Imagine what Odsel could look like with proper investment.?

Like the greatest Speedway stadium in the world probably.....

The issue I have is when you said about the game needs to not live in the past.



One problem I think we have in RL is too much emphasis is given on "new innovative ideas" as automatically great.



Club call thats innovative, not living in the past, must be a great innovation.

Scrapping the juniors and linking up with feeder clubs in the National League, new and innovative.

Split the league in to three, must be good because at least its innovative.



Even Koukash coming in and he has to rebrand his club "Salford Red Devils". Its like we have to be doing some tinkering too look like we're progressive and forward thinking.



There's a lot to be said for a bit of conservatism and steadiness in the game. What works isn't just what's innovative, its what works.



I personally think the game is generally administered better, apart from these silly innovations, now, than it has been in the past. I was blown away by how good the World Cup was and how well supported it is. I think in general the game in the modern era (as in the last decade or so) is better and healthier than it has been before although we're in a lull at the moment because we have a bit of a dearth of talent, we don't have the great players in the game that we did in the mid 1990s or mid 2000s.



Clubs being run badly is a bit of a problem I agree but thats not a new thing, we've had clubs going bust for years. Unfortunately in any business environment you can't have an outside body that prevents individual businesses making bad decisions. In any corporate environment you see some thrive and some get it wrong and suffer the consequences. I suspect though the real problem is that SL has too many clubs - the game can't support that many.

Sally? Obtuse? Quite an astute observation methinks. I wonder how many others would share that opinion?

"Smarter than the majority on the whole site" I wonder how many others would share that opinion?

How many season tickets have we sold this year?

I personally think we are sat on the surfboard waiting for the big wave, similar to where football was 10/15 years ago. Big investers seeing the signs of oppertunism. the clubs with no ambition falling to the wayside (luton, stockport, barnsley, forets) all big premier league clubs that could not sustain the race. Luckily we are one of the forerunners in the race with Wigan, leeds, saints and now Salford. Hull keep playing with it and may now have the owner to back the cause. How many of the premiership clubs are sustainable, how many of them are owned by long term owners. Koucash and Moran are the abramovich and Shiek of super leauge add Lennigan and Mcmanus in there and the signs are there that the game could expand quickly. Rugby Union has and Soccer has erupted beyond anyones expectations. We are going through the same toils as the FA and the Premier League did a few years back. Yes its dissapointing the way the RFL are performing at the minute, but they are under pressure for there future and they need to be careful.

All will sort its self out as we have a great product that as shown in Australia is one of the best in the world and is wanted by major companies like Mcdonalds and KFC

I'm still a massive critic of Koukash. Most people say that he's good for the game....

how ? he saved a small club, just Like the guy at London has done, or the guy at Wakefield did, or the guy at Widnes or...the list goes on. He's not the first to bail out a club and he wont be the last.



his views on the game are the same as the average bloke in the street, i.e. "its a superb game its being undersold and it's run poorly"... not the first to hold those views wont be the last.



His desperation to purchase property/land or stadium is there for all to see especially with the Swinton scenario stepping up a notch. He clearly wants the Salford City stadium and some land around it would be nice!.... The best way to do it is to threaten to buy another club in "manchester" and build them a new stadium and then salford could also play out of it..... "guess what Council you own a big white elephant....told you you should have sold it to me".......



If he is so rich why didn't he offer "serious big money" to buy Saints the team that got him into the game. He could claim to turn them in to the biggest club in the country that wouldnt be outrageous, and he could sell a damn sight more Season tickets





he's largely a mouthy feller with some money hoping to make some money(from the purchase of Land or property.) I'm sure he likes Rugby League, but he was never in the News as much when he was just a race horse Owner, in fact I'd never seen his name mentioned once prior to him buying Salford.

Rugby League has given him a media mouthpiece and he has done nothing much with it so far other than ridicule the game, make it look small time, and moan so much about it it gives him an easy avenue to go down should he become "disillusioned with the sport" and walk away.



People say he has given the game publicity...how...? do people say that about Soccer when Joey Barton goes gobbing off on Twitter?...no they dont they want him to shut up.



Still good for the game? a breath of fresh air....??? I'm not having it, come out with some great ideas, some business contacts, some oil rich sheik to buy London broncos a home.......but come out with something positive other than self ed nonsense........



that Said Salford fans Love him......



to be honest I should stay away from the Koukash Debates I honestly just don't like the feller and I'm going to struggle to look at him through good for the game, dyed in the wool, Rugby League supporter tinted specs

I love Joey Barton on Twitter, some of the arguments ate hysterical.



a lot of the time the things he says are the things everyone thinks but no one will say. The rest of it he's trolling and having a mess about and every one takes him serious.

he did try and buy saints to begin with, Eamon McManus the saints chairman felt he was the "wrong fit for the club" so refused his offer (which apparently, would of seen a return on his investment in the club) - I also know "in the know" saints fans who believe it was McManus who convinced him to buy Salford.



I agree with you on the whole about koukash. I find him too attention seeking for his own good. By saying things like "we're signing a player beginning with h from a team beginning with w" makes him seem no better than an attention seeker on these forums.



Also he said in an recent interview he said 12 out of the 14 teams were in financial difficulty - I'd like to know where he got that from.

He's having a better fist of it than these owners at other clubs though because he has actually got a top class coach and managed to get some good signings and the semblance of a decent squad, so at least he is having a go.



I think he is naive and is going to make mistakes.



To use a football analogy think of Mike Ashley. When he came in he did a lot of publicity seeking cringeworthy stuff like having that Keegan shirt and downing pints in front of the fans, and when things went wrong it really turned sour for him. Also I think some people within the game took advantage of him and poorly advised him. Over time he has lowered his profile but learned to act a bit more sensibly.



Koukash will have to learn the hard way and will go through some difficult moments.



The biggest danger he could get himself in to, is when Salford hit a sticky patch, is to start publicly making statements like "I will not tolerate this failure. I can assure the fans I will take action" as he will then back himself in to a corner where he has to start getting rid of big players or Brian Noble and will make his situation worse.



He has to be able to be calm and rational when things go wrong, Simon Moran had to go through several years of underperformance on his investment but he stuck to his plan.

From the outside, it appears that Widnes are being well run. No outlandish statements from their directors, support for the coach, good sprinkling of young (often local) players. Sensible collection of experienced players (Clarke, Brown, Tickle). I think they'll make the 8 this year at the expense of Hull KR or Catalans.

Flying Biscuit, I'm with you on what you have said, not like the guy from the start, and it's not a jealousy thing that its not my club.



The difference is Simon Moran has gone about it all in the right way, kept his head down and done it for the love of his home town and club. I think it's clear these are the only main reason's he's in the game. Koukash is here for one thing and one thing only to make cash.