There is a difference, you are referring to players who's contracts run out at the end of a season and need a new club. Myler is a young lad that was still contracted to Salford until the end of 2010. As a youngster he was obviously vulnerable as proved by his big dip in form.

Put the ball on the other foot and think about how you would feel as a wire supporter knowing another club had approached and unsettled one of your best contracted youngsters half way through a season? ...leading to the player's form suffering and eventually missing lots of games?

But as Dave T says, what if Salford had given that permission?

point is, there is the scope for impropor conduct. second, there have been accusations before, Brian Noble and Coley's move to Wigan being one example.

Why would Salford give permission half way through a season knowing it could potentially unsettle the player? ..when it was obvious Wire were not in a position to buy him until a much later date due to being at full salary cap for 2009?

Probably by flashing the £££

I would suggest that it isn;t that unusual for players to negotiate with other clubs during the season.

The reason this one may have not worked for Myler and Salford was IMO due to the high profile nature of it, and his youth. I suspect Salford didn;t know how this would affect his head, and the fact that he and Salford were asked about this issue in pretty much every single press conference will have added to the pressure.

The fact is that he is a young lad who hasn;t necessarily coped with the pressure, but can I also point out that we signed Ryan Atkinso from Wakefield, and this has been rumoured for a good while, yet he is still playing for Wakefield in the 1st team.

Yeah chief I did in fact I actually told him that he was the next sean long in the making but better, this was at a time when he was just breaking into the side really NL1, so no super league experience. It was also round about the time the whole RL world went Myler mad, this I couldn't understand because although I quite rated Myler I thought hang on a minute we have a lad here twice the player and no one's mentioned him. I think I will be proved right and he will in the not to distant take the International 6 shirt and I await the vultures who will offer him the earth to play for them.

We can't keep his talent under wraps any longer so I hope the club can build the future around him.

as a wire fan got to laugh at that pmsl

salford gave warrington permission to talk to the player

I think they must of....and therefore... it shows our ambition

we don't care about keeping our future players...the youngsters.. are our future...had we said no.... then he would still be with us fighting for an England place...next year, we may be further on with the stadium...& Wire may be still below top 8

.... Oh ...but we would't have £200000

It was one of the smartest business decisions the club have ever made IMO.

May be ...just Question the ambition of the club

Do you really think that?

TBH I haven't seen enough of Myler to know how good he is or can be, but in all seriousness, what can £200-250k do for the club?

It is a decent amount of money, and I can understand Salford taking it, but let's be honest, the smarter business would be to keep as many young talented players as possible.

Okay, Ratchford may turn out to be the better player, but surely you would have wanted these two players to stay as your 6&7 for the next 10 years.

I don;t think this was a smart decision, I think it was probably something you had to do, as the player didn;t see the chance to achieve his potential at Salford.

BTW, I am not having a go at your club, I would have loved it if you would have had your stadium by now, as I don;t think anybody would want to leave if that had come.

In the past we have had to sell players like Harris and Sculthorpe, and whilst we got a good amount of cash, it didn't improve us as a team, but it did improve Saints and Leeds.

Arrrggghhh.... Can we forget about Myler & bloody Warrington. Isn't this thread about Stefan Ratchford making the England squad ???.... Jees !!!

Fair enough mate. Worth noting that the thread was only really about Ratchford for the first post.

After that it was about Smith.

The cost of retaining him would have ruined us. It was one of the smartest business decisions the club has ever made.

Similarly, if Warrington deem Stef is worth double - we'll be better off selling. Naturally, I hope that doesn't happen.

FWIW I heard . . .

Salford offered Myler a six figure a season contract extension that was rejected (No lack of ambition there). It then became apparent that Offiah (His Agent) was already in talks with Warrington despite Myler being contracted until the end of the 2010 season. Tell me why Myler would reject a six figure contract extension from Salford when there was allegedly no offer or interest from Warrington at that time?

Then when Warrington knew Myler had rejected Salford's offer they approached Salford who reluctently agreed to sell the player at end of the season. (In the knowledge Myler didn't want to play for Salford anymore and that he would be a free agent at the end of 2010)

Anyone that thinks that Myler or his agent wasn't in talks with Warrington before they got permission from Salford is living in cloud cuckoo land! The point I've been trying to make is why couldn't Warrington out of decency have waited until the end of the season before approaching a contracted player and Salford? Simple answer Warrington had targeted the player and wanted to get in there first and didn't give a stuff about it affecting Myler's performances for Salford.

Is that last part a joke?

If Warrington have been given permission (I'll ignore your speculation that they acted illegally), then why the hell would they say 'no, we'll hang on until the end of the year'.

Warrington do not have a responsibility to Salford, and why would we give a stuff if it affects your performances.

You are the one living in cloud cuckoo land.

'All is fair in love, war and business.' So true.
Lets get real. The world isn't a place of honour and 'decency' although it would be nice if it was. Warrington officials only have Warrington RL in mind. They owe us nothing. The quicker we stop thinking the world owes us a favour or two, and we get a little more thick-skinned, the better! If anything, we're a little soft as a club. I certainly believe that many other clubs in Super League view us this way....

I have to agree with the above statement from Dave T: we did not give a hoot about Myler leaving Widnes in the time of their greatest need. He applied and we accepted. He was out of contract but Widnes were already showing signs of being reborn.

It has been stated by McRae on more than one occasion that any team can talk to any player any time; we are not in the financial position where we can ignore good offers. We now know Wigan was interested (why?) and so Warrington, in their own interests, made sure they attracted him.

I also am getting annoyed that we see Offiah as totally bad - he had no obligations to Salford and only to getting the most for Mr Myler. Morally he did act out of sorts but business-wise, he was within his remit and many businessmen would congratulate his acumen.

Ratchford will be the target for many clubs who will only be stopped by Salford's finances (not good), the rules re home-grown players (contestable in court), and our success on the field ('70's sadly). So I am braced for him and others to go.

It's a hard world out there.

NOW IT'S OFFICIAL......

[url=http://reds.originalreddevils.com/2009/09/17/ratchford-gets-england-call/HERE[/url



Stefan Ratchford said: "It's a great honour to be called up. I feel lucky to be going out there and playing Super League every week but this really is a big deal for me."

One year into a three-year contract, Ratchford won Salford's player-of-the-year award last week and coach Shaun McRae feels his call-up is justified.

"Stefan has had a terrific season for the Reds and it just goes to show, no matter which team you play for, someone is out there monitoring performance and talent will be recognised," he said.

Trust me Dave T if myler performs like the back end of his season next season with tears in your eyes and a empty wallett you'll be looking for a refund, you wont get one mind.

Well Done Stef Rachford shows you can still get selected for england even if you dont play for one of the big four and warrington.

Well done Stefan much deserved call up

FFS can we all forget about Myler,he is the past and Stefan is the future.
If another club comes sniffing round I hope that Salford have the common sense to tell them to pi$$ off.
The coaching staff obviously knew Stefan was a better prospect than Myler, so although they have said they were unhappy to see him go, I do not think they made too much effort to keep him.
He left Widnes now us all for financial gain lets see what tempts him next.

To be honest mate, I agree it is a gamble, but one we can afford to take.

This isn't going to break the bank for us, we are fortunate enough to have a backer prepared to pay for transfer fees. I genuinely haven't seen enough of Myler to know how good he could be, as you guys haven't been on TV too much, however I know that the last two 7's we have signed have been hookers so I'm hopeful that he will at least be a step in the right direction for us!

As for your last comment, it wasn't really needed, bearing in mind that this is the train-on squad that happens every year which contains players from outside of the top teams. Indeed Myler made it into the squad last year when you were moving up from the NL.