Top 8 yes, they won't trouble the top 5.

They must have one of the biggest & most experienced packs in the league for next season & may get one or two years out of them ,but i would think the idea of Koukash ,especially if he can get the idea of uncapped imported marquee players off the ground , is just to put the club in the shop window as a likely trophy contender to attract big names in the future if his lobbying comes off. I think what he will find though is that there are not enough Anzac players of great quality available in a couple of years ,unless he is hoping to attract the likes of the Aussie trained Burgess brothers with mega bucks.

see mad fridays kicking in
bet you a tenner they wont win the league....

Average age of the squad is 28.

On paper they look good, but with the amount of new signings, it will take a while for the team to gel, will make the top 8 but no real contenders for silverware

I can see them finishing sixth and having a decent cup run. Not only are there some quality signings but he has done a lot of good work in terms of back room staff and facilities- for the past few years Salford have trained at the LSV so it will be a big boost having their own place. They will pull off a few shocks, probably against us as we are due one from them!

I like our misfit status, but I think we're missing a real top of the range [iuber[/i misfit. A dog shagger perhaps. Do you know anyone who's got one?

Come on, try a little harder than that!

As we found out, throwing money at the squad is not the answer. Spending money on the coach is the answer.

No need, not when BrianBradyHandJob provides such low hanging fruit.

He did need to throw money at the squad though, because it wasn't really up to standard.

And you could argue he already has invested in the coach. Whether he's the [iright[/i coach remains to be seen, because we have a coach who is so structured, I suspect he hangs his clothes up in alphabetical order, but a squad containing a few players who are somewhat less than structured. Only time will tell.

Just look at what Nobby did with a Crusaders side cobbled together at the last minute.

Competitive definitely, decent half backs, decent pack but not setting the world on fire, see FC last year, decent players but no depth and probably not consistent enough, 2015 will be a bigger season for Salford.

Did he win the GF? Like the guy who replaced him at Wigan did.

The salford fans on their forum say they will be happy with6th to 8th. Sound very realistic to me but they will cause a couple of surprises on the way.

You definitely don't want to play them first in the playoffs that's for sure. Might see some big upset s next season.

6th at best, Koukash wants top 4 but that Is never going to happen. If they have patience they could challenge in a couple of years. Squad is nothing special but will provide the odd shock. More competition can only be encouraged however so I hope they do well.

Their squad is still a bit short as they've only had one off season to strengthen and a few of their signings are grabs of players that have had success at bigger clubs earlier in their careers and are now winding down their careers.

They have got a top coach though so he should be able to get the best out of them. I think around 6th to 8th will be a decent return for them this year and then kick on with more strengthening in the next off season. If Koukash and Noble stay and they build on the squad each year then by about 2016 they could be a strong team.

It took us 5 years to get good after we became rich and it took Man City 4 years so I think that's a reasonable timescale.

In the meantime I think some fans of other clubs are playing the game of making out that Salford fans think they are going to win everything, so they can paint Salford's season as one of underachievement.

Same will be done of us because remember we are all supposedly claiming that 2014 is Year of the Wolf and think we are going to win the double.

Salford have beaten us on plenty of occasions they have even finished above us in the Superleague era.........if they beat us it wont be a shock...if they finish above Wire, Wigan, Saints, Leeds, Huddersfield, and Catalan that will be a shock.........

In their favour they have a decent opening set of fixtures. They have london Wakey widnes and Cas in their first six fixtures if they win those and lose to us and Saints they'll be happy. If they lose one or two of those "easy" fixtures the pressure will be on them.....

I think that works against them because with so many new players needing to bed in there might be a few bad performances early on, so they could blow some winnable games.

In football everyone was talking up Tottenham before the season with their £100m of new talent some of which were very highly rated, but they haven't clicked yet and AVB paid the price...

Still too many journeymen in there, Morley way past his best, Chase is an enigma, Hock an accident waiting to happen and the squad lacks depth beyond the starting 13.

Tim Smith is the best signing by a mile, and much will depend on how well he links with Chase. A good cup run is their best bet of glory; a top-8 finish should be a minimum requirement in the league but can't see them beyond 6th.

I'd say Hansen and Smith on par for their best signings

I think they will be much better than last year that's for sure. I think the playoffs will be a good result for them and is probably the target, they will certainly cause some upsets and be there or thereabouts but it's a big ask of a new team to be consistent from the beginning.

I don't really buy into this "cause some upsets" malarkie. With their new set up and investment they should be competative, in the Play Offs and on their day with a first choice team capable of beating most teams.

As Flying Biscuit has stated they've beaten us before so no shock there if they pull off a win (God forbid).

6th for me next year with a good cup run and think that a good cup run might be more useful to them in the short term to get a bit of excitement going in the 'town'. The prospect of a Wembley trip would get their fans right at it and encourage some of those that haven't bothered to show their faces and back the new regime

I'll state they'll improve big time over the rest of the cellar dwellers, but not trouble the competition leaders by any great degree.

I wouldn't have had moz playing for us for most of last year, i was scared about his ball retention, which was similar to mark hilton circa 98. Very worrying.

i can only repeat what others have said and the hock/chase pairing off the field is a powderkeg waiting to go off. one of or both of them together are going to be involved in some sort of major cock up.

Devils fans can refuse to believe that, or ignore it all they want, but its going to happen, like the sun coming up.


AS monkey man has said, we more than most have experienced and know that just getting a collection of highly rated players together doesn't guarentee a good TEAM. I reckon they need the pre season made in heaven this year to get everyone singing from the same hymm sheet, or noble needs the simplest game plan going.