Ralph Hasenhuttl

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, aintforever said:

Obviously not but in my opinion the striking options of Adam Armstrong, Ché Adams and Sékou Mara is probably the worst in the league, it's bound to effect the team's performance and mean the manager is going to struggle to find the right formation.

I think Ralph's days are probably numbered but I have no confidence in any new manager suddenly making that lot good enough to keep us up.

Are they?

Brightons recognised striking options are

Denis Undaz - never scored a premier league goal, spent last season on loan in Belgium where he scored 8 times

Julio Encisco - Never even started a premier league game let alone scored in one

Danny Wellbeck - scored less goals than Che Adams in the last 3 seasons

 

They have other players who are wingers/attacking midfielders who can chip in with goals like Troussard does but that's their 3 strikers. Those 3 strikers are certainly worse options on paper than our 3. But Brighton seem to have found a way of doing well without that much sought after recognised goalscorer every single clubs needs.

Edited 3 October, 2022 by Turkish

[Badger]

14 hours ago, Mr Saints said:

I suspect he’ll be put out of his misery after a tonking at City next week.

Question arises though, if we sneak a point there (big if I know), how long does that give him ? Wonder if this board will be as ruthless as Cortese seemed sacking NA after our 2-2 away at Chelsea.

[Miltonaggro]

9 minutes ago, Badger said:

Question arises though, if we sneak a point there (big if I know), how long does that give him ? Wonder if this board will be as ruthless as Cortese seemed sacking NA after our 2-2 away at Chelsea.

If they are a genuinely strategic outfit they won't give it a second thought once in process.

[Turkish]

11 minutes ago, Badger said:

Question arises though, if we sneak a point there (big if I know), how long does that give him ? Wonder if this board will be as ruthless as Cortese seemed sacking NA after our 2-2 away at Chelsea.

The Kruger/Reed school of leadership. Remember the famous quote about Pellegrino? Every time we thought about sacking him he got a positive result. Absolute nonsense way of doing things.

[Miltonaggro]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

The Kruger/Reed school of leadership. Remember the famous quote about Pellegrino? Every time we thought about sacking him he got a positive result. Absolute nonsense way of doing things.

A gem of illogical logic!

[Saint NL]

31 minutes ago, Badger said:

Question arises though, if we sneak a point there (big if I know), how long does that give him ? Wonder if this board will be as ruthless as Cortese seemed sacking NA after our 2-2 away at Chelsea.

That would be ideal.

A point and a new manager, it's probably the best outcome we could hope for 😂

 

Ralph is all but done, let's face it we'll have a new guy in a week or two and the season (re)starts then.

[S-Clarke]

It does feel as if the end is here now, it's just a matter of time and some paperwork to sort out I imagine. 

I will openly say I've supported Ralph during the years here and I've backed the style, as I think it's a modern and progressive way of playing (gegenpressing/energy/pace etc) and he's had to do it with a bit of a rag-tag squad in the main. During that period we haven't been in any 'deep' relegation battles either - so I think looking at it like that, he's done ‘ok’ in previous years.

But things have changed now, quite dramatically. We no longer have that modern style, or any style in fact. Gone is the counter press, gone is the pace, gone is the energy - we're just flat, there’s nothing about us at all. I don't know if that's by instruction or if the players are just warn out by it all and need a change, but the last 12 months have been turgid.

I had hoped this summer would have provided him with the players to adopt that style again - Lavia/Mara/Edozie/ABK/ etc - young, quick, energetic players. But sadly, we have regressed even further, there now seems to be a genuine plan to just hoof it long and hope for the best (as borne out by the stats) and that is usually what happens when you have no idea how to play.

So, I feel a change is inevitable. It's a shame it hasn't worked out, I do feel Ralph was the right man at the wrong time originally. If he was backed from day 1, I think we'd have had a different outcome, but in the main he's had to work under difficult conditions here and I think that's made him alter his philosophy as manager, as he's light years away from the guy who managed RB and us at the start.

At the end of the day whilst you can’t ignore our ‘2020’ form, you also can’t ignore our 2022 form. It feels as if the players have lost a little bit of belief or understanding in what we are trying to do.

Edited 3 October, 2022 by S-Clarke

[saintant]

11 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

It does feel as if the end is here now, it's just a matter of time and some paperwork to sort out I imagine. 

I will openly say I've supported Ralph during the years here and I've backed the style, as I think it's a modern and progressive way of playing (gegenpressing/energy/pace etc) and he's had to do it with a bit of a rag-tag squad in the main. During that period we haven't been in any 'deep' relegation battles either - so I think looking at it like that, he's done ‘ok’ in previous years.

But things have changed now, quite dramatically. We no longer have that modern style, or any style in fact. Gone is the counter press, gone is the pace, gone is the energy - we're just flat, there’s nothing about us at all. I don't know if that's by instruction or if the players are just warn out by it all and need a change, but the last 12 months have been turgid.

I had hoped this summer would have provided him with the players to adopt that style again - Lavia/Mara/Edozie/ABK/ etc - young, quick, energetic players. But sadly, we have regressed even further, there now seems to be a genuine plan to just hoof it long and hope for the best (as borne out by the stats) and that is usually what happens when you have no idea how to play.

So, I feel a change is inevitable. It's a shame it hasn't worked out, I do feel Ralph was the right man at the wrong time originally. If he was backed from day 1, I think we'd have had a different outcome, but in the main he's had to work under difficult conditions here and I think that's made him alter his philosophy as manager, as he's light years away from the guy who managed RB and us at the start.

At the end of the day whilst you can’t ignore our ‘2020’ form, you also can’t ignore our 2022 form. It feels as if the players have lost a little bit of belief or understanding in what we are trying to do.

Have a certain sympathy with Ralph but he does come across as a bit of an autocrat who will not listen to others and he also appears to struggle with man management which is a big part of the job. Not suggesting that's all his fault as we know what some players are like but other managers seem able to cope better than Ralph.

[aintforever]

58 minutes ago, Turkish said:

They have other players who are wingers/attacking midfielders who can chip in with goals like Troussard 

Exactly, Trossard has got 5 already this season, Mac Allister 4 and Gross 3 so Brighton have goalscorers so their lack of strikers is not the same issue for them.

[Turkish]

9 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Exactly, Trossard has got 5 already this season, Mac Allister 4 and Gross 3 so Brighton have goalscorers so their lack of strikers is not the same issue for them.

So what's your point then? All players you list are midfielders or wingers. Brighton doing well without a recognised quality striker, but we cant possibly do well because we dont have one. "bound to effect the teams performance and mean the manager will struggle to find the right formation" you said. You've just lost your own argument, not for the first time!

Edited 3 October, 2022 by Turkish

[The Cat]

3 of Mac Allister's goals are penalties and 3 of Trossard's are because he played up against Alexander-Arnold so none of them really count.

[Neef]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

So what's your point then? All players you list are midfielders or wingers. Brighton doing well without a recognised quality striker, but we cant possibly do well because we dont have one. "bound to effect the teams performance" you said. You've just lost your own argument, not for the first time!

Issue isn't just our strikers, it's our all round attacking line up.

If you have a lack of quality in strikers, then hopefully you can make up for it with the supporting attackers / wngers / #10s etc (like maybe Brighton do)

If you have a lack of quality in supporting attackers, then hopefully you can make it up with a quality striker (like we did with Ings, and to an extent, Broja)

Problem is we have a real lack of quality in both areas (potentially Aribo is the exception for the supporting attackers). And that's not to say Ralph should stay because of it. But it's a critical issue that needs to be addressed - even if a new manager comes in. We seemingly tried with Gakpo - it feels like missing out on him/someone else is hurting us.

[aintforever]

10 minutes ago, Turkish said:

So what's your point then? All players you list are midfielders or wingers. Brighton doing well without a recognised quality striker, but we cant possibly do well because we dont have one. "bound to effect the teams performance and mean the manager will struggle to find the right formation" you said. You've just lost your own argument, not for the first time!

Our midfield can't score for shite either so it's more of an issue for us IMO.

 

[saintant]

6 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Our midfield can't score for shite either so it's more of an issue for us IMO.

 

If you play the game the right way, move off the ball, play between the lines and reduce the negative sideways/backwards passing for passings sake, get the ball up the pitch quicker that will pressurise your opponents and lead to more chance for more players and more goals - ok, a good striker will increase the goal tally but I think the point is that our current style of football is not one that creates a lot of chances per game. In a way this puts more pressure on those getting the chances because they know they are unlikely to get many in a match so need to convert the scraps that come their way.  It's our style of play that is the biggest problem because it is sluggish, turgid, uninspiring and easy to defend against.

[Turkish]

21 minutes ago, aintforever said:

Our midfield can't score for shite either so it's more of an issue for us IMO.

 

19 goals between them last season. Plus we've added Aribo this season who looks likely to get 6-8. So that's not true. 

[OldNick]

Perhaps it also doesn't help when you have your midfield is more interested in playing back or sideways. When do we get a pass slid through for a forward to run onto? Rarely or never, as by the time the ball is going forward the other team have 6 or 7 players back.  

[OldNick]

Just now, Turkish said:

19 goals between them last season. Plus we've added Aribo this season who looks likely to get 6-8. So that's not true. 

That is a surprise that many. I assume that includes worldy free kicks and penalties. Take those out and what do we have?

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, OldNick said:

That is a surprise that many. I assume that includes worldy free kicks and penalties. Take those out and what do we have?

I cant be arsed to look. 

[Wade Garrett]

12 minutes ago, OldNick said:

Perhaps it also doesn't help when you have your midfield is more interested in playing back or sideways. When do we get a pass slid through for a forward to run onto? Rarely or never, as by the time the ball is going forward the other team have 6 or 7 players back.  

That is pretty much RalphBall in a nutshell.

[aintforever]

24 minutes ago, saintant said:

If you play the game the right way, move off the ball, play between the lines and reduce the negative sideways/backwards passing for passings sake, get the ball up the pitch quicker that will pressurise your opponents and lead to more chance for more players and more goals - ok, a good striker will increase the goal tally but I think the point is that our current style of football is not one that creates a lot of chances per game. In a way this puts more pressure on those getting the chances because they know they are unlikely to get many in a match so need to convert the scraps that come their way.  It's our style of play that is the biggest problem because it is sluggish, turgid, uninspiring and easy to defend against.

I don’t necesarrily disagree, my point was merely that the lack of goalscorer might be a reason why Ralph has been cut some slack by the board. That and the fact that we are blooding a load of youngsters in the toughest league in the world.

We basically replaced Broja and Long with a kid who couldn’t even hold down a starting place in a shite French team.

[captainchris]

1 hour ago, saintant said:

Have a certain sympathy with Ralph but he does come across as a bit of an autocrat who will not listen to others and he also appears to struggle with man management which is a big part of the job. Not suggesting that's all his fault as we know what some players are like but other managers seem able to cope better than Ralph.

Excellent appraisal … 

[OldNick]

58 minutes ago, Turkish said:

I cant be arsed to look. 

Where's MLG when I need him? Ohh he's been chased off the board lol

[OldNick]

Interesting that Ralph was praising the fans, yes that old trick to bring the gullible back in line. Lampard does this time and again, they lap it up.

[Billy the Kidd]

4 hours ago, Toussaint said:

A new manager could make us harder to beat though, that wide open 4 2 2 2 nonsense has to go for a start. I can live with grinding out a few bore draws until we can address the situation. You might also find those strikers could be more effective in a better set up team.  

I remember the 0-0 with Everton in Poch’s first game. We played ok, and were hard to beat.

With Ralph, total opposite - we are easy to beat. Is embarrassing.

[DT]

Tick tock 

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, OldNick said:

Where's MLG when I need him? Ohh he's been chased off the board lol

You mean he's gone into hiding after a bad week where he was wrong time and again, we all know that he doesn't cope well with being 

[Saint Billy]

2 hours ago, aintforever said:

I don’t necesarrily disagree, my point was merely that the lack of goalscorer might be a reason why Ralph has been cut some slack by the board. That and the fact that we are blooding a load of youngsters in the toughest league in the world.

We basically replaced Broja and Long with a kid who couldn’t even hold down a starting place in a shite French team.

Is this one of our purchases that will turn into a pot of gold in the future?. 

To be fair though, he looked mustard in his first game but has obviously had Ralph work on him. Hopefully as and when a new manager comes in it will bring out the best in our squad. 

[Pamplemousse]

5 hours ago, Turkish said:

The Kruger/Reed school of leadership. Remember the famous quote about Pellegrino? Every time we thought about sacking him he got a positive result. Absolute nonsense way of doing things.

Pellegrino showed absolutely nothing at all to demonstrate he'd be able to achieve anything. Delaying his sacking until March was catastrophic 

We have had a number of positive memorable moments in the last few years which you could understand why some may feel we can turn this around.

[Harry_SFC]

4 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Pellegrino showed absolutely nothing at all to demonstrate he'd be able to achieve anything. Delaying his sacking until March was catastrophic 

We have had a number of positive memorable moments in the last few years which you could understand why some may feel we can turn this around.

Yes we have had some positive moments but every time it feels like we have turned a corner Ralph starts over thinking things and we revert back to type. A fresh approach is needed. 

[CanadaSaint]

I stuck with Ralph for as long as I could because his style, on the good days, was great to watch and very effective. I was blinded by the good days and by his "nice guy" facade, but gradually came to realize that he's arrogant, obstinate and disinterested in alternative views. I had a real sense of foreboding after the West Ham cup game, when Ralph - after picking a crazy starting lineup, seemed to view the freak result as confirmation that he knows everything and the fans know nothing. He hit 100 on the arrogance meter after that game.

Under Ralph we were always quite bipolar - "when we were good we were very, very good, but when we were bad we were horrid". Increasingly, it was the latter.

Now our style seems to be a ludicrous amalgam of the very things that made us horrid. We're back to shuffling the ball around sideways - at the back and in the middle, and it's utterly futile because we then end up hoofing it. And Ralph persists with starting lineups and formations that pretty much nobody on here would select. I was livid before the Everton game when I saw he'd broken up a CD duo that had been dovetailing well. How the hell can the squad dovetail when he keeps shifting shapes and roles?

It has seemed clear for some time, from the outside, that there were issues behind the scenes. The smug, knowing grins exchanged between Ralph and Semmens at the forum suggested that they knew where the Mail leak had come from, and that reprisals would soon be taken. Again, Ralph saw it as validation of him. That grinning moment suggested, to me at least, that Semmens has been part of the problem and is unlikely to be part of the solution.

That seems like a bleak picture, but if there's a club with the personnel to change things completely under new management, it's us. We have some very good players, but we will not see their best when they're just minions in Ralph's master plan - one that very few people at the club or in the seats are buying into.

[Saint86]

9 hours ago, Saint86 said:

I've backed him for a while. But he's lost his identity and confidence as a manager, and unless he miraculously recovers those quickly he's finished. 

I find the abuse he gets from some of our "fan" base very distasteful as ultimatley he's done a lot for the club over the years, and he continues to try his best. But I think we're at a point now where the board really do need to put him out of his misery. 

What Jordan says is right, the club have stuck by him very admirably. But he looks lost with no way back at the moment. Would be a tremendous sign of faith / gamble to back him again through this patch - at the moment we're in relegation form. That everton game is the tipping point and I'll be surprised if he is still here beyond the city away game. 

Just to add to this. I'll support him whilst he's here and trying. The decision ultimately needs to come from above. If he somehow finds the way to turn it around then fair play - i guess it may happen given it is a young team. But no lavia, no striker, wavering confidence in the team, a very young squad to bed in, and a manager who is struggling himself - it all suggests its only going one way from here on out and i really do think he's waiting for the axe to fall. I think Everton was the key game. Win that and it would have been an okay start still - we'd continue in the halfway house of 50/50 confidence in him with patience to see if the team would improve, but losing it was very very damaging for him and our prospects.

He is a shadow of his former bullish self and i think he is paralysed somewhat by the guillotine hovering over his head. Whole situation is neither ideal or fair for anyone involved.

Edited 3 October, 2022 by Saint86

[Daft Kerplunk]

17 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

 i think he is paralysed somewhat by the guillotine hovering over his head.

He probably should not have contributed to the building of the guillotine. 
 

Vive La revolution!

[bangkoksaint]

I think we’ll have 14 points by the time the WC comes along. If he’s not gone by then that total should be enough to call time on him. Even then it may be too late.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

2 hours ago, CanadaSaint said:

I stuck with Ralph for as long as I could because his style, on the good days, was great to watch and very effective. I was blinded by the good days and by his "nice guy" facade, but gradually came to realize that he's arrogant, obstinate and disinterested in alternative views. I had a real sense of foreboding after the West Ham cup game, when Ralph - after picking a crazy starting lineup, seemed to view the freak result as confirmation that he knows everything and the fans know nothing. He hit 100 on the arrogance meter after that game.

Under Ralph we were always quite bipolar - "when we were good we were very, very good, but when we were bad we were horrid". Increasingly, it was the latter.

Now our style seems to be a ludicrous amalgam of the very things that made us horrid. We're back to shuffling the ball around sideways - at the back and in the middle, and it's utterly futile because we then end up hoofing it. And Ralph persists with starting lineups and formations that pretty much nobody on here would select. I was livid before the Everton game when I saw he'd broken up a CD duo that had been dovetailing well. How the hell can the squad dovetail when he keeps shifting shapes and roles?

It has seemed clear for some time, from the outside, that there were issues behind the scenes. The smug, knowing grins exchanged between Ralph and Semmens at the forum suggested that they knew where the Mail leak had come from, and that reprisals would soon be taken. Again, Ralph saw it as validation of him. That grinning moment suggested, to me at least, that Semmens has been part of the problem and is unlikely to be part of the solution.

That seems like a bleak picture, but if there's a club with the personnel to change things completely under new management, it's us. We have some very good players, but we will not see their best when they're just minions in Ralph's master plan - one that very few people at the club or in the seats are buying into.

Absolutely brilliant and well thought out post. Thanks. 

[saint1977]

The bloke needs to go and should have done in the summer, but is being hung out to dry. Wolves have dealt with the issue on Lage clinically but professionally. Clear he’d lost the dressing room and fanbase and their owner and board did what they needed to. Ralph doesn’t deserve the drip, drip of articles and rumours but it’s humiliating him because of the spineless jellyfish in the boardroom. Namely Semmens, I thought he was dreadful at the forum and belongs in the current cabinet.

SR need to urgently grow a backbone, show some fucking leadership, press the button on Ralph and Semmens. Appoint a new CEO of their own with some drive/identity/character and new manager who can put their vision, whatever it actually is, into practice on the pitch. Very green so far, and will be a very expensive mistake listening to Semmens. Didn’t he arrive with Gao? That’s two ownership disasters he has been involved with which seem hands off so he can run this club into the ground.

[Barsiem]

1 hour ago, saint1977 said:

The bloke needs to go and should have done in the summer, but is being hung out to dry. Wolves have dealt with the issue on Lage clinically but professionally. Clear he’d lost the dressing room and fanbase and their owner and board did what they needed to. Ralph doesn’t deserve the drip, drip of articles and rumours but it’s humiliating him because of the spineless jellyfish in the boardroom. Namely Semmens, I thought he was dreadful at the forum and belongs in the current cabinet.

SR need to urgently grow a backbone, show some fucking leadership, press the button on Ralph and Semmens. Appoint a new CEO of their own with some drive/identity/character and new manager who can put their vision, whatever it actually is, into practice on the pitch. Very green so far, and will be a very expensive mistake listening to Semmens. Didn’t he arrive with Gao? That’s two ownership disasters he has been involved with which seem hands off so he can run this club into the ground.

You do realise he could resign at any point right??  

[Turkish]

Got a couple of boxes of these available,   
Would make a great Christmas present 

 

[sydenhamssocks]

4 hours ago, CanadaSaint said:

I stuck with Ralph for as long as I could because his style, on the good days, was great to watch and very effective. I was blinded by the good days and by his "nice guy" facade, but gradually came to realize that he's arrogant, obstinate and disinterested in alternative views. I had a real sense of foreboding after the West Ham cup game, when Ralph - after picking a crazy starting lineup, seemed to view the freak result as confirmation that he knows everything and the fans know nothing. He hit 100 on the arrogance meter after that game.

Under Ralph we were always quite bipolar - "when we were good we were very, very good, but when we were bad we were horrid". Increasingly, it was the latter.

Now our style seems to be a ludicrous amalgam of the very things that made us horrid. We're back to shuffling the ball around sideways - at the back and in the middle, and it's utterly futile because we then end up hoofing it. And Ralph persists with starting lineups and formations that pretty much nobody on here would select. I was livid before the Everton game when I saw he'd broken up a CD duo that had been dovetailing well. How the hell can the squad dovetail when he keeps shifting shapes and roles?

It has seemed clear for some time, from the outside, that there were issues behind the scenes. The smug, knowing grins exchanged between Ralph and Semmens at the forum suggested that they knew where the Mail leak had come from, and that reprisals would soon be taken. Again, Ralph saw it as validation of him. That grinning moment suggested, to me at least, that Semmens has been part of the problem and is unlikely to be part of the solution.

That seems like a bleak picture, but if there's a club with the personnel to change things completely under new management, it's us. We have some very good players, but we will not see their best when they're just minions in Ralph's master plan - one that very few people at the club or in the seats are buying into.

Spot on!  Semmens and Ralph are as thick as thieves. Cosied themselves up together/ contract before new owners came in. There was an arrogance about them at that forum which showed their true colours. They both need to go and let SR run it with their own choice of CEO and manager. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

Got a couple of boxes of these available,   
Would make a great Christmas present 

 

I was thinking more November 5th…do they burn well? 😜🤣

[Saint Fan CaM]

9 hours ago, OldNick said:

Perhaps it also doesn't help when you have your midfield is more interested in playing back or sideways. When do we get a pass slid through for a forward to run onto? Rarely or never, as by the time the ball is going forward the other team have 6 or 7 players back.  

 

9 hours ago, saintant said:

If you play the game the right way, move off the ball, play between the lines and reduce the negative sideways/backwards passing for passings sake, get the ball up the pitch quicker that will pressurise your opponents and lead to more chance for more players and more goals - ok, a good striker will increase the goal tally but I think the point is that our current style of football is not one that creates a lot of chances per game. In a way this puts more pressure on those getting the chances because they know they are unlikely to get many in a match so need to convert the scraps that come their way.  It's our style of play that is the biggest problem because it is sluggish, turgid, uninspiring and easy to defend against.

Absolutely agree with the above two posts. I don’t think our best 15 players are worse than Villa, Wolves or Everton’s. I do think  that those teams have tactics and playing styles that are significantly more suited to EPL survival than ‘Ralphball’.  It’s the coaching and man-management of the team that needs an urgent overhaul. The performances as well as the last 28 results bear witness to this, not to mention the bizarre team changes such as the latest splitting up of our best performing CB pairing since VD left us.

[Verbal Kint]

43 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

 

Absolutely agree with the above two posts. I don’t think our best 15 players are worse than Villa, Wolves or Everton’s. 

Really? So you don't think those clubs have significantly better attacking options than us? I'd swap our attack in a heart beat for Villa's. Wolves have injuries but when fit they have much stronger options as well. Do you not think Gordon, Gray, Calvert-Lewin, Maupay, Onana, McNeil are stronger than what we've got?

We had a decent window defensively but are in the bottom 3 or 4 clubs in the league in terms of attacking options which is costing us. Even on Saturday when we were poor we still had enough chances in the second half to win the game, but Adams missed a 1v1 and Armstrong, as usual, was hopeless in front of goal. What an awful player he is, unbelievable that the club thought he was worth 15 million.

 

Edited 4 October, 2022 by Verbal Kint

[saintwbu]

6 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

 

Absolutely agree with the above two posts. I don’t think our best 15 players are worse than Villa, Wolves or Everton’s. I do think  that those teams have tactics and playing styles that are significantly more suited to EPL survival than ‘Ralphball’.  It’s the coaching and man-management of the team that needs an urgent overhaul. The performances as well as the last 28 results bear witness to this, not to mention the bizarre team changes such as the latest splitting up of our best performing CB pairing since VD left us.

Come off it, they walked in and took our 20 goal a season striker. They’ve also got Buendia, Bailly, Coutinho, Watkins as well as quality and experience all over the pitch. They’re more in need of a management overhaul than us! They just have enough quality that they’re keeping above water despite a shit manager.

[Saint Billy]

Rasmus Ankersen

GLOBAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER

On how to build high performing organisations. 

Perhaps put words into action as something on your own patch needs addressing Rassie. 

Edited 4 October, 2022 by Saint Billy

[pimpin4rizeal]

19 hours ago, aintforever said:

Obviously not but in my opinion the striking options of Adam Armstrong, Ché Adams and Sékou Mara is probably the worst in the league, it's bound to effect the team's performance and mean the manager is going to struggle to find the right formation.

I think Ralph's days are probably numbered but I have no confidence in any new manager suddenly making that lot good enough to keep us up.

Same point I was trying to make..

not signing a striker in this window had left us with zero quality up front,, we can try keep competitive and keep the games tight but if we only get a couple of chances the strikers need to be clinical adams and Armstrong need about 6 chances to score one goal..

it’s absolutely shocking that we didn’t sign a striker. All summer to sort this priority position and we leave it right to the end of the window try for Gakpo and give up..

It’s that bad I think I’d rather have Charlie Austin up front then che and Armstrong at least he can actually finish 

Even if we sack ralph now this problem is there until at least January and January isn’t ideal time to be shopping for a striker either..

epic fail letting it get to this 

[saint1977]

9 hours ago, Barsiem said:

You do realise he could resign at any point right??  

I’d say that what the constant dripping tap of stories in the background is about to save money. Although most PL manager roles usually have break clauses in at different points in a contract, unless Semmens is even more of an wally than he appears. 

Either way it is typically spineless and unprofessional from the club, no better than how Les operated. 

Yes please to Steve Cooper by the way if he gets the push. I know Forest got whacked last night but their owner has brought in 21 mercenaries and expected them to gel overnight. 

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, Saint Billy said:

Rasmus Ankersen

GLOBAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER

On how to build high performing organisations. 

Perhaps put words into action as something on your own patch needs addressing Rassie. 

First question from the audience 

“can I just check your definition of high performance?”

[Toussaint]

6 hours ago, Verbal Kint said:

Really? So you don't think those clubs have significantly better attacking options than us? I'd swap our attack in a heart beat for Villa's. Wolves have injuries but when fit they have much stronger options as well. Do you not think Gordon, Gray, Calvert-Lewin, Maupay, Onana, McNeil are stronger than what we've got?

We had a decent window defensively but are in the bottom 3 or 4 clubs in the league in terms of attacking options which is costing us. Even on Saturday when we were poor we still had enough chances in the second half to win the game, but Adams missed a 1v1 and Armstrong, as usual, was hopeless in front of goal. What an awful player he is, unbelievable that the club thought he was worth 15 million.

 

I think the midfield is right down there too.

[egg]

14 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

I think the midfield is right down there too.

I don't think the defence is far behind either. People talk about a great window defence wise. In reality we've only upgraded CB but as the weekend shows, Ralph now has too many options and he broke up a decent CB partnership for reasons I suspect even he doesn't know. RB is ok whilst KWP is fit, pending Tino coming back. LB is still the average Perraud, a converted winger who can just about do a job, or a kid who looked far too small and naive to be a PL full back imo. 

[S-Clarke]

30 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

I think the midfield is right down there too.

It was upgraded until we sold Romeu, but now we're probably on par there as we have the same situation when Lavia is out as we had when Romeu was out (too lightweight)

It is strange how we always do this. In some windows we leave CB short (when we didn't replace Fonte), or when we loan out all our full backs so we only had KWP.

This season we have undoubtedly left our striking positions significantly weaker than last season, thinking we can ''make do'' with Che Adams, a kid and Adam Armstrong. That is probably the last position you can afford to play that game with, so we've dropped an almighty bollock imo.

Edited 4 October, 2022 by S-Clarke

[Ex Lion Tamer]

3 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

It was upgraded until we sold Romeu, but now we're probably on par there as we have the same situation when Lavia is out as we had when Romeu was out (too lightweight)

It is strange how we always do this. In some windows we leave CB short (when we didn't replace Fonte), or when we loan out all our full backs so we only had KWP.

This season we have undoubtedly left our striking positions significantly weaker than last season, thinking we can ''make do'' with Che Adams, a kid and Adam Armstrong. That is probably the last position you can afford to play that game with, so we've dropped an almighty bollock imo.

I don't think we thought we could make do, we just couldn't secure anyone of the quality we wanted. There's no point throwing big money at someone like Brereton Diaz when they're not going to be any better than what we've got