MarkSFC

So here's my viewpoint fwiw! We were getting worse and worse under Ralph which was a shame because i thought he was a refreshing positive appointment at first. But over the time he was here that all changed. He should of been relieved of his responsibilities in tbe summer as it was pretty clear he was a busted flush by then. A new manager is what we need and we are getting someone with fresh energy, new ideas and it is very clear, a big drive to achieve. Hes certainly not the first name on my list and probably not any Saints fans list, but the only list that matters is SRs. And he was clearly top of theirs. And so here we are, 2 days after sacking one manager on the brink of appointing the replacement. This is good. Many times in the past the club has been very slow to recruit the next one. Our new owners have acted when they felt the time was right - later than I preferred - and when they had identified who they wanted. Efficiency of top operators. Hiring the manager of little old Luton Town does not sound exciting. But we are hiring the man for his methods and skills. Clearly he can organise a team, create great team togetherness, and get performances on tiny budgets. The philosophy of our club is recruit raw talents, develop and then at some point "cash in". This hire is no different to any player purchase. The club environment will hopefully allow Nathan Jones and his team the perfect opportunity to test his methods and skills at a higher level, and there is no reason why they can't be successful. We gave a man who lost 9-0 twice, more than enough chances. This man deserves this chance. Football far too often just shuffles the same pool of managers or gives high profile jobs to the famous former player. If Nathan Jones was a former England International (with the same management experience) I guarantee the general concensus of fans would be more favourable than it seems. Of course, the whole SR project might fail. It also might succeed. If it does succeed, we will reap huge benefits. I'm cautiously optimistic and love the approach of SR. Let's all draw a line and give the man and his team every support. A bit of "Dell" mentality, fighting spirit and togetherness is requited by all now and see what happens!!

You may be right. But very few listen to you 🤣

Interesting to hear. There's alot to be said for talented people who have the drive and the hunger if not the perceived experience. I'm in the people development world and so I'm all for giving those who deserve an opportunity, an opportunity! I've done some very crude and un-scientific statistical research into a completely random list of managers. My curiosity is how his "win" percentage AND his "didn't lose" compares because "not losing" is the key for us. Here's what I found. Win / Didn't lose Jones 43.2 / 73 Hassenhutl 39.1 / 65.8 Klopp 53.8 / 78 Poch 48.5 / 70.7 Howe 42.3 / 63.6 G.Johnson 33.4 / 57.4 Potter 44.1 / 70.9 Redknapp 40.2 / 64.9 Hodgson 42.9 / 70.3 Allardyce 38.8 / 66.0 By comparison Mourinho 62.96 / 83.46 Pep 72.5 / 87.8 I chose those because they have been around along time most of them and across different leagues and not always top clubs to get a perspective of what number are good. His career so far suggests he can get results. Not the man I wcpected but looking into him more I am less worried than I was yesterday. His methods clearly are "effective" and that description is great!! Being effective gets results. How that happens is less important for us despite what we might crave ideally. The test for him is how quickly he gets the buy in from the squad and changes the culture. He will have some time with the break. I'm not expecting huge excitement in terms of style but am hoping (obviously) for the excitement of winning again! It appears to me to be a very calculated risk by SR/Ankerson and his history and methodology particularly has credibility. Hopefully we begin to reap the benefits.

Hes spot on about the "do you think you can get out of here" question answer the other day!!

Well. This is fucking depressing. Fresh opportunity arose this morning, optimism and hope. This afternoon I feel completely underwhelmed and am already getting laughs from ates who support other clubs. I'm all for giving people a chance so hopefully he proves the huge majority very wrong and does a decent job. I'm not holding my breath though. Hopefully he's a diamond everyone else has missed.

Yeah poor "journalism". An article penned by a Saints fan very soo after a terrible result at home...likely to be in an emotional state. Really hasn't said anything, more making a prediction to attempt to be the exclusive when the inevitable happens, can then claim "knowledge". Almost as pathetic as the performance was today.

When SR took over it was stated that basically Semmens and Co would continue to run the day to day operations as before. Semmens has shown poor leadership since then, especially some of his comments at the forum. If he doesn't sack RH tonight or tomorrow morning he should lose his job too. If Rasmus and Co have reduced his powers then why is he still here now and Rasmus and Co need to do the decent thing tomorrow and free up the rest of Ralph's life for him!! Im hoping/guessing that both parties will go tomorrow/next few days. Draw a line. Recruit their manager and CEO. Move on.

How the actual fuck can he survive any longer..😡😡😡😡

Yes.

Jeez....how many shit results csn this man sustain!!! He deserved chances (because of the financial constraints at the beginning of his tenure) however he has refused to stop tinkering with team selection and format virtually every single game, plays people in the wrong positions, has a very poor use of substitutions and this season is still creating poor performance. He just needs replacing now. No more waiting but SR seemingly are waiting for a particular tipping point or perhaps they are just sorting out his replacement.

Admittedly I've not been to any games this far this season but it seems to me that RH has either bottled it or just tried to go super safe early doors so as to finish games much better than last two seasons. We used to come flying out of the taps but from TV and radio and taking to those who have been to games this has disappeared. Rather than try to get two or three up and hold on we now seem to want to hang on to a clean sheet as long as possible and try and sneak a win or draw. Time for a fresh mind and new tactics. Please!!!!!!!

Spot on

For the only time in over 45 years of supporting Saints I am not excited for games and am wanting us to lose so we get closer to getting rid of the stale Ralph. Depressing.

Why bother going then. Why bother "supporting" people who have no interest in creating sporting success. Cvnts the lot of them. This is almost as bad as Branfoot time.

Why the fuck is he still here. Ridiculous. Lose to Bournemouth and that must surely be it. Win versus Bournemouth and it should still be it. Its Bournemouth ffs.

IF....SR are happy with the leadership syltyle of Semmens and Hassenhutl who promote the "realism" and "conservative" approach to sport then they won't be doing very well. Sport is about pushing boundaries, training and developing to achieve success - at whatever level you compete. If you set goals too low and miss you fail. Always set goals that you predict will stretch... RH and Semmens definitely do not. They are so used to the restrictions they were forced to work under with Gao and it has changed their mindsets from when they first arrived, especially Ralph's. For their own good they need to move on let alone the players and us.

I'm hoping that the "delay" in getting g rid is that we are after someone already in work...

Pick an 11 and stick with them for at least 2 or 3 games to give them a chance to gel.

Well to me sort of...as in SR recruited a new cosching team...subtly suggesting they were not RH choices but maybe splitting hairs. The fact this is in the Telegraph suggests to me its imminent. Phew!!

If someone knew something there wouldn't be a market as on this type of market any substantial bet would kill the book.

Apparently he's still in charge. Surely that's just rumour??? I wish I was as good at my job as he is his...

I really hope SR have been planning behind the scenes for a week or two to get the man they want. How long do you wait? The SR people are supposedly very reliant and led by data. How much more data do they need to see before they get him gone?!!

If SR do do the right thing and free up the rest of Ralph's life for him, very soon, I would suspect we would appoint someone who very few on here or even in England have heard of. I get the impression that Rasmus is extremely tuned in to a wide range of football leagues and will already have a short list and a very short list. Hoping for good news tomorrow!

It's funny how people are assuming sny managerial change and therefore cost comes out of the "striker money". None of us knows what the budget is and what level of cold hard investment SR are willing to make. Changing the manager to then not sign a striker or downgrade the quality makes no sense at all. I'm sure if they want to part ways with Ralph they will and it will not affect the recruitment plan. I hope it happens very soon (next day or so). I would love apoch back however unlikely most feel that might be, but who knows, he's done the bigger club, and he's some the huge club, maybe he fancies a proper project?! Even if not him, we need change.

Clearly SR are willing to invest in the squad to ensure survival and even prosperity. Keeping Ralph at the helm threatens that more than not signing a class forward. Time to go. Get someone with fresh energy and ideas who will harness the talents we now have. And quick.