Salford left to pick up the pieces

The departure of Steve McCormack from Salford this week was one of the least surprising events of the season so far. Anyone who saw the listless performance against London Broncos that left them in last place in the Super League table knew that something had to happen – and the sacking of the coach was the likeliest candidate.

There will be much sympathy for McCormack, who is well regarded within the game and is exactly the sort of young, British coach it would be good to see succeed. But he would admit himself that he was not getting the best out of a squad that looked suspiciously demotivated.

His chances of doing so were weakened by several circumstances that were not entirely his fault. Salford's overseas recruitment has been patchy, to say the least, but it has been less productive than ever this year, with three Australian forwards – Mark Corvo, Greg Ebrill and Darren Treacy – yet to make an impact.

The side have also been worse affected than most by injuries, with players Salford were counting upon in the back-line, such as Gary Broadbent, Alan Hunte and Nick Pinkney, all absent for extended periods. One of the main absentees from the pack, Andy Coley, is in line to play at Hull today for the first time since last August.

Even with Coley back in the sort of form he was showing before his injury, it is hard to see Salford getting much out of the next month, which includes games against St Helens, Castleford, Bradford and Widnes. The brief for the new coach is clear, however. The team must pick up enough points to edge ahead of fellow strugglers such as Wakefield and Warrington and avoid relegation from Super League. Dropping into the Northern Ford Premiership would be a disaster from which the club might not recover. The gate of 2,211 last Sunday – their worst-ever in Super League – would quickly start to look a pretty good one.

The post has been advertised and the club hope to have someone in place for the Saints game next Saturday, but getting the right man is more important than sheer speed. The first two names mentioned were linked with the job long before there was any vacancy – the former Halifax coach John Pendlebury, and Leigh's Paul Terzis – but the buzz on Humberside is that Shaun McRae's assistant at Hull, Tony Anderson, is ready to go for a head coach's job. If that is the case, he will get a valuable insight today into how much there is to be done to get Salford back on the rails.