Battle of the Brians - Noble v Smith for Salford Head Coach role

I believe that being head coach of Salford City Reds is the hardest job in Rugby league.

As the good Doctor Marwan Koukash has said many times Salford are the original sleeping giant with both citys of Salford and Manchester to tap into for support.
If Salford City Reds were to be successful for a prolonged period which involved trophy winning the crowds who may turn up could be huge.

With success and trophy winning sides in the 1930s and the 1970s Salford City Reds are due another shot at glory, but after the recent sacking of Phil Vievers who is the man with the help of the good Doctors enthusiasm and hard cash to turn the players who currently have the honour of wearing the sacred Reds shirt from bottom of the table to grandfinal winners hopefully one day in the future.

Currently in the press 2 names stand out as potential favourites for Head Coach at Salford, they are Brian Noble and the other is Brian Smith.

Brian Noble

Brian Noble is one of Britain's most successful rugby league coaches, During his career he coached Bradford Bulls to grandfinal victories in 2001, 2003 and 2005. During this very successful period he also won a challenge cup in 2003 and World Club Championships beating the best of Australia in 2002, 2004 and 2006.

When he finally left Bradford Bulls in 2006 his win percentage was 81% which is for any coach is outstanding.

Between 2004 to 2006 he also coached on the international stage with Great Britain doing battle against rivals New Zealand and Australia.

In 2006 he was employed by Wigan Warriors who were at the time after some heavy defeats and poor performances embroiled in a relegation dog fight.

His main aim was to save them from relegation. which with a lot of hard work from his players and his usual high quality coaching his team only just finished out side of the playoffs such was the turn around in form and confidence of his players.

Over the next 2 years he slowly rebuilt the club and turned it into a club which was competing for silverware.
Unfortunately this never came while he was at Wigan but from where Wigan Warriors were physical and mentally low and performing poorly when he arrived to where they were when he left which was one game away from a grandfinal it must be seen as a success.

In 2009 he was approached by Celtic Crusaders to become head coach, in the one season he was there he managed to turn them from basement dwellers to a playoff team. This shows he has the ability to build successfully team from scratch.

Since being out of the game he has written a book called Building Winning Teams as well as being employed by various teams in various roles in both codes of rugby as well as appearing on the BBC as a rugby league pundit.

This shows me he is still hungry to learn and further improve his coaching skills which will certainly be a good thing if the doctor decides that Brian Noble is the man to lead his Reds Revolution.

Brian smith

Brian smith is one of the most successful coaches to come out of Australia.

For the last 28 years he has coached at the highest level both in Australia and Great Britain.

He has reached 4 grandfinals in Australia with 3 separate club's (St George Dragons 1992 and 1993, Paramatta Eels 2001 after finishing top of the league and Sydney City Roosters in 2010.

The season before Sydney city Roosters coached by Brad Fittler finished bottom of the pile, so Brian Smith managed in one season to turn a team of wooden spoonists to Grandfinalists with his fantastic coaching.

His win percentage record for all 3 clubs were 58% (St George) 57% (Paramatta) and  61% (Sydney Roosters) shows his teams win and win well during his time as head coach.

He also collected the Daily M coach of the year award in Australia in 2010 which shows that he still a fantastic coach.

He is a pioneer always looking to improve his coaching and the game of rugby league, while in charge of Illawarra Steelers his 1st coaching role in 1984 he suggested that 2 referees should officiate on the field at the same time this eventually became a reality in the NRL in 2009.

He has experience of English Rugby league coaching Hull FC between 1988 to 1990 and also Bradford Bulls in 1996 with a win percentage of 77%  he coached his team all the way to the Challenge Cup Final where they were defeated by St Helens.

In 2010 he coached on the international scene as he worked as a assistant coach for Steve Mcnamara's England team in the 4 nations.

Since leaving The Roosters in 2012 he has been working part time as a defence coach in Australian Rugby Union this shows he still has the desire to pick up new skills to improve his ability to be a head coach.

Brian Smith is a 1st class coach his record is there for all to see he would certainly be the world class coach Dr Marwan Koukash craves to start his Salford revolution.

If I was to choose a head coach for salford I would go for Brian Noble, this is because he has coached in super league all his career he knows it inside out and knows what it takes to create a successful team. As its always a risk to import an Australian coach on how he will adapt to engish life and style of play I do feel the tried and trusted home grown coach is the way to go and if you have the most successful super league coach available it seems a perfect fit.

Viva gonna leavea and who next for the hot seat

After Friday nights defeat by London the Dr speaking to GMR was not to pleased with his sides performance and vowed that such ineptness would never happen again.

After watching the video again (which would have been grim) has obviously decided that Phil Vievers was the man who the axe should land on.

Personally I do feel a little sorry for Phil Vievers with his win ratio only second after the same amount of games to Andy Gregory, Salfords most successful coach in super league era.  Playing an exciting brand of rugby last season but with a squad assist stripped before Dr Koukash arrived was on a hiding to nothing even with new player's purchased in the last few weeks.

On the flip side 1 win in last 12 super league matches for a club Salford want to be isn't good enough and defensive frailties there for all to see with nearly 200 points conceded in the last 5 games maybe the Dr thinks a change of head coach will improve performances on the field.

The big question is who has the doctor in mind to galvanize the players and create a winning culture at the club.

It could be YOU?...you.....or even you.

With the Dr demanding the best and having the money to recruit it the Salford head coach role is now a different kettle of fish and will have a long list of applicants.

Salford City Reds are rugby leagues sleeping giant and in my opinion the biggest job in Rugby league.
Its easy to amend an already successful club or to continue to be successful if the right structures are in place but to build a successful dynasty from scratch will test even the most successful coach.

Lots of names in the frame early doors both with Salford links and not.
Bobby Goulding has been mentioned,  Malcom Alker and Matt Parish would be a blast from the past.  Would this kind of appointment be good for the club? In my opinion no we are a new club basically being run with a clean slate running through it and bringing back colourful characters would be a backward step.

Coaches based in England can't be ignored Brian Noble has a very impressive record and has been successful where ever he has been winning super league titles and challenge cups.
John Kear a coach who builds teams that are very motivated and has also won challenge cups could also be in the mix.
Tony smith of Warrington would be an excellent choice, he is an excellent forward thinking coach and would certainly send the club into orbit regarding preparation and coaching but I suspect the Dr would have to send a huge lorry load of money down the M62 to get a sniff of a chance.

As I dont follow Australian Rugby league I am not going to stick a particular name in the frame.
Doing a bit of research lots of salford fans are mentioning Brian smith who has had a very succesful career and voted coach of the year in 2010 Daily M awards, Tim Sheens who maybe looking for work in 2014 but currently Australian National Coach, Stephen Kearney who won a world cup with New Zealand, Daniel Anderson was very successful last time around in Super league and Royce Simmons may fancy another crack at super league and to build a dynasty to cover past failure to do so with St Helens.

Time will tell who the Dr will choose to coach salford but in reality the new man will need time and  new Xfactor player's to make their time in charge a success.