The biggest problem with Rangi Chase was his level of consistency. His Jeckyll and Hyde performances have exactly mirrored the teams performances over the past two seasons. As we all know the guy can occasionally be a genius but he hasn't done it enough for the huge contract he was on. Is it any coincidence that Castleford Tigers form went from strength to strength when he left? I think it says it all really the fact we are letting him go on a free after paying such a big fee for him. Is there better value out there? I think so and I think Tim Sheens does as well.

As a replacement I would be looking to sign a pacy running halfback in the mould of Brierley at Leigh to partner a player like Dobson.

Salford - By appointment - Official supplier of Quality Half Backs to SL.
Catalan - Ritchie Myler
Warrington - Stefan Ratchford
Hull - Daniel Holdsworth - Marc Sneyd
Wigan - Matty Smith
Saints - Theo fages

can't blame them they know have either CCup medals- Playoff & Grand Final with their new clubs & I've no doubt the Fages mantelpiece will have silverwear before too long - it will assist his international ambitions also .
In 3 seasons 56 Players will have left the club !!
It's crucial this off season we are more deliberate about ' evolving' a better side rather than acting like X-factor meets celebrity Big Brother.

so less moaning we haven't signed up a ' Sonny Bill Williams ' & more about developing Salford's George Williams.

We have a good record of developing young halfbacks it's keeping hold of them that's been the problem. Perhaps this was down to finances in the past where we had to play them and had they been at another club they wouldn't of got the same opportunity of regular first team football.

What we've not got to forget is Koukash came into the sport and took over Salford not having a single clue about the sport (still doesn't tbh), he thought he could get instant success by throwing money at so called "big named" players, he was poorly advised on this.
The simple fact that Chase / Smith / Dobson were brought in was, it was wrongly presumed that there would instantly be 10k supporters knocking the door down at the AJBell just to see them and we know how that's panned out.
Hopefully with Sheens at the helm any "stars of the future" can be retained and want to stay at the club, it's took 3 years to realise youth is the way forward.

I'm not sure that we can claim to have developed Myler.
Similarly,Smith was a well known player when we signed him.
There was far less furore when Sneyd went,than there has been subsequently. Benefit of hindsight,mainly.
Dobson is an excellent signing and,whilst I agree with most of what JGR says,generally,I think his assessment of Dobson is very harsh.
Chase was a massive disappointment but,like Hock,did for us exactly what their previous clubs fans predicted.
I am excited by what Sheen might bring in,he's a man who can judge ability but,more importantly,character

I think Salford have the ideal set up now coaching wise.A very wise older coach who knows the game inside out,then a young fit coach who can still run the plays on the training pitch.

I understand you might find the assessment of Dobson harsh, but apart from in fits and starts (such as Widnes on Sunday) I haven't been overly impressed with him this season. He certainly hasn't been the same Michael Dobson we saw at Wigan and Hull KR but I appreciate it is his first season in the team, which was obviously disrupted by a lengthy injury. Whilst he is nowhere near the Tim Smith standard of disappointing signings, he has hardly been outstanding either.

I agree there is plenty of hindsight when it comes to Marc Sneyd, at the time we were all far too excited about Rangi Chase arriving to care too much. Saying that, we're not the ones paid as "professionals" to know which players have and which have not got the talent to make it. Daryl Powell seemed under no illusions that Sneyd could take the place of Rangi and he more than did that.

I think my main gripe is we employ these head coaches, who make their own judgement which has ultimately come at the expense of the club. Noble was here for a season, Harris roughly around the same time frame and because of decision they made we've seen the club sign three 28 plus year old half-backs, two of which have now left the club despite costing thousands to sign and in the process we've lost two 21 year old half-backs to clubs higher than us in the league who will go on and have another successful 10 seasons in Super League.

Although,like Locke,Smith arrived during the tenure of Harris,it doesn't necessarily follow that he signed them.

The forward-planning may have been the responsibility of Noble

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This club has been crying out for a decent coach with the ability of getting much more from the players on a consistent basis. A coach with the respect to get all his players to fully respect the history and heritage of the club and the passion of the fans. If Sheens doesn't step out of the shadows and put his reputation on the line we will need a top quality coach with the right person skills to get this club firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately some that have been here over the past couple of years appear to have been here with no other motivation than the pay cheque and it's shown. It's small margins a stronger mental attitude from some and a few percent more effort can be the difference between success and failure.

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.