That's fine. I'll just post 'less picturesque' photos of wherever it is they happen to live.

Poor post badly put. In short, bad point not well made

You've certainly made yourself look a bit daft here and that's putting it as politely as I can.

..... I've pointed out that the North of England isn't that great and it could be a reason the sport struggles to make money and much of an impact nationally??.... That isn't such an outrageous thought, surely??

Are the followers of those sports you mention confined to the North of England??... (That's a serious question, as you sound like you may have knowledge of those sports, though as far as I know, Boxing is as popular in London and Glasgow as it is in Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield?)

The problem RL has is that our keenest followers ARE confined to the north of England - Its a very restricted market to sell to a potential sponsor.... Compare to Rugby Union, a national sport, which is inferior in quality but miles ahead in terms of marketing and sponsorship.

That has to be correct.

Now we have Hemmings rightly going on about our great game and,in the same breath,mocking the new money that's coming in because the Doctor chooses to do things his own way to shake a bit of life ,and PR, into it.

You started off by saying Salford has a bad image and the club should change its name to Manchester.

Then you say any club whose supporters are from the North won't get sponsorship.

How's changing the name to Manchester going to help then?

Firstly, the conversation started about the possibility of your owner snapping up various sports club all around the Manchester area - I offered the opinion (admittedly in a unsubtle way) that if he was planning some sporting superbrand, then the name Manchester would be easier to sell to possible sponsors, than Salford.

I've then offered the opinion that the main problem our sport has in marketing itself nationally, is that it is almost unique in being a sport based in a very narrow strip of the country.... Asking people outside of the north of England, to take an interest in something that culturally has nothing to do with them is always going to be a big ask - I don't know of any other major sport in this country that has this problem?

Whether we disagree with it, or not, the north of England DOES have a certain image to those outside of the area, and RL is ingrained in that image..... From a positive point of view, the more Marwan Koukash's and Simon Moran's that the sport can attract, the better, in terms of trying to pull out of that shadow, but I really feel its always going to be an uphill struggle on that score.

Has the Salford club been struggling to find sponsors in recent years?


Yes, the problem the sport has in marketing itself nationally is that it is perceived as a northern sport. That's not really relevant to your argument that Salford and those other willing mergees should change their name to Manchester though.


Again, yes, but again not relevant to your Salford to Manchester argument. I'd also argue that it needs more Marwans than it does Morans. Marwan publicises the club and the sport as a whole whenever he can. Simon Moran doesn't. He just inflicts Take That on us. Time to step up to the plate, Simon.

I'm not sure how many sponsors you have had in recent years, but the fact that you wouldn't exist without Koukash's intervention, tells me that your cash inflow wasn't that great?

As for the whole Salford/Manchester thing, well its all hypothetical, but it would be a more accurate description of the relevant parts to call a Salford/Swinton/Oldham/Rochdale merger, Manchester than Salford.... Whatever the reality may be (and it probably depends on where your loyalties lie), nearly everybody outside Salford sees yourselves as the very junior neighbour to Manchester.

As for Marwan's and Simon Moran's influence on the sport, well, while all publicity is welcome, at the moment most people still sense Koukash has the whiff of a Robert Maxwell about him.... Yes, he could indeed be a major player in our sport in the coming years, but to detract from Moran's achievement in turning Warrington RLFC from a shambles of a club, into one of the most admired in the sport, simply because he hasn't got a huge ego, is a bit of nonsense (though I do sense you may have had a bit of tongue-in-cheek when you said it?)

Lack of sponsorship is not our main problem.
Name change to Manchester would not bring any benefit.
Salford, Swinton, Oldham, Rochdale cannot join to form a 'superclub'.

What our club needs is:

1) An improved team, competitive most weeks ( 20014 - 20015)
2) Better engagement between the club and existing fans (see other thread)
3) Improved access to stadium grounds by having a second entry/exit route across the canal ( late 2014)
4) Direct access to M60 from car park (2015)
5) Development of area around stadium to provide more facilities for visitors
6) Landscaping of stadium grounds ( hopefully with some Willow trees) to improve visual appearance of the stadium site.
7) Implement phase 2 and 3 of the stadium plan to give a much better atmosphere in the ground.

These things might take years but they could all happen.
Any links with Swinton, Oldham and Rochdale should be cooperation that benefits all clubs but allows each to maintain its identity.