InvictaSaint Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I realise that this is to a degree stating the bleeding obvious, but now that the penny has finally dropped in the upper echelons of the club that our direction of travel needed serious correction, and with Les going and RH coming in, we have the beginnings of a new project. But here’s the rub: we are going to have to be patient, and perhaps more important, we are going to have to support to the fullest extent. This is going to be hard. The last 2-3 years of poor management, awful recruitment and a perception (at the very least) that certain players don’t give a flying f.uck have left us, as Saints fans, devoid of hope, enthusiasm and belief. But we have to give Ralph and the players every ounce of support we can, even when things are going against us. RH has himself said the team we saw against Cardiff will bear no resemblance to the team we see in 6 months’ time. In that time we may well scrape enough points to stay up, we may not. But we have to give this man a chance to build and I’m confident we will. We are building for the long term again - and in the right way, at last - and need to be patient. We may regress in the first few games as players adapt to the new system. We may not pick up any more points this year. But we have to be patient, and we have to continue to do our job as supporters. I feel optimistic for the medium and long terms. There is not a massive gap between us and the morass above us and but whatever happens, I feel more able to support our team than at any time over the last 3 years, and shall continue to be at St Mary’s come what may. COYS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I think we will see an upturn from jan. our games are horrendous until then bar the Huddersfield game - which we cannot lose We will have Fulham, hudds, Cardiff and palace to play at home yet. We are going to have to beat a top 6 side somewhere. We are currently the imagine of Les Reed. What a **** that man is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heisenberg Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 #lesreed #mess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adrian lord Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Good thread, agree. RH needs to permanently sideline the ones that aren't part of the future and seal then off, then sell asap to prevent them from contaminating the spirit of the team being rebuilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooh it's a corner Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I think the hardest part of this re-build, regardless of which division we are in next year, will be trimming the squad. The likelihood is that we will trim where we can, rather than where would like to. So we will lose Davis to Rangers, rather than Forster to anywhere. This will reduce the wage bill and the squad numbers, but is likely to leave the weakest players, thus reducing the average capability of the squad. Sell who we can in January, get the loanees back and put them in a shop window? I seem to remember we had a turnover of £14m in league one, yet were paying Jason Euell £750k per year.....we need to avoid that level of mismanagement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I seem to remember we had a turnover of £14m in league one, yet were paying Jason Euell £750k per year.....we need to avoid that level of mismanagement. Avoid? Our 3rd choice keeper is paid around £90k a week, basic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delmary Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Patience is key. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 We're not out of touch but the big bet is RH performs a miracle and we go on a blazing run at the end of the season. I think we'll do well to finish fourth bottom now. But it's doable. The good news is Fulham, Cardiff, Huddersfield and Palace are all vulnerable, so there should be a decent mix of clubs scrapping down there. Burnley also keeping it interesting. The thing to avoid is the Carlos Carvalhal scenario - he was getting puff-pieces in the paper and on Football Focus etc saying what a marvellous job he was doing in the early Spring......so much for that. That said, our guy has a track record far stronger than Swansea's old manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 We're not out of touch but the big bet is RH performs a miracle and we go on a blazing run at the end of the season. I think we'll do well to finish fourth bottom now. But it's doable. The good news is Fulham, Cardiff, Huddersfield and Palace are all vulnerable, so there should be a decent mix of clubs scrapping down there. Burnley also keeping it interesting. The thing to avoid is the Carlos Carvalhal scenario - he was getting puff-pieces in the paper and on Football Focus etc saying what a marvellous job he was doing in the early Spring......so much for that. That said, our guy has a track record far stronger than Swansea's old manager. We are very lucky that like last season, the bottom 6 are utter dross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooh it's a corner Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Avoid? Our 3rd choice keeper is paid around £90k a week, basic Ah yes, good point, well made. I guess the difference is that with Premier League income, we can still afford to pay the 3rd choice keeper this much, even if it is bonkers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doddisalegend Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I see we are in stating the bleeding obvious season then. I can't imagine anyone is going to be getting on the back of the manager anytime soon. The penny seems to have finally dropped with the fanbase that the squad is awful. The squad has been awful since Puel but it took a long time for some of our fans to realise ( and a few still won't except) no one is going to blame Ralph for the dross he has inherited. Having said that I do take a bit of an issue with the idea that we are going to have to wait weeks/months before things improve. If we want to avoid relegation we need things to turn fast. I really don't think as, suggest on the Cardiff post match thread, the club brought in Ralph in the hope he has got us playing good football by May and the club are happy to take relegation and rebuild with Ralph in the championship. The Club clearly hired Ralph to save us from relegation to do that he needs to start getting wins and quickly. Whatever happens though he cant really be held accountable with the mess he has inherited but if manages to turn us into a midtable side he deserves all the praise he gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvictaSaint Posted 9 December, 2018 Author Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I see we are in stating the bleeding obvious season then. I can't imagine anyone is going to be getting on the back of the manager anytime soon. The penny seems to have finally dropped with the fanbase that the squad is awful. The squad has been awful since Puel but it took a long time for some of our fans to realise ( and a few still won't except) no one is going to blame Ralph for the dross he has inherited. Having said that I do take a bit of an issue with the idea that we are going to have to wait weeks/months before things improve. If we want to avoid relegation we need things to turn fast. I really don't think as, suggest on the Cardiff post match thread, the club brought in Ralph in the hope he has got us playing good football by May and the club are happy to take relegation and rebuild with Ralph in the championship. The Club clearly hired Ralph to save us from relegation to do that he needs to start getting wins and quickly. Whatever happens though he cant really be held accountable with the mess he has inherited but if manages to turn us into a midtable side he deserves all the praise he gets. I did say I was stating the bleeding obvious....Just trying to inject some calm, relativity and positivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally_uk Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I would call our defenders in the office turn on the projector and point out individual errors. I will tell them they are letting our other players down and are costing us points and maybe even our premiership status... I would tell them straight either they improve show me some fight or they will be either replaced / upgraded or stuck in reserves to rot. Time for fannying about ends now our defenders need to be told straight performance wise they are not up to this level currently... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Wayman Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I would call our defenders in the office turn on the projector and point out individual errors. I will tell them they are letting our other players down and are costing us points and maybe even our premiership status... I would tell them straight either they improve show me some fight or they will be either replaced / upgraded or stuck in reserves to rot. Time for fannying about ends now our defenders need to be told straight performance wise they are not up to this level currently... Maybe showing them how to improve might be a bit more useful than an aimless bollocking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Duckhunter Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I would call our defenders in the office turn on the projector and point out individual errors. I will tell them they are letting our other players down and are costing us points and maybe even our premiership status... I would tell them straight either they improve show me some fight or they will be either replaced / upgraded or stuck in reserves to rot. Time for fannying about ends now our defenders need to be told straight performance wise they are not up to this level currently... This isn’t an episode of life on Mars. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tajjuk Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Individual defensive errors are costing us massively, but we are also not taking chances. We are something like 8th for 'big chances missed', 4th for hitting the woodwork, and 2nd or 3rd in the league for total shots. Plus I think we have been unlucky with decisions going against us as well. So aside the horrible defensive errors, we have not actually played that badly, the team are creating chances, they are just not putting them away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon3737 Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 I’m happy to write December off as the players are learning new things and getting worse before they get better, but we can’t afford to take months to improve. Relegation would be a disaster (it took 7 years and administration before we got back last time). I think it might be worth selling some of our unwanted players at a loss in January to raise funds for better players. You can sell any player if the price is low enough! They’re no use to us not playing and taking wages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Good thread, agree. RH needs to permanently sideline the ones that aren't part of the future and seal then off, then sell asap to prevent them from contaminating the spirit of the team being rebuilt. Sell, sell sell ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalek2003 Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 Ah yes, good point, well made. I guess the difference is that with Premier League income, we can still afford to pay the 3rd choice keeper this much, even if it is bonkers. If we get relegated could we sell our first and second choice keepers and keep Forster? Could he do the job in the Championship, like Kelvin did? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchards Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 This isn’t an episode of life on Mars. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Totally agree. They need to be educated on the training ground starting on Monday. The defenders should be taken away on a single pitch and will play against the academy strikers, midfielders and drills all week until they get it right. They need to breed confidence as a unit and the coaching staff will have RH instructions ringing in their ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyinthesky Posted 9 December, 2018 Share Posted 9 December, 2018 We are very lucky that like last season, the bottom 6 are utter dross. The worrying stat here is that we have played the likes of Burnley and Newcastle at home plus Cardiff, Fulham away and gained the sum total of 2 out of 12 points. OK we beat Palace away but think they are probably too good to be drawn into a relegation battle at the end and it is the four clubs mentioned above, plus Huddersfield that will be the relegation battlers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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