To me you had a fair tribunal and the Doctor clearly is to blame. Does he admit guilt and take his punishment? Nope, he personally insults people and declares war. He does this without any ammo. He expects the RFL to be professional but isn't willing to work with them. You fans are suffering due to his childish approach to things.

I'm not defending anyone's actions here. I do however believe there has been several inconsistencies in punishments over the past 3 years. I've followed rugby league for over 40 years and I can see when there is an agenda to hit the club hard at every opportunity. My view is the RFL failed to nail the problem early and effectively and the innocent have experienced the conequences of this situation.

To be fair I think that when someone hides something you can't enforce the "Live" cap. When TP said he had two contracts the RFL didn't seem to act at that point and didn't bring this up until is was questioned by Bradford chairman. But whatever the circumstances Marwan can either live with it come back through the 8's and focus on building the current squad within the rules and improve marketing the product. Or spend his time putting childish tweets and wait until the RFL have a chance to shaft him again.

He has lost focus on the goal I think and would rather cause mayhem for the RFL that focus on the fact the fans are loosing faith and he can slowing build something good for you.

Something has to change quickly or 137 years of RL in the Salford/Manchester will be confined to the history books. I certainly can't recall less interest in the sport from the locals than there is right now.

If the game is ever goiing to expand then surely we need a strong succesful club in it's 3rd largest city rather than showing favouritism to town clubs or another team in France? People in this area are spoiled with successful football teams and they won't be attracted to a sport that supresses a clubs ambition.

I really do hope it can be sorted and from an outsider don't really know what the solution is. I don't really know what the problem is either and why the crowds are falling as you have been solid this year.

Do you feel the fans staying away is location, marketing or frustration with Marwan?

My understanding is that they received confirmation from Francis Meli that he was paid by another MK-owned company. This had not been received at the time of the original hearing so Salford had been found not guilty of this offence . However, the appeal panel ruled that no additional evidence could be presented that was not available at the original hearing. Therefore, Salford couldn't be found guilty of any offences they were originally found not guilty of.
I think Salford had a let-off there to be honest. If Meli had emailed the RFL sooner they would likely have been found guilty and copped a further 2 points.

Apathy with the salary cap situation that lead to the points deduction. Personally it always feels like the club have one hand tied behind their backs. I wouldn't mind so much if we had any success but considering the investment we were absolutely useless and it was painful to watch. For decades we've had to contend with being hundreds of thousands under the cap due to financial constraints. I'll be honest I haven't attended one game since the announcement of the salary cap breach. It was the final straw for me after years of following home and away plus cup finals and internationals.

I can't speak for others but could I be tempted back to paying to watch rugby league? Possibly but only if the situation with the owner and the RFL is resolved.

I think you have hit the nail on the head. It's like a broken relationship and mediation is required. But both parties need to get their egos out of the way and draw a line in the sand. Marwan could work with the RFL and make the sport better but he needs to become part of the machine and not rage against it. This is what I fear cannot happen and sadly Salford RL will be the victim of these ego and another club will just take it's place.

If he walks away at this stage with the crowds I fear the worst but you owner seems to want the drama more than a stable club.

Re the "16k for a Maserati", I think you'll find it was a one or two year lease, he didn't buy it so sounds about right.

Re "Meli emailing sooner", I think if you read the findings report the Meli payments were mentioned in a verbal conversation between himself and a member of the RFL, this RFL member then emailed Meli but Meli ignored it and didn't respond.

Meli didn't respond until after the original hearing. As new evidence wasn't permitted, any response after the original hearing wasn't allowed. I was just trying to explain why they RFL had sought to increase the penalty, as if the new evidence (the email from Meli) had been allowed to be considered by the appeal panel they could have found Salford guilty of a further offence and imposed a further penalty.

Re the Maserati. 16k is still quite cheap even for a year's lease.

Let's not deter from the facts, Meli did not respond or send any email hence no evidence to submit;

2.2 In relation to Mr Francis Meli it had been argued before the Tribunal by the RFL that this was the same as with Mr Puletua. It was argued there was a contract for £22,000 in respect of Mr Meli which was not declared. There was no evidence directly from Mr Meli, unlike with Mr Puletua whose employment tribunal claim provided the relevant evidence, but the RFL relied upon a conversation between the investigating officer, Mr Dearden, and Mr Meli and an email sent by Mr Dearden to Mr Meli recording that conversation. Importantly Mr Meli did not respond to that email at all let alone to confirm its contents. The Tribunal was not prepared to make a finding of breach on that basis. RFL contended in this appeal that the Tribunal was wrong to do so and invited the Appeal Panel to find the Club in breach in this respect.

If you do your homework, you can pick up a Maserati Ghibli for about £700 - £1000 / month with an initial outlay of 4 - 5k.....so yeh 12 month lease for 16k does sound about right.

Resident legal eagle strikes again.

My question would be who was advising the Doc on paying some players in this way as he wasn't CEO then, was he naive as a new comer to the sport and perhaps had a lack of clear understanding? Allegedly, we didn't even exceed the cap even with these payments? Don't like the way the governing body have 'gone for us' at all, leaves a real bad taste in my mouth and that of RL imo.

Do you honestly think you have been hard done to with this? Marwan didn't declare payments and the Meli thing more than likely did happen.

These case were heard independently not once but twice and it was agreed that you were guilty and the punishment was fair. I feel sorry for the fans but don't let this smoke screen blind your eyes. The failing to run the club in a fair and professional way and attract investments and increase the fan base is the issues, however if you want to hang onto this idea that RFL are out to get you feel free.

I feel for you, all small clubs want a money man to step up and turn out clubs round. However trying to discredit the ruling body and loose sight of the goal isn't the way.

Nope, think we got what we deserved. Not angry or upset with the rfl, the issue is (or hopefully was) marwan

Needs to leave it now, but I don't think his ego will allow it.

I know it's not rocket science you only have to look at the attendances, but I'll admit I know of 10 people who have been season ticket holders for years who'd had enough of what we saw last season and decided enough was enough and I heard the words " if they want to pick and choose what games to turn up for so will I"

The same people actually thought they would still go to most games until the salary cap breach was announced, and subsequently haven't returned this season. These people have been die hards over the years.

After a while it becomes easier and cheaper to stay at home, and there is always a game on sky to watch.

I feel that a little success or at least consistency may be the only route to bring the fans back.