I think all my wildest dreams just came true! Loving this guy already.

Just seen Vauxhall quoted as saying he can spend up to the full salary cap.

Hope he gets Nectar card points as that's one hell of a shopping spree.

I'd hope for a marque fanfare signing and possibly buying a couple of older wise heads as on field leaders

Exciting times ahead

Radio Manchester has been running clips of an interview with him on their sports bulletins this morning. Some extra bits:

* He's not in it for the money. In fact, it will cost him money. He wants trophies.

* The immediate priority is to assemble as good a squad as they can for this season. To that effect, PV has a list of [ifourteen[/i players he's interested in.

* A major aim is to assemble a competitive squad for 2014.

They also played a clip from an interview with PV. He said he'll now be able to assemble a decent squad.

I dont want to dampen anyone's flames here but how many "marquee" signings are there in RL these days?

SL - Sam Tomkins, Kevin Sinfield
NRL - Billy Slater, Ben Barba, any other of the kangaroo backs to be fair, Benji Marshall
Union - that NZ fella I can't remember the name of, number 10 I think.

And how many of them are a) available and b) willing to come to Salford within 2 weeks of the start of a season.?

I'm not hugely bothered about big name signings, just some big forwards would start the job, if any are available that is at such short notice.

Marquee signing is not necessary the same thing as top five elite in the game. Solid and better quality than we're used to would be marquee for me. Big mobile pack would be a start.

I would think [iany[/i 'elite' player and, particularly, any current international could be considered a marquee signing. Would you not consider (and these are just names plucked out of thin air) James Roby or James Graham marquee signings?

As regards whether they would want to come to Salford, it's all about what you can offer them and how you advertise the club to them. Do you think that when Andrew Johns started out, uppermost in his mind was the prospect of one day playing a couple of games for Warrington?

What he said. Caught the first 2 minutes of the interview before Wi-Fi cut out at work and was almost in tears. A competitive team is what I want to see, playing in "our" ground. It seems like the Dr doesn't want to just throw millions building a squad of superstars but wants to build a team that contains a blend of local grown players with a few big names thrown in. The likes of Theo, Evalds & Ford would benefit greatly from a decent pack to work behind (as would Broughton etc) and this needs to be a priority.

I'm really pleased about the way he speaks about Wilky too. I don't deny he's made his mistakes but he's Salford through and through and deserves some recognition for his commitment in keeping the club afloat for all these years. I just hope the new premier+ season tickets contains a day out at Haydock/Chester to watch his horses as part of the package!



Please god let this be the one!

Wake me up Nurse - Please pass me the pills.

Salford, looks like the rise of the phoenix

There's also the option for you guys to try to grab some fringe NRL islanders that have massive potential. With the World Cup coming up, you'd think it would be a decent incentive to crack first grade over here and maybe make the World Cup squads and showcase themselves that way? Some of these guys have the potential to be absolutely sensational, though obviously they'd be more risky that signing tested players over here - plus the NRL clubs will probably be reluctant to lose them without thinking they could get them back.

There are some excellent prospects from Fiji sitting in the fringes of the NRL, Semi Radradra and Erevonu Kamikamica (400m sprinter who plays in the forwards!) at Parra, Etonia Nabuli at Penrith who was spotted randomly by Johns iirc as a physical freak (they love that word over there

).

Then of course PNG is always an underestimated hotbed, look at the way they held some of the top Aussies in the PMXIII game this year.

My expectations for the team this year are fairly conservative. I expect positive changes and a restructure with an emphasis on raising people's perceptions of the club and trying to develop a positive mental attitude within it. It’s going to take some time and I feel it’s important that the club progress in these areas before they bring in higher calibre signings. Salford need players coming to the club because they believe they can develop and win trophey's, not just for the money.

I say this because I think we have all witnessed first hand how the likes of Patten found the transition difficult after being with big NRL club and then coming to Salford. Personally I think the job starts with investment in better foundations such as better training facilities/equipment and a bigger more specialised team of backroom staff.