: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:27 pm  

Early Bath wrote:

Stadge & Others - Mr McRae wont be sacked as the pay off will be impossible to meet. If he resigns then its a different matter of course.

: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:59 pm  

Early Bath wrote:

Stadge & Others - Mr McRae wont be sacked as the pay off will be impossible to meet. If he resigns then its a different matter of course.

The phrase ( you don't become a bad coach over night ) was used before K H was sacked...he had just been given a 3 year contract McRae has less than 2 years left.....personally, I'd have stuck with K H as his demise was injury related ( we were decimated ) S m/c is just a bad coach

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:22 am  

stadge wrote:

The question we should be asking is why is it Malcolm Alker saying extra training is needed. Surely this is Shaun McRae's call.
However, I don't think the training will make much difference. Super League has improved but the problem is more we have gone backwards ever since McRae took over.
Look back at our performances towards the end of the releagtion season. We got progressively worse, who can forget the Hull KR humiliation. Our performances last season were pretty poor all round. Have we forgot how the side was booed off at the Willows on several occasions, being ripped apart by a rookie scrum half at Whitehaven and the poor away form. Winning the league and NR Cup masked deficiences, the same ones being more ruthlessly exposed at Super League level.
We lack ideas in attack especially near the line. There is no real go forward because the forwards are always stood still when they get the ball. The kicking game is atrocious. Defensively we cannot tackle to save our lives. We lack pace and overall fitness. The failure to stop teams keeping the ball alive is as much a fitness issue in my view as the players lack the upper body strength to shackle the opposition. This is not a new problem either teams did the same to us last season.
I keep hearing that it takes time to adapt to Super League and how the youngsters need time. The youngsters have been our better players and why is the pace of Super League catching us out. Most of the players have played in it before or in the NRL.
Also we keep getting told about this being the 1st year of a 3 year plan. What have the other close on two years been about?
I would have hope of us improving if we could even do the basics but we cannot.
I was genuinely excited when I first heard we were geting McCrae, an established coach instead of a rookie. However, I have been disappointed with us throughout his reign. We have seen the likes of Myler and Ratchford come through under him but any other coach would have had to do the same with the budget constraints of National League. I cannot think of any other aspect that has improved at the club during his tenure.
Time to go McRae.

Excellent post. I know that McRae is seen by some as a top coach and I have to be honest, I hoped for the best but I feel that Karl Harrison did a far better job with the level of players we always seem to have. Saints and Hull had a good team littered with good playes we are average at best IMHO. Harrison and Lowes got more out of them until several of them decided to stop playing as a team .... oh that sounds familiar.... It has to do with some ingrained culture somewhere. I have no answers and am as perplexed as most of us are but we have made no progress for years. The last Relegation year was bad, I still think the NL1 year was alarmingly average, despite the smokescreen of winning all that was on offer. This season has been dreadful. Last season Cas lost a lot of their games but were largely competitive and used many of their younger players. I expected a bottom three finish this year and very few wins but this has all but curtailed my 45 year love of our Club. I have no idea what is going on anymore at Salford and, frankly, I am getting tired with it all?

*Runs for cover*

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:26 am  

our club cant even spell the word team at the moment they look as though they dont know wot each other is doing or what to do when they get the ball mcrae's coaching has to be in question because of all the talking he has done on the tv he says he nows what they need to do so why aren't they doing it I even saw him in the shed on friday watching the reserves match with some of the team has it come down to seeing it from our point of view all ready

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:41 am  

McRae gets another vote of confidence here http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... __goulding the most interesting part of this article IMHO is, "Karl Harrison, who made way for McRae, is worried by Reds' recent results. "It really does hurt me to see Salford losing heavily," he said. "I just wonder if the spirit that we worked so hard to build there is being eroded." "We put structures in place, but I feel everything we put together could be being lost and that's sad."

McRae gets another vote of confidence here http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... __goulding the most interesting part of this article IMHO is, "Karl Harrison, who made way for McRae, is worried by Reds' recent results. "It really does hurt me to see Salford losing heavily," he said. "I just wonder if the spirit that we worked so hard to build there is being eroded." "We put structures in place, but I feel everything we put together could be being lost and that's sad."

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:42 am  

McRae gets another vote of confidence here http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... __goulding the most interesting part of this article IMHO is, "Karl Harrison, who made way for McRae, is worried by Reds' recent results. "It really does hurt me to see Salford losing heavily," he said. "I just wonder if the spirit that we worked so hard to build there is being eroded." "We put structures in place, but I feel everything we put together could be being lost and that's sad."

McRae gets another vote of confidence here http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... __goulding the most interesting part of this article IMHO is, "Karl Harrison, who made way for McRae, is worried by Reds' recent results. "It really does hurt me to see Salford losing heavily," he said. "I just wonder if the spirit that we worked so hard to build there is being eroded." "We put structures in place, but I feel everything we put together could be being lost and that's sad."

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:54 pm  

I agree with you BigPev about Harrison's statements - very telling and on the money IMHO. There is NO spirit visible to those of us watching the players (I find it hard to refer to them as a team at present).
Goulding, in support of Mr McRae states that, "His ability to identify weaknesses in the opposition ranks is second to none." But this is more akin to his Sky role as a game assessor though, where, as most of us agree, he is a good talker in terms of the game and tactics in general. What I want him to do is identify the obvious weaknesses in our game and work on them.

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:34 pm  

Maybe that's the problem, he has only had to concentrate on the other team as his own had few failings.

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:56 pm  

I don't think you are that far off the truth RW.

: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:29 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

And yet, and yet, we won silverware with McRae.

I don't think it's McRae who is your problem. I think it is your team - either their overall level of ability or their present level of skill/fitness/dedication/whatever it may be. Your finances will be strapped for this season but once the money starts filtering through, you should be able to recruit better for next season both on the field and perhaps in backroom staff (with things like fitness coaches, wrestling coaches, etc).

I think Castleford won four games and drew one in their first season? That will give you an idea of what to expect this season. Castleford I think have only lost one of their games this season so far. That's what a year in SL does for a team (fwiw they dropped ten of their original squad at the end of last season).

Last season 7 wins, 1 draw. 2006 9 wins one draw.