Smith was a Noble signing, he came with our first batch of Super-duper-stars at the Red Devilution.

See Theo was at Saints waving his new scarf.

Yeah, wonder what all the Theo lovers made of that? Amazed at the level of bonhomie. Unlike the other 'mercenaries' we have waved off so eagerly here was 'one of our own' turning his back on the club at a crucial stage of the season, yet he's given a tear-soaked farewell. Bizarre.

I'm not in the Theo lover camp but I can't blame the lad. There's been zero progress in the past few years and the whole feel of the club just hasn't felt right. Hopefully this is a huge wake up call and a time to learn from past mistakes. Going forward there has to be much more emphasis on improving recruitment, team spirit, mental attitude, consistency and discipline. The future has to be viewed as a steady building process rather than some quick fix route to success.

Personally I think the biggest mistake Koukash has made since he's been at the club was gambling on a rookie coach. Harris may have been OK tactically/technically but he obviously lacked the necessary management skills and experience to pacify and control certain individuals in a challenging environment. An analogy I would use is it's like a young inexperienced builder trying to construct a luxury house with very expensive materials on no foundations. What's going to happen? It's going to collapse isn't it?

This ties in with one of my fears, if we offer Watson the position of head coach we are making the same type of as appointment as we made when Harris came. I would be much happier bringing in a strong well regarded coach and making Watson his #2 and Sheens overseeing the lot.

Daryl Powell is a great example. Got a shot at the Leeds job too soon and failed miserably. Dusted himself down and learned his trade in the lower league with Featherstone Rovers for a few years. Got the experience and was given a shot at Castleford where he's been a resounding success.

This. With bells on. Good riddance.

I'm happy for Theo, I don't agree with the manner in which he went about the whole resignation fiasco, particularly when Paterson, Hansen and Tasi all knew they would be leaving but remained professional. However after 60 games for the club, in which he gave 100% I am willing to forgive.

I'm more p*ssed off at Rangi, who knowing we had just two half-backs at the club, decided to act like a complete b*llend and force the clubs hands to suspend him. All this on the back of one of the worst Salford performances in recent times. Unlike Theo (who was on peanuts) Rangi was by far the highest paid player at the club.

What they're paid is irrelevant. They are two professional sportsmen who shafted the Club at key times. Deliberately and with intent to further their own projects. What they're paid, how long they played for us, doesn't matter. They should have been professional enough to get on with the job. In my eyes, they are both the same in this regard.

Oh come on Butcher - re Theo in particular, the labourer is worthy of his hire!

By your reasoning no employee should ever do anything to protest about their conditions of employment or to try & improve their lot then?

Clearly only a few people know the whole story but it strikes me Theo stuck with the club and did everything asked of him - certainly played through some particularly dark times and as a youngster took a phenomenal amount of responsibility in what was a crap team with crap management throughout the whole organisation while (if rumours are true) being pretty nearly the lowest paid in the squad. Hardly surprising he became unsettled especially when Dobson was brought in on a 4 year deal.

I thought he was on a contract being paid what he signed and agreed to be paid, irrelevant what other folks were on?

I don't disagree with your assessment, however there are ways and means to go about things and these two players went about them in the wrong way, imo. It's one thing to back the Club into a corner but they carry along with them the people who pay money to watch them and the team. Maybe it's acceptable collateral to the eventual outcome from their perspective, but to the people who are the lifeblood of any sporting Club it should leave a bitter taste. None of this really matters now as SL status has been retained so everyone is feeling a sense of relief, but the actions of these two key players at a key time in the Clubs season could have changed this outcome and people seem to be forgetting this.