Fitzhugh Fella

What a really stupid thing to say

This

I don't disagree but that is a luxury for us right now

If the club have already done this deal it proves they have learnt nothing from the Les Reed debacle. With money so tight they would be mad to sign Walcott who really hasn't contributed much on the field (nothing against him, he is probably an asset in the dressing room but with a relegation battle coming up next season we need to spend out money elsewhere).

I wouldn't sign Walcott personally, it would be an indication of a lack of ambition. He hasn't set the pulses racing and he's not going to get any better.

Yep Gary Chalk has a couple of the shields (they were designed to tuck in fans hat bands) and I have published photos in my pre-war Cup history book on Saints.

This question should be aimed quickly and directly at RH. His much vaunted lockdown manual has bombed judging by results.

At long last I feel a bit of pride tonight but some questions need answering inc Sky/Tyler’s appalling commentary, the truly awful decision to send JV off and the lack of VAR to come to right a blatant injustice. The question I would like to ask is - how can a defender tackle without a follow through and if that follow through impedes another player and there is no intent surely that is pure bad luck and no way a red card?

Yes MLT is absolutely entitled to his political views but there are a political views and there are political views. To deny the death of 3 million people worldwide through this pandemic I find abhorrent. To deny the benefits of the vaccine I find dangerous. To think otherwise is sticking your heads in the sand. It’s a great shame he has chosen to besmirch his reputation but that is his choice. However I maintain it massively insulting and disrespectful to anyone who has lost a relative or friend to this disease and no matter how many truly great goals he scored I can’t bring myself to bang the drum for him. It’s my loss I accept but I feel cleaner for it.

Yep: I still regard him as the greatest ever Saints player but I just cannot endorse him when I see Indian bodies piled high in mortuaries with his Covid denying Twitter posts. Sorry to all those who choose to turn a blind eye to his rants (dangerous) but I just can’t bring myself to promote him. Matt has been very supportive to Hagiology and he is a very generous man with his free time etc but he has become an utter idiot. Apologies to all those who cannot bear to see an idol being criticised but life is actually more important than footballer worship.

Really? His Covid denying etc has left me feeling a bit disinclined

I am under the impression the manager has the final say. Could be wrong but in the absence on non footballing people on the Board it’s a fair assumption I reckon.

I would argue that he has had reasonable support in the market and yet some of his buys have not really been that spectacular (Djenepo, Adams, Diallo, Salisu, Danso (farcical)). Not bad but not very good. Certainly not a Mane or van Dijk amongst them. Most teams have suffered with injuries this season so we are not very different and don't forget Ralph boasted when he arrived he liked working with a small squad. He has persisted with players who have just not been good enough (Redmond in particular) and made bizarre selections inc the recent one to drop Forster and not give the young Swiss player who got sent off at OT another chance even though we have been struggling in the middle of the park. Tella looked great when he was introduced but after a cracking game at Sheffield United he was benched. Minamino was a bizarre signing - what we needed was a full back. So Ralph has to take some blame. He was been manager for the worst two results in our 136 year history and couldn't even get a point v 9 man Newcastle. Crucially he doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes and that is suicide in the PL. He is good at communicating with the fans, he has a likeable, credible personality and I wish he was a better manager or even an improving one but sadly I think he is holed beneath the water line and in charge of a ship that might not be sinking but is in peril. Trouble is do we trust the Board to find us a decent manager to replace him. That's another argument I suppose.

Yep. The whole thing has dragged on too long though. It’s definitely become a distraction and I wonder how much his head has been turned by Levy.

I save my admiration to those who want to be at the club and don’t destabilise it. But having said that “twat” was a tad over the top and I will withdraw it. It’s just very frustrating that a local lad at his age is still having his head turned to the detriment of the team.

Ings contract situation has now just entered changing deck chairs on the Titanic territory. Boring, tedious, irrelevant, energy sapping, distracting and just plain irritating. Let him go, he has no allegiance to us whatsoever. That’s his entitlement he needs to get what he can get but it’s time to accept the inevitable and more importantly try and find someone vaguely as competent. He will be missed because he’s a great player (when fit) but we need to prepare for his inevitable exit.

I think Saints will be very prudent to be looking at replacing Ings now, regardless of whether he stays one more year. Personally I don’t think anyone will want to sign him with his injury record and I’m worried we might be offering a good contact to someone who is unfortunately a walking sick note.

I would have more faith if the U18s and U23 teams were doing well but right now our academy is utter crap and Ralph has had nearly 3 years to stamp his philosophy on them. The guy is a charlatan in my opinion but we are stuck with him because our current board who are clueless on football matters decided to entrust Ralph with the kitchen sink and the draining board. And they dug themselves a big hole in the process

No doubt it will be the same old same old. Redmond starts, we lack cohesion penetration leadership etc etc, late substitutes etc etc, another loss with mistakes no lessons learnt, same old same old as we all around in ever decreasing circles while going slowly mad.

Good post albeit the message depressing. For me Ralph is holed beneath the water line. How long will he keep us afloat? The ridiculous thing is he is virtually unsackable which is not really a healthy situation. Maybe a shakeup to football in this country has come at a good time for us.

The moment I saw Redmond's name on the team sheet I knew Ralph has to go. Has he not learnt anything?

Your first 3 words dissuaded me from reading any further. Mate, with the greatest of respec,t you must be blind.

You ask why people can’t stay level headed. Fair enough but then you bring death into the equation?

Don’t worry the B team are ripping up their League, plenty of youngsters to fall back on. It’s all a bit shambolic to be truthful. Perhaps he’s not the messiah after all ?

It would be a better move to do away with offside. It was introduced in Victorian times to stop Old Etonians leaning against the opponents goalpost smoking a pipe waiting for the ball to be lumped towards him.