Dman

Possibly. Possibly it’s the same as ours when we went something like 30 games with a handful of wins. The difference being they considered their manager to be underachieving, we didn’t, it seems.

Pointless trying to have a well balanced, reasonable debate when people post biased Drivel like this. Buendia is significantly better than S Armstrong. McGin is arguably better than Armstrong, let alone Buendia, who is a very, very good player. I know you like your stats, In his last full season in the premier league, he created more chances than Grealish. 4th overall and that was for a very poor Norwich side. The midField does not need A ‘complete overhaul’. They’re a little light, I agree but 1 maybe 2 players maximum isn’t a complete overhaul. Mings isn’t the best CB (he’s a very good organiser though; something we miss), but he’s at least on par (imo an improvement) on Stephens and Bednerak. Salisu clearly being the stand out for both teams. Not many, other than a few happy clapping idiots would see Villa as foolish move from us. At the very least, he’ll get a pay rise and be in the same position as us. As I said, unless he knows something we don’t, there’s not a great deal more he can achieve with us given our current business model.

Norwich is clearly a non starter. However, Villa on the other hand would be a really, really appealing job for a lot of managers, including ours id imagine. Talk of them being a backwards step is foolish and to be honest, they’d probably be a step up from us. Theyve got the fundamentals of being a really good team with an ‘ambitious’/wealthy owner, so whoever comes in will be backed in the transfer market. In Ings, Watkins, Bunedia & Bailey (yes I know they weren’t very good against us on Friday) they have a very, very good front 4 with a top class keeper in Martinez and players like Konza, mings (no doubt people on here won’t like this, but he’s an England international) and McGin who are more than capable premier league players. Imo they’re a little short at full back and CM but with a little investment, they could easily have a top 10 team without having to do a great deal. The only thing we can really offer Ralph is job security no matter results, as shown. I’m not sure how much of a factor this would play though, as any manager going in would back themselves to succeed. However, after 3 years, he must be looking at how much further he can take us without any real investment. Long and short, unless he knows something we don’t about a potential ownership change, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s looking at jobs like villa and thinking it would be a better option for him. FWIW, I think he’d do a decent job there and would be a top candidate if I was within the villa hierarchy.

That’s not what I said. I used that reference in terms of squad ability, I specifically said everyone in the bottom half could easily go down. Everyone is pretty similar to each other in one way or another. If you look at Ralph’s time here, it’s been very streaky. When he came in, we improved. Then up until the first 9-0 we were pretty bad. Things got better in 2020, especially after the covid break where Ings was firing and we seemed a lot fitter than everyone else. 2021 has been a shambles to date, but it has to be said is improving this season. Long and short is we’re capable of being very good (although I’m still yet to see that for 90 minutes) or very bad. Some time both in the same game (like Friday night). Unless we start taking our chances and putting teams to bed when we’re on top, which I think is due to a lack of quality, to be honest, we’re always going to be down there.

Nope. West Ham & Zouma.

Not only incredibly arrogant, but incredibly naive as well. History has shown that whilst we are capable of going on incredibly good runs, we’re also just as likely to be absolutely dog shit. We’re an injury away from having Stephens and Bednerak as our 2 CB’s and I fear that would cause the clean sheets to dry up (I’m a bit nervous about Lyanco as whilst he seems competent enough in a 3, I’m not sure how he’d fair in a 2 as they are very different roles… At this moment in time, I think it’d be a disaster, if I’m honest). I still think, Borja aside, we’re lacking goals and quality up the top end of the pitch. Norwich are gone. But other than that Newcastle will spend money and will no doubt improve and the rest (arguably Brentford aside) are much of a muchness imo. For me, after 10 games, I think it’ll be the 3 that come up who’ll go down, however, pretty much all teams in the bottom half aren’t safe imo.

And when Koeman was linked with Everton…. Villa isn’t a step down anyway. We’re probably level in terms of ability and he’ll get more financial backing. What he won’t get, is free reign to run the club with very little pressure of getting sacked though. Ings and Ralph’s relationship all but broke down towards the end of his time here, so it’d be pretty funny if he did end up there.

If / when he goes to Villa, who do we fancy? lucien favre, for me. If he’ll come.

Danny will be absolutely delighted if Ralph ends up at Villa… we might even get him back as part of the deal.

Tonight sort of sums up why we throw away so many leads and are down the bottom end of the table rather than the top. Outstanding first half, partially down to Villa being diabolical, and a lack of composure in front of goal (thinking S Armstrong) meant we made things hard for ourselves. Second half was very poor though and not for the first time. We seem to just run out of energy, which is a big concern. Fair play to Ralph he did change things up which seemed to help. A win is a win but I won’t get too carried away. If ings was playing tonight I don’t think we win that game. Credit where it’s due, we won against what seemed like 12 men (who was that idiot with the whistle??). I’m not one to blame the ref, but he was very poor tonight.

Agree both played very well tonight. Lead from the from and probably the best I’ve seen from Adams in a saints shirt. I do still Have my doubts about their composure in front of goal and for that reason I still think we should play Borja with probably Armstrong. But credit where it’s due, both very good and either could have been MOTM for me.

Yes, he done a fantastic job with Bournemouth and achieved a significant amount more than Ralph has with us. He took a tiny, tiny club from bottom of league 2 on -15 to a premier league club. I don’t know if you’re too young to remember. For every season they stayed in the premier league, that was a success. You’re judging a manager on 1 bad season out of about 10 (but aren’t for Ralph despite having an appalling record for 30+ games). His downfall was recruitment and bringing egos into the dressing room. He won’t have that issue here as we don’t have money to spend. Unemployment was/is his decision. He’s waiting on the right opportunity. Hence rejecting Celtic at the last minute in the summer (around the same time we spoke to him by the way). For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have Howe. I don’t think he’d sort our problems.

Because I know someone involved with the club at a pretty senior level. Well to be truthful, they’re no longer at the club but still have friends / former colleagues who are. I also know a few, now former, players. I’m not crooker or semmens, so I can’t tell you the reasons why we like Howe, but at a guess I’d say; Cheap Keen on the job Done a good job with bournemouth Considered a good coach within the game He fits our profile to a tee.

Yes. (why the hell would they be too busy to help out now and again? They do hardly anything). Yes. Many footballers discuss things with close family / friends. They’re much more likely to tell friends than the press. I can’t comment on the end of October stuff or Ralph / the players knowing that he was on the brink (although I wouldn’t be surprised), however I can 100% with complete certainty say that we have spoken to Howe about taking over. Howe is very keen on us and we’re very keen on Howe (that’s pretty obvious, though). The bit about Ralph changing things up in training would also make sense as I know a number of players, one being a key player who’s just left (that’s a different convo though - as someone said towards the end of last season, we had some real poison in the squad… who’ve now moved on), weren’t too impressed with him. All that being said, we won’t sack Ralph (my opinion) if results / performances continue as they have been and probably rightly so.

Nice stat m8. ‘Just for clarification’: JWP’s 2 England goals have come against the mighty forces of, errrr, San Marino and Andorra. One of which was a penalty. Regarding Diallo being more of a goal threat, he’s not. To be honest, JWP is probably our biggest goal threat at the moment (Borja aside) all because of his free kicks (this says more about our attacking options than anything else though). In open play, neither a going to be Frank Lampard and chip in with 10 goals (from open play) a season. Diallo however; is better at driving us forward, moving the ball and getting us the pitch quicker. For me (this is a forum based upon opinions), this is what makes us a better team with him in it next to the ball winner in Romeu. With JWP in the team, we’re very slow in possession which allows teams to form a decent defensive shape and low block, which we struggle to break down. For me, with the squad we have (very quick, but very limited technical / creative ability) we need to be playing on the counter attack getting the ball forward as quickly as possible. This is not a thread to debate who’s a better player. JWP is clearly better at the moment (he’s 5 years older with about 7 years more experience in the PL), it’s about who suits our style of play more. For me, that’s Diallo.

This is the same geezer who said that Armstrong and Adams had a ‘higher ceiling’ than Borja because their XG or XA bollox was higher in a higher league (championship - Dutch league). I’m not convinced he watches the games rather he just sits on stats sites afterwards.

What sort of argument is this 😂😂😂 Have you ever played a game of football In your life? In fact, did you even watch the game? I thought JWP was pretty average all game to be honest.

Diallo, last season, only really got a half decent run in the side when Romeu was out injured and that was playing alongside JWP or Armstrong and we as a team we’re absolutely dog shit with significant injures. He was mainly brought on as a sub to sure the game up a bit (even coming on as a 10 a few times, if I remember rightly) or being played in a role he’s not all that suited to. To be honest, this table is absolutely pointless and all it shows to me is the importance of Romeu. I’d be very interested to see that table again for this season. Where it would be a little be more of a level playing field.

A proven premier league manager who has experience in working with and improving lower mid table teams on a tight budget. What’s not to like? Moyes would be a fantastic appointment for a club like us. As proven with West Ham. The trouble is, he’s not got a good haircut and isn’t a good looking bloke, so the football hipsters and press (like the athletic) won’t like him.

West Ham are a really, really good team aren’t they. Id love to see the reaction on this place if we appointed someone like Moyes. A real shame he wasn’t given the time Ole has been at United as it’d have been interesting to see how things would have panned out.

A bit like 99% of those involved with our club then…?

Anything north of 40m and we should seriously consider taking the money and running. Diallo is more than suitable to replace and we could add 2 or 3 players with a bit of quality in areas we need. A very limited player aside from free kicks and as I said in another thread, we’re a better team without him playing. Unfortunately we won’t get £40m or more, though.

To sign Theo on a permanent deal, is up there as being as bad as giving Long a new deal. To make things worse, we had a try before you buy, so we knew he was shit. Just to think, between him, long and Fraser we have about 150k a week on the books doing nothing but getting in the way (although unfair on Fraser, I think he should be starting).

I’ve never said that calendar year results matter. They’re irrelevant. Ralph could win us the league, but if we’re on a prolonged poor run of form (say 38 games with 8 wins) and in grave danger of relegation the following year, he should rightly be sacked. Exactly like Leicester done with Ranieri. You can dress it up and make as many excuses as you like, just admit you’re a big Ralph fan and you won’t call for his head. That’s fair enough, own it. If this was boring old Puel, I very much doubt you’d be defending him like you do though. I however, will look at the facts. 8 wins in 38 (equivalent of a full seasons worth) of games. That’s a win %, pretty much in line with Pellegrino. You can argue performances are getting better, but results aren’t. 1 win in 9 this season having played 3 of the teams who’ll be around us this season (Newcastle, Burnley, Leeds). At what point do you say enough is enough? If 38 games isn’t enough for you to start to question if this man is right for us, then when is? This thread was started back in 2019, off the back of our first 9-0 defeat and a run of something like 2 wins in 15 games. Many questioning the managers team selection and tactics. 2 years on we’re on a similar, but worse, run of form. I don’t need to post you a link, but If you honestly think that no manager has been sacked early into the season because of an overhang of poor form from the back end of a previous season, then you are completely deluded. If and when Ralph is sacked, it won’t be solely because of these 9 games this season, it’ll be because of the last year as a whole.

This 100% isn’t true. It will depend solely on the arrangement between the 2 clubs. And will differ from player to player. Some loans will have a recall clause, some won’t. The conditions around said recall are also dependant on the arrangement between clubs.