Fitzhugh Fella

Micky Fialka and MLT ride again?

Macarthy for all his faults made a miraculous save following Walker-Peters first error. Even the ref acknowledged I noted.

You are so wrong about it being personal. I think his personality is a great fit for our club inasmuch he cares about the youth and the overall way the club is structured. No other foreign manager has shown anything like the same amount of commitment to the infrastructure, the set up and the DNA. For that he should be applauded. I also like his personality, he interviews fairly well, has a nice sense of humour and most important the fans warm to him. He also seems to accept our limited budget. When I say frustrating and, comparing him to all those names you mention, I am talking mainly about team selection (which is obviously fundamental). He tinkers irrationally. Whether its Walker-Peters/Perraud or Walcott instead of Tella. Redmond was given far too much game time when his form went drastically off the boil. He only stopped alternating the keepers when it became obvious Forster was seeing out his contract. Picking Livramento exclusively at full-back. His recent treatment of Adams who came back from international duty on a high only to het yanked twice at half-time. I could go on but you are well versed enough to recognise he can baffle the hell out of us. I am not saying he is worse than many of those names just incredibly frustrating and hard to fathom and this sometimes obscures his finer points. These next two home games are make or break for me. 4 points keep in anything less then I would start to cast my net if I was Semmens or at least dip a toe in the water.

A fear of not being able to find a good manager to replace him is not really a healthy reason to keep him. He is either up to the job or he is not. Good managers are out there ( Potter was a brave choice by Brighton ) but whether we have enough football nous on the Board to find and appoint one is another matter. Not slagging Semmens and Co but not sure there is a lot of football acumen there. Hasenhuttl has his plus points but I don’t think we - apart from Branfoot, have had such a frustrating manager.

That first sentence is pretty arrogant if you don’t mind me saying. In fact your near messianic defence of Ralph is a bit strange too. He is far from perfect.

Spot on mate. The Perraud/Walker-Peters flip flopping is another of Ralph’s idiosyncratic fumblings.

If Tella was the only player "up for it" I don't see your comment "it's not the end of the world" offering much comfort. The fact we went to Anfield and 10 of our players weren't "up for it" must surely be a real concern? To get anything today we should have picked a settled well-drilled side who knew each others game inside out and the game plan. Instead we sent up a round hole square peg sort of team which was almost like Ralph threw the squad names onto a blank canvass a la Jackson Pollack and went with the 11 names nearest the middle. One week Perraud next week Walker Peters etc etc. The players must be bemused, the fans are certainly confused and I'm not really sure Ralph knows his arse from his elbow these days.

I knew this thread would attract Turkey and Fry like bees to the honeypot. I also knew it wouldn't be long before Chorley's name came up. You have made an error though Turk. The coin throwing was actually at the infamous AGM which Lowe kicked off by reading an anonymous letter from a fan who had written and told him what a brilliant job he had been doing. It degenerated into farce soon after Chorley threw the chocolate coins wrapped in foil on the table in front of him and the meeting was quickly abandoned with the club falling into administration soon after. Actually I miss those days, now our leader/owner is too remote for such histrionics.

You be are quoting the wrong hard men there. Brian was mad not bad, Big Jake just looked hard (gentle giant off the pitch). The true assassins were Denis Hollywood and Docker Walker. Both sent a shiver down the spine.

IF the biggest word in football

Must have been a frightening time for him and his partner. The club should be praised for helping even though technically they weren’t obliged to. That should be applauded so well done Saints.

Also scored a crucial penalty v Pompey in last season’s Papa Joe trophy final shoot out. Nice guy by all accounts

Rule I of this forum "the messenger must always be shot especially if he brings bad or negative news about the club"

Fans are fickle. If we get turned over by Villa and lose to Norwich the knives will be out of the drawers. 9 or 10 points was the requrement from the 5 games remember.

Ralph will continue to pick Walcott because that is what Ralph does

When all sad and done and whichever side of the fence you sit with Ralph (or on it in the case of Trousers) - you have to admit when it comes to team selections and substitutions he is the most baffling and frustrating of any of our managers that I can recall.

Didn't realised Catlin had left. Presumably thought things could only get worse.

Nothing wrong with hating Portsmouth and celebrating it with a song. Wash your mouth my son 😀

Think it a great way of waking up the Kingsland and generating some atmosphere. A success so well done to all concerned.

How much longer is the excuse of being dealt a bad hand going to be viable I wonder. A lot of his “bad hands” have been self dealt.

He’s hardly going to say anything else other than he has our full support. Things change quite literally overnight. Do you remember when Branfoot got a new contact but was given the push soon after. I am pretty sure Howe is waiting in the wings. A lot will depend on these next 5 games. Gao calls the shots and he certainly won’t let his heart rule his head.

A good listen. Martin Semmens is a very convincing and articulate speaker and the questions were all relevant so well done. Still wondering about the Jack Stephen’s contract position though. Has he signed a new deal?

Perhaps the two clubs should participate in the piss pot trophy on an annual basis? We might get to put some silverware in the trophy cabinet.

Slight difference inasmuch Gao is not responsible for China’s appalling human rights record whereas the Saudi “govt”behind this takeover is up to its neck in murder etc.

Oh no does that mean he will be selected for the next 38 games regardless?