I agree with that. He's not god-awful as some claim but he's not the man for the job from what I've seen.

Looking at the side as a whole it's obvious that we've got some deficiencies in the squad. We lack leadership and direction in the middle of the field, we're lacking a decent centre and we're lacking some aggression and impact in the forwards. Of the players we brought in my verdict is:

Diskin - Good signing. A player with proven pedigree, a winner. The sort of player we should be trying to sign.

Hargreaves - Steady, done what I expected. Never going to be a test prop but adds some depth and is a consistent performer.

Elima - Mixed. Adds much needed size to the pack but form has been patchy. Capable of better performances which is needed.

Ainscough - Some defensive issues but really enthusiastic and got plenty of pace. Has time on his side too. Would shine more playing outside a decent centre and halfbacks.

Raynor - Same as Ainscough but not in his early 20s. Would be tempted to give Finegan his jersey for next year if it release cash for more quality in other areas.

Royston - Been ok so far playing all over the place. Bit on the small side but is good back up, would keep a place in my squad if not the starting 17.

Sibbit - Got what we expected. Not wanted by Salford. An extra body in the squad but looked poor so far. 2 year contract was too long.

Briggs - Not seen much yet but hopefully better to come. Had an ok first half vs Leeds and an absolutely awful game versus Salford. This is his big chance so I would hope he's busting a gut to improve, he needs to.

Herbert - Bit slow and has a very average kicking game. Has put players in for quite a few tries which was a problem last year so that's good. Not really an organiser or very explosive so a bit of a halfway house sort of player. Not good enough to take a quota place up really but was perhaps the only man available If we really want to improve we need better players than this taking quota places in the future.

Ah Van - Ok but would he get in the side if he didn't kick goals? For a quota player we need to get better quality. He's ok but looks best on the wing where we've got plenty of bodies.

Walker - Occasionally I've seen glimpses of what he can do but he's a bit slow now and maybe best suited to the back row. Ideally he'd fill the Ian Sibbit role as a backup second rower with us having a player of real quality ahead of him.

Potter - Is an improvement of McNamara as we're at least most of the time seeing our bench used more and the side more often seems more enterprising. It's going to take time to take effect though.

When you look at our squad and compare it to those in the top 5 or 6 you can see the difference in quality in a number of areas. Obviously we're not spending to the cap. Hopefully when we're free of certain obligations next year we'll see a side with some quality to add to the squad. So far this season I think we have improved a bit on 2010 but there's still heaps to work on and we're still prone to absolutely awful performances too often.

What ever signings are made for 2012 lets hope the really do wet the appetite like we were promised this year but never happened.

There's quality out there, we just need to tempt it to Odsal. Someone like Luke O'Donnell would've been a superb signing. I do wonder what's happening with our salary cap at times when you compare our squad with the likes of Warrington who are looking at replacing Louis Anderson (who'd improve our backrow) with Tony Puletua (who'd be perfect for us) or David Shillington to go with their existing 14 Test players not to mention the likes of Brett Hodgson.

In the backs I notice Junior Sa'u is out of contract at the end of the year. He too would be a superb signing (shame Wayne Bennett's going to Newcastle as he'll no doubt stay to play for him).

In hindsight we should've hung onto Morrison and Menzies who'd both improve our current 17.

I'd certainly look now at moving Langley on were are not getting value for money.

Langley's under contract till 2013.

I thought we would have done a bit better by now to be honest. Obviously we never going to be top 4 realistically, but when Potter was announced as coach the first thing i thought was, our defence will be solid no matter who's playing, and with a full team overall the attack would take time to gel. At the minute though we have one of the worst defence's in the league and virtually no attack. Injuries have not helped, but thats why Potter went for quantity over quality. Happy with most signings, especially Royston, Ainscough and Diskin. The only thing letting us down is direction and leadership. We all know we need someone to guide us around the field, personally i don't think Marc Herbert is up to playing scrum half, i'd rather see him at 6, if anywhere. Lynch is a fantastic player, but not captain material, we need someone on the field shouting at the players, get them gee'd up. Poor start but it can only get better.

So far the results have gone as expected apart from one, with the injuries we have had and all the new players I feel we have done as well as we could expect.

I'm not going to go through all the players but on the whole I agree with most of the comments so far. That is with the exception of Diskin who I find more and more slow and predictable every game, we look a much better side when L'Estrange is on the pitch.

yes, very realistic unlike some of the other posts eg sick of it thread. The last two matches have made the Salford game look like one of those don't turn up days as the defence has started to look better. And that improvement needs to continue if we are even going to get into the playoffs. carry on as we have so far and we will not get near it. at present we have the fourth worst defence and the second equal worst attack, fourth worst points difference with -110. To get into the playoffs we have to win 8 or 9 games. Given the constant changes at 7 (as well as elsewhere due to injury) then fewer points scored against is a negative way of looking at it, but is realistically the way to do that, ie beating Hull, HKR etc by 2 or 4 points, and using the games against the top clubs as training matches for the ones we have to win. Otherwise we will be 9th or 10th. And on the defensive note Herbert does get a few tackles in not just assists, if he carries on doing that for the rest of the season I would be happy. So I am very happy with a point from the Catalans game. and if thats what the team have to do, then we need the crowds in supporting the team for the games against the likes of Hull, KR, Crusaders, etc etc rather than the big ones.

What happened to ushering in the new Potter era, and spending a few seasons gradually rebuilding, on solid foundations? Some people on here have short memories. Finances will be better in the coming seasons, for the reason that if you don't know, don't ask, and our youth policy seems to be on OK lines if you take the progress of the Whiteheads, Olbisons and Donaldsons.

It was and is unrealistic to suggest we should be a top 6 side "by now", rebuilding is a process which to me takes years, not weeks. Sure it is frustrating and yes efforts like Salford are unacceptable, but do we want to build what we hope will be a successful dynasty - or are we back to wanting an instant fix- we're not top, so sack Potter, sign Wayne Bennett, sign all the NRL's top superstars, sign everyone else's best players and break the bank?

12 short weeks into a new era, and yet some want the babies, the bathwater and the bath out?

pretty much sums current situation up for me. Looking at fixtures before season started and bearing in mind most pundits predictions for how other teams would do we've pretty much won and lost the games I expected to. The only real exception to that was the salford game which I thought we'd win. But that was looking at the games before the season and not allowing for injuries. considering numbers of players we've had unavailable its hardly surprising that we cant build any consistency. It was going to take a while anyway and having to field a different team every week is only to going to hinder that process. Overall at this stage I'm reasonably happy with how we're going considering the teams we've been able to put on the field each week. Some players will move on at end of year no doubt and some come in but that was the whole point of the 1 yr deals.

I think potter will achieve what he needs to this year and the recruitment in time will be seen to be sucessful. The cap has been used to steady up the squad with a number of players who have points to prove. These players will reduce the strain put on the quality youngsters we have coming through and some of the guys with points to prove will kick on. At the end of the year, it will be easier for Potter/Bulls to add to a decent foundation of players and hopefully bring in quality to add to the spine. the players who dont kick on will leave and should be replaced by maturing youngsters or quality additions.

Rebuilding process blah blah blah, the same old folks with the same old lines year after year. Fact is this team has apparently been in transition for 5 years and it's still not made any improvements. In fact it's got worse year on year.

We were promised signings that would "wet the appetite" not my words but the clubs itself. You can judge for yourself but the players that arrived none for me fell in to that category.

I can appreciate that mate but what do we do? Where do we get the money from? How long do we wait? We were previously spoilt on a unsustainable business plan that's hurt the club followed by some questionable tactics but what do you do when the rebuilding stalls? Stop supporting ? criticise incessantly (not a dig btw)?

As I've said before now Potter is able to judge first hand and not whilst he's managing saints he should be better placed to look at who to bring in whilst they are available. If no improvement then, well.....ship out. Danger is,the replacement is no good and needs to build squad and bed in, then you are back to square one.

This would have been fair comment last season when we had a coaching team and set of players that had been in place awhile with no improvement (and in fact the opposite).

To tar Potter and a team with 11 different players with whats gone before isn't fair. We are unfortunately back at stage 1 of building a new team. I'm just as frustrated as you are (and assume so are the others coming out with the rebuilding line) but I think we are just being abit more realistic.

The events that have got us here happened long before Potter arrived and its going to take a season or two to set them right.

I would just like to make a point to those on here who are being purposefully stupid;

You can't walk 5 miles along a road and then expect to get back to where you started from by taking just 1 step.

I think there's been a large amount of unrealistic expectations on the team this year. It's understandable given the change over in back room staff and players. However, the injuries we've had this year combined with the other changes has meant that the team has not gelled the way they should. It's a long road to get back to where we were. The contract extensions given out already are the bases of long term stability, something else we've lacked for the last 4 years with massive player turn over every season, and you can't expect a team to go from underachievers who fail to make the play-offs to some kind of world beater in less than 6 months. Just isn't possible.

I'll admit that some of the players signed have yet to sparkle, but as I've already said and I will say again [size=200IT'S A LONG TERM JOB TO TURN THIS CLUB ROUND AND GET US BACK TO WHERE WE WANT TO BE[/size

Everybody understand now?

Well we sign some players that make a difference for a start I would say. With the money that we've got available, full salary cap is it not? Why are we still letting some just sit there when there's quality players available nearly all of the time. I dont know how long we wait, but how long do we keep saying it's a rebuilding process etc etc. Has our rebuilding even started? Seriously, because I can't see where it has. Apparently we've got one of the best youth systems in the country now, well where are the quality players? Because IMO very few are looking good enough. Ive never stopped supporting, never will either. I know youre not digging by the way, no probs.

Injuries, not gelling, dry tracks(havent heard that one in a while), lack of structure, it's all nonsense Ive heard before and tbh im sick and tired of it. All teams suffer with injuries, most get on with it fine. Teams train alsorts of combinations for all eventualities. Herbert's trained alongside BK all pre season as well as the rest of them, so what's the excuse that that's not working? Because it isnt, at all. We're a poor team with very little potential.

I really hope it comes together, but with this heap of shoddily put together players I cant see when it's going to come.

Hear Hear!!!

Yes we agree it's a long term job, but hasn't it been a long term job now for five years.

Why are we not spending the full salary cap once again? Thought we were going to address weaknesses in the team? What are we waiting for? Us to be completely out of the playoffs?

Apart from Matt Diskin and possibly Olivier Elima, most of our signings were average and with something to prove. With Potter having the full cap to spend, i would have liked a bit more quality, obviously it depends on who's available and who wants to come to our club, but attracting top players from the NRL should'nt be too difficult, we have a top aussie manager who is well respected and big crowds back at the 3 times world champions club. The difference between us and the top clubs at the minute, is quality on the pitch. I admire St.Helens the most for it, whenever they lose a quality player, they always try push the boat out to bring equally gifted players in. When Lyon left they brought in Matt Gidley, Eastmond announced he was leaving, Saints then announced they'd captured Lance Hohiha. Graham and Puletua are off to the NRL, and there looking at Laffranchi, Waterhouse and Kite as possible replacements. I think the signings of Iestyn Harris and Matt Orford have knocked the boards confidance on who they bring in.

How many of the players who have been bloody good for this club looked like nothing players when they first came?

It honestly seems like some people think it's simply a case of signing players and suddenly we're invincible. To my mind Wire have had some of the best players in SL for the past 4 years yet have been average to good and lacked consistancy. Leeds had a lot of success not only due to having decent players but having players who have played together for a number of years and knew by instinct how their teammates played. Not every team will make the play offs and there are teams who have been growing and developing over the past 2-3 years whilst we were in freefall such as Cas and Hudderfield who are more likely to hit the ground running and be able to compete at the top than a team which was cuched together from whoever was available in the pre-season.

I think as a whole the new signings have played OK but as a team we've not played well. I questioned whether we were stronger in depth this year compared to last at the beginning of the season and the general concensus was that we were - I still don't believe that we have significantly more depth, especially in the halves and think the club have obviously struggled to find available players who were willing to play for a team who have been e for the past few years. The kids seem to be doing OK when they come in but they lack the experience we need when we're having to dig in for wins.

From what I recall, Ah Van, like Walker is just back from a long term injury and Raynor has just been let out of the nick! You can't expect them to be at their best straight away but as long as they continue to improve I'm happy.

Don't get me wrong - we've been shocking at times and it's bloody infuriating, but you can't judge the current team based on the last few years.

Could it be there's no one worth signing?

It's all very well saying "Why aren't we spending the full cap?" but the fact is, if there's no one to sign, you can't sign anyone.

Plus, I'd imagine the new deals for the young lads that are being pen'd this season are cutting into whatever we had spare on the cap

Yes, but for the last 4 years we've had someone in charge of the club who could only lead the club round in ever decreasing circles as they headed down the plug hole.