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Ralph is loving 'the product'


Noodles34

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Personally I preferred the days when the chairman said nothing leaving it instead to the players and manager to praise his hard work every single time they gave an interview.

 

Yes, I preferred the days when the chairman said noting too, I think those days were associated with a game called football, now footballpoly, not really the same anyone.

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Big interview in the Echo whereby Ralph says on a couple of occasions how he is loving 'the product' that is SFC.

i prefer Krunchy Nut Cornflakes myself.

 

tbh, what a boring interview it is, can't imagine a long car journey with is guy!

 

It sounds to me like someone enjoying his job who knows what he is doing and knows that he should not talk about the parts of the job that are not his to talk about. I think a long car ride with him would be quite interesting, but then I also like to talk hockey.

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It sounds to me like someone enjoying his job who knows what he is doing and knows that he should not talk about the parts of the job that are not his to talk about. I think a long car ride with him would be quite interesting, but then I also like to talk hockey.

 

No offence but if you aren't English then it may be difficult for you to understand why some people find him grating. Fair play to the bloke at the moment though, the team is doing so well he is pretty much immune from criticism and can do what he likes imo.

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A far more polished interview than those he gave in the first 6 months of his tenure.

 

Unless I'm reading too much into it, it sounds like the Clyne situation is that he wants more money than we're willing (or can) offer. Which is a positive for me as I thought he wouldn't want to sign regardless. Come the summer I suspect we may be in a stronger financial situation but time will tell on that.

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No offence but if you aren't English then it may be difficult for you to understand why some people find him grating. Fair play to the bloke at the moment though, the team is doing so well he is pretty much immune from criticism and can do what he likes imo.

 

I understand that people's tastes vary. That being said, you are right, I have no idea why he would seem especially grating to people from England, but not people from Canada, the USA, or Scotland. On the other hand, I have found Harry Redknapp to be grating for nearly four years now and he is English and I suspect most posters here would agree with me on that one.

 

In any case, Ralph's job can be accomplished successfully even if many fans find him boring.

 

On the good side, it has been five months since anyone has accused me of being Ralph Krueger.

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seems a good bloke, can't stand talk of "the product" or "the project" though, I think its because it turns something we are passionate about into something objective and matter of fact
I like the bloke, think he comes over well, even taking the American/Canadian phrases into account which don't help him at times!
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I understand that people's tastes vary. That being said, you are right, I have no idea why he would seem especially grating to people from England, but not people from Canada, the USA, or Scotland. On the other hand, I have found Harry Redknapp to be grating for nearly four years now and he is English and I suspect most posters here would agree with me on that one.

 

In any case, Ralph's job can be accomplished successfully even if many fans find him boring.

 

On the good side, it has been five months since anyone has accused me of being Ralph Krueger.

 

It's a cultural thing, Redslo. Southampton folk like plain speaking people who don't use flowery language, or business jargon. Like Harry Redknapp.

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No offence but if you aren't English then it may be difficult for you to understand why some people find him grating.

Fair play to the bloke at the moment though, the team is doing so well he is pretty much immune from criticism and can do what he likes imo.

 

well I am English AND born in So'ton and understand your comments, but having worked with many nationalities over a long period of time, I'm a bit immune to that sort of thing. Good communication is tops.

 

However, as the club has a Swiss owner, a Canadian/German Chairman, a Dutch manager and a playing staff with footballers from 5 continents....think the original criticism sounds "a bit 20th century".

 

I'm much happier with the management structure at SFC than I have been for decades, and well used to the P.C. b*llshi* that comes out of many Prem. boardrooms, so I've nothing to complain about.

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Seriously, who gives a monkeys if he uses the word product or project. I couldn't care less if he started using the words offence and soccerball.

 

He is clearly doing a good job, he has our best interests at heart and he seems passionate about his job - what more do you want?

 

You could have Karl Oyston

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A far more polished interview than those he gave in the first 6 months of his tenure.

 

Unless I'm reading too much into it, it sounds like the Clyne situation is that he wants more money than we're willing (or can) offer. Which is a positive for me as I thought he wouldn't want to sign regardless. Come the summer I suspect we may be in a stronger financial situation but time will tell on that.

 

TBF to the bloke, he walked into a nightmare situation of hysterical tarts in the fan base and NC playing the press a treat. Couldn't have been easy.

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well I am English AND born in So'ton and understand your comments, but having worked with many nationalities over a long period of time, I'm a bit immune to that sort of thing. Good communication is tops.

 

However, as the club has a Swiss owner, a Canadian/German Chairman, a Dutch manager and a playing staff with footballers from 5 continents....think the original criticism sounds "a bit 20th century".

 

I'm much happier with the management structure at SFC than I have been for decades, and well used to the P.C. b*llshi* that comes out of many Prem. boardrooms, so I've nothing to complain about.

 

I didn't complain...

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No offence but if you aren't English then it may be difficult for you to understand why some people find him grating. Fair play to the bloke at the moment though, the team is doing so well he is pretty much immune from criticism and can do what he likes imo.

I don't think it's an English thing, he is operating at a level where you need to talk vision, product and direction - doubled up because of the international angle.

 

That is the language of boards up and down the country, especially the Davos set and the money men he's talking to so understandable why it makes an appearance.

 

Personally I'd be more worried if he was attempting a 'Ampshire 'Og or talking football in order to ingratiate himself with the proletariat.

 

Rock on Ralph.

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No offence but if you aren't English then it may be difficult for you to understand why some people find him grating. Fair play to the bloke at the moment though, the team is doing so well he is pretty much immune from criticism and can do what he likes imo.

 

I never really got the Ralph hate on here if I'm honest.

 

He clearly isn't and was never involved in transfers, so blaming him for players leaving was silly. Alright, he talks in a different way. Well he isn't a 'football man' (again, he's not here to be one), he's Canadian so will have some different phrases, he's also known for his motivational talks - so yes, he's going to speak in a certain way.

 

I wouldn't say he is immune from criticism, and I wouldn't say a great deal of on the pitch success is down to him (in the same way players leaving were little to do with him).

 

Personally, I quite like him. As Fitzhugh says, he seems keen to help the club progress. Even if that is for selfish reasons (no idea if he has bonuses for reaching certain targets, though it that wouldn't be entirely surprising) or to enhance his reputation for his next step (no idea what on earth that might be), if he's working to help push Saints forward and doing so earnestly, that's good enough for me. I also like his involvement with the foundation, and joining Franny on his run for a stint.

 

Not surprising with the OP though, seems he just cannot bring himself to enjoy the success on the pitch this season. It may not last that long, enjoy it whilst it does!

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I never really got the Ralph hate on here if I'm honest.

 

He clearly isn't and was never involved in transfers, so blaming him for players leaving was silly. Alright, he talks in a different way. Well he isn't a 'football man' (again, he's not here to be one), he's Canadian so will have some different phrases, he's also known for his motivational talks - so yes, he's going to speak in a certain way.

 

I wouldn't say he is immune from criticism, and I wouldn't say a great deal of on the pitch success is down to him (in the same way players leaving were little to do with him).

 

Personally, I quite like him. As Fitzhugh says, he seems keen to help the club progress. Even if that is for selfish reasons (no idea if he has bonuses for reaching certain targets, though it that wouldn't be entirely surprising) or to enhance his reputation for his next step (no idea what on earth that might be), if he's working to help push Saints forward and doing so earnestly, that's good enough for me. I also like his involvement with the foundation, and joining Franny on his run for a stint.

 

Not surprising with the OP though, seems he just cannot bring himself to enjoy the success on the pitch this season. It may not last that long, enjoy it whilst it does!

 

People hated him because he wasn't Cortese. Rather than understanding that his walked into a sh*t storm, that Cortese was playing the media and someone internally was stirring behind the scenes at the club. Rather than cut him a bit of slack the knives were out and the spiteful nicknames were given. He's done a great job, proven himself to be a decent bloke who has genuine affection for the club. Which is more than can be said for the man he replaced.

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The use of "telly" in that interview was clunky as hell and smacked of him trying too hard to be both colloquial and informal, and is exactly the kind of thing others are referring to as grating.

 

Other than that, which didn't really bother me but stood out like a sore thumb, I thought it was a pleasing interview with a few interesting details scattered here and there without actually giving anything away. Nice to know we intend to keep trying for Europe and have plans to be successful at it, even if that should be bloody obvious.

 

Strange how no-one on here is dissecting it and referring to him lying about stuff any more, isn't it? :)

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People hated him because he wasn't Cortese. Rather than understanding that his walked into a sh*t storm, that Cortese was playing the media and someone internally was stirring behind the scenes at the club. Rather than cut him a bit of slack the knives were out and the spiteful nicknames were given. He's done a great job, proven himself to be a decent bloke who has genuine affection for the club. Which is more than can be said for the man he replaced.

 

Can someone quickly dig out some Saintsweb and media quotes telling us that without Cortese there's no club? I fancy a laugh, we are truly privileged as football fans to have the current setup.

 

If nothing else it shows how easy success can be with the right infrastructure in place. The old chairman had some input into that, nice of him to disappear when it became obvious he couldn't give us the sustainability part of it - though I guess it remains to be seen if we really can operate at that level in the longer term within those parameters .

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I never really got the Ralph hate on here if I'm honest.

 

He clearly isn't and was never involved in transfers, so blaming him for players leaving was silly. Alright, he talks in a different way. Well he isn't a 'football man' (again, he's not here to be one), he's Canadian so will have some different phrases, he's also known for his motivational talks - so yes, he's going to speak in a certain way.

 

I wouldn't say he is immune from criticism, and I wouldn't say a great deal of on the pitch success is down to him (in the same way players leaving were little to do with him).

 

Personally, I quite like him. As Fitzhugh says, he seems keen to help the club progress. Even if that is for selfish reasons (no idea if he has bonuses for reaching certain targets, though it that wouldn't be entirely surprising) or to enhance his reputation for his next step (no idea what on earth that might be), if he's working to help push Saints forward and doing so earnestly, that's good enough for me. I also like his involvement with the foundation, and joining Franny on his run for a stint.

 

Not surprising with the OP though, seems he just cannot bring himself to enjoy the success on the pitch this season. It may not last that long, enjoy it whilst it does!

 

You'll have to point out the bit whereby I stated that I was unhappy with the success this season.

 

my OP was just a personal reflection on such a dull spokesman, who after one year in the English game still thinks its right to call it a product, then gives a long interview without nothing very productive to say really. No malice tough, just an opinion.

 

we'll see what happens in the summer and how much he has learnt, when the big guns come fishing again.

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TBF to the bloke, he walked into a nightmare situation of hysterical tarts in the fan base and NC playing the press a treat. Couldn't have been easy.

 

I've a far lower opinion of chunks of our support than I have of Ralph, some of the fan reactions last summer were embarrassing. He came in at the deep end and didn't have much time to learn that he couldn't just bowl up with that positive attitude and get away with it with yer average British bedwetter.

 

 

He comes across as a genuine bloke who is keen for Southampton to progress - what more could we ask for?

 

Agree, successful in just about everything he comes into contact with, he gets my respect.

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You'll have to point out the bit whereby I stated that I was unhappy with the success this season.

 

my OP was just a personal reflection on such a dull spokesman, who after one year in the English game still thinks its right to call it a product, then gives a long interview without nothing very productive to say really. No malice tough, just an opinion.

 

we'll see what happens in the summer and how much he has learnt, when the big guns come fishing again.

 

The numerous threads you've started throughout the season.

 

When the big guns come circling again, it'll have nothing to do with Ralph, same as last summer.

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I never really got the Ralph hate on here if I'm honest.

 

He clearly isn't and was never involved in transfers, so blaming him for players leaving was silly. Alright, he talks in a different way. Well he isn't a 'football man' (again, he's not here to be one), he's Canadian so will have some different phrases, he's also known for his motivational talks - so yes, he's going to speak in a certain way.

 

I wouldn't say he is immune from criticism, and I wouldn't say a great deal of on the pitch success is down to him (in the same way players leaving were little to do with him).

 

Personally, I quite like him. As Fitzhugh says, he seems keen to help the club progress. Even if that is for selfish reasons (no idea if he has bonuses for reaching certain targets, though it that wouldn't be entirely surprising) or to enhance his reputation for his next step (no idea what on earth that might be), if he's working to help push Saints forward and doing so earnestly, that's good enough for me. I also like his involvement with the foundation, and joining Franny on his run for a stint.

 

Not surprising with the OP though, seems he just cannot bring himself to enjoy the success on the pitch this season. It may not last that long, enjoy it whilst it does!

 

Not sure where you got hate from. I said I found him a bit grating and I still do but I don't hate him at all and he seems like a nice bloke who is helping our club so fair play to him.

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If you want to gloat, at least do it yourself you lazy git!

 

Fair, but my research time this week was taken up ruining the Adrian red card thread with pointless links to National FA Ref's Advice documents and Archived copies of the Laws of the Game. :)

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Sorry, I see how you got to that. I didn't mean you specifically, but there was plenty of vitriol thrown his way over the summer.

 

Agree, but then it was a very hectic time and no one really knew what was going on. People are obviously more understanding now because it is a calmer climate and because he has evidence of the last few months to show he has been doing a good job. He has proven himself so far and well done to him for that.

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