Glad of the on-site report, although it's very similar to the report given on the radio. On the reffing point; was it not the case that we were constantly mucking about at the play the ball? Or, is it a case that we've got a name for ourselves for being persistent infringers and thus refs are now looking to give penalties, perhaps without even realising it? A kind of unconscious negative stereotyping?

If you look at the stats on the superleague website you will see that Salford have had less ball than every other team in both of the two previous seasons. Despite having several new players we still get hammered on the penalty count

Either they are not being coached right to avoid giving away pens or there is a conspiracy between the referees against us? Perhaps they don't like their old changing rooms at the Willows?

I think it's time to build some relationships between our players and the refs. Invite them individually down to our training base and get them to talk to the players about their reffing methods. It couldn't do any harm. Apparently Leeds flew out one of the refs on the teams plane to Florida and he stayed in their hotel when we played them in Jacksonville.

already tried having the refs down, doesn't seem to work, we need a coach who can coach the players to play on the fringe like Wigan, or refs not to expect us to give away a penalty, which is harder to do.

As a KR supporter the ref had no control of the game at all it was Childs usual cr@p all about him, we played well but Ur discipline at times let you down, thought Patten was outstanding and Matty smith tried to keep things going, I think that after a few games your gonna be a force this season don't forget you had a few players out to. But defo some positives from your team .

To say we have some fickle and highly emotional fans is a little understated. The results of friendlies mean nothing in the long run, and I'd be saying the same thing if we'd have won by the same margin. All that matters is the 2 points when they are available.

I have repeated constantly elsewhere about how I feel we should judge the team and performances and wont repeat myself here.

The Club is trying really hard to change for the better in all aspects, and it would be a nice thing if fans tried to do the same. Instead of causing rumbles of discontent that reverberate to people at the Club, wouldn't it be a breath of fresh air if the fans actually got behind them, especially when the going gets rough. Slagging-off McRae at this moment in time just makes people look stupid and any valid points they may have will be ignored because of the venom thrown around.

I actually find it hard to believe I've actually written that last paragraph BEFORE the season has even started. Not surprised if I look deep down at some of our 'fans', and it leaves me feeling numb at how fickle human beings can be.

2 sinbins and a sending off, your lads had to play 30mins with a man down and a terrible ref who loves the attention on him.

It's usually our lot losing friendlies and having to convince each other they mean nothing, I hope it's not a bad omen winning one before Cardiff.

As a HKR fan before this game I had you marked as a team that would be difficult to beat. After that performance I only now worry you have lulled us into a false sense of security!!!!

The ref was abysmal especially to Salford. The Rovers fans were getting fed up of all the blowing of the whistle for or against us and some of the decisions were for what I could make out was for him to practice his hand signals!!

Good work on the people who made the trip over, can't have been an easy decision with so many games being called off over this weekend.

For Rovers I think the partnership of Dobson and Green really showed in this game they have what it takes to cement us in the top 6 while Kris Welham has improved even more in the off season and I may get shot down for this but on that performance (yes I know a friendly against 12 men for 30mins of the match) he may be on Macnamara's radar for an international jersey.

Good luck in the season, you will get better and your stars will perform once they settle in. The top 8 may be a tad ambitious but then the Crusaders were never looking like top 8 contenders at this stage last season.

England's 1, 2 & 3?

19 pens against Salford. It's a friendly so means very little.

However. I'm a great believer that success breeds success, and winning can become habitual. Unfortunately so can losing.....

People. The fact of the matter is our coach isn't up to the job. I don't judge him on our last 3 results. I judge him on the last 3 seasons.

Our team has lacked one important tell tale sign of improvement...

CONSISTENCY.

He can not motivate the team nor do the players respect him the way a coach should be respected, and I think that when a team think the coach is an incapable nor can he coach on professional level then it is reflected in there performance.

Mr Harrison was respected. Feared by some even. And it showed. The team were disciplined. And when the going got tough his determination And professionalism shone through.

Having the best squad since we rejoined Superleague means nothing unless we have the right man in charge. It's that simple.

And unfortunately we have to wait another season before that can become a possibility.

You never expected anything else did you ?SMASHED !

The result today doesn't exactly inspire you with confidence though does it? The coach and players are paid good money and I'm sure they will know it was a poor result (friendly or not) and they have not performed to their potential. I am a realist and don't expect us to finish any higher than 11th place but i'd be very pleased if we did. To criticise other fans for being passionate about a poor result is wrong. Give me (As you call them) emotional 'fickle fans' (who pay their money and want success for the club) over the 217000 people in Salford who aren't currently interested in watching rugby league any day of the week.

All the talk about backing them when the going gets rough is unfair because is that not what some Salford fans have done week in week out for a couple of decades? And yes fans emotions run high on here immediately after a poor result but i guarantee these diehards will be still be around with optimism and hope.

any other club would have shown macrae the door yonks ago,he seems to have a very good relationship with ric flare that seems to work in his favour, and still amazes me how many fans he has backing him/getting behind him etc......who honestlt on here thinks he is the man to take the club forward to the next level and be our head coach when we move to barton?????

I honestly think it is the move to Barton which will see a new coach that will try and move you forward. Maybe your board see any time at the Willows as dead money and would rather spend when you can attract bigger crowds? They know the players need to bond together so are spending there but a coach can be brought in when the right one is available. A fair few are off contract in Aus at the end of this NRL season so possibly this is what they are waiting for??

Ric Flare

19 penalties against us today! I mean 19 ffs what a joke how are we expected to compete against a team with a ref like that against us! they scored their try's on the back of nearly every successive penalty they were given, we were playing with 12 men for long periods of the game, and even conceded a penalty when we had possession we never had a chance to do anything today,

Child you absolute farce of a ref! I mean to give 19 pens against a team in a friendly I dread to think about a proper full blooded game, what will that be 38 penalties and 4 sending off's?

Well done HULL KR you were good but I think any team with that amount of possession and field territory would of easily won today.
The only way I could explain how bad the ref was today is if you imagine Ricky Hatton fighting while the ref ties his arms up and lets the other fighter take unlimited shots at him, there was just no chance of us winning, Imo referees should be seen never heard, but half these bloody clowns in SL just want to be in the limelight, if they want to be known throughout the RL world they should of tried playing rugby not being a whistle happy referee, sorry Hull KR I hope we will show you a tougher game next time without the clown in the middle blowing his whistle and sending players off because of petty things like swearing!

RANT OVER!

The chairman has told the squad, what this season means for the club,after to-day we know they mite not have
been listening. but the club should know its not only about improving the squad,Its also about having the right man
at the helm, they think they have,the fans or most of us think they have not.Mr Mcrae is past is sell by date
I hope I am wrong,but I don.t think we will finish in the top eight, because of that,and with the squad we have
got this season,that would be a tragedy, I don.t think they will sack the coach, so we have to hope the board are
right,and we are wrong,

SM is a laughing stock he's nothing more than a commentator. Correct players do not respect him FACT we have all seen numerous players response at FR meeting when they mention his coaching style or work ethic. Worrying about the coaching te now. SM already made my point. MA great player but not worked with any world class coaches. PV been out of work for 12 months wonder why? Eccles not 100% sure but again only ever work with our academy and if was learning off haigh, well that would not be much.


Again sorry for the complaints but 4 new season tickets purchased (2 adults 2kids) recently and still my hard earned money is wasted on a totally inept coaching team!!!!!!


Thoughts?

I still think our squad is leaps and bounds beyond yours though mate.

The most important signing ANY club will ever make is always the coach. That's coming from a Wigan fan who saw a very poorly coached Wigan squad be turned into Super League champions in one off-season by Mike Maguire.

Ironically though, Brian Noble would do a superb job at Salford for what you want to achieve this season. He'd take you into the top 8.

TBH you didn't help yourselves today though.
Yes Childs was being a d*** but the amount of gobbing off you gave him will have hardly brought him on your side.
I could be mistaken but it looked like Matty Smith gave him the rounds of the kitchen sink after we scored a try, He went on and on and on, Infact so much so that Dobson had time to place the ball, line it up kick it and actually watch the flags go up with Smith still at it.

Thought your lot could move the ball about well but our defence was never put under any pressure. Sorry to say but cannot see any more good things for you this season... The ref made 6 poor decisions 2 for us and 4 for you but you have big problems with your tactics, The ref not great but not that bad

From what I have heard the ref was terrible, but at the end of the day its a friendly. There is no need at this stage to be saying 'McRea Out', He has assembled the best squad we have had at the club in years. Its just a very disappointing start, don't worry things will only get better!

Bingo for me mate.

Yes it's easy to have a go at the ref & TBH I thought we had some very soft pens against us today. However, we also consistently infringed the rules of the game & surprise, surprise if you consistently break the laws of the game you'll consistently get penalised.

It's very easy to start calling for McRae's head after a performance as dreadful as the one that 40/50 of us had to endure this afternoon, however (and I can't believe I'm leaping to his defence here) I fail to believe that his tactics were for our players to consistently give away soft penalties. Nor do I believe that he instructed our team to become ineffectual in defence whenever HKR came within 10 metres of our line. The challenge for him now is to prove to us that now he has a squad with a bit of talent about it that he can take today's horror-show & make sure that we don't have to witness it again.

On a personal level, my partner has pointed out to me how much money I would have spent today & how much better we could have spent that on our daughter's impending arrival. Sadly, she's absolutely right but my point was that this was a vital game to see in order to gauge how close we are in being able to compete in 2 weeks time when the serious business starts. I only hope that I'm completely wrong & our daughter arrives in May to see a Salford side that IS capable of competing at the right half of the table. After the debacle I witnessed today I very seriously doubt it sadly.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=480872&start=75

Well constructed, sensible post however, SM has yet to prove himself. AFTER 3 years!

Whenever we've had a bad result we've never seen proof the following week he's done something (tactically or otherwise) to address things. If somthing has gone our way it more often than not came down to The players digging in as a group.

I'm sorry, I'm a glass half full kinda guy, and I want to see Salford do well, but this guy is not going to improve a side that needs improving.

As long as he's at the helm we won't see the top 8. Regardless of who joins our squad.

I will however for the next 9-10 months enjoy going to watch and support my club. But not SM.