Friday 15 July 2016 12:39, UK
Sale Sharks' Director of Rugby Steve Diamond is targeting a top-four finish in the Aviva Premiership next season.
The club has ambitious new owners led by Simon Orange - brother of ex-'Take That' star Jason, and Sale have appointed former British & Irish Lions prop Fran Cotton, himself a renowned businessman, as chairman.
The owners are planning significant investment in the Sharks' infrastructure and playing squad as they try to establish themselves as a north-west union powerhouse.
Sale finished sixth in the Premiership last season, and Diamond is aiming higher in 2016-17.
"Our ambitions is to hit the top four," he told Sky Sports News HQ. "We have been consistent, sixth, seventh and fifth.
"With the playing squad we have got and the impetus the new owners will bring it's going to be fantastic - so top four is where we are going to be heading.
"It's exciting times. I can be described as being the mortar between the bricks, pulling a lot of things together over the last 12 months - culminating in Fran Cotton agreeing to be chairman.
"We understand how to run a business between us and hopefully that can translate onto the field."
Cotton, a former England captain in the 1970s, built a clothing empire after quitting the game and was England's Team Manager in the 1990s.
"It's Fran's experience, his knowledge," said Diamond. "But he is also a forward-thinker in the game. Twenty years ago he was making suggestions on how the game should be run the way it is now.
"He has got a great rugby brain and is a fantastic businessman to boot.
"He's always been a bit of a guardian angel for me. I've always had the ability to go have a cup of tea with him, a pint, a glass of wine, to throw things off him and he has always led me in the right direction. To work with him closely is even better."
