The Leigh game certainly seems to have a brought many of us back down to earth.



The lack of yards being made by our forwards still seems to be a major issue. Against Leigh I witnessed them both getting dominated, severely, and then running over the top of their players. Out of Neal, Jewitt and Boyle I thought Neal looked the better player towards the end of last season, but then none of three looked particularly adequate against Leigh and Boyle definitely has a few pounds to shed before the season starts.



As for the centres. Gibson is head shoulders better than either Henry or Nero, when it comes to creating space and passing to his wingman. Knowing McRae he'll probably go with the Aussie players over a young Bitish one.



WHich brings me onto the coaching staff. McRae needs to come up with some sort of winning mentality and fast. He needs to take stock of himself and come with some ethusiasm, some desire to win and, most of all, a fricking game plan. Something we definitely didn't have at Leigh.





On the plus side!!!



If Danny Holdsworth can get the team firing and organise the attack then we could score some points. We also have some players with a little bit of, lets call it, X-factor this year. Not Karaokee champions, but the likes of Feka, Broughton, Gibson, Cashmere, Patten and Ratchford, the type of player that can produce something that little bit special and turn a game around for us.

I agree with everything as a whole but I think the bottom line is (and I hate to say it) we are not going to make the play off's with Shaun McRae as coach, and if we do (by miracle) it will be short lived.



I hate to be blunt but the fact is (and I have it from several good sources) he cant coach at top level. I'm not trying to burst any bubble here. I too am buzzing and as excited as ever about the new season but I think Shauns main problem is he cant develop/guide or coach the younger members of our squad. Anything our younger home grown talent have learnt has been self taught or taught from other staff. If you look at other clubs and coaches, with up and coming talent, they know how to harness that talent and that rawness and coach it into a good performance onto the pitch Eastmond/Tompkins/Burgess Etc. I think the likes of Adamson, Jewitt, Ratchford, Sidlow have done well to progress at this level in the environment they have. I hear it that since the arrival of Mike Eccles things have changed for the good. I don't think fitness will be an issue this season. I also here that Phil and Mal are a great combo and are a breath of fresh air. I believe that this overall combination will see us reach 8th and finish 10th.



On Adamson I think watching him play through injury last season and put his body on the line week after week when fact is he wasn't fit says allot. Especially in a sport were fitness is paramount. I'm sure all of you will agree his determination and commitment isn't in doubt and again I think he's progressed well considering he hasn't been coached properly. I think Adamson is our future in terms of captaincy. He leads by example, he's committed , a solid performer (when fit) and above all has the respect of the entire squad.



An interesting bit of info I came across after "wiki'ing Mr McRae was his track record. Which isnt comforting to say the least. Apart from Saints (were he had a pre made squad) his results as a "coach" have declined considerably.



Years Team Gms W D L W%

1996–98 St. Helens 70 50 2 18 71

1999 Gateshead 30 19 1 10 63

2000–02 Hull FC 87 48 3 36 55

2005–06 South Sydney 48 12 1 35 25

2007– Salford City Reds 18 3 0 15 17



I appreciate there not update, but still not pretty and clearly show a steady decline. Has he won more than 25% in charge of Salford ?



Have we or are we still paying Karl Harrison an annual fee/payoff ? If not then i'm sure we could shove Bomber upstairs or into gardening duty and make way for a willing an able coach.



rant over.

Mcrae's contract was the biggest blag in the history of salford coaches

, This MUST be his last season in charge , he is not and never has been the man to take us forward. Step forward FOR 2012 NobleOr>Kear(Especially with wakey looking dead in the water)

I fully expect the Salford faithful to quickly make one of the new mega signings a scapegoat should they not start off the season firing on all cylinders.

No need to worry. The scapegoat is already in place:

A scapegoat is a someone targeted with unwarranted victimisation for a situation he is not responsible over.



Shaun being the Head Coach is very much responsible and head coaches ultimately pay the price for a teams performance.

likeable though he is

I agree, although there's only so much a coach can do if the players don't perform up to standard. Something that happened readily last season and McRae still got it in the neck. I don't think victimizing anyone is particularly helpful to a club when things go wrong. It starts to eat away at a Club like an infection and spreads its doom and gloom to all.



There's a time and a place for questioning peoples ability, hopefully this season some of our fans will not jump on the bandwagon after a couple of games.

It's simple if Shaun McRae puts in the effort and makes the right calls as far as training methods, player development, team selection, game plans and match interchanges the team should do much better this year. If he gets this right he will gain the respect of the players and give them confidence and the motivation to perform for Salford on the field.



I genuinely hope he can prove a lot of doubters wrong (myself included) now that he has a much stronger looking squad and new backroom staff to work with.



It will be a very interesting year!

Wishful thinking. It's clear that with some, of whom are ground down after the last few years, McRae's position is untenable. There was dissension during the Leigh friendly.

I'm not expecting much, it is Salford after all





On a serious note I really do think people are getting a little too excited yes I'm as excited as anyone for the season to start, but just have a feeling it could really go t1ts up as things tend to do at Salford. Hope i'm proved wrong, but I'm afraid thats what watching Salford for years does to you!!



C'mon Reds prove me wrong!!

Isn't it great to have a sense of excitement pre season again though?



Last year pre season was very much a underwhelming experience. I can't remember speaking to anyone who was excited about the coming season.

It makes me laugh when people say McRae inherited a winning team at Saints. He actually took over a team that hadn't won the league since 1974-75 and the Challenge Cup since 1976. He won them both in his first season.