Salford will play most SL games on Friday nights. And close at least one stand.

[MancRL 345]

http://www.thereddevils.net/news/post/positive-fans-board-meeting

Salford will play most of their games on Friday nights, and close at least one stand. This is obviously to save money and not as Marwan Koukash states, that it is to aviod Salford games clashing with City and United games.

Fair enough, if this measure is the only sensible financial option open to Salford with their renegotiated stadium deal. But don't try and make out it's anything to do with games clashing with local football clubs. Because the away support on a Friday night is going to be hit hard. I can't imagine people from Hull, Castleford, Wakefield ect who did come to the AJ Bell last season in numbers being able to make this trip in the same numbers.

I hope im wrong, but I can envisage regular sub three thousand crowds next season at the AJ Bell with two stands closed.

[Red John 291]

Not a fan of Friday nights at all. Not at all. Not only does it have the potential to limit the number of away fans, but also the potential to attract young local kids to home games. The reasons given seem to be a load of pony to me. Salford's season doesn't overlap with the football season during the months of May, June, July and August, so there are no football games to avoid. Meanwhile, Sale Sharks' season entirely overlaps with the football, but they are playing most of their matches on Saturday afternoon. Why do they have the courage to believe their followers will turn up to watch them rather than football, while Salford don't? If a handful of fans would rather go and watch football, then Salford are a secondary consideration, so why pander to them?

 

In addition, it appears season ticket prices have gone up, with people suggesting it's by as much as 30%. I can't remember how much I paid last year so can't confirm it, but I don't think it'll be far wrong. I very much doubt the team on the field will be 30% better than the one they had last year. It appears the RFL has brought back some form of proportional salary cap - thus helping to keep the top clubs at the top and the dead men down amongst the dead men - and, if this is true, then I suspect this might be the driver behind the price hikes.

 

All in all, not very good. Not very good at all. Thinking back, I reckon I've only missed about 3 home games in the last 40+ years, but I'm now having to seriously consider whether to just knock it all on the head.

[Angelic Cynic 584]

That has to be the most sombre post I have seen from you,Red John.

 

 I am certain Salford,as a club,have facts and figures,proving that the corporate sponsorship is far more fulsome on a Friday night than on any other day/night of the week.

 

 As the club probably makes more money from that than the matchday money through the turnstiles,club shop combined I would think the club had no alternative.

 

   I hope your mood lightens as the new campaign approaches.Keep your spirits up.

[Red John 291]

I must admit, I'm getting a bit disillusioned with the sport in general and Salford in particular. If it's true that we are now back to proportionate salary caps, then I think it's a pretty safe bet that SL's bottom four for 2016 will be the same as SL's bottom four for 2015, and they'll then go on to be SL's bottom four for 2017 and onwards. So, Salford will be back in the middle 8 competition where the "reward" for finishing in the upper half is to return to SL with exactly the same handicaps they had the previous season. The status quo, in other words. I don't find it a particularly appealing prospect. So, with a hike in season ticket prices and a return to Friday nights, I'm faced with two questions: is there something better I could do with that money? and is there something I'd rather be doing on a Friday night? I've been going to Salford games since I was a foetus (literally: my dad took my mum along while she was pregnant with me), and for the first time I'm finding the answers to those two questions is "yes" and "yes".

 

The salary cap one is giving me a disproprtionate (ironically) amount of urined offness. A bunch of years ago, I got to speak to the game's (then) CEO (no names, no pack drill) and he was pretty candid about our biggest problem: the disproportionate influence the big clubs - and one big club in particular - have. Richard Lewis seemed to have the cojones to stand up to it, and I thought the sport was progressing under his tenure, but the return of the proportionate salary cap - which benefits the bigger clubs and condemns the rest of us to a life of just existing - suggests to me that we're back to the bad old days.

 

Still, Reasons To Be Cheerful, part 3: Ian Watson as coach, Tim Sheens, Marwan taking a back seat, Tommy Lee to be made captain (rumour, but one I hope is true), Niall Evalds, disruptive elements removed, Michael Dobson, discounts for existing season ticket holders, apparently.

[phildog 426]

This definitely isn't the right place to ask this, but I can't find another thread on players leaving etc. Can anyone tell me what the position is with Jason Walton. I know he went out on loan but has been released from that. Regarding your Friday night move, maybe Dr.K fancies you might get a good number of Sky games with their revenue making up for the missing away (and home?) fans. I think he has as much idea as Massimo Cellino.....just not caught him up on thenumber of coaches sacked!! Watch this space....

[Red John 291]

This definitely isn't the right place to ask this, but I can't find another thread on players leaving etc. Can anyone tell me what the position is with Jason Walton. I know he went out on loan but has been released from that.

 

His move to London was a permanent one, not a loan deal.

 

Regarding your Friday night move, maybe Dr.K fancies you might get a good number of Sky games with their revenue making up for the missing away (and home?) fans. I think he has as much idea as Massimo Cellino.....just not caught him up on thenumber of coaches sacked!! Watch this space....

 

I don't know who Massimo Cellino is and, obviously, haven't Googled him, but I assume he's someone who goes through a lot of managers. You might be right that Marwan doesn't know what he's doing, but that seems to be pretty common amongst club owners. Where Marwan is different is that people (fans of clubs other than Salford, mostly) seem pretty obsessed with him, so everything he does is the subject of some form of discussion on the interweb, even if what he does is exactly what other owners do. So, for example, although it's true he's gone through 4 coaches in 3 years, it's also true that Simon Moran went through 3 coaches in 10 months when he first took over at Warrington. Unlike Marwan's actions, though, that's been disappeared down the memory hole, and Simon Moran is held up by many (well, by Warrington fans) as the model to be adopted. Weird, eh?

[eddrudd 3]

Red John my heart bleeds red for all you Salford fans. I hope you turn the corner next season but I can not picture Marwan taking a back seat unless you strap him into it.

[phildog 426]

FYI Red John, Cellino is the slimy who owns Leeds United, he's gone through 41 managers so far, do keep up! ! Suppose the good Doc still has a way to go....thanks for the info on Jason Walton, still can't find out what happened to him from London though.

[Red John 291]

Red John my heart bleeds red for all you Salford fans. I hope you turn the corner next season but I can not picture Marwan taking a back seat unless you strap him into it.

 

Oddly enough, I'm more optimistic about this one. Marwan seems to be aware of his lack of knowledge, and had Graham Lowe as Director of Rugby when he first took over at Salford. Graham returned to New Zealand - obviously, you don't want to be spending too long working with Marwan if you've got a dodgy pump - and Marwan set about looking for a replacement. He first offered the job first to Brian Noble (turned it down), then Shane Flanagan as an interim appointment (Visa problems - he was under suspension at the time - meant he never got to the UK), then Ellery Hanley (blocked by Iestyn - and therein lies an interesting little development that bypassed the normally watchful eyes of the Marwanophobic: Marwan consulted his coach and acted on what he said. He's not supposed to do that sort of thing) before finally landing Tim Sheens. Having gone to all that trouble, he surely wouldn't go interfering would he? I mean, would he? Landing Tim Sheens was a massive coup, and not letting him run things would be like persuading Lewis Hamilton to be your chauffeur and then sitting him in the passenger seat. Perhaps naively, I remain pretty hopeful on this.

 

FYI Red John, Cellino is the slimy who owns Leeds United, he's gone through 41 managers so far, do keep up! ! Suppose the good Doc still has a way to go....thanks for the info on Jason Walton, still can't find out what happened to him from London though.

 

It looks like he's still without a club. However, he'd be a worthy addition to the squad of any Championship or lower level SL club, so I'm sure he'll be fixed up with a new club before the start of next season.