SKD

Yes. How could you tell.

Given we’ve got no money and out ropey record in the transfer market, do you think we’ll actually improve our squad to the level needed? I don’t.

Momentum will play a big part in how we start this season. Lose the first 2/3, very feasible, then we could be on a very slippery slop and memories from how we needed last season will come flooding back. Pick up a few points and I think we’ll go into other games with confidence. The Newcastle game will for me be the benchmark of how our season will go.

As things stand, having looked at that; I honestly think this could be the season we drop. A very tough start and pretty tough end means we’ll need to pick up points over Christmas and January, where we always seem to be crap. Worried.

I get your point about us not being very good over Christmas, but I’d see that as the time to play the big boys in a bit of a no loss situation (not expecting anything). 3 of those could easily be battling relegation with us and I’d rather play them when we’ve ample time to prepare and are historically in better form.

Hideous start. Be amazed if Ralph is still here in October. Could easily pick up no wins first 8 games

I’m amazed that you seriously think this though. Regardless of what you think about their success or lack of, Koeman is and was a huge name in football, hence how he has got the jobs he has since leaving Everton (Holland and Barca). Ralph, other than 1 good season at RBL, is relatively speaking unknown. Hence why we managed to get him and keep him. Do you think Ralph would have the reputation to attract a CL finalist from the previous year, like Toby. I guess by your very own logic, Ranieri would have more ‘pulling power’ than Ralph?

And you took a snippet of what I said and took it out of context. TWar claimed that RB (at the time) where a powerhouse of European football and that makes Ralph’s CV super impressive, much better than managing some of the biggest clubs in Europe like Koeman had. He also claimed that it was a super impressive achievement to finish second with RB. So what is it? They’re a superpower of which finishing second and getting CL football would be expected or they weren’t and he done a decent job? Personally, I think it was a combination of the two. The season they finished second they had a very good squad and obviously they have a great scouting network and money to back. They’re not a standard newly promoted team. But obviously it was a decent achievement for him. Regardless, Koeman for a club of our size is / was a much, much bigger name.

Of course they don’t. The Athletic don’t write about Koeman. Probably because he doesn’t play a high energy ‘gengenpress’ and doesn’t resemble Klopp.

You also claimed that Ralph is a bigger pull to attract players than Koeman, which is complete and utter rubbish. There were several reports at the time that players new and old were relishing playing under someone as big as Koeman. Id argue that all of his jobs before us were more high profile than a newly promoted team (judging them on 2015/16 not now). And I’m including assistant manager of Barcelona.

If we have to budget to sign anyone from this tournament, it’ll be that donkey up top for Scotland. On today’s display, he made Carrillo look like Maradonna.

Very much so, huff and puff with no end product and get beat.

Against the run of play but That’s been coming to be fair. A few times they’ve got in behind and haven’t made the most of it. Way to open with these wing back (Robertson in particular) bombing on.

They’re a team full of pretty average but hard working player. Your Armstrong / Steve Davis types, will give you 7/10 Every game, nothing spectacular and know their quality. Pretty much the opposite of England. Think they look alright on the counter attack and add Adams in will be a bit more dangerous in that sense. Look very open at the back though and I think England will tear them apart, but wouldn’t be surprised if they went 1-0 up.

It’s got nothing to do with liking Ralph or not. Koeman is a much, much bigger name in football than Ralph will ever be. His playing career alone is a bigger sway for players than Ralph’s relatively little ‘success’. As you claimed, RB are a ‘powerhouse’ in football. Surely coming second amd getting CL is par for the course for such a powerhouse. On one hand you big up his CV for working for a huge club, then on the other claim finishing second is a huge achievement for that club.

yes, perhaps now they are a better club. I practically said that in my response. But Ralph hasn’t managed them for 3 years and in those 3 years they’ve improved and become ‘bigger’. Although, still haven’t won anything of note. Before that, they had absolutely no history at all. Id honestly compare Ralph’s ‘success’ as that similar to the likes of Adkins with us and Wilder (excluding last season) at Sheff Utd. The only difference is they aren’t hipster names and don’t resemble klopp. Koeman done a significantly better job with us than Ralph has.

LOL. Showing your age now buddy. At the point where Koeman left Feyenoord, RB were in second division of the German league having never played in the top flight. Years of heavy investment and a very good scouting network have of course made them a better club now, but absolutely they are not bigger than Feyenoord. If you don’t think that this list of clubs is more impressive than a couple of lower league German no marks and Red Bull, who had a fantastic team (as per comments above - money and scouting network), then I’m sorry, but you’re just being foolish.

More nonsense. If I remember rightly, koeman was in the running for the Dutch job just before joining us. He done a decent job at Feyernoord and is obviously a huge name, who’d managed some big clubs. Some successfully, some not so successfully. Ralph had a good season at Red Bull, who had a very good team. Had Ralph achieved the same at someone other than RB, no way would he get the plaudits he does. Again, that’s because RB are a hipster club. Koeman was much more impressive than Ralph.

I found this pretty funny. Whilst you’re absolutely right, if this was said about saints after a win you’d accuse them of being a troll.

That’s a bit of a daft argument. It was clear almost straight away that we massively overpaid (by like £15m) for Carrillo and it was a panic signing to appease a manager who was clearly out of his depth. Generally speaking (anomalies obviously will be in there), but the more you pay for a player the better they’ll be. For every Armstrong, there is a Djenepo. Whilst I really rate Armstrong and think he’s one of our best and most important players, he’s about our level really. I can’t see a top 6 club ever coming in for him. The reality is, there are some really, really good players in that £20-£30m bracket (as shown by Leicester, who’ll now make those players 40-50m) which we’re just not willing to stretch to.

BBC control the switchboard to cut back to the studio though. As soon as they started giving him CPR they should have cut to the studio. Indefensible.

Good policing. I’m sure you’d complaining that the plod aren’t doing enough if stop and search was banned, which naturally led to a increase black kids getting hacked up with machetes. It’s a bit like policing at football. A group of lads in stone island jackets are more likely to attract police attend then a group of women in a replica shirt. Again, if black lives really did matter to them, they’d do more about black gang violence.

Fair enough, following previous comment above I’ve just read this, make sense.

Surely playing in form players is one of the most basic bits of football management and one you don’t even need to clarify. But how does he suggest anyone gets a run of form when they’re in one week out the next, regardless of how they play?

Proper odd behaviour that (assuming you’re English)