Cabrone

Posted from another thread ............Optimistic......Pessimistic Ful(h)....3..................1 (should be 3 points here but after Cardiff??) Utd(a)....0.................0 Spurs(h).1.................0 BHA(a)...3.................0 Liv(h).....1.................0 Wolves(h).3...............0 New(a)....1................0 Bmth(h)..3.................0 WHU(a)...1.................0 Hudd(h)...3.................1 Watfd(a)..1.................0 TOTAL......20...............2 Avg = 11 points which puts us on 35 in May. With a GD as bad as Cardiff's can they get 11 points? IMO at this moment in time it feels like a coin toss.

No real change, had this one down as a loss anyway. We absolutely need 3 points against Fulham though.

Time for predictions yet? ............Optimistic......Pessimistic Arse(a)..1..................0 Ful(h)....3..................1 (I would have put 3 points here but after Cardiff.....) Utd(a)....0.................0 Spurs(h).1.................0 BHA(a)...3.................0 Liv(h).....1.................0 Wolves(h).3...............0 New(a)....1................0 Bmth(h)..3.................0 WHU(a)...1.................0 Hudd(h)...3.................1 TOTAL......20...............2 The average = 11 points which puts us on 35 in May. Ralph's pulled up trees to get us to where we are but damn it's going to be tight.

Maybe but when you pay 200M + for something you should have a good idea of what you are buying and what you are letting yourself in for. Paying over the odds and not understanding what is even going on is not an excuse.

I wouldn't feel sorry for the guy, he's no wallflower. He was initially blocked by the prem league chairmen over his dodgy past (including giving evidence that led to a corrupt politician getting the lethal injection) but somehow Kat (who did a number on him) managed to squeeze him through. Doesn't help us though, we and him are stuck and any potential suitor (if there are any) would want to drive an extremely hard deal which he probably couldn't even afford. Had big doubts about him all along, the best thing he did was bring in Ralph but Ralph isn't going to hang around too long under a guy who is probably content with 17th place ad infinitum.

We were nailed on when Sparky left, what Ralph has achieved just to get us to a position where there is still all to play for is herculean. We've had a recent blip but my money is still on him getting us out of it. The trouble is even if we do stay up without an injection of quality especially upfront we'll be here next year too and sooner or later we'll be relegated.

I can't get my head around Shane Long's continuous inclusion in the first team. He doesn't score goals and doesn't even look close to scoring so why is he still being picked? If he's our spearhead for the rest of the season we are in trouble. I'd rather play with an extra midfielder, he'd probably have a better chance of scoring than Shane Long. Bad day at the office, need to pick ourselves up and get back on track. But please don't handicap the team by picking Shane Long.

A young fit guy banging on the sides fighting for his life sinking in icy water in the dark is not a nice thought. I hope he was unconscious at the time. A single engined 30+ y.o banger of a plane, a barely proficient pilot, a night crossing in January, multiple take off attempts - what a death trap and all for the sake of an extra 12-18 hours or so....

The 1st was a penalty IMO so we got away with that, the 2nd was some very cute play by Crouch but overall we can't complain - that was a fair result. Main thing was not to lose, have to be happy with points on the road.

That's how you play a guy like Gabbi, fast flowing football up front. We never played to his strengths.

Felt like the first game, no shortage of effort but low on quality. Thought Derby looked the better of the two teams TBH but to throw away a 2 goal lead in 30 odd minutes again is really poor. Get rid of Long and Moi, both completely sub standard.

He's an ambitious guy so May 2020 is my guess but it won't be the end of the world as there'll always be another up and coming manager behind him. We profited very well when we were seen as a progressive stepping stone club that was happy to introduce and let go of bright talent like Poch. I'm hoping that with the appointment of Ralph that the club is moving back to that kind of model rather than the get a'manger at our level' mindset (Hughes??). We need to be attractive to talent and that means we're OK to let them pass through. Give me 1-2 seasons of Ralph over 5-6 of an average Joe any day.

Fantastic win, and what a run of results under Ralph. I've done an almost 180 deg turn from being convinced that we're going down to thinking we're almost certain to stay up. such is the guy's impact. We punched above our weight with him, IMO he's a top 6 manager.

New signing from China?

God I hope Long isn't selected up front, I'd rather recall Forster and play him up front instead. Big lump like that up front, I'd back him to score before Long. If Ings is injured then Charlie and\or one of the kids gets the nod up front. Long's time with us should be finished. I'd keep with Gunn too based on the Chelsea shutout. There's a potential point up for grabs here with comatose Claude in charge up there.

Derby are a pretty lightweight team that a half decent prem side would have battered. Unfortunately that's not us. Redmond, Gunn and Cedric aside the rest were sub-par to dismal. Moi is just not up to it and I don't ever want to see Long in a Saints team again. Defence was a permanent mistake waiting to happen, midfield never had control at any time and the strikers were, Redmond aside, toothless. Plenty of endeavour but they simply aren't good enough, 2-0 up and we couldn't put a lightweight Derby team to bed. At least Ralph should have a good idea of what he's got to work with now.

Looking forward to a decent game of football. Can't believe we have fans that would like to throw the game. Look to win, never go into any game looking to exit out. Confidence breeds success and all that, besides which I love the cup.

Harsh, they're just having a laugh at football. Not my thing or yours by the sound of it but each to their own.

Excellent result, yes we may be in the bottom 3 but we've definitely turned a corner and we are still very much in touch. If you'd have offered me 4 points from Arse and Citeh at home and Chelski away I'd have bitten your hand off. Ralph has navigated a nasty set of fixtures and come out of it with 7 points, fantastic effort. Onwards and upwards!

If he's the guvnor does that make the team the walking dead?

Losing to Man City is no surprise, will probably lose to Chelsea too. Ralph is on the right track though and by now he will be getting an idea of who he wants and who he wants to offload. Wouldn't be surprised to see a few German unknowns coming in. The real work starts now.

Couldn't give a toss who wins the league, just want to see SFC play some good football and finish as high as possible. Top 6 is a plastic circus, at least the vast majority of our support have a real connection to the area.

Citeh ripe for plucking? If Ralph can pull 6 points from the next 2 games I'm going to start believing he's some kind of supernatural being.

Used to be Everton, we had a huge run of games where we couldn't bear them back in the day. Now it's the top 6 but something tells me our new manager might be able to do something about that, hope so anyway.

La Natzione reporting that Gabbi wants a return to Italy, Bologna and Fiorentina interested, Fiorentina firm favourites. Ralph is fine with the move. CSKA were also interested but Gabbi only wants Italy. Looks like he's on his way. Shame as I don't think we ever saw the best of Gabbi but if Ralph needs the money then time to say goodbye....