Benji Marshall in for $3m.

Clearly a rumour stirred up by someone who didn't read the "who hasn't previously played rugby league" bit of the union salary cap exemption.

And there's another first from the Doctor as he terminated the former Manly duo of Liam Foran and Vic Mauro last season and put them back on a plane to Aus due to there underwhelming performances.

Big clear out again then?

That's fine when your not spending up to the cap (as I assume Salford weren't last year) - but any pay offs count on the cap, and given they're supposedly spending up to the cap, it isn't an option without moving money around ...

What astounds me more than anything is the little faith people have in Marwan Koukash. Sure he might not be the most knowledgeable man in the world when it comes to RL, but first and foremost he is a very, very successful businessman who has made hundreds of millions in his time. He knew nothing about horse racing, a few years later and he's racking up over 100 winners. He would not have made this decision lightly and unless he felt it was in the best interest of the club. After everything he has done for our club thus far, I have every faith in his decision(s).

Maybe after all you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

A top coach would have this salford team pushing for a top 4 place. They have a top quality halfback pairing, an agressive pack, and they have skill and speed outwide.

Noble is clearly past his best now as a coach. I'm not sure harris is the answer either. All these people spouting the tired old cliche ''you can't buy success, it takes years to build and hone blah blah'' are talking cobblers IMO. The mistake these rich guys always seem to make is getting the players on the pitch, but not the team behind the scenes. It happened for years at warrington, they get a top coach in and within months (literally, months!) they land silverware. Hull are the same to a certain extent since pearson took over (though i don't think they even get the players on the pitch part right). Continually appointing mediocre coaches, so despite making some reasonable signings, they are mediocre on the field.

If Salford had appointed someone with the ability of say michael maguire, to have the same kind of impact within super league, they'd probably win the CC this year, and be a threat in the playoffs, barely a year after koukash had taken over.

So yeah, you can buy success. The head honcho just needs to make the right decisions. Jurys out on harris.

The squad isn't good enough to make top 8 never mind top 4 in my opinion, regardless of who the coach is.

If, it's as described and the players have instigated this then they should have been told to shut up or leave. It's not up to players to coach the team.
If Noble wasn't the right man for the job then it was a poor decision to hire him in the first place.
If it's because of player pressure then it's weak management from Koukash and leaves Nobles replacement in a dodgy position of having to please the players.

If it's because of results then Koukash has massively overreacted to just 7 games in SL and has massively overestimated the quality of squad he has at Salford.

Either way it's not good.

That'd be truer with the players Salford signed this year if they'd got them in 2009. As it stands, it's a lot of big names who are past their best and are really only there for a retirement package. I suppose it depends on who's responsible for those signings, Noble or Koukash, as to who's really to blame. Noble has shown when at Bradford that his choice is established players rather than bedding in youngsters. But even so, the smarter thing to do would have been to sign in guys in their mid 20's so you've got the foundations for a long run at the top rather than a bunch of guys on their swansong season who are just their to pick up one last pay cheque.

I think it's a motivation issue rather than a tactical one at Salford, and I don't think that binning an experienced coach in favour of an unseasoned coach is the right move for them to make.

Tim Smith is legitimately the worst halfback in the league now that Holdsworth has returned to Australia.

I'm glad he's not an illegitimate halfback, that would be a right b@stard

Brian Noble's signings, in order of age:
Greg Johnson (22)
Jake Mullaney (23)
Lama Tasi (23)
Jason Walton (23)
Steve Rapira (25)
Junior Sa'u (26)
Tommy Lee (26)
Rangi Chase (27)
Harrison Hansen (2icon_cool.gif
Tim Smith (29)
Gareth Hock (30)
Francis Meli (34)
Tony Puletua (34)
Adrian Morley (36)

Aside from the obvious three examples at the bottom end there (two of whom are "fill-ins" on one year deals), can you explain your assertion that these signings are "a lot of big names who are past their best and are really only there for a retirement package"?