RE Tasi and Fages, because the current Super League champions want them. They're currently playing for a team 11th in the league, it's a no brainer. Dobson has another 3 years left on his contract at Salford too, whereas Luke Walsh has 2016 and then he's off, so Theo will be a regular 2 years earlier than with us.

Paterson is pure speculation, but looking at his playing career he doesn't tend to stay in one place too long. He seems like a player that struggles with motivation and needs a change of scenery and a different challenge to keep him going. The fact he only signed a 12 month contract would back this up to.

Dr K has a huge number of race horses and reputable newspapers estimate his wealth between $900m and $3 billion. Dr K has never corrected these estimates.

Did Hock sign himself for the club? Salford signed him! Only a moron would sign Hock anticipating a problem free time.

If Puletua has not been paid it is a disgrace. Has Noble resolved his payment issues?

There are many talented youngsters at clubs who do not seek to jump ship. Retaining talent is a key role for a sport club - maybe someone should tell Marwan and Vickers?

I guess bailiffs, debt collectors and many CCJs etc is considered by many to be a form of meltdown

Neither did Robert Maxwell and ,before anybody kicks off,no I'm not comparing them. I'm simply saying that publicity seekers are unlikely to correct inflated values of their own wealth. Despite that I wish I was a quid behind him !
Apart from that I think your general assessment is pretty much spot on

Clubs with a professional and positive culture retain talent. At Salford it appears quality people want out as their contract ends, even resorting to requesting a transfer. No one forced Salford to sign Dobson and leave fewer options for Fages. Lots of clubs have talented young players and retain them.Likewise the club chose to give Locke a huge, long contract and then started offering him around. Also Noble was the great hope and sacked within months. A great shame.

Old saying in business and as a general rule its never far wrong

Perception is reality.

I think Bonita Red is the lady that got banned from following the club on Twitter. Clearly has a massive grudge against Marwan.

Marwan clearly has some knowledge how to run a successful business, you don't have what he has without it unless you win Euromillions. I do agree the way the club is run is a shambles and embarrassing for the fans. I believe he has the wrong people around him, advising him and needs a complete overhaul of staff (includes you Mr Vickers, I'm sure you've still got some of that council pay off to last you).

I'd get sheens in and give him full control, he can decide whether to keep Harris and ensure Marwan has a personal PR advisor that controls his Twitter account. As for banning fans from following the club then moaning about crowd figures.... Seems a bit silly.

No,you couldn't be more wrong.
I think he's been brilliant for the club,both in terms of saving it,but also promoting it.
His complete overhaul with big name players was exactly what we'd been hoping for,for years.
He's been brilliant for the sport.
He's made mistakes along the way but better that than him not being here.
The misgivings I have relate purely to his reported wealth and business success,reports of which are taken to be gospel.
As long as this doesn't have any adverse effect on the club,then long may he reign.

Your on a planet of your own.Lets take Simon Moran as an example (if you know who that is)..He signs cheques and leaves everything to people in place.He doesn't stick his nose into something he knows nothing about,he just signs the cheques.

The game would be at a loss without Marwan,but it's just not sinking in with him.

Exactly, its putting a finger on why you are 11th in the league thats the problem (all teams have injuries and Cas have had a lot missing also) As regards Patterson i agree with you 100%.

I can`t understand who is giving Marwan advice on the Rugby front, Vickers doesn`t know anything about the game or from what i can see much about running a rugby club.

2 decisions have baffled me

Locke - fit playing even 90% of his capability a heck of a player and a great addition. BUT we did not need a FB, ask almost any Salford fan and they would have told him to go with Evalds as first choice FB. Although playing on the wing BJB could more than adequately fill in should there be injuries.

Dobson - again fit a great addition BUT we had Theo already playing in the 1st team who will be and has been growing into a top HB, he is not a hooker. To sign Dobson on for 2 years would have been hard on Theo giving him a 4 year contract blocks any chance of him regularly playing HB.

Their signing has to a large extent been why Theo is unhappy and had Locke not been unlucky with injuries no doubt Evalds wouldn`t be playing and similarly looking elsewhere. No wonder Saints an others are sniffing at our door they recognise the quality we have.

We desperately need someone with a good knowledge about rugby and the talent we have who has the authority and stones to guide Marwan better than has been the case to date. And occasionally to rein in his "enthusiasm" !

At the moment there is so much negativity coming out of the club its hard to be enthused about anything. Looking forward to standing in the rain on Sunday in the bargain basket derby with Wakefiedl

Excellent post redhope

It’s fair to say MK is a novice of the sport and that we have a relatively young and inexperienced coach. As you correctly point out our CEO was purely an administrative appointment and has probably even less rugby league knowledge and experience than the good Doctor.

As much as I believe there should be a professional working relationship and dialogue between Chairman and Coach I also feel the club would benefit greatly by appointing an experienced, respected person in RL that offers a wealth of knowledge on the British game.

I just feel the club would benefit from having a figurehead with the knowledge and respect to support, advise and challenge the coaching and youth systems and structures. I believe we need a smart operator with an abundance of player knowledge, a shrewd contact negotiator that has good working relationships with agents and scouts. My advice would be to make this person the spokesperson for the club and for Marwan to refrain from commenting on rugby related subjects to the news media and on social media.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence just how much Leeds Rhino’s improved as a club when they appointed Gary Hethrington all those years ago. I can recall many people taking great satisfaction from just how much Leeds were spending whilst having an under achieving team. To me there are parallels between Salford now and Leeds several years ago.

I hope nobody interprets my views as a personal attack or having an agenda because it’s not, it’s simply my thoughts on what I believe the club would greatly benefit from.

B*llocks. Castleford appear to have quite a positive and professional culture. It didn't stop them losing Daryl Clarke to Warrington did it? Also Tom Lineham has just left Hull FC to also pursue silverware at Warrington. Fact is, players will move on to further their career. There is no shame in that and until we can challenge on a consistent basis at the top end of the table, the likes of Saints, Leeds, Warrington and Wigan will always be bigger and better attractions than us.



Salford needed Dobson and still do. When they're both fit, Dobson starts over Theo all day long. I thought Dobson was the perfect mentor for Theo, because one of Fages biggest weakness is his kicking game (which incidentally has improved this season - no coincidence). My only criticism of the club is the length of contract they offered Dobson, 2 years was plenty, 4 years was taking the p*ss and you can understand Theos frustration.



I cant condone the clubs behaviour regarding Kevin Locke. It has been shameful from the outset. It will have also seriously dented our reputation to other players within Super League and the NRL. Locke is a well known figure and has plenty of friends back over in the NRL who would have genuine reservations about joining Salford after the way Koukash and Vickers have treated him. Particularly when we now know that the specialist misdiagnosed his injury. Hardly Kevin's fault is it?



Great hope? The bloke signed a team full of journeymen and average Australians. I don't disagree with the clubs sacking of him. Remember it was Noble who sent Marc Sneyd on a season long loan to Castleford and wouldn't give either Evalds or Fages a chance.

Spot on JGR.

The Noble appointment just showed Dr K's naivety in RL, I recall a truly cringeworthy interview on Radio Manchester with the Doc sat alongside Brian Noble and saying how honoured he would be if Noble were to accept the position at Salford !

The players have not been falling out or having arguments with Harris

Excellent post JGR - back to form there.

Could it be the same reason Keith Mason not only sued but won at court after his action against Huddersfield?
How many players have left Huddersfield since January 2013?


JGR,
As an outsider can you correct me where I go wrong on this possibly erroneous belief,please?
Locke arrived and played at Huddersfield and was then injured.While not playing it was reported in the MEN that he had been in contact/contacted by the Scottish RFU as he was eligible to play for Scotland due to the birthplace of a relative.
It was when this became known that SRD decided that he was not loyal.Only recently,as with most if not all players,Dr K made it known he would be prepared to listen to offers?
If incorrect what is the 'timeline' (?) of events,please?

Until more information comes to light I'd rather reserve judgement on Kevin Locke. To me the clubs actions are totally incomprehensible without a reason.

If you are going to pick out the odd counter example do try and select better ones. Neither Clark nor Lineham requested a transfer before the end of their contract. Clark played over 90 games for Cas and in 2014 Cas were more successful than the Wolves. Plenty of clubs manage to retain talented youngsters.

There is little doubt that Veivers, Locke, Puletua etc have plenty of contacts in Oz. It makes overseas recruitment increasingly difficult.

The bailiffs, debt collectors and ccjs will not encourage agents and players from overseas and the UK, That is dismal.

Re Noble, yes Marwan did big him up and spoke of finishing high in the table. I wouldn't have employed Nobby as a head coach. But DR K and his expert advisors did make this choice. Then later the dismissal of Noble appeared poorly managed.

All these things and many more happening in around 2 years is a shambles. Who is responsible?

Whilst I agree with Red Hope and Red Shed, because of our lack of squad depth and no academy set up like Saints, Wigan etc, don't we need to have quality players on the books who can step in when we have injuries or suspensions like has happened, (squad is too small and a couple out and the team is affected badly)? Hence we have no choice but to 'buy in' talent until we can sufficiently supply our OWN players when need be (trouble is this may upset those that may come through). This will of course take a long time but I don't see much choice atm. There needs to be a complete restructure of the way the route to the first team works and understanding of what that means when you get to the fringes so there is no 'upset'. I also absolutely agree we need someone between CEO and Chairman who knows everything about RL, essential in my eyes and the Coach refusing EH coming in speaks volumes. TS anyone?

BTW this is just my opinion from a long distance.

Quote ="redwolf" I also absolutely agree we need someone between CEO and Chairman who knows everything about RL, essential in my eyes and the Coach refusing EH coming in speaks volumes. TS anyone? '" I'd be looking for a candidate like Tony Rae as Football Director. Player, Coach, Chief Exec, Director with experience of bringing through several good kids at London. Furthermore a Sky Sports pundit. (Perfect media figurehead) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Rea

Quote ="redwolf" I also absolutely agree we need someone between CEO and Chairman who knows everything about RL, essential in my eyes and the Coach refusing EH coming in speaks volumes. TS anyone? '" I'd be looking for a candidate like Tony Rae as Football Director. Player, Coach, Chief Exec, Director with experience of bringing through several good kids at London. Furthermore a Sky Sports pundit. (Perfect media figurehead) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Rea

Prior to him joining Salford, the Scottish RU offered Locke a lucrative contract to join them (much more than Salford offered). Not only did Locke want to stay playing RL, but his girlfriend (very talented netball player) had also been offered a contract with Manchester Thunder therefore the decision to choose Salford seemed logical.

The only time the Scottish RU interest came around again, was due to Koukash contacting them and asking if they were still interested. This was born from Marwans frustration at his marquee signing, whom he was paying a lot of money (in Super League and particularly Salford Red Devils terms) that was spending most of the time on the treatment table. Locke did meet with Scottish RU, but wasn't interested in their plans and wanted to remain at Salford.

Following this, Koukash continued to claim he would listen to offers for Locke.

Since then, he has continued to suffer the reoccurrence of hip injury which was initially diagnosed and treated as a groin problem (hence the consistent reoccurrence). Now this issue has been treated properly, it is hoped Locke is now approaching full fitness for the first in probably 2/3 years. I understand the knee clean out he also had done recently was done so just because he would be out for a set period anyway is pretty much a formality.

Therefore, in summary; Locke arrives > provides a masterclass v Huddersfield > injured > treated for groin injury > returns > becomes injured again > Koukash grows frustrated > contacts Scottish RU asking if they're still interested > Locke confirms he wants to stay at Salford > returns from injury > injured again > Koukash says he will listen to offers > Locke gets correct diagnoses on hip injury > working on returning to full fitness.

I think the main axe Koukash has to grind, is he's paying a lot of money to Locke, he has seen little return and Niall Evalds has emerged who is earning 15% of Lockes salary and performance brilliantly thus rendering the need for Locke at all. However that is no excuse to treat a player in the manner he has been.

Locke's sponsor posts on here too, so I am sure he will correct me of any inaccuracies in all of the above.

We couldn't have put it any better ourselves JGR

Thank you for your time and patience,gentlemen.



Much more informative than I had originally understood the situation to be.