There has been lots of discussion regarding the players we would like to keep, those we should not retain and those we would like to recruit. All of these thoughts have of course been complicated by not even knowing which Division we are playing in next season.
It is my view that the most important appointment and highest priority, bar none, should be the Coach.
We should strain every sinew and spend heavily to sign the best - a proven talent with wide ranging experience and knowledge of the game. This guy must command respect and be given complete control over all aspects of coaching and team selection. Importantly he must also be given the final say in regard to every single signing we make.
Never mind the fancy titles like Director of Rugby etc - just secure the services of the best Coach out there. This Coach should have the stature that will be a natural draw for players who will want to play for him and enhance their careers.
With total respect to those who have gone before, over many years now, we have not invested in the services of a Coach having anyway near the quality, knowledge, experience and man management skills that I have in mind.
With full respect to Derek, in recent years, we have made too many grave recruitment errors on both the coaching and playing front. This extends to people who have been brought in with crucially important player recruitment responsibilities (Kieron Cunningham and Garreth Carvell spring to mind). This has resulted in swathes of money being wasted.
I believe we should break the bank to sort the Coaching position as Priority 1 and the rest will fall into place.
If Marwan joins forces with Derek then we may expect them to form a formidable pairing but I suggest they must resist the temptation to get too deeply involved in choosing the right players to recruit. They should however be putting all their energy into securing the services of the club’s most important signing - a high quality Coach.

Has I have expressed my view before, would you not consider Shaun Wane as the D.of R. being the guy responsible for recruitment, he obviously has the knowledge and just as important the contacts, and considering his England duties he cpukd do the job on a part ti d basis, but I definitely head what you say, Mr B is just to loyal everyone of his last 5 coaches Rowley, Jukes, Purtill, Duffy and j8w Heggarty gacexall sat in the dressing room putting on their boots to play, and considering the success they have had not a good call, Riwley was probably the best of that lot but could learn some defensive tactics, and I class Jukes success as taking over Rowleys team.

They need a coach who has a backbone & no history with the club otherwise Derek will be picking the backs and Marwan picking the forwards.

Harry I do agree with a lot of your thoughts and Shaun Wane clearly ticks all the boxes in abundance.
The only bit that troubles me is that, if he were to agree to come, he is the likely to be employed on a part time basis. The natural expectation would then be to have him in a part time Director of Rugby capacity supervising player recruitment and mentoring an up and coming coach.
I would much prefer it if we could get an experienced full time Coach with the knowledge and skill to pick the men he wants to play for him and to markedly improve the players he is coaching.
Shaun Wane in such a part time capacity would not come cheap and is unlikely to stay long enough to make the impact we need. Additionally, a top quality coach is unlikely to want to work under the shadow of Shaun Wane.
My vision would to the break the bank on the best full time coach we can find and employ him on a 3 year contract - giving the time and space to make a lasting impact.
I fully understand Derek’s reasoning for implementing one year player contracts - but this is another aspect that is in urgent need of review. We need a mix to provide continuity and to attract the quality of player we need going forward. We simply cannot be reconstructing the entire squad on an annual basis.

It needs a clear out and the ball has been rolling now for a number of weeks probably already knowing the inevitable and taking a pot of paint with them !

The coaching side needs leaving to the experts as does the commercial side.

I can see Marwan taking over eventually. To bring fair to him, he does try and employ the best available and not just his mates, so the compromise could be right there !

Don't touch Marwan Kashcow with a barge poll Mr Beaumont. All the thousands of pounds he pumped into Salford without a clue what he was doing. It seems his biggest talent these days is trolling people on Twitter....and he's it's something he's reasonably good at, unlike running a rugby club.

is there owt to loose chunk

Nothing more to add other than ( i totally agree)

If the twosome get together, they should invest but stay out of player recruitment. They need an experienced rugby man who would then recruit coaches and players. Someone like Kevin Sinfield.

rlAdam Sidlow has signed for next seasonrl

rlBen Reynolds signs 2 year deal.rl

I appreciate all that Ben's done and tried to achieve in a Leigh shirt, same to with Joe Mellor this season, but I can't hide my dissapointed that I would have preferred a more dynamic first choice half back pairing for next season and going forward, these really are the positions that enable average teams to become good, and good teams to become much much better.
These signings seem like the same old, same old lack of ambition, I hope I am wrong and they have been secured as squad players with much more high profile half's on the radar.

Think we are signing to build a strong championship team for 2022. That is our reality for next year. Then possibly in SL 2 2023. Who knows with SL and the RFL. Strong championship half back pairing. Need to sort full-back and hookers now.

Are you banking on the 2 x 10's becoming a reality the year after next?
Until we find out something definatley, I would work on there being no structural change as such and there is the same 12 team SL with P&R in '22, amassing a team to win the Championship will just mean a great proportion of that team will need jettisoning and be replaced with SL quality player's if we do get promoted, grab the bull by the horns now and ensure we have at least 50% of next years squad capable if making the transition up.

All structural changes tend to go against our progress so expect next year 2x10 so no promotion. Briers being mentioned as new coach to get back on topic any thoughts?