Just got back from today's open day at the Stadium and would like to congratulate the club on a great event. There was a great turnout to see the players get their shirts together with a good talk from Marwan.
I bought my new shirt and got it signed by all the players . It's great to see the shirts out in time for Christmas
When you see all the players we have in our squad and what appears to be a great team spirit it bodes well for the new season and I for one cannot wait!
Well done to the club for this event

It was really good. Was busy and the shop seemed to be doing good business. Loads of season tickets and pre-ordered shirts still uncollected
Especially pleased that all the local amateur clubs were invited to have a stall and were presented with shirts. Nice touch and hopefully a sign of improved relationships with the community clubs

Great turn out by the fans, the only disappointment for me was the lack of merchandising.

They can't sell what they haven't got?

Another thing I'll add and a few I was talking to today, I couldn't even imagine anything like this under Wilkinson, we've come so far as a club in such a short space of time, brilliant commitment by marwan.

They did have events like today's when Wilkinson was in charge. Not on the same scale and no stadium tours (couldn't fit many people in the changing rooms) but plenty of meet the players nights, shirt presentations and the like in the Willows Variety Centre.

The club posted on Twitter that Kevin Locke went straight to a superleague event at the Trafford centre, so that would have been as united were playing?
Is it only me that thinks that is really bad timing?

That's right didn't Eddie Hemmings from Sky Sports present the shirt event on the Willows stage? I remember a great night in the Willows a few years ago after we won at Old Trafford and all the fans were invited in to celebrate with the players. I can remember about 600 people all singing along to Tina Turner's - Simply the Best!!

I wouldn't say meet the players nights? They normally just huddled together in a group separate from fans. Anyway I meant in terms of season ticket collection, the tours and the set up of the event, we couldn't come close to that during wilkys days.

The general level of professionalism around the club is certainly miles higher than anything we've seen before. I remember seeing Scott Naylor and Paul Forber tabbing away on a couple of Capstan Full Strength* as they came into the Variety club for the end of season presentation.

*maybe

Totally different era. I've heard stories of former international rugby league players and coaches lighting up cigs at half-time in the dressing rooms. There was also a big drinking culture in rugby league up until a few years ago.

Leave off with your continued diatribe against Wilky. Remember the man has lost Millions in supporting the club and without him there wouldnt be a club to support. Move On Mike87.

Yes, it's only you

Agree with that too. Whatever your thoughts on Wilky's ability to run the club (and our record in his time speaks for itself), is there any doubt that his heart was in the right place? Personally I'd rather be a good man not up to the job than a mega-rich Glazer-style asset stripper. Which is probably (one of the many reasons) why I'm not a multi-millionaire, but still.

I think both parties are correct here.

We couldn't have done anything like it under Wilky. But we should be thankful that he kept us going for so long.

See, it's possible to be on both sides!

I wonder what perception people have when they say running the club badly for years. To me there is a distinct difference between an underfunded club and a badly run one. No doubt in the past the club had faults and weaknesses but how much of Salford's improvement going forward will be attributed to additional external finances? Were Manchester City always a badly run club before they hit the United Arab Emirates jackpot or were they just at the level that their finances dictated?

Me too! Pretty nice fence we're sitting on here fella.

No I won't move on, Wilkinson made his millions out of that rugby club and people on here don't have a single clue about it, when he set up his welding company he was only a small time player, he only accuired Salford because the Snape family wanted rid since Brian had passed away, he was virtually handed the club for peanuts, he sold the variety club off the greenalls for a tidy little sum that went in his families pocket, only to buy it back years later for peanuts when the brewery were in financial trouble, that club was built to maintain a top level squad not to privately make his family millions, he use the willows money to build up his own business, while the rugby club as a whole fell into the doldrums. I remember having a chat with Neil baines a few years ago in Wigan and he said most players in the first team were only on about £300 a week so what ever you all think about him pumping in millions simply isn't true, and a lot of them players were paid through Wilkinson star for the obvious reasons, I'm sick of hearing about how if he weren't here how we'd be gone, well he left in 2013 and a buyer was found and that's in the awful climate the game is in today, simple fact is when he bought the club only a few years before we were the champions, he totally bled the club dry of all its money making schemes. Imo he's done a lot more damage to our club than good.

But Salford had a self sustainable business there in the variety centre so they could keep up the funds for players, Wilkinson took that away from the club as soon as he took control, don't believe everything your hear about how good wilky was.

In the early 80's when Wilkinson took over the Willows had already been sold by Brian Snape to Greenhalls and the club had no income from the Variety Centre. At the end of the Snape era the rugby club was losing a lot of money and Snape sold the Variety Centre after retiring to the Isle of Man for tax purposes. The Variety Centre wasn't making the kind of profits it was making in the early to mid 1970's and it was sold in late 1970's because the club were in debt. To cut along story short when Brian Snape decided to stop funding the club it became unsustainable.

Don't be offended Mike by how can anyone take your comments seriously when they are totally inaccurate? I suggest you take the time to read a couple of historical Salford rugby books and educate yourself.

There’s a good story of Puig Albert and Dai Davies sharing a Gauloises during a test match between France and Wales. A tiny trough atop one of the touch flags on the halfway line acted as an ashtray and when either of them were close by, during a break in play they would take a drag. Not sure about the authenticity of the tale but I can believe it.

I think there's probably elements of truth in both scenarios. Plus there are always outside influences out of the control of the Club such as time and social changes. I think for people to just sit in one camp or the other do so with a bias. For whatever reason.

The Club has gone through ebbs and flows of being run well and badly. Having the right people and the wrong people in certain roles over time. The mobility of communities increasing and the decline of the variety centre have put undoubted pressure on the Clubs finances in the past. Declining crowds and constant yo-yo seasons created a catch-22.

I'm amazed that the Club is still around. That's purely down to Wilky. Could the Club have done things better? Undoubtedly. Did they make poor choices? Absolutely.

To seek blame in this case, is a failure to recognise the evolution and devolution of Sports Clubs over time. Especially those tied into the working class over the last century.

I also don't think that finance is the sole reason that we are picking ourselves up at the moment. It has a large bearing, sure. But new owners and new staff and new ways of doing things also seem to be playing a part. The stuff that MK has chosen to do away from the playing side of things are totally different than during the Wilky era. One look at the open day should leave plenty of optimism that MK and the staff behind the scenes are starting to see a little bit of pay-off from long term commitment off the field.

Will MK make bad decisions? Of course.

That's the ebb and flow of things.

Indeed, it was a loss making operation in the immediate years before its sale.

I couldn't have put it better myself Butcher. Money is a huge factor in professional sport but I also acknowledge new blood and a fresh approach.