A statement we hear almost every week after a loss. to be honest its got to the point where we could write the after game comments ourselves.
Every member of the squad was in the gym this mornin i couldnt believe my eyes, so maybe they do give a sh@t.

maybe they should be on the pitch learning faster play, support play and passing moves that put people through gaps.
Heartning to know that after ruining my weekend with that abysmal performance at least they didn't get Sunday morning off, but if fitness is still an issue at this point of the saeson it's concerning

My other half was there and she said they were there from 8.30

A bit like Friday night then.

And so the afternoon was spent on the lash then?

Imo its not a physical thing, they could train all day every day in the gym and i dont think they will improve that much, the problem imo is totally mental.

Im not into baggin individual players, but i feel constructive critism allows them to improve and hopefully improve their performanes
Right here its goes,

It seems to me Littler, Smith and Wilshire have problems remaining focused thoughout a match, when they are involved in a move or the ball is within 10 yards of them they are allert, if the ball is any further away both in attack or defence they switch off and start "mincin" around in back play, in attack this inhibbs our performance because if a break is made the support runners (who should be the likes of Littler and Wilshire and smith to a degree) are suddenly caught off guard and cant support the ball.
Im not asking for too much i dont think but because they arnt expecting the ball when it does come or a break is made then blind panic to get up with play causing turn over ball.

All of huddesfields players looked interested and focused thoughout friday and ready to recieve the ball even if it was goin the otherway in attack.

Defencivly we have real problems both sides of our outside defence imo Henrys side of the field because smith and Litter switches off both are D AND E defenders in the line if the A defender is at the play of the ball, one long cut out pass our opponents are taking advantage them sleeping.

The other side of the field isnt as bad imo Turner needs to tackle better as he is getting targetted imo but as long as the 2nd row keeps coming across to help then it will get better. we are certainly missing Parker and Adamson.

i dont know how they can improve their mental state but it reaily needs adressing if we want to move on and keep improving as a team

Yes but even so our Rugby is boring. Very, very boring. We have 2 big lads trying to bash the oppo pack into submission and this tactic has failed in every match this season.

We need to play with flair - we have players who can be tricky if given a chance but by playing around the rucks we are playing into the hands of the oppo every time.

If Littler plays on Friday then I suggest the whole Reserve team should join another club. Lets see Goulding at CENTRE, Henry at CENTRE & Littler in the STANDS.

If Richie is still unfit lets see Fitzy at 7 & Stef at 6.

Lets see Alker at Hooker (MARLON) not Malcolm

Thats for starters

Its not boring rugby league, its pecentage rugby league, who ever comes out of the arm wrestle 1st weather it be because they lose their bottle or make mistake after mistake, penalty after penalty (which is what salford are guilty off most of the time).

If we stayed awake at the fringes while defending that would force our opponents inside and we have the players to cope with that style of play.
As for playing with flair, you need space and field position to do that, we keep turning over ball when we get a chance in their 20 and not coming away with the points. a repeat set or a least them pined on their line we will continue to lose out.

There are too many robots reaily in our team the moden day rugby league player needs brain too.

I would put Turner at hooker , play our two proper wingers and put Smith on the next plane home.

dont you remember huddersfeild away 24-4 our forwards where awsome.. cashmere had crabtree rapped round his little finger thats proberly the only game our forwards have looked really dangerous itz a same they can only do this 1 time a season and not every week forwards have been prettypoor this season in my opion... other than that 1 game against hudd

I also remember when the same tactic failed - Wigan away (twice), Hull FC, Wakey, Cas, HKR etc At Leeds we played with a fair degree of flair and I want to see a return to the attitude employed that day.

Wigan away in the cup just after half time we had them on the rack, made them drop out putting a fair bit of pressure on them then silly ball out wide, knock on then we gave away a penalty giving wigan possesion and field possition which we never recovered
Wigan in the league we were not switched on for the 1st 20 minutes and they battered us out of sight if i remember corretly we had a few half chances to close the gap before half time but didnt take them

Both the FC games we threw away, the home game Rachford kicking the ball dead after being given a suiside ball by wilshire bit better composure by both wilshire and Rachford and we might have knicked it, away from home just before half time Rachford not finding touch with 5 mins to go, we get a 2nd chance to clear our lines with 3 to go then a salford player (might have been sibbit but im not 100%) knocks on turns the ball over Hull go over just before half time and go on to win the game

Wakey away bit dire but at 18-12 (? or somthing round there) Sibbits disalowed try as henry was said to be offside from a cross field kick, bit of a dispute on boots and all if i remember rightly if the deciton was correct but the decition stands, salford pushed the ball a bit after that with time ticking away we knock on around our 40 yrd line wakefield with good field possition finished the job.

Cas from what remember we were awful, reaily bad and we deserved what we got that night.

Hull KR 2nd half they just stepped up a gear in the 2nd half and we couldnt handle it physically and mentally.

The reasons we beat leeds that day were:

1) Leeds turned over a lot of ball- it didnt seem like it at the time but Leeds coundnt get of their 40m, we got a lot of 50/50 calls that day which all teams need sometimes.

2) Our Completion rate - it was fantastic if i remember rightly, we made very few mistakes to release the pressure on leeds and we got rewarded for that

3) Our defence - Smith and Turner was brilliant that day defensivly, particually turner who leeds peppered all afternoon with crashballs with big forwards on the outside, never missed one

4) We took our chances - ever time we got a sniff we scored, leeds couldnt handle it, they came roaring back like true champions at the end but we gave them the sucker punch and ran out worthy winners in the end

With a bit more composure and intelegence around the field thoughout the 80 mins the games we lost we could/should have won and we'd be in a much healther possion in the league where we are now.

The crutial time for any salford side ive seen is 5 mins before half time, 5 mins after half time and 5 mins to go till the end, this is the time the players switch off or make duff decitions which put extra pressure on ourselves.

As a team the players have to be active and not reactive in situations if they want to achieve success, this is where we fall down badly and it needs addressing with our coaching team.

Hang on Optimist. So you are saying that we are playing entertaining Rugby League Football? I am finding it totally boring. Constant driving up the middle and just maybe a little bit of football on the 5th tackle before a poor kick or Malcolm side footer.

I have seen ONE worked move all season and that was from a scrum at Hull. It was a belter and just what I am on about.

Where are the dummy runners, pi$$ offs, run arounds, criss cross moves, chips over the top to men on the burst (perfect for Myler and Fitzy if he ever gets back), face balls etc etc

I am just bored with the predictability of it all at the moment. If you are happy with the style we play then all well and good - I am not.

Agree 100% with all above, no exitement whatsoever apart from the Leeds game. When we are well & truly beat, the team appear to throw caition to the wind for the final 10 minutes or so throwing the ball around, using the backs, but unfortunatly, far too late to win us the game, we need as you say, Fitzy back, maybe some of his little jinking runs will come off, show a bit of flair throughout the team & give the fans something to cheer about. Even if we dont win but put up a good show, Im happy & imagine a lot of other fans would be.

No not entertaining rugby league but how many teams in other sports enterain and win consistantly, Manchester United, St Helens, Barcelona.........Australia rugby league.

Winning comes 1st (well it should do), our problems during games are almostly always self inflicted with penalties or mistakes given away, its all about 1-17 being switched on 100% of the time, if this happens we'd give away less penalties, make less mistakes, gain better field position so we can hurt opposition on a regular basis.

Our structure would be better so moves would be possible, at the moment you have Wilshire, Littler and Smith "minching around in back play" it takes us 3 tackles to sort the move out thats with a slow play of the ball, if we got a few quick play of the balls in a set we wouldnt have a move we'd have to boot it on the 5th if they dont start getting into position quicker.

Huddesfield friday we pinned them back twice on their line and coughed the ball up TWICE without completing the set, allowing them to clear their lines, they went up the field the 2nd time and put the game to bed.

You cant given superleague opposion 2 chances its criminal to give them the opportunity, make them work hard to releave the pressure we put on them.

I agree about the dummy runners, criss cross moves, we dont do enough, the only player i remember being a dummy runner or a bind side runner to keep everyone on their toes is Rob Parker, even if he knows he's not part of the move he'll still run through to put the doubt into the defenders heads.

Nobody else does it, because if they are not involved they'd rather mince around and wait till they are, its predictable because there is no other options for the defence to think about as soon as the players start doing this the better we'll look and the more success we'll get.

personally i would like to see good performances (admittedly I've gotten to the point where I'd settle for a glimpse of a good performance). I'd like to see the team look like a team rather than a load of knackered old men (even though they're not old). No matter what happens I'll still go to the games whether that's out of habit rather than a passion for the game I don't know. I hope hope and hope even more that something exciting happens on friday to make my trip to the willows worthwhile, even if we lose (not wanting to be a pessimist but with it our opponents being saints it's not likly going to be a win for us but hey ho). I want McCrae to change the team around, maybe try the players in their prefered positions, maybe a few chips, offloads, covering the ball more, not driving down the middle, anything that is different to how we usually play. When I go to a match I want to be ho the next day from singing and shouting with excitement.(I really do miss that about games at the moment).

Sorry if I've gone on but I am becoming increasingly jaded with things at the moment, I know I'm not the only one.

when is fitzy ready to play again he will make a big difference for salford in my opioion ,sniffin round the ruck ect great reader of the game