Fair comment Iain - anyone on here part of the fans board? If so, when is the next meeting - I have a couple of points I would like to make and have raised on my behalf.

The next fans board was tonight, but has been cancelled, as dr koucash couldnt make it.

Can we ask at the next fans board meeting if we can have feedback?

Last time we got too see some pictures of those involved and not a great deal else.

That was going to be a topic brought up how we communicate with all fans.dont know when next meeting is but it will be sorted..

If it makes you feel any better, we are still waiting for minutes too, so it's not a case of the information being restricted to those on the panel.

Marwan couldn't make it because he is in amsterdam meeting with bosses from an australian club and signing papers to buy them

Always a pleasure to read your informative and positive input.

Perhaps the club would benefit from having a Director of Communications: someone responsible for managing relationships with supporters, the public in general, sponsors, potential sponsors and the media. We seem to be a bit rudderless in this area. Too many news items are released on social media, which, for me, dilutes the message since not everyone uses social media and because it's usually accompanied by infantile, semi-literate responses from people who never progressed beyond the school playground ("Should [iof[/i bought <insert player, club, whatever here> instead."icon_wink.gif.

We need someone to ensure that the website is usable; that offers are properly communicated (I went to a gig at the Bridgewater Hall once - I now get regular mailings from them); to make sure the club are visible in the community (I went to the Ordsall Festival over the summer. It's run on a budget that wouldn't even stretch to a shoestring, yet there were hundreds - maybe more than a thousand - people there. A stall with a couple of players doing basic skill stuff would, I feel, have been a major attraction, and I'm sure the festival organisers would snap their hands off if they offered); to drip feed information to the media on a daily basis so that Neil Barker doesn't have to rely on rumours. For example, we supposedly have the players going out to local schools on some promotional activity, yet I've not seen anything in the local press about it (notwithstanding the fact that the timing of it is barmy: "Yes! I'm interested! I really want to go! When's your next match?", "Errr, dunno. Some time in February probably." That's something else you'd hope a Communications Director would be involved in.)

This is the first time Salford hasn’t been incorporated into the merchandise of the club and I for one find this disturbing, I think if they tried to change the name to Manchester it would be a huge mistake and wont pack the crowds in! It will in my opinion signal the end of RL in the area. A successful wining SALFORD team with a stadium accessible to everyone is the key

Playing devils advocate here so don't bite my head off...

If the people of Salford don't come out and support MK and the Club IF we are successful, the last excuse will have passed and a name change (Or an incorporation of the Manchester name) would have to be tried. For a city that is fiercely independent from Manchester, it's public are terribly apathetic of its RL team. The irony in all this is a lot of the same people support Manchester UTD and see no conflict over names.

I am a proud Salfordian
and still believe if we have a successful SALFORD team we will see the crowds increase and I personally know people who are season ticket holders from Stockport and Bolton who follow the reds so I cant see the argument about changing the name so the people of Greater Manchester are not suddenly going to flood through the gates because of a name change!!

I'd hazard a guess that a large percentage of Salford's hardcore support are non-Salfordians. In fact a poll on here a while back asked the question and the results were high for non-Salfordians. As for the name change, I didn't say that changing it was good, bad, or going to make a difference. Just that it could possibly become an issue if Salfordian's forego their local team. Personally, I think a name change the least likely option. I can see MK taking the Club elsewhere (Like Sale have) keep the name, and plonk it down in a different catchment area. Especially as he is not a fan of the current set-up with the stadium company.

Then its goodnight and from me and 40yrs plus support me!!

A lot of the same people support football clubs from other areas of the country. I doubt they'd be chuffed if the club was renamed the same as one of them.

Hasn't Marwan already said he won't be dropping Salford from the club name? It would be a very high risk strategy since it jeopardises the club's relationship with the City of Salford, a relationship that sees the city help prop the club up, sometimes at the expense of those sections of society that Coun. Garrido has suddenly become concerned for. It would also alienate a huge number of existing fans with no evidence that people from elsewhere would step in to replace them.

Ain't going to happen. What's keeping the club's attendances down is a quarter of a century of surviving rather than thriving. John Wilkinson never had enough money to take the step up that's required to give the people a team worth supporting. Marwan has, and it generated enough optimism to see attendances around the 7500 mark at the start of last season. If anything is going to bring the punters in, it's that kind of investment in the club and a concentrated effort to make the club more visible, not a name change.

I'm amazed at people with this attitude.

Willing to forego forty years of support over a name. It's still the same Club. The same players. The same stadium. The same history. I understand the deep-rooted Salfordian pride but it's pretty ridiculous that out of all the things to wave goodbye to your Club over, this is not particularly up there. I'll not turn my back on the poor management, the near financial destruction of the Club, the thirty-odd years of decline, the loss of our old home, the loss of losing our own stadium, the change of identity. Twice. Change the name or incorporate another and that's forty years of my life gone. Goodbye.

It seems totally weird to me.

I'd understand you walking after any number of the things I've said above, but a simple name change?

The NRL Clubs managed it years ago. Merging Clubs and changing names. Some fans were not happy but they had no choice. Did they turn their back on their Club?

Let me reiterate that I was playing Devils Advocate and I actually think a name change unlikely and of little use in the current context. I just find it amazing that 'Fans' could walk away from their Club over such a non-issue, even if it is just a 'what if?'

Quote ="TheButcher"I'm amazed at people with this attitude. Willing to forego forty years of support over a name. It's still the same Club. The same players. The same stadium. The same history. It seems totally weird to me. ''" But what if it was a different name and a different stadium? Like this place, for example: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ng-7170040

Quote ="TheButcher"I'm amazed at people with this attitude. Willing to forego forty years of support over a name. It's still the same Club. The same players. The same stadium. The same history. It seems totally weird to me. ''" But what if it was a different name and a different stadium? Like this place, for example: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ng-7170040

Quote ="Wayward Fan"But what if it was a different name and a different stadium? Like this place, for example: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ng-7170040'" I don't get your point. Makes no difference to me. Sports Clubs, especially those that have been around a long time have invariably gone through many changes. Salford changed its name and ground to go to the Willows. We changed the name while at the Willows. We've moved now to Barton and changed name again. So I don't get what you're getting at. It'd be the same Club, same players, same history. Unless I'm missing the point.

Quote ="Wayward Fan"But what if it was a different name and a different stadium? Like this place, for example: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... ng-7170040'" I don't get your point. Makes no difference to me. Sports Clubs, especially those that have been around a long time have invariably gone through many changes. Salford changed its name and ground to go to the Willows. We changed the name while at the Willows. We've moved now to Barton and changed name again. So I don't get what you're getting at. It'd be the same Club, same players, same history. Unless I'm missing the point.

So if it's still the same club with the same players, the same stadium and the same history, and the name is insignificant compared to those factors, what do you (devil's) advocate a name change would achieve?

If you read what I said you wouldn't need to ask.

I don't think it would do anything at this point in time. All of this was hypothetical. My point being, regardless of my opinion, the 'Name change' debate to me seems nonsensical in that people declare that they would turn their back on their Club over a name. Which to me seems totally weird.

I have memorabilia from years ago and this is the first time Salford isn’t on any of the merchadidise …I hate to bring football into this but what do think Wimbledon fans think? Maybe we should move 30 miles away change our name and become a totally different club!!

You'd have to ask them.

Some sports Clubs have moved around, changed name and location. It will always be divisive and the fact remains that those Clubs chose to do so for very good reasons and fans either give up on them, which seems a strange thing to do, or follow them. Given a choice I'd always follow my team regardless of circumstances. I don't understand why it seems to be such an alien suggestion to some people.

Good point. Highfield moved around and changed their name once or twice (Wigan, Liverpool, London etc) and it didn't do them any harm, did it?

Nice confirmation bias.

What's your beef here?

I get your point. A name change wont do anything. You wouldn't like a name change. Name changes/Clubs moving is very bad etc etc. Stupid thing here, is that I agree with you. In our situation at the moment it wouldn't do anything. The point I've been making is the attitude of some to a name change. The possible outcomes of what fans feel and think. To point out selectively a side point not really related to the original is to miss the point completely.

I read what you said and yet still needed to ask because something wasn't clear to me. You said this:

So, it would have to be tried. The question I was asking was why? What do you, albeit playing devil's advocate, think it would achieve? It now appears you're saying it wouldn't achieve anything, so this raises another question: why would it have to be tried?