I fully expect the Salford faithful to quickly make one of the new mega signings a scapegoat should they not start off the season firing on all cylinders.

No need to worry. The scapegoat is already in place

It makes me laugh when people say McRae inherited a winning team at Saints. He actually took over a team that hadn't won the league since 1974-75 and the Challenge Cup since 1976. He won them both in his first season.

Without doubt, but one thing you quickly learn when watching Salford is that optimism soon turns into disappointment (apart from Zenith, who still thinks we'll win every game and take 5,000 to every away game ). I just think everyone's getting their giddy knickers on a little too early and Salford being Salford we're bound to come crashing down to earth with one almighty bump.

There's no doubting that this squad of players on paper is the best we've had for years, but rugby isn't played on paper. A few injuries (especially in the front row 8,9 or 10) and we could be in deep trouble.

Sorry to sound like a moaning old fart, but just thought I'd try and bring a bit of realism to things. As long as we're competitive and win the majority of our home games I'll be happy.

Spot-on Ave 'it.

I think a lot of people got caught up in the Clubs own hype, designed to sell season tickets. Well done Salford for actually acting on a good thing for once. For me it's about beating the Clubs around us and anything else is a bonus.

just realised we are still crap, wool well and truely pulled over my eyes along with the Club T-shirts, polo shirts, hoodie, shorts, how have they duped me?

Correction I said "pre made squad" not winning, I appreciate your stats hence my wording. He didn't alter the side much and if you Google his takeover in 1996 you'll find a general feeling of dismay surrounding his signing.

Ok the fact is maybe we can say McRae hasn't had much to work with in terms of players, so now with the signings we've made we can at least expect to see some CONSISTENCY RIGHT?....... (i.e 3 wins in a row followed closely by a draw then a loss etc)

If we see the same disjointed and un enthused Salford we have since we rejoined the elite then we can say he is no more than Amateur ... right?.

I'll make my new year's resolution this : Not to speak ill of McRae until the end of this season. In which I'll make a formal apology on here. Should he meet everyones realistic expectations.

On another note : ROLL ON THE PIE EATERS WOO HOO

I've said it before, there are a few gaps in our squad and we're gonna need some luck this season. The but is, but this squad has many special talents. Has anyone seen what Patten is capable of, he's like an extra stand off, we've got Feka, the single most destructive Prop in SL, and then there's Broughton, the fastest winger in SL.

Vinnie Anderson has gone, largely, under the radar, but if he can still produce the goods, then we've got one of the most powrful second rowers in SL. It's possible he could make up for the lack of quality front rowers, by adding some speed and power to the second.

I don't have to mention Danny Holdsworth, Cashmere, Ratchford, Gibson, Henry and Adamson. We've got quality in the team! Wild should be an improvement on Swain and Godwin looked a class act against Leigh. Hopefully the extra competition will, also, force Parker to up his game.

It could be a good season, and if this team gels someone is going to get the sort pasting we've been taking for the last couple of years. On the other hand, if McRae remains determined to coach the talent out of anyone who dares play for Salford, then it could go horribly wrong. As a Salford fan, I'm pessimistically optimistic. All us fans can do is get behind the team and help them in the kind of way McRae seems clueless about.

For me my expectations haven't changed but then again I'm was only expecting us to finish between 8th to 10th. As has been said, I love to see us win more home games next season, I've always been aware that we usually don't travel well but I may need to reconsider that.

If we're going to make the 8 we need to be aiming for between 26-30 points, (so basically 13-15 wins out of 27), now for me we should be winning at least 70% of our home games (around 9 of 13 giving us 18 points), away from home if you win 25% (around just 3 wins), if we manage that we would only need to win at Cardiff to make the 26 points.

However over our past 4 Super League Seasons our rate is only 42% (around 5 wins, 10 points) but away we're already at 23%

Sorry Statos back!