Dangerspoon

Controversial comment I know, but I actually thought the ref was alright. Sit in Kingsland centre and our bookings all seemed fair to me, and Taylor tried to let the game flow. I agree the onachou shirt pull was a poor decision (although, there is an argument that onachou should have gone down), but he did let Fraser’s tug back go. VAR had to intervene on latter, and should have the former. We were beaten by Fatsou (or whoever their right winger was), Saga’s injury and RM. Assuming Saga would have stayed on then KWP would have been ok on Fatsou and wee man would have stayed on the bench. If RM brought Saga off as he was on a yellow then he’s an idiot. RM moaning that we didn’t pick up the edge of the area is on HIM. Clearly didn’t explain it well enough to the player and didn’t emphasise it enough to Downes (captain) to remind the player.

I would like to see Dibling and lallana link up in the championship…… For me, RM has the international break to realise his brand will lose us far more goals than create them. If his doesn’t, he’s got to go

If Brooks learns to track back then he could be brilliant for us. Definitely got skill, and a superb pass for the second. However, an absolute liability defensively. At one point, he had to apologise profusely to KWP as it was left ball watching whilst the Huddesfield player ran past him into the box. That said, he may have been asked to stay upfield, so I could be being harsh. Bringing him on when losing / drawing is ideal though imo.

Unfortunately it’s very common after a nasty injury to get injured again but in a different place. Essentially, when injured a person naturally compensates for the injury, by putting pressure on other parts of their leg. Even when injury is healed, the psychological effects remain and the person can continue to ‘compensate’. My guess is the club want to build up the whole leg fully and ensure he’s not compensating at all before he returns again.

Bring in Potter

Holgate was regularly criticised at Everton. It was a very bizarre signing imo. Put the Man City lad with Bednarek and I think we’ll be stronger. Bazunu needs time off. He looks lacking in confidence. Schmichael surely should be considered. Mara needs to ask himself if he wants to be a footballer, as I haven’t seen any effort from apart from his debut game.

Martin confirmed he will be captain if JWP leaves / not playing. Makes sense.

At least Chris Sutton is providing good commentary. Very critical of Selles and quite rightly. clueless.

Disagree. Any manager would have seen we had a couple of very tired players out there. Which is what happens when you use a lot of energy in the first half. Utterly clueless tactical decisions in the second half. The players did well in the first half but needed a manager to manage the energy levels and control the game in the second half

It was another shocking display today. Players are alright but they haven’t got a clue where each other are and there’s no system. That’s on the manager

Great article in the Athletic today regarding our backroom set up. Gives insight into why we’d approach Wilcox and the role changes. Worth a read if a subscriber.

Here’s Hoping that Chelsea get thrashed today and at the weekend. Potter then gets sacked and comes to us

Who in their right mind would implement long ball tactics with a team who have learnt the opposite for years?

The lack of fight was clear. The lack of clue about tactics (he changed his system five times) was clear. Who knows what he did in six weeks. To quote The Times: “Every Southampton player was slower to the ball, softer in the tackle, and less precise in the many passes going astray”.

Yes. The reception he got in Ralph’s last home game was clear. And he’d be cheap. I’m not talking about football on the pitch etc, I’m purely saying the fans would give him a little more time and he’d know now the best system. Tbh having Dyche at the moment seems a far far better idea and would get my vote. Which is a shame. Needs someone to get them working.

He had six weeks to get a new system together. He had six weeks to get to know who were the best players Six weeks to keep fitness levels strong. Six weeks to motivate the players He failed on all. Atrocious performance and only marginally better than Lincoln. We lose against Forest and we need him gone. Knee jerk I know. An experienced manager required. If not possible, just bring in Adkins. The fan love him so that’ll give them a bit of a boost and at least he’s been watching us regularly enough this season to know who our better players are!

It that right - can he also play DM? If so, looks a okay buy given fee, particularly as no one got clear to being an adequate replacement for Romeu last season. Would have liked to see someone with a bit more a reputation at CB tho - we still seem weak there

He just needs a good no.2 who has the brain to work out how to counter the tactical changes other teams make in the second half. If he got that, we’d be fine. Should that be Ralph’s job? Yes. But he isn’t good at it. Thing is though, he’s good at many other things, so getting in someone just to help with this aspect is fine by me.

We badly need a defensive coach. If we bring one in and still have problems then goodbye Ralph.

Defending was better against Man U. And yet we’ve a full strength side (minus Romeu)

Unfortunately when a side makes a tactical change Ralph doesn’t have the ability to understand what to do. First time I’ve really started to question his managerial ability

We’ve been a much better side since Diallo came on, and I think Ralph was right to rest key players for either the first half or second half of the game. Given our injuries and important games coming up I’d take what is essentially a 3-0 defeat to City.

If we stay up we are just very lucky we had such a good start as with the squad we have, the intensity of our play, and the frequency of the games this COVID year then we were always going to have injuries and therefore always going to have problems. Is it a coincidence that Liverpool have had similar issues? Do I want Ralph gone? No. I like watching us play when we’ve got a full strength side. Romeu going yesterday changed things. Next season, with the longer gap between games, we’ll hopefully have less injuries. However, over the summer he needs to come up with a Plan B for if injuries occur and when teams suss us out in the second half.