You have to think to yourself that the players don't know if they're coming or going from a coaching point of view.
Can anyone in thier right mind imagine what someone like Patten must be thinking to arrive in a forgein country to start afresh and be made to suffer the shambles that is Salford at first hand.

As has been stated elsewhere in this thread think the players have done pretty well when you consider that they have'nt had a head coach for most of the seaqson and from what I can see a stand in who has all the charisma of a lettuce.

Think we all know that we this season have lacked motivation and for me there has to be something in the coaching to leave the most talented squad for a long while playing like they have no faith left in thier ability.

A new coach for me must be as much a phycologist as a tactition to give the players the belief to play to the best of thier abilities.

Ive worked in an office where the manager was useless and therefore the office was a shambles. In comes a manager who was very good at what he does and a couple of years later our performance has improved immensely.

Strong organisations start with talented and effective managers. We have not had that and I cannot expect our performances to be of a high standard until we have a coach of a high standard. I do not question the players committment, there is more to it than that.

seems your in the minority! by the way if Luke patten is such a poor player can you explain how he managed 10 years in the NRL? You just have to look a bit deeper than current performances that i accept are not what we expect from these players and yes i include Patten in that, but the coach is the most important person at the club and we havent got one. If we go of what you say why does anyone employ a coach surely the players can do it without a head coach? Would man utd have won all those titles without Sir Alex i doubt it do you?

No rose tinted specs. Just a grip on reality.

I honestly don't know what to say. I put down a reasoned and thought out response and all you get is the same excrement written a different way. I doubt many really care what unrealistic and unreasonable fans have to say on here. After all, most of them only appear when the team doesn't play well. The only thing it does do is make any player that might read it think that we are all just like you. BTW, Defence isn't just down to players. If that was the case would they bother practising it? or, God forbid, have defensive coaches specifically employed to improve it?

As for saying Patten is no better than Academy lads is laughable, no offence to the Academy lads either. Saying it just makes any valid point you might have thought you had, null and void.

Have the fans blamed the players for the way this season has progressed ?
I think Feka is the only one that has copped for specific criticism , [iweight & match fitness[/i and he put in what must've been his best game in a Reds Shirt on Friday.
I think Wild, Nero,Boyle, Patten, Godwin , Cashmere, and lately Clay have put in some special performances , Gleeson has shown some nice touches no one has coasted.
Misplaced faith in the existing set up & bizarre turn of events with the Coaches & Signings have meant that the squad made up of alot of new signings still lack cohesion , and in some cases players are trying too hard and forcing plays & making poor decisions. All in all a recipe for the Jekyll & Hyde season we've had .

Its really refreshing to read some of these posts i was beginning to think it was a forum for fools just to come on and slate the club and the players, the best way to help is to get behind the players and make lads like Patten and the other new guys feel they have made the right decision in joining the reds and not feeling they have made biggest mistake of there careers.

The problems we have can be attributed to all parts of the club-- The board for giving Sean Mc crae a four and a half year contract, then him going off sick after two games with stress, the fact that the Australians have some strange contract allowing them to stay in OZ until after Xmas whilst the rest of the Squad have been training from November. The coach , who chose the new players then bailed, because he realised that his shortcomings would soon come to light. The players have to take some of the blame, they are professional sportsmen and basic mistakes shouldnt happen, and their is a distinct lack of leadership on the pitch. What is required is a coach who can coach both defence and attack, who can be innovative and can bring on young players, and players who really want to play for the club. Hopefully we can get these pieces of the jigsaw together and the club can move forward into a bright new era.

I agree totally with what you say and that's what the club needs a shake up from top to bottom but john Wilkinson is to nice of a fella to act. But if he don't we will always be a poor side. Unfortunately as well jw and club don't have money to do it. So we just have to hope for a coach that works miracles

I don't believe financially we are significantly in a different position to Castleford, Huddersfield, Hull KR etc. so why are we performing so much worse - I do agree with Choc that 'in principle' this is the best squad we've had at Salford for many a year - and I agree with the conclusion that this year's disappointments really are down to a completely rudderless ship

I agree with Michigan Red our new coach needs to be as good as a psychologist as tactician to get a grip on the role of head coach of the salford city reds

As for the players they need to shoulder some blame, for me there isn't any plan to better themselves and try new things,yes we don't have a coach and rugby league is ever evolving but it shudent stop the players competing, it seems to me we play everything in a text book way from kick offs to tap 20s I'm not asking for kamakazi rugby just make it so our opponentneed to think every play of the ball make them make a decision on our terms both in attack n defence

I say again that on Friday we were doing ok in an arm wrestle until a minute before half time.
Nothing wrong with the players decision making then.
We then shipped an early try and that was that.
There was an an earlier reference on here to it being a forum for fools.
It isnt,obviously,but it is time for some "voices of reason" to speak out.
We have a good squad and they need stability in the coaching set up.
We are not that far off.

to be honest the whole conceeding 12 points around half time imo is the players fault entirely, to do it once is a mistake to do it every week borders on insane, yes the players are tired, yes its hard work but there are two teams on the field of athletes who in theory eat the same stuff, train the same time, sleep the same time, our opponents know that if they keep their completion level up though the half keep turning us around making us play out of our own 20 and up the intensitity for 10 minutes eather side of half time there is a gimmy 12 points to be had

To break the cycle you need to take control in that 20 minute period its so important in rugby league and it seems to me its not even addressed we have a problem in that department on the playing side of the club, a 12 point gap is a match winning / losing gap your shipping 12 points every week you will need at least 3 trys every week to get a fighting chance, if we are to move forward the players need to reaily think about how they are to improve their performance in that peroid of the game because our opponents smell blood and will go for the kill.

Get through that period of the game scoreless and im always quitely confident we will get a result regardless who we are playing

in the first half we had 4 great chances to score, 2 of them overlaps when the ball was taken back inside, that is wrong decision making, don't draw the defender to you and then go the way he wants you to go, the gap is there we just couldn't see it.

Perhaps easier to see the gap from the stands.
If they didn't see the gap then they couldn't have made the wrong decision.
They could only decide on what they could see!

Sorry but when you have agruably the quickest winger in the league you should be looking to get the ball out to his wing with every possibility. Coming back inside seems to have been Salfords stocking move for the past 5 years and is something I've no doubt a decent coach will erradicate as quickly as possible.