he has played this season.

Don't get me wrong - this does not make him a bad player, I think he could be superb in time. But lack of confidence? Focus? Whatever the issue is, the coach had the b**ls to drop him, and try someone else. Does that mean SR should be out of the squad for the rest of the season? No, of course not. But it seems slightly contradictory to me for some to chastise the coach for not swapping players after a loss, than chastise the coach for swapping players who aren't doing the business...

Ratchford got MotM one week, got dropped the next, played well against Wakefield, dropped the next week. If his confidence is low then that might be the coaches fault. Ratchford is doing everything he can do, but not getting into the team consistently. He's playing well in the reserves too, what more can he do? He can't be happy, doing all he can but not getting picked when the current half-back partnership isn't doing very well.

i'm sure i told you lot on here that our coach doesn't like ratchford! He wants to make a statement of who is in charge, how does he do this? drop the player the fans seem to love the most!

If the Coach picks his team based on who the fans on the Turkey like the most,then he has to go !!
He has much more sense than that.
Suggest we allow the coach to call it as he sees it.
We did well against Hull and were decent against Wire until 2 minutes from half time when we were unlucky.
On limited resources, he is doing a OK job and ,if the fans weren't moaning about Ratchford,it would be something else.

We do need options at acting half back, though.
Malcolm has been a tremendous club man but he is now part of the problem,rather than the solution !

It's sad that Mal can't see what we see. His response to Steveo's comments last, regardless of their accuracy, is a clear indication the state of mind Mal has got himslef into. I still think one of the main differences bewteen Mal now and Mal under Harrison/Lowes was that the coaching team then was getting him to work on his weeknesses. Whereas now he seems to think he is the finished article. An attitude that is a big problem in a player, and a massive problem in a coach.

Just the way I see it, hope I'm wrong.

I can see why he thinks that.
His game is all about strength,commitment and 100% effort.
No doubting he gives that,wish they all did.

BUT

When Gibson came on at Warrington,if Mal was going to stay on,he should still have given him the acting half back role.
If he can't see that then he might rightly be the senior pro but he certainly isn't a budding coach!

i've said for a while now that malc needs to go, he has too much influence over players i feel. Having him on the coaching staff was a mistake because as i said before the season started, the coach makes the call when to make interchanges etc, if malc doesn't want to come off when told, is he going to do it? Plus he can make part of the game plan that he stays on the full 1st half, which he shouldn't do. I bet we are the only team in the league that doesn't interchange it's hooker in the 1st half?

Totally agree

This is a really good reason to KEEP Alker on the staff, as long as he is managed properly.

We've had lots of problems in the past of coaches 'losing the dressing room' and having someone like Alker who has influence over the players AND a good working relationship with the coach could be a real asset.

Would have agreed with you a few years ago. Alker is all about determination and commitment, qualities that you want in all your players. Unfortunately, the game is far slicker than when Alker first started playing in super league. He seems short of the skills now required to play hooker and lacks the clarity of vision to see what is good for the team.

Alker would be a great fitness coach, but results during Alker's time at the club speak for themselves. Not that I would blame Salfords performances over the last 10 years or so on Alker, far from it, the guy would physically have moved heaven and earth for our cause, he just lacked the know how to perform this task. The fact remains, he has spent the majority of his career on the losing end, and in terms of installing a winning attitude in the team you have to question whether or not he is the right man to be assistant coach.

Well the tide is finally turning.
I and a few others have been saying for along time that Alker is past it, they then give him a coaching role


Unfortunately he has way to much power at the club even Robbie Paul used to call him boss FFS.
We have a ultra boring percentage plays head coach and a defensive minded assistant.
No wonder we cant score tries.
I am also happy that it was not a huge defeat at Wire, but come on 2 points scored is a absolute disgrace.

It's really not that much of a disgrace at all.

- Wire have got the second best defensive record in the league.

- They've only conceded an average of 12 points per game (and we're far from being an average team!)

- They have kept a clean sheet in the second half of almost half their matches this year.

- They nilled Harlequins (and scored 58 in the process!)

I don't doubt that we have improvements to make in attsck but maybe we should try to keep things in perspective?

Prestwich red, Firstly regards only scoring 2 points on Friday, this was not down to the Warrington great defence but Salford taking the wrong option twice in the first half, we should have gone in leading at half time, not saying we would have won but the score line does not reflect that Salford played well in the first half.

Second point, great post Lincoln devilfan, I think Mal has been a great servant to the club but he is in my opinion not ready to coach Salford at Super league level. I agree give him a roll in training the players but don't give him more power & influence on the team than he already as.
Why! Mal will certainly get the players fit, but how many times have we heard, they have trained the house down this week, well in my opinion training is more than being fit, it is also about coaching new ideas! Mal maybe in later years, will become a good coach but unlike Robbie Paul he has never experienced anywhere else at super league or national league one level & only ever knows the Salford setup which has never been the best coaching setup other than when Harrison & Lowe in the early days together.

I have only used Robbie as an example but I think someone of his experience would have been good for some of the younger players.
This is not have a go at Mal Alker who has been one of the best over the last few years but to become a good coach & to learn more, I think he would be better moving on, I think it would be a great boost for him at this time in his career & good for Salford as I think he his too close to the club & the old ways to be an objective positive influence.

Interesting to read the comments on Alker. The fact he was reinstated to captain last season must surely have undermined McRae's authority. It begs the question if it was McRae's choice to bring Alker on to the coaching staff.

I think it's pretty clear that the team are on "care and maintenance only" pending the arrival of the stadium (or not) - let's face it, IF the stadium doesn't materialise then it must be odds on that we'd lose the franchise - so why spend money on the team now?

I can only hope that the directors do have a plan to go with the arrival of the stadium to be able to put together a team that can compete.

THE ONLY PLAN THE DIRECTORS HAVE GOT IS ONE FROM BALDRICK.

Well Lance theyve kept us in Super League on a Fan Base of 2,000 so thats not bad for starters. You ought to learn how to do sums before you make such childish remarks. If you have a multi millionaire ready to take over please let us all know as soon as possible. In reality there isnt one about just now so be thankful with what you have got.

I've been saying this for some time. It's blatantly obvious that the club have priorities other than the standard of rugby we can put out this season.

The squad is just not good enough to regularly compete with the other SL sides. Some of McRea's strategies are just downright baffling, but as they say "[iyou can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"[/i

Or polish a turd

On the other side of the coin, maybe it was McRea who wanted Malc reinstated as captain????

He would be undermining himself as a consequence.