Yeah I get that and you're probably right but that's not the point. No coach, however good, can see a season through with so little depth, so IMHO the coach is not the key factor here, the lack of players is.

Salford have just signed Alex Gerrard so they are clearly still adding to the squad.
I don't think they'll be easy beats,certainly in the early rounds before injuries hit. They can always get loan players later.

Yep if they stay lucky they will do fine.

Where the hell do they get their money from, I know he's hardly a superstar but all the same. Does anyone get the feeling that Salford is treating this season as poop or bust?

You can't have it both ways, they either have a small squad which is saving them money for others or they have a big squad and won't suffer from injuries so much.

Aye?

Re loans, I'm wondering how much Toulouse's survival strategy hinges on the lack of a Catalans reserve side. Dare say there'll be some support there.

Good point, may well depend on Catalans injuries coupled to success or lack of it.

Although Toulouse in SL gives Catalan a "tasty" derby fixture, I'm not certain that they (Catalan) will be over keen on sharing the small pool of French players and they certainly arent going to loan out any "stars".

You said they have a small squad with no reserves, and then said you don't know how they are paying for the extra player.
They are able to pay I guess because they have a small squad with no reserves.

Not quite what I meant.

I don’t know how they afford the players they have.

They dont run an academy which isnt cheap

It's simple. They don't pay their bills.

The rent at AJB is £450k per annum - they have defaulted every month since they moved in and Salford council have to pay the missing £300k.

They also were in a CVA - they didn't pay it, so it defaulted and was written off.

It's not a sustainable business model, and it's come home to bite them.

The end is near for Salford.

They have less than 1000 ST holders!!!!

Isn't it illegal to continually trade at a loss?, year on year I mean.

They aren't trading at a loss whilst ever someone else is footing their bills.

If you don't pay your rent/mortgage/bills, you won't become bankrupt if I pay them for you.

As I say, the end is near.

* Worth noting - they could pay their bills themselves...but then they couldn't spend all that money on the playing squad!

I agree and it’s an utter disgrace.

Apart from the very real possibility that they are taking the place of a more viable club, there presence puts at risk more viable clubs in SL who may just have a poor season or clubs like us who live within our means.

I don’t mind clubs with poor crowds or stadiums being in SL, so long as they do so within their means. We ourselves have been guilty of this to some degree in the past though nobody ever gave us a new stadium or a mega rich auger daddy but Salford are just brazen.

They cannot survive, they are a dead club walking in their current guise. I used to like Salford but the move and the Dr has made them a non entity off the pitch and a fake on it.

I do feel for what’s left of their old fan base and I’d love to see them rescued and returned to Salford but I can only see that if they drop a division at the same time.