RobM

And that’s just Sky.

Other than better food and drink, and some degree of soul or even design in the stadium, what else do we need from the match day experience? You turn up, possibly buy food and drink, watch the game, leave wondering why you spend so much money on that drivel, and look forward to doing it all again soon. The club have tried ‘entertainment’ and it was terrible. The PA system is terrible. The music choice is terrible. The light and fire shows are terrible. And yet it doesn’t make a tiny bit of difference to the actual game and that’s what ultimately dictates how good your experience is. The Saints Brass band are often the best performance we see all day. I can’t wait to get back again next season. I renewed my ST straight away. Stupid game.

The other concern is Ralph is how long he wants to be here. Realistically we’re not buying our success with our new owners, and it’ll take a little while to see the potential benefits of the multi-club model, so IMO it would be better to bring in a manager who can help shape it over the years ahead. Same logic and concerns exist for the fact we need a significant rebuild this summer. Is it right to let a manager influence that who doesn’t want to be here for much longer? Will incoming players be put off by the uncertainty, especially more established and experienced players? There are many more reasons to get rid than keep him. The main reason to keep him is he’s done OK with very limited resources, but there are plenty of managers who have made a career out of that and it’s not like our style of play is dynamic and exciting to watch!

This. My stance hasn’t changed, that he’d be taking the credit or blame this season without excuses and it’s only possible to judge after the season ends. His signings (within our constraints, like many clubs have), a full pre-season, no big injuries taking key players out of action, no excuses. We've seen how good we can be at times, which shows this squad is capable of more than he has delivered, he just can’t get any consistency. It’s all or nothing, and some of his tactics have caused us real problems. Time to go. Feel sad saying that, loved a lot of what he’s done, but this is as good as it’ll get with Ralph in charge.

When we were losing and started to play, push forward, press, and attack we looked a threat. And crucially, we kept Liverpool back and eased pressure on our own defence. It showed he had the players on the pitch to do more than we did, but he chose to keep us sitting deep, defending, and lumping the ball right back to Liverpool after each attack. I’d rather have lost by more but when trying to win, than watch that dull, disinterested, inept performance.

I keep coming back to this. It must impact players motivation if they believe they're playing for somebody who might not be here in the near future? Why buy into a specific philosophy and bust a gut to prove yourself to somebody, if it may all change soon? You're relying entirely on the professionalism of players, and when we have such a young and inexperienced squad and a lack of leadership with our players, that's risky.

Leicester, Villa, for sure. Burnley’s recent form may leave them on par with us, especially since they have a game in hand. Leeds have been poor all season but may finish just a few points away, certainly not night and day between us. Brentford are about where they deserve to be given their resources and squad. Same points as us, 9-goal better GD. I do appreciate the point about no striker and our overall squad but that proves one of my points - Ralph got the players he wanted. This is his squad. The strikers are of his choosing… and he keeps them on the bench in favour of a player he let leave on loan recently! Even in a game where we had no clue what we were doing in attack and needed some sort of spark.

I said the same many months ago, but Ralph got the signings he wants, had a full pre-season, has no disgruntled players and dodgy contract situations to deal with, and no significant injuries, so has no excuses. Do well, take the credit. Don’t do well, take the blame. With three games to go, it’s hard to say he has done well. I’m not pleased to say that, but there are teams around us who most would say have had a bad season and we’re on similar points and playing without any desire or interest at all. As others have said, I can deal with bottom half finishes and losing games. But Ralph has no excuses for the lack of effort and desire, nor the poor tactics and slow reactions when change is needed, or for the fact our players looked utterly lost and devoid of a plan yesterday. He can blame ‘automatisms’ not working, but he has no excuse for not trying to change things. Combine all this with the fact we need to buy a few players for the first-11, and the uncertainty about how long Ralph will stay with us, and it would make a lot more sense to start afresh with renewed energy and commitment to the longer-term.

Semi related to ST’s that some folk might find interesting… the club have been told by the EPL to extend the press box further through the top of block 9. Anybody with a ST in that area are being moved to accommodate it.

It feels like Minamino all over again. Could be amazing. Could struggle. Either way won’t be here next season, so the question is whether the cost is worth the potential. I suspect he’ll leave Spurs at the end of the season as it’s clearly not working there for him, so we’re at best a shop window for him. No real harm in that if he performs brilliantly for us and doesn’t get in the way of a player we want to develop for the longer term.

This is the thing to remember with our operating model. When we see great talent developing and shining, just appreciate the fact we got to see it and hope we’ll repeat it again in the future. So long as players move on respectfully (no dumb photos on a private jet, or interviews with foreign media about where your head may be) I’ll wish them well and move on to the next emerging talent.

This 100%. My opinion has remained the same throughout; this is the first season Ralph has no excuses, so come the end of the season his success or failure will be down to him, and we should react accordingly. As it stands he is actively changing many of the things we could reasonably criticise him for, and we’re achieving results and a league position reflective of our squad and ability. If this remains the case at the end of the season, he deserves a lot of credit.

Didn’t he turn down the chance to play for his country, rather than miss out on selection?

I too thought he has been quite good this season, but when you stop and think about the end product players in his position are supposed to offer, it’s hard to back that up. He definitely gets involved more, his passing is quite good, but in that position he should be assisting far more often.

That’s not entirely true… he changed away from his normal 4-2-2 recently and it made us more defensively solid, but we had even less attacking threat than normal. He has also changed styles, formations, tactics, etc in games multiple times. The problem for me is none of this has changed our fortune, and despite having multiple transfer windows to build his squad, he hasn’t found any consistency, and we still can’t score. I remain of the opinion this season, after a transfer window with no excuses available, is do or die for him. These next five games in particular should seal his fate. Produce consistently good performances, and get a good points haul, and I’ll believe in him. Fail to and he has to go, as there are no more excuses for him to hide behind. It’s all on him now.

No. It doesn’t. The season is well under way. What starts now is Ralph’s interview, his time to prove he deserves the job. He has the players he wanted, few injuries, seemingly no off-field distractions (e.g. big ego problems as we’ve dealt with before), two weeks of training, followed by five winnable games. If we don’t come out of this period with proof that Ralph can create wins from the squad he has built, he has to go. That would give his replacement time to assess the squad ahead of the January transfer window.

But that was a clash of egos as much as anything, and since then RK has gone on to achieve not a lot in multiple ‘bigger’ managerial roles. Maybe he’s the managerial equivalent of Billy Sharp; too good at one level, not quite good enough at the next? I’m not advocating getting rid of Ralph yet, but if we did Koeman would make a lot of sense as a replacement.

This is the sign of all good CB’s in the modern game. It doesn’t look spectacular or heroic, but it’s a skill to be in the right place at the right time, with the right body position to not lose your man or need a spectacular challenge. It’s easy to dismiss this as the opposition not being difficult to defend, dismissing the reading of the game and the movement needed to make it look so simple.

He's great physically, good in the tackle, happy to do the ugly stuff when needed and *just* stay on the right-side of the rules, and he's great on the ball, but he doesn't read the game consistently well enough and gets caught out. Top CB's know where to be, how to position themselves, how to pre-empt danger, and have a habit of being in the right place at the right time. Our Jack isn't quite there yet, so needs somebody next to him who can do this and organise others as well.

The most annoying thing about this shambles is the lack of shame, care, problem solving, or admission of failure from the club. No solutions are being offered other than standing in line for a replacement. How about e-tickets as a one-off, or an option to download from the website and print at home, or open the TO for extended hours this week to spread the demand and make it more convenient? Nah, not their fault so not their problem to solve, it seems.

Sometimes I wonder if Ralph actually wants leadership on the field, or whether he thinks that’s his job from the sidelines. Same mentality that led to him not replacing his assistant manager; I can do it all myself, I don’t need any help. Ralphs strength is also his weakness. He has clear ideas and principles, he is laser focused on what he wants from the team, and he is utterly convinced it can and will work. But, as we saw at Everton, he can’t admit when it isn’t working and change it. Maybe he sees that as admitting defeat or showing he’s wrong? Who knows. To my uneducated eye though, the best managers sense when things aren’t working and change it and I can’t see Ralph ever doing that.

I’m not yet Ralph Out, but I 100% believe this season is make or break for him. All excuses are gone now. Deadwood players are gone so the wage bill is healthier. We got decent money for Ings and Vestergaard so can sign players he wants, in addition to those he has recruited already. He has had enough time to establish is system and ideas and train / develop the squad. He has plenty of experience in the EPL, so knows what’s needed. What other excuses are there? Squad depth? He doesn’t use them. Squad quality? He chose them and trains them. Back room staff? He chose them or has decided to keep them, and has added names. If he and his back room staff can’t make his system work with his players, it’s his fault and he should go. If he can, he gets the credit.

If we blow the entire Ings income on a single player, it needs to come with more guarantee of success than Armstrong IMO. As we saw with Adams, lots of goals in the Championship doesn’t mean the same in the EPL. I suspect the club know the Ings money is our only money, so want to bring multiple players in rather than spend it all on one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=d6ztLI50I-0

I don't wish to alarm anybody... but we're still not very good at defending.