THE revolving door at Knowsley Road has been spinning this week with departures and arrivals both on and off the pitch - and more still in the offing.

Trading places are Huddersfield Giants' 21-year-old centre Martin Gleeson who has signed a two-year contract with Saints, whilst heading out to the McAlpine Stadium is utility forward Heath Cruckshank.

Gleeson is the latest addition to Saints new look three-quarter line with Barrow's Ade Gardner and Aussie flyer Darren Albert coming in to fill the void created by the loss of Anthony Sullivan, Steve Hall and Kevin Iro.

Up front Saints faced up to the considerable task of trying to fill David Fairleigh's boots this week with a move for experienced Canterbury Bulldogs prop Barry Ward. The player seemed optimistic about the prospect of joining club mate Darren Britt in the front row at Knowsley Road, but Saints board were meeting to discuss the moves as the Star went to press.

The 30-year-old played 11 matches for the Bulldogs last season and is currently three games through a six match suspension.

Lanky forward Wayne McDonald has joined Leeds after failing to slot into Saints' pattern of play.

Welsh international prop Gareth Price, who failed to make a first team appearance for St Helens this season, has joined Leigh Centurions in a 12 month deal.

Price, who is aged 21 and out of contract at Saints, played for Wales in their 42-33 defeat by England at Wrexham in July. He scored two tries in 11 appearances for Saints since turning professional from Hendy RU.

A more significant departure is off the field where one of Ian Millward's right hand men, coaching coordinator Harry Bryant, has returned to Australia for family reasons.

Bryant, aged 49, joined St Helens last year after coaching Italy in the Emerging Nations World Cup.

Also off the park, Saints have appointed Kel Coslett as their new football operations manager, replacing Eric Hughes, who leaves at the end of the month. Coslett, the ex-Saints skipper and coach, is the record scorer in the club's history with 1,639 goals and 3,413 points between 1962-76. He also made a record 531 appearances for the club.

Coslett, aged 59, is the current Welsh RL manager and also sales executive at Knowsley Road.

He said: "Saints are in my blood and I'm delighted to be given this new opportunity to work closely with coach Ian Millward and the players." Malcolm Kay, the Saints chief executive, said: "Kel will be a very popular choice with the supporters because he is a legend at the club."

THREE Saints tour hopefuls played in the Super League Under 21 side's trial match defeat against the Northern Ford Premiership Under 21s at Widnes last Wednesday.

Forwards Mark Edmondson, Dave McConnell and Mick Higham all had solid enough games and will be keeping their fingers crossed when the squad for next month's British under 21 tour to South Africa is announced next Tuesday.

With the Australian Ashes series back on, a cluster of Saints players will be taking renewed interest when the Great Britain squad for the game with France at Agen at the end of the month is announced tomorrow.

DESPITE criticism from supporters and disappointing crowd figures, Saints are sticking to Friday evening for next season's home games. (8pm kick off). Simon Dawson, Saints Marketing Executive, said: "Although we received criticism when we first changed our game day to a Friday last season we saw a change in fans' perceptions as the season progressed and, as the consistency increased, we received more and more positive comments regarding our decision. We understand there are always winners and losers in decisions such as these but, on the whole, we feel that we made the correct decision".

In addition to the decision to continue playing on Friday nights, admission prices are also to rise. Adult Ground admission will rise to £12 and Concession Ground admission rises to £7. Adult Stand admission rises to £16 and concession stand admission rises to £11.