Ralph Hasenhuttl

[Dman]

24 minutes ago, whelk said:

Do we know how many of them were pictures of bicycles in circles?

I reckon at least 10,000 are “source?”or “textbook” 

[nta786]

8 minutes ago, Dman said:

I reckon at least 10,000 are “source?”or “textbook” 

or a "this has 0-0 written all over it"

[trousers]

54 minutes ago, whelk said:

Do we know how many of them were pictures of bicycles in circles?

639

[trousers]

23 minutes ago, nta786 said:

or a "this has 0-0 written all over it"

[Whitey Grandad]

[Holmes_and_Watson]

5 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I had a feeling this thread would be bounced again. 

We are an extreme team, we drift from highs to lows very quickly and without better players that's how it will be as consistency will drift, we are the description of a mid-table team. I'm not sure what the expectations are, because we were never going to get anywhere near Europe.

Overall this season has been good so far, for the squad and level of players we have. We don't have any world beaters. I'm looking forward to the summer because I'm hoping that we'll have a bit more flexibility to move in on additions without having to plot what we sell first, and that will hopefully lead to an extra bit of quality coming into the building to enhance what we have.

I think you can see that Ralph has benefited from having more of 'his players' in the building this year, but let's not kid ourselves we're all of a sudden a top 6 team as we are absolutely light years away quality wise.

I was about to say that it's the extent of those extremes can takes a little bit of getting used to. But even typing it, I don't really think that's the case.

We struggle to break down teams. We do a little better against more expansive teams. We have defensive blunders like everyone else.

While Ralph is getting personnel changes in the door, it's on a limited budget, and there's only so much you can realistically expect from that.

So sometimes when he tries things they really don't work. Sometimes they do work and play some stunning stuff.

Despite the manner of the recent games, it's been a good season so far, and at least I'm not worrying aobut having dropped those points in a relegation battle.

So yeah, a mid table team. On the plus side one that occassionally looks upwards, rather than rising to it from near the bottom at the end of a season.

[Dark Munster]

6 hours ago, trousers said:

Only 11,479 to catch up with a no-life saddo like me

Where's the 50,000 celebration party going to be?

[Dark Munster]

5 hours ago, Dman said:

The performance wasn’t great and from what I’ve seen, the trend seems to be if Broja is playing well, then so do we. If he’s off it, then we struggle. Such is the quality and importance of him. It reminds me of Ings in 2020, as soon as his productivity dropped off, so did our results. 

I've been saying this (in a more general setting) for years: a top quality striker lifts the whole team, from front to back. They are worth their weight in gold (and, unfortunately for us, priced accordingly).

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Dark Munster said:

Where's the 50,000 celebration party going to be?

10 Downing Street

Edited 14 March, 2022 by trousers

[Dman]

0 wins in 4 now. A blip in the road or the start of a Ralph special run? 
 

Certinly feels like that bounce after the new owners has now dropped and the atmosphere is turning for the worst again (see comments regarding Bednerak and a few key players gone off the boil massively - Broja, salisu as an example). 
 

Big chance to bounce back against Leeds, but lose that, and I’ll be worried for the rest of the season. 

Edited 21 March, 2022 by Dman

[Toadhall Saint]

47 minutes ago, Dman said:

0 wins in 4 now. A blip in the road or the start of a Ralph special run? 
 

Certinly feels like that bounce after the new owners has now dropped and the atmosphere is turning for the worst again (see comments regarding Bednerak and a few key players gone off the boil massively - Broja, salisu as an example). 
 

Big chance to bounce back against Leeds, but lose that, and I’ll be worried for the rest of the season. 

[SuperSAINT]

 

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

Thanks - enjoyed that.

[Hayling Saint]

Got to love Ralph, he does care!

[Behind Enemy Lines]

1 hour ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

Great video, appreciate you posting that. 

[trousers]

2 hours ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

#legend

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

It's refreshing to have someone so committed to the cause. I strongly believe that even after he's long gone, the club as a whole will still be reaping the benefits of the approaches and systems he's put in place. If that paints me as a member of the Cult them i'm all in.

Edited 24 March, 2022 by S-Clarke

[Saint Garrett]

He may not be the best manager in the world, and he does have his fruastrations, but I absolutely love the bloke, and think he's just such a great fit for our club. We're lucky to have him.

[CB Fry]

3 hours ago, SuperSAINT said:

 

Very good.

[Tank]

Genuine guy ...

[Charlie Wayman]

Men always lie about their golf handicaps. Why is that? 10? Really Ralph, fess up.

No shame in admitting one play's off even 24 if it's a genuine 24 with every card handed in.

I once got down 15 but not for long!

Edited 25 March, 2022 by Charlie Wayman

[Dman]

On 21/03/2022 at 09:14, Dman said:

0 wins in 4 now. A blip in the road or the start of a Ralph special run? 
 

Certinly feels like that bounce after the new owners has now dropped and the atmosphere is turning for the worst again (see comments regarding Bednerak and a few key players gone off the boil massively - Broja, salisu as an example). 
 

Big chance to bounce back against Leeds, but lose that, and I’ll be worried for the rest of the season. 

As suspected a Ralph special run has begun. As with every Ralph special run it includes a fucking hammering. Let’s hope We can avoid 9 this time. 

[Saints foreva]

20 minutes ago, Dman said:

As suspected a Ralph special run has begun. As with every Ralph special run it includes a fucking hammering. Let’s hope We can avoid 9 this time. 

Not his fault, or something like that. 

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, Saints foreva said:

Not his fault, or something like that. 

Exactly. Never at fault for the bad runs, but always takes the credit for the good ones. which coincidently, happen the same time as a striker ings last season, Broja this, find some Form. As soon as they drop off, so do we. 

[TWar]

1 minute ago, Dman said:

Exactly. Never at fault for the bad runs, but always takes the credit for the good ones. which coincidently, happen the same time as a striker ings last season, Broja this, find some Form. As soon as they drop off, so do we. 

Broja was definitely not on form in January and February when we were flying. He scored like 2 goals.

[Dman]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

Broja was definitely not on form in January and February when we were flying. He scored like 2 goals.

He was man of the match against United, but didn’t score. Does that mean he’s not in form? 

[TWar]

2 minutes ago, Dman said:

He was man of the match against United, but didn’t score. Does that mean he’s not in form? 

One game. OK. That's form I guess.

[Dusic]

Pretty fucking obvious that a team like Saints will be in better form when a striker is playing well and scoring vs when they are not.

The same as almost every team outside the top 6.

We know enough about Ralph's football to realise the way we play is very effective when we are on it and from time to time is very open to a big defeat when we are not at the level, like today.

This isn't any different and isn't a sign of anything bigger.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

The trouble with thinking we can do better than Ralph is the lack of realistic alternatives.  I'll take Ralph keeping us in this division with fuck all investment every single season, even if it means up and downs rather than getting points here and there steadily.  If the new ownership means we get a little more investment I'll change my expectations but honestly what do people expect this club to be able to achieve considering the amount of money we spend and who we spend it on?:

[RedArmy]

The circle of Ralph. 
 

Find an approach that works, milk the life out of it with good results, one team finds out how to completely shut us down, everyone copies and a terrible run of form ensues culminating in a complete spanking off someone. 
 

Cya later Ralph. 

[The Kraken]

15 minutes ago, Lallana's Left Peg said:

The trouble with thinking we can do better than Ralph is the lack of realistic alternatives.  I'll take Ralph keeping us in this division with fuck all investment every single season, even if it means up and downs rather than getting points here and there steadily.  If the new ownership means we get a little more investment I'll change my expectations but honestly what do people expect this club to be able to achieve considering the amount of money we spend and who we spend it on?:

Kind of agree.

Ralph frustrates the fuck out of us, perhaps because his sides are either brilliant or abject, there’s often little in between. But he’s very much working with the shackles on.

Todays performance is as much down to the players as it is Ralph. Not too much wrong with the starting lineup, just an embarrassment from the players, and Ralph hasn’t done anything decent to shore it up.

[Nemi]

What’s insane is that he literally found a winning formula with Perraud at left-back - and when he finds a winning formula he is a great manager. But he has literally and deliberately changed away his winning formula and we’ve looked terrible ever since with no sign of going back to what was working for us.

[Dman]

Simply has to go. I do not understand how anyone could back him. 

[TWar]

3 minutes ago, Dman said:

Simply has to go. I do not understand how anyone could back him. 

You started the season thinking we would finish dead last and we are one point off the top half. Maybe that could be a reason to back him?

Edited 9 April, 2022 by TWar

[Dman]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

You started the season thinking we would finish dead last and we are one point off the top half. Maybe they could be a reason to back him?

You’ve lost the plot mate. 

Theres a good chance we could finish 16th or even as low as 17th. He’s been backed for 3/4 seasons now and we’ve not improved and we’re still throwing out a performance like this as season. 

This, today, has been worse than the 2 9-0’s by a long way imo. We’re lucky it’s not double figures and that’s isn’t an understatement. 
 

Hugely over rated manager. If our ambition is to stay in the league, let’s get someone like dyche in and save the embarrassment of a performance like this each season. If we want to push on, let’s spend a bit and get a new manager in to help us get there. Ralph isn’t that man, far too inconsistent. 

[TWar]

There is a chance we finish 17th, there is also a chance we get 9th or 10th. Right now we are safe, within touching distance of top half, and we made the quarters in the cup. Given half this forum predicted relegation and certain muppets predicted 20th and laughed at those who predicted 10th-14th Id say he's performed atleast up to expectations, wouldn't you?

Maybe don't piss yourself over a bad afternoon against the champions of Europe when you yourself thought we were relegation certainties and we have objectively done a tonne better than that.

[Saint86]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

You’ve lost the plot mate. 

Theres a good chance we could finish 16th or even as low as 17th. He’s been backed for 3/4 seasons now and we’ve not improved and we’re still throwing out a performance like this as season. 

This, today, has been worse than the 2 9-0’s by a long way imo. We’re lucky it’s not double figures and that’s isn’t an understatement. 
 

Hugely over rated manager. If our ambition is to stay in the league, let’s get someone like dyche in and save the embarrassment of a performance like this each season. If we want to push on, let’s spend a bit and get a new manager in to help us get there. Ralph isn’t that man, far too inconsistent. 

Backed for 3-4 seasons? Your having a laugh mate and enbarrssing yourself, our place in the net spend table doesn't lie! 

🤣🤣🤣

And how the hell can you say we haven't improved?! Jesus, but talk about a biased outlook... We were utter dog when he took over, it's a miracle we are still in the league given the players he's had and what he's had to shift / spend. 

We don't have a good squad even now. It's improved but it's a work in progress. Losing to the European and world champions who were clearly due a reaction is not the biggest deal in the world. The sack Ralph brigade are on par with the lot that were never happy prior to relegation, that wanted sturrock over hoddle etc... and look how that turned out.

Unless there is a clear upgrade available you keep Ralph as its proven he'll keep us in the league, he wants to be here, and he'll work with what he's got to improve the squad and finances over the long term. 

Edited 9 April, 2022 by Saint86

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

How the hell can you say we haven't improved. Jesus talk about a biased outlook. We were utter dog when he took over, it's a miracle we are still in the league given the players he's had and what he's had to shift / spend. 

 

Sorry I meant in the time he’s been in charge, he obviously is an upgrade on the Hughes / MoPo times. 
 

as for an upgrade, it’s a weak argument. Many managers out there, some will be an improvement some might not. Just like when Ralph took over, you won’t know unless you try. 

[TWar]

It's amazing to me the people who said we were relegation certainties in the summer are the same people trying to say Ralph has underperformed when we are one point off 9th. How does that work?

[CB Fry]

Just a bad day at the office in a match where our manager is completely blameless.

[TWar]

4 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Just a bad day at the office in a match where our manager is completely blameless.

No one is saying the manager is blameless. But when the manager has us one point off 9th and the expectation preseason is relegation then maybe try not to wildly overreact. Our season is defined by our league position and cup performance, not by our biggest defeat.

[Nemi]

7 minutes ago, TWar said:

It's amazing to me the people who said we were relegation certainties in the summer are the same people trying to say Ralph has underperformed when we are one point off 9th. How does that work?

Because he has changed away from what was working for him in the winter and is persisting with paying one of our best players out of position to the detriment of the whole team (who granted are also out of form but he has really fucked up the balance hence their ability to perform well too) and refuses to put in an actual left-back who was performing well in that role.

 

He is a good manager when he keeps things simple and actually sticks with our best 11, but why he refuses to fix such a blatant problem which everyone can see is seriously mind-boggling, and he can’t keep his job if he continues making these bizarre decisions - as good as he is when he gets it right.

[Lighthouse]

As bad as Ralph can be, and on his worst days he puts out the worst teams in Saints history, I do think overall he gets more out of this squad than most people would expect. He has us consistently mid table on an absolute shoestring budget. That’s no attempt to defend today’s game, or even the last five games but the fact that Long and Elyounoussi are regulars for us shows how far away we are from squads like West Ham, Leicester and Villa, who all have players worth more than our record signing on the bench.

[TWar]

3 minutes ago, Nemi said:

Because he has changed away from what was working for him in the winter and is persisting with paying one of our best players out of position to the detriment of the whole team (who granted are also out of form but he has really fucked up the balance hence their ability to perform well too) and refuses to put in an actual left-back who was performing well in that role.

 

He is a good manager when he keeps things simple and actually sticks with our best 11, but why he refuses to fix such a blatant problem which everyone can see is seriously mind-boggling, and he can’t keep his job if he continues making these bizarre decisions - as good as he is when he gets it right.

I don't think the Perraud thing has much impact. KWP was great today and Livramento made some good runs and pushed us up the pitch. Our CBs and CMs were crap, I think the logic off "if KWP was on the right and Perraud was on the left today it would have gone better" is a fantasy. The fullbacks weren't remotely the issue. The CBs were the ones who kept fucking up and the mids.

Edited 9 April, 2022 by TWar

[Harry_SFC]

25 minutes ago, Dman said:

Sorry I meant in the time he’s been in charge, he obviously is an upgrade on the Hughes / MoPo times. 
 

as for an upgrade, it’s a weak argument. Many managers out there, some will be an improvement some might not. Just like when Ralph took over, you won’t know unless you try. 

This really. How much have we improved in the last 4 years? I don't think we have at all. 

[Nemi]

38 minutes ago, TWar said:

I don't think the Perraud thing has much impact. KWP was great today and Livramento made some good runs and pushed us up the pitch. Our CBs and CMs were crap, I think the logic off "if KWP was on the right and Perraud was on the left today it would have gone better" is a fantasy. The fullbacks weren't remotely the issue. The CBs were the ones who kept fucking up and the mids.

It’s a massive issue, which 90 per cent of people can see - and it clearly shows in our results because practically the only point we have been able to score more than 1 goal in a game this season has been with Perraud at LB. Yes KWP wasn’t terrible today but how many crosses was he able to put in? I can’t remember any because he had to keep checking back. 
 

And when we rely on our full-backs for a lot of our width and creativity, upsetting that balance by forcing someone on their weak foot has massively upset that balance. 
 

And if you really can’t see that, then just go back and look over our results with KWP at left-back v Perraud at left-back. Even if we did win with KWP at LB, I’m almost certain we only scored 1 goal in the majority of them. 
 

Either way yes we probably still lose badly today no matter the line-up but this has been a problem in almost every game for quite a while now.

Edited 9 April, 2022 by Nemi

[Dman]

6 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

As bad as Ralph can be, and on his worst days he puts out the worst teams in Saints history, I do think overall he gets more out of this squad than most people would expect. He has us consistently mid table on an absolute shoestring budget. That’s no attempt to defend today’s game, or even the last five games but the fact that Long and Elyounoussi are regulars for us shows how far away we are from squads like West Ham, Leicester and Villa, who all have players worth more than our record signing on the bench.

We were told, by someone with far greater knowledge (supposedly) than most, that our squad is better than Villa’s. 
 

People were raving about Salisu, JWP, KWP, Tino, Armstrong, Romeu etc. Only a few weeks ago. Now because we’re in a poor run, all of a sudden, our squad is shit again. 
 

if all our ambition is to stay up, then get Dyche or big in. It won’t be pretty, but we’ll end up roughly the same place and won’t face the absolute hammering each season. 
 

There are plenty of managers out there who/could would match what Ralph has achieved with us. 
 

I trust this new mob running the club, to find them. 

[TWar]

1 minute ago, Dman said:

We were told, by someone with far greater knowledge (supposedly) than most, that our squad is better than Villa’s. 
 

People were raving about Salisu, JWP, KWP, Tino, Armstrong, Romeu etc. Only a few weeks ago. Now because we’re in a poor run, all of a sudden, our squad is shit again. 
 

if all our ambition is to stay up, then get Dyche or big in. It won’t be pretty, but we’ll end up roughly the same place and won’t face the absolute hammering each season. 
 

There are plenty of managers out there who/could would match what Ralph has achieved with us. 
 

I trust this new mob running the club, to find them. 

Villa are level on points with us... why are you going back to rimming villa?

Simple question, has Ralph done well this season? You said we'd be 20th, we are miles above that, how can you of all people complain?

[Dman]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

Villa are level on points with us... why are you going back to rimming villa?

Simple question, has Ralph done well this season? You said we'd be 20th, we are miles above that, how can you of all people complain?

I’m not ‘rimming’ villa. Lighthouse pointed out we’ll never be able to compete with their squad. I just pointed out that we were supposedly better than them. 
 

It was nonsense at the time, it’s still nonsense now. 
 

has Ralph done well this season. I’d say on par with what you’d expect with our squad in this league. had we not had the run of form after Christmas to the middle / end of feb, then it would be a poor one. 
 

Regardless, performances like today (and on 2 other occasions) worry me significantly. Especially given the fact we have one every season. 

[The Kraken]

8 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

This really. How much have we improved in the last 4 years? I don't think we have at all. 

Over the past 5 years Saints have been close to cash neutral for transfers in and out. We’ve basically spent only what we’ve brought in, we’ve been bottom or close to it every season in the net spend league.

Given that, how much are we expecting the team to improve?