So we're only a month away from the start of Super League, how do you think [a we'll go and everyone else will go?

I think we will do ok. I think we'll improve on last season, but I still think we'll miss out on the play-offs this year. As for everyone else...

Saints, Leeds, Wigan, Wire top 4 any order.
Hull, Catalan, HKR, Cas & Hudds vie for next 5 places.
London, Salford, Wakey, Bradford & Widnes for the bottom spots.

I'm hoping for 8th, expecting 9th at best and will be v depressed if it's below 10th. I'll be both surprised and delighted if we finish above any of the teams that The Butcher has in his top 9 which i think is about right

I think it will come down to how well the team have prepared under the new coaching/fitness regime and how lucky/unlucky we are with injuries. There seams a lot less expectation this year and I predict the usual couple of big scalps and a few heavy defeats when the team picks up a few key injuries. I’m hoping for a much better start than last year with less turmoil off the field.

Let’s hope the lads can put in a few more entertaining performances like they did against Hull KR and Bradford last year when we threw the ball around and showed we are capable of scoring some fantastic tries.

After the disappointment of 2011 I think 9th Place, a few more through the turnstiles and some stability off the field would be a something to build on.

I think the later on in the year you'll see more and more nervous Mayan people.

On an RL slant I think Salford will start slowly come good mid season and maybe scrape 8th, we'll get a big home tie first round of the cup and win only to fall to a Wakey or Cas. Also think one of the big guns will struggle all season and not make the 8 and I hope I'm wrong but think that a Meblbournesque scandal is in the offing.

Salford to complete the treble in 2012
World not to end

could see a royal funeral and birth

News of the World to return as the World of news

I predict, if the we can get a functioning front row, then the backs will go really well; unfortunately, we still have one to many players in the front row that haven't proven themselves. Much of the season still rests on Feka and Anderson being able to reproduce their form of previous years. If everything clicks into place, and the forwards lay a solid platform, we could finish as high as 6th, in a place called dreamland, but it will probably be tough going.

If Feka can return his old wrecking ball self?
If Anderson can muscle up in defence?
If the new conditioner can get the team fit?
If the new head coach can make the step up?
or has learnt from standards Parish set in training?
If Long can get the attack functioning?
If Jewitt can play well for more than five minutes a match?
If Boyle can become more dangerous?
If Moon can overcome his injury and McPherson can settle in?

Just seems too many ifs for my liking, but there is class in this team and our back line is as dangerous as anything else in the league.

I think most Salford fans would settle for having a chance of 8th with 2/3 games left, even if we end up just falling short? Pretty inexcusable with a top 8 play off in a 14 team league to have nothing to play for two thirds of the way through the season like we have had to suffer last season.

Look's more like a wish list to me

Imo a realistic outlook as alway's, the recruitment has been diah, finger's crossed Joel Moon isn't the next Paul Carige or Junior Langi. We'll finish in the bottom 4.

Pessimist or realist? I'd call you a realist, if all you're other posts weren't completely negative!!!

Even you've got to agree:

Second row looks stronger last season, and a back line of Patten, Broughton, Moon and Gleeson and Williams looks better than Patten, Broughton, Ratchford/Nero, Gibson and Henry.

we have to start well that is for sure, i was looking at our fixure list i feel the 1st 5/6 games are all "winnable" even the St Helens games could be a potential bannana skin for them after seeing how they adapted to playing in a new enviroment at widnes last season

April is also a big month all winnable games there.
For me its all about where the players are mentally in this process of moving to a new stadium, no more do they play for a club hiding in the back streets of weastes, all day every day people drive past barton and i feel they may feel a bit more "shame" if we are beaten badly this year.

Im hoping that they embrase the change and grow into their new enviroment, ive noticed during my twitter stalking that certain players twitter use has dropped (*cough* feka *cough*) could mean he is focused on the job at hand or he is bored at with.
Looking at all players body language on the 27th they looked more positive and proud of where they were rather than the usual huddled in a group stuttling around.

Im hoping Sean long installs that "never say die" attitude he was part of at Saints, all "succesful" salford teams ive seen have an element of this, hopefully he will get the players on the front foot at important parts of the game so they can make a difference to actual outcome being active and not re-active to what every happens on the field.

We should be looking to compete with Bradford and Castleford to catch/stay with and pass on the league ladder, thats were we should be as a club being the middle of the middle rather than trying to be top of the bottom or bottom of the middle

Id be happy with 9th, 8th would be amazing but what im looking for is how we perform 10 minutes eather side of the break and 10 mins to go, always a weak point at salford be that fitness wise of mental will need addressing if we are to achive more than we have in the last few years
That and our edge defence, always a problem always switching off and getting caught out with people not reacting or reacting too slowly to events unfolding around them
Our line speed needs improving as well, we "give" teams 5 yards every tackle by waiting for the contact rather than meeting the attacker, if PV and SL can fix that then we will be a better unit defensively

other predictions

Ave It to be ranting at the players within 10 minutes of kickoff v Castleford


Me and GT NOT to bitch at each other all the way though the game in the South stand

I find 'realism' an intriguing concept.

Oh, this year, I envisage a strong performance.

Can only see a season of struggle.

Average Coach, below average forwards, dodgy full back, inconsistent/unproven centres and halves. Doubt if two exciting wingers can make up for it!

It will be completely humiliating if we finish below Widnes after having three years start, but the wooden spoon is there for the taking.

God, I hope I'm wrong!

I think that’s a bit unfair considering his record last year when for me he improved a team that appeared to be lacking in morale, direction and confidence after all the coaching upheaval.

There are many elements that make a team perform to the best of their ability but for me the single most important and most lacking in Salford teams over reason years is mindset. It’s that small club mentality where people working for the club think they can live off the back of a good win for a few weeks.

It’s about players and coaches having a positive mental attitude, not just on a Matchday but everyday when resting, training and preparing for games. In any organisation there will always be personality clashes but people have to put their differences aside for the greater good. Chinese whispers and back stabbing doesn't help anyone.

Vievers biggest task is to galvanize this squad and root out any energy sappers that unknowingly have a negative effect on the team. For Salford to progress they need to develop the same kind of determination, belief and spirit they had in 2005 and 2006 under Karl Harrison. In that period the effort and camaraderie was visually evident on the field with players encouraging teammates and players encouraging supporters by making them want to sing and really get behind them. I think it’s fair to say that under Harrison in those couple of seasons we didn’t have the most naturally gifted team but we certainly had the best team spirit I’ve ever seen at Salford.

It’s vitally important they work hard at developing team spirit because no matter how well trained or how tactically astute they are, without it, the players may as well stand in the crowd and suffer with the rest of us.

Average Coach - Well, we're better off than last season, with McRae - I've been living Jason Smith's abilities for far too long - and Alker - I've been a great servant, but forgot everything I learnt under Harrison and Lowes, and was never going to be a good assistant, at that stage. We did alright under Vievers, last season, maybe Parish's demands for improved standards have rubbed off and a better conditioned squad under his (Vievers') guidance could go better.

Below average forwards - Our forwards really frustrate me, at times they look like world beaters, other times they look like they couldn't beat the proverbial egg. The likes of Anderson, Jewitt, Feka and Sidlow need to work much harder, whilst Boyle and Neal needs to get far more explosive and dynamic. Adamson has got everything to prove, he's too small for second row, but needs to improve his handling, if he's going to play LF, or gain a yard of pace if he's to move to centre.

Dodgy full back - Let's hope the real Luke Patten turns up this season, many Aussies don't perform to their best, during their first year of Super League. King at Warrington is a prime example of this.

Centres - We can't get any worse than previous seasons? Gibson and Ratchford have been dreadful defenders in the centres. I'll not say Gibson out, but his future lies at loose forward or full back. For all the big signings we, supposedly, made for 2011, Gleeson, along with Godwin, was the one that surprised/pleased the most. When he was fit, he looked pretty good.

For what it's worth:

Broughton, Williams
Moon, Gleeson
Holdsworth
Smith
Wild
McPherson
James - should bring some much needed steel and aggression.

should provide a strong spine to the team.

Everyone else has much to prove and new contracts to earn, but much depends on how we get over the lose of Cashmere. A big problem the team needs to overcome, is keeping everyone fit, rather than filling them full of pain killers.

i can understand everyone been optomistic about there teams we all do it theres wakefield and bradford fans saying there going to finish top 6 but i cant see salford finishing any higher than 13th and whoever said your team improved under veivers last season are you sure didnt you get a couple of massive hammerings under him

For me to win more than we lose
To play exiting attacking rugby, with the wingers scoring a bag full of tries each
big crowds roaring Salford on
All the players playing to their full potential
Wow I'm getting exited now

Virtually every team in Superleague get a couple of hammering's every year when injuries kick in.

Salford actually won 9 games from 21 whilst Vievers was in charge last year. (McRae 1 from 3 games, Parish 1 from 5 games)

Are they predictions or hopes?

ok i stand corrected it would be a shame if you didnt do ok next year with the new ground when that should be the start of good things really

that not a prediction, thats Dave Tarry's SL Franchise summary Scoot's cribbed from ,

he's just missed out ' massive potential' and 'jumpers for goalposts' .



Too early for predictions , squad numbers will only be announced this week , captain yet to be reconfirmed and we need to see a team on the pitch to see if the , new coach , new assistant coach , new conditioner will have had any effect, no point having two deadly wingers if they rarely get quality ball in the opponents 20.

I think we will finish in the bottom four,I base that on the fact personal wise we have not improved the team.Yes the
coach has changed and has to be given all the support that is possible, but the players Parish wanted to get rid off are
still with us.a lot of us agreed when Parish said the club wanted shaking up,but as the club got the will to shake its self
up,and we have to remember that all the other clubs have been trying to strengthen,and will have improved.It would be
nice to be proved wrong.

I can't see our wingers not bagging a brace this year. If you bring Sean Long onto your staff to concentrate on attack, attacking moves and plays it's highly unlikely the team are going to play up the jumper down the middle rugby. Whether the team can rise to the challenge we will see. Injuries and luck will play their part in deciding how the team progress during the season and for me, the biggest thing for our side is instilling a hunger for performance that can make any side a tough competitor regardless.

Yes, the players needed training harder and, yes, the players needed to learn a little more repect, but were such drastic changes really needed?

We just need to recruit some half decent props, and get our young forwards to reach their potential.

I'd like to think we'll improve and be pushing for the top 8, but I'm still not entirely convinced we will be. I just hope we perform well, particularly early on, and the season doesn't turn into a damp squib.



Only because I won't be standing right next to you.





Go on... You've now intrigued me with that statement...