Ralph Hasenhuttl

[doc oli]

4 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Might be in a growing minority but I still think once we get KWP back and get one good result the confidence will come back a bit to some of the attackers.

I don't think our poor run is all down to Ralph suddenly being a poor Manager and don't think that its worth getting rid of him just before a kind run of fixtures.

Look at tonight, our three subs were Tella, N'Lundulu and Watts. Ralph certainly doesn't have a great hand to play at the moment and surely he has done enough to earn a chance to improve the situation once he has a few more options?

Massively agree with this. We’re just so unbalanced without kwp. Him back, diallo in cm with jwp, Armstrong & minamino/tella and we’ve got a team again. Redmond and Salisu can disappear. 

[Master Bates]

I think we'll finish top 8, 6 wins on the bounce coming up

[whelk]

1 minute ago, Dusic said:

Ramsay who has been ripped apart whenever he has played?

Jankewitz who he probably rightly has no trust in?

Personally I don't think those things would have made a real difference, and certainly aren't ridiculous decisions from Ralph.

Yeah bednarek has been stunning. Not the fucking manager groupies make me laugh.   He has had shit to deal with but gamble.

when has Ramsay been torn apart other than Utd? 

[whelk]

4 minutes ago, Heisenberg said:

Might be time for Eddie Howe. 
 

Can’t blame Ralph for all of this but current form + 2x 9-0s is unforgivable really 

Thought Covid might have got you?

[S-Clarke]

Just now, doc oli said:

Massively agree with this. We’re just so unbalanced without kwp. Him back, diallo in cm with jwp, Armstrong & minamino/tella and we’ve got a team again. Redmond and Salisu can disappear. 

People say it's excuses, excuses, but the injuries and lack of squad depth has contributed to this. You cannot ignore that clear and obvious fact.

The are a lack of options all over the park and it's made it very difficult. The real criticism I have is letting Valery go, he is a better option than Jan at Right back without question. Surely Ralph had the say in that, so he needs to take stick for letting that one happen.

The worry for me is that this is just a sign of where we are heading. We need to build the squad out a bit but I just don't see how we can.

[sad saints fan]

I would sack Bertrand before Ralph . Completely lost interest.

[sad saints fan]

1 minute ago, sad saints fan said:

I would sack Bertrand before Ralph . Completely lost interest.

and Ings for that matter 

[Plastic]

Not sure if it’s the manager or the team in general that I’ve had enough of, but I haven’t watched the last 2 matches and I’ve been happier for it.

Edited 1 March, 2021 by Plastic

[S-Clarke]

2 minutes ago, sad saints fan said:

and Ings for that matter 

Seriously?

One of our best players tonight. Put in a proper shift, pressing, winning the ball back. Our best attacker by far, level above Adams.

Without him we are gone, dead, finished.

[Chapel End]

13 minutes ago, sad saints fan said:

and Ings for that matter 

Drink is not good for you obviously 

[washsaint]

Serious questions have to start being asked of the manager now.  There were only 2 players out from the corresponding home fixture (KWP and Romeu) so to blame injuries is disingenuous at best.

You have a RB on the bench and play a CB at RB.  You have 2 or 3 young CMs on the bench and play Armstrong out of position.  You have Tella, who has looked far more promising than Redmond or Adams, left on the bench.  You have a cowardly team playing as poorly as under Pellegrino and Hughes with no attacking verve and yet no mixing it up with changes in tactics or intent.  Imagine the outrage, rightly, if those 2 clowns had  us playing like we are now?

1 win in 14 says it all - clueless.

[maysie]

2 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't think you're in the minority, I think most people feel that way. The problems are deeper than the manager and I've said that for years.

Visionary

[qwertyell]

7 points from 14 games for the bestest manager ever. 

Mark Hughes was sacked after a run of 9 points from 14 games.

Pellegrino was sacked after 1 win in 17. Hasenhuttl's currently sitting on 1 win in 14.

"We'll never get anyone better."

 

[Wade Garrett]

Armstrong was our most dangerous player last night because he’s got the ability to run with the ball and doesn’t take the easy way out by going backwards that too many of our players do.

Tella is more dangerous than Adams, who had another stinker last night, as did Redmond.

Ralph has to be a bit braver with his team selection and the players gave to be a bit braver on the ball.

[OldNick]

22 hours ago, CB Fry said:

The "Reed era" conveniently began in 2015, I see. And you singled out Juanmi as a major signing of that season and not, er, current first team regular Oriol Romeu. We also signed Charlie Austin who had more impact than Che Adams and Theo. And Cedric who splits opinion but still played several seasons for us as a first team regular. But yeah, Juanmi.

Djnepo and Adams have no more been a success than Hojberg Gabbiadini and Boufal were.

Last week was the first time since Sheffield United away in his first season that I thought Djnepo was anything other than aimless and ineffective.

Salisu and Diallo haven't done a lot yet so early to claim too much but signs look okay.

Were always promised some financial benefits when that dead weight is gone (Ely and Hoedt etc) but we'll see. Let's hope so.

 

do you think Reed was good then? I personally think he was self serving and can only be for the club that he is gone. 

[CB Fry]

5 minutes ago, OldNick said:

do you think Reed was good then? I personally think he was self serving and can only be for the club that he is gone. 

We've already had a pointless diversion into Puel for 475 posts. We don't need the same diversion into Reed.

The point is that post was ridiculously loaded and ignored facts, and if nothing else it is far too early to say that our player recruitment is now a undisputed success where previously it was a disaster.

Che Adams and Djenepo are being presented as wonderful success story entirely because they weren’t signed by Reed. They're as patchy and average as any typical signing we've made over our late-period Premier League tenure. They're certainly not significantly better than Armstrong, Romeu, Boufal or Lemina.

[Convict Colony]

The most I've got from this thread is Heisie is back.

Where you been ? enforced leave of absence ?  jail ? back from secret agent stuff ? or finally took the time to spend some of that winnings on a holiday ?

[Turkish]

41 minutes ago, OldNick said:

do you think Reed was good then? I personally think he was self serving and can only be for the club that he is gone. 

Which part of our back to back promotions, 4 consecutive top 8 finishes, 2 European campaigns and first major cup final in 14 years wasn't good?

 

[pimpin4rizeal]

Ralph needs to go I think, all parts of our game look broken at the minute. Boring pass back football that creates hardly any chances, poor defensively poor tactics and player choices..

sure we have suffered a lot of bad luck through injuries, but he’s still making weird team selections which 95 percent of people can see are not great , like continuing to play Redmond over better options up front or on the wing bednarek at right back over djenepo or even Stephens who has at least more experience there.. so the man is not helping himself really.

but this is a guy who preferred long to gabbiadini and Redmond over boufal so there has always been signs of madness

majority of the season we have struggle to really create goals from open play ings has been great for us but he can’t score from no service and if it wasn’t for him or jwp setpieces we have nothing really ..

all these people saying we play great football under Ralph I’m not really seeing it.

Edited 2 March, 2021 by pimpin4rizeal
Add

[Lee On Solent Saint]

I'm neither a Reed lover or a Reed basher. I can recognise the good and the bad of his tenure. I think the divining issues were the recruitment of the managers. In Poch and Koeman we had strong characters, they knew the types of player they wanted. When Koeman left, this club started it go down the slide. We didn't get the right manager to replace him. In my mind, that was Reed's biggest mistake. I don't know if Puell, Pellegrino and Hughes had players they didn't want or rated forced upon them, but they must have had some input into the recruitment of the players that we brought. 

Fast forward to Ralph and in many respects he is the one paying for the previous mistakes in player and staff recruitment. That's obviously not to say that he hasn't made mistakes, far from it. When he first came into the club, it was clear that he was passionate and charismatic, more so than the three previous incumbents put together. We all wanted him to be successful, because like us fans, he really seemed to care. I believe he still can turn this around, but he needs support. Not only from the board in terms of actual money available, of which I know we haven't got, but also on the sidelines. Other managers seem to bounce ideas off coaches and assistants all throughout the game. When Ralph needs help, who does he turn too? Maybe that's not how he works, but if so, what's the point of them being here?

[Saint_clark]

If we stay in the FA cup he should stay, if we don't get full points against Sheffield United and get knocked out the cup then he should go. 

[CB Fry]

12 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Other managers seem to bounce ideas off coaches and assistants all throughout the game. When Ralph needs help, who does he turn too?

He's got his own backroom team, and he's been here long enough with enough credit in the bank to have binned off (say) Kelvin if he'd really wanted to by now.

The backroom/upstairs arrangements haven't changed since we were the best team in the world in the calendar year 2020(tm).

So I don't think it’s a root cause.

[Chapel End]

14 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

If we stay in the FA cup he should stay, if we don't get full points against Sheffield United and get knocked out the cup then he should 

Who do we get then?

[Forester]

I think the major divide between fans on this topic is not whether or not people think the football is currently poor and the results are worse.  That is obvious.

 

Instead the divide I think is between people who feel that 2020 was a genuinely outstanding year, with Saints racking up the equivalent of top four points, and therefore see potential in Ralph to again hit heights when he has a fit squad again, and those who don’t either recognise this, don’t believe he is capable of getting the team to rise again and/or doesn’t deserve patience and support.  And I haven’t even mentioned FA Cup quarter final looming.

 

I am firmly in the former camp and find it bizarre that a matter of nine weeks ago no body would question Ralph, and yet suddenly he needs to be sacked.  If you had a couple of poor months at work off the back of high performance I imagine you would hope that your bosses didn’t think you had suddenly become worthy of ditching.

 

I accept that things can’t go on forever, but as an absolute minimum he should be given the next six games, including four fixtures against our relegation rivals and a cup quarter final.  If we lost all of that we would indeed be in a precarious position, probably needing eight points from seven games.  But I don’t think we will.

[Turkish]

16 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

He's got his own backroom team, and he's been here long enough with enough credit in the bank to have binned off (say) Kelvin if he'd really wanted to by now.

The backroom/upstairs arrangements haven't changed since we were the best team in the world in the calendar year 2020(tm).

So I don't think it’s a root cause.

It all went down hill when Danny Rohl left, he was the reason we were so successful. 

[Turkish]

36 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I'm neither a Reed lover or a Reed basher. I can recognise the good and the bad of his tenure. I think the divining issues were the recruitment of the managers. In Poch and Koeman we had strong characters, they knew the types of player they wanted. When Koeman left, this club started it go down the slide. We didn't get the right manager to replace him. In my mind, that was Reed's biggest mistake. I don't know if Puell, Pellegrino and Hughes had players they didn't want or rated forced upon them, but they must have had some input into the recruitment of the players that we brought. 

Fast forward to Ralph and in many respects he is the one paying for the previous mistakes in player and staff recruitment. That's obviously not to say that he hasn't made mistakes, far from it. When he first came into the club, it was clear that he was passionate and charismatic, more so than the three previous incumbents put together. We all wanted him to be successful, because like us fans, he really seemed to care. I believe he still can turn this around, but he needs support. Not only from the board in terms of actual money available, of which I know we haven't got, but also on the sidelines. Other managers seem to bounce ideas off coaches and assistants all throughout the game. When Ralph needs help, who does he turn too? Maybe that's not how he works, but if so, what's the point of them being here?

There are many that cant, some blame him for our form now! They're blaming the bad signings Reed made but ignoring that some of our best players when we were doing well were signed by Reed. Reed did a lot wrong at the end but did a lot right as well on the years before but some wont accept that, he stayed here too long and had too much power but you cant ignore the fact that he was head of everything football related during one of the best periods the clubs had.

[Lord Duckhunter]

24 minutes ago, Chapel End said:

Who do we get then?

If we go out of the cup to Boscombe and finish below Fulham,should he be sacked ? 

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I think Ralph is here for the forseeable as he has made himself virtually impossible to be sacked. Not only would it cost a lot to pay him off but the whole club's much-vaunted plan drawn up by the manager over the last 12 months would have to be shredded. Although Turkish claims I have a personal vendetta against the manager that is not true. Up until Xmas I was full of hope and confidence but this last 2 months have been the most miserable I can remember.

He has made so many mistakes. Letting Valery go (yes I know he doesn't rate him but he's better than nothing) and if he didn't rate him and Vokins to go into the season without full-back cover on either side is mad. Then we have Ramsay, awarded a new contract at the weekend but overlooked for a player out of position. Doesn't add up but either way it is criminal our lack of full-back cover.

Ralph's blindness when it comes to Redmond is glaring. Redmond has been very poor for a long time and yet he is hardly ever dropped.

It's all very well pointing to our injuries. Yes it has been dire, but other clubs are suffering - one of the nationals compiled a chart last week of all the PL clubs who have missed players through injury and we were approx half way with Palace the worse off. Plus Ralph went public in saying he prefers to work with smaller squads. A bit premature.

He has a lot going for him, he "gets" the fans and they "get" him. He knows his PR, he works hard, takes an interest in the youth (unlike all his predecessors except Mo Po), and I believe him to be a very committed workaholic. He has a great relationship with the Board too, but despite this something is seriously wrong. Even if we did sack him who would come in and steady the ship? The only name I can think of is Eddie Howe but there are plenty out there who say he is over rated and he ultimately flopped at Dean Court.

I think our only hope is to grit our teeth and pray he somehow stops the rot, but should we lose against Sheffield the klaxons should start to sound big time. Beating Bournemouth might kickstart things but I can't see us winning a semi-final against strong opposition the way we are at present anyway. It's all a little depressing especially with Bertrand and Ings looking to leave a sinking ship.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

There are many that cant, some blame him for our form now! They're blaming the bad signings Reed made but ignoring that some of our best players when we were doing well were signed by Reed. Reed did a lot wrong at the end but did a lot right as well on the years before but some wont accept that, he stayed here too long and had too much power but you cant ignore the fact that he was head of everything football related during one of the best periods the clubs had.

Agree that Reed had too much power by the end, I think he started to believe his own hype. Instead of quietly getting on with things in the background, he wanted the accolades and the fame that our system at the time was producing at the time. That's fine, as long as you don't take your eye of the collective, which is what happened in the end. 

[Toussaint]

15 hours ago, sad saints fan said:

and Ings for that matter 

lost interest, no, if you said utterly demoralised you could forgive him, we've barely played a decent ball into the area since....... i can't remember. 

[Teddeer]

Ralph is becoming a bit of an enigma. Is he a top manager or not? It seems to be either feast or famine with nothing in between. I'm sure the two 9-0 defeats weigh heavily on his shoulders and must affect his tactical decisions to the detriment of the team as an attacking force. Is he now afraid to take the risks that could result in another heavy defeat? The longer this barren spell goes on the more people will question his ability to manage the team. Nobody has a divine right to be  exempt from paying the ultimate price for bad results. With the imminent return of a couple of key players it is time for Ralph to re-vitalise his troops and get some much-needed victories. If these don't come over the next group of less arduous fixtures (aside from City away) and we get dumped out of the FA Cup by Bmuff I would expect action to be taken. For now I really hope that Ralph can turn things around because he has shown that he can get us playing well with good results. When the team is on song we fear no opponent yet there is a dangerous fragility to that attitude as we are finding out. Injuries to key players have not helped but this does not fully excuse or explain the current slump.

[Saint86]

We've had a very bad run of tough teams, coupled with terrible injury luck, and frankly atrocious refereeing. Yes. Everyone would like us to be higher and have gotten more results. But sadly all of the above has combined to knock confidence and morale.

But the club were happy with Ralph even if we had gotten relegated last season. We aren't getting relegated this year. He isn't getting sacked. 

He's also on course to take us to Wembley 😜

 

Edited 2 March, 2021 by Saint86

[trousers]

2 hours ago, Forester said:

I think the major divide between fans on this topic is not whether or not people think the football is currently poor and the results are worse.  That is obvious.

 

Instead the divide I think is between people who feel that 2020 was a genuinely outstanding year, with Saints racking up the equivalent of top four points, and therefore see potential in Ralph to again hit heights when he has a fit squad again, and those who don’t either recognise this, don’t believe he is capable of getting the team to rise again and/or doesn’t deserve patience and support.  And I haven’t even mentioned FA Cup quarter final looming.

 

I am firmly in the former camp and find it bizarre that a matter of nine weeks ago no body would question Ralph, and yet suddenly he needs to be sacked.  If you had a couple of poor months at work off the back of high performance I imagine you would hope that your bosses didn’t think you had suddenly become worthy of ditching.

 

I accept that things can’t go on forever, but as an absolute minimum he should be given the next six games, including four fixtures against our relegation rivals and a cup quarter final.  If we lost all of that we would indeed be in a precarious position, probably needing eight points from seven games.  But I don’t think we will.

Pretty much sums up my thoughts 👍

[supersonic]

It's a tricky one, I think Ralph is a good guy, I like the fact he has control over a lot of things that p*ssed off other managers (e.g. Koeman), but i'm genuinely starting to question him now. 

We're nose-diving towards relegation, in reality we will probably stay up, and relatively comfortably, but this run is deeply worrying and i'm not sure if he has it to turn it around.

Yes there are other factors (VAR/Injures/Squad Depth) which are all (mostly) out of his hands, but the style of play and continued perseverance with a system and formation that simply isn't working, is all controlled by him - any my biggest reason for concern.

Only 1 goal scored in the second half the last 14 matches is deeply concerning (JWP freekick v Newcastle)

Our over-reliance on scoring first and then holding on is deeply concerning.

Our seeming inability to crumble at the slightest bit of pressure, is deeply concerning.

The amount of points we throw away from winning positions, is deeply concerning.

Our negative style of football, is deeply concerning.

Our inability to breakdown teams who sit back is deeply concerning

The appalling form of several key players (Bertrand, Redmond, Adams etc) is deeply concerning.

Ralph looks mentally exhausted, as do the players and a few look to have given up on him, which is a worrying sign.

 

[Colwinston Saints]

I think long term this could be the best thing that's ever happened to us. 

 

Ralph was being linked with Chesea and United in November, now he's hopeless. 

 

Get over this run, his stock won't be so high and we still have our Ralph at the helm. 

[Chapel End]

4 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

If we go out of the cup to Boscombe and finish below Fulham,should he be sacked ? 

Answering a question with a question 🙄

[Christophenburg]

Hello SaintsWeb - first time poster, long time observer!

For me, there are two particular issues with Ralph (and the club in general).

The first is that, to a large subsection of the fan base, he is completely above criticism, and they'll contort themselves into oblivion to blame pretty much anything or everything else then be remotely critical of the manager. That's not healthy, and especially not when factors they are blaming - players out of position, team morale, players not motivated to play etc., are his responsibility.

Secondly, he seems to have no back-up plan. Despite Bednarek being exploited heavily at RB against Leeds, Ralph did it again against Everton. As teams start setting up to counteract Ralph's tactics he doesn't make any changes. He's slow to make substitutions. He's slow to mix things up. He seems to favour squad seniority over current performance, or indeed players in natural positions.

Now I'm not saying he should go, I'm not quite sure what the solution is. Changing him might not be the right solution, but a No. 2 that he respects and can challenge him might be.

Yes, as Forester said, 2020 was a great year and he is responsible for that. But there is a third option that Forester doesn't propose. It's entirely possible that it wasn't a blip, and Ralph could have us performing in the same way he did in 2020, but that other teams, other managers, have adapted to neutralise Ralph's tactics when playing Saints. That's where the challenge falls at Ralph's door - can he adapt too? Does he have a Plan B?

He isn't irreplaceable, and even if the club has a long-term vision, there are others managers who play gegenpressing football that could deliver that vision if he left.

[Toadhall Saint]

5 hours ago, Forester said:

I think the major divide between fans on this topic is not whether or not people think the football is currently poor and the results are worse.  That is obvious.

 

Instead the divide I think is between people who feel that 2020 was a genuinely outstanding year, with Saints racking up the equivalent of top four points, and therefore see potential in Ralph to again hit heights when he has a fit squad again, and those who don’t either recognise this, don’t believe he is capable of getting the team to rise again and/or doesn’t deserve patience and support.  And I haven’t even mentioned FA Cup quarter final looming.

 

I am firmly in the former camp and find it bizarre that a matter of nine weeks ago no body would question Ralph, and yet suddenly he needs to be sacked.  If you had a couple of poor months at work off the back of high performance I imagine you would hope that your bosses didn’t think you had suddenly become worthy of ditching.

 

I accept that things can’t go on forever, but as an absolute minimum he should be given the next six games, including four fixtures against our relegation rivals and a cup quarter final.  If we lost all of that we would indeed be in a precarious position, probably needing eight points from seven games.  But I don’t think we will.

👍

[stevy777_x]

You lot are so fucking fickle.

3 months ago Ralph was our best ever manager with us riding high up the table.

All of a sudden we need shot of him and you propose managers who have relegated their teams such as Howe.

In what world do you live in? Seriously go have medical checks over your mental health.

Our poor run has coincided with our worst injury list I can remember in a squad that was already thin before that, referees making outrageous decisions against us.

And fast forward a few defeats later our team is devoid of confidence (your interpretation of playing like utter shit because the manager has lost the plot bla bla bla)

Well fuck me, what do you expect?

It s called being out of form. And what do you want to do as soon as we hit a hurdle? You want to sack the bloody manager? 
You absolute fucking cunts.

You are so short term oriented it i can see your shit sticking out of your arse.

Judge a manager at the end of the season not after a run of 12 games. 
I bet you all the money in the world that once we will get a few get a few wins under our belt (because we will) you will have changed your fucking minds again. It s called modern day fickle spectators, you re not even fans, it is embarassing.

 

 

[Lord Duckhunter]

8 hours ago, Forester said:

If you had a couple of poor months at work off the back of high performance I imagine you would hope that your bosses didn’t think you had suddenly become worthy of ditching.

 

 

You’re acting like the start of last season was nothing to do with Ralph, that he took over in Jan 20.
 

So it’s not a “couple of poor months off the back of high performance “. It’s a fucking awful run, following on from an 11th place finish. Not forgetting 2 record breaking defeats either side of this “high performance”. 
 

Football is not like other jobs, so trying to compare is pointless. What you can compare is jobs in football. I find it baffling that a guy with the record he’s got is feted by so many, it’s like a cult. I don’t want him ditched, yet. But if he losses the quarter final and we end up 15th or 16th, I will. It’s not good enough. 

[Saint_clark]

9 hours ago, Chapel End said:

Who do we get then?

Someone else. He looks a broken man bereft of ideas and if he is unable to turn it around then it's stupid to let our club go down with his career.

Don't tell me he has no other options either. I know the injury list has been horrendous the last few months, but he's still making decisions that are inexcusable.

Redmond playing dire - Tella playing well but the former starts every game and almost always stays on till the end while the latter gets cameo appearances? 

Bednarek being completely out of sorts at right back costing us both defensively and offensively while Ramsey, a highly rated right back who we rate enough to offer him a new deal, sits on the bench? 

Sticking with McCarthy for so long when he was making numerous mistakes and poor attempts at saves when Forster had kept 3 clean sheets in 3 games and looked much improved on his former self?

 

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, Saint_clark said:

Someone else. He looks a broken man bereft of ideas and if he is unable to turn it around then it's stupid to let our club go down with his career.

Don't tell me he has no other options either. I know the injury list has been horrendous the last few months, but he's still making decisions that are inexcusable.

Redmond playing dire - Tella playing well but the former starts every game and almost always stays on till the end while the latter gets cameo appearances? 

Bednarek being completely out of sorts at right back costing us both defensively and offensively while Ramsey, a highly rated right back who we rate enough to offer him a new deal, sits on the bench? 

Sticking with McCarthy for so long when he was making numerous mistakes and poor attempts at saves when Forster had kept 3 clean sheets in 3 games and looked much improved on his former self?

 

Can you show me where he's highly rated, as I'm yet to see anything of the sort. That just strikes of re-writing something to make your point stand out more. 

Lots of very vague points there, truth be told. He's had injuries, we have no squad, the form has dipped as a result and the players are struggling to rediscover form. It hardly requires a complete redesign of the club.

[egg]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Can you show me where he's highly rated, as I'm yet to see anything of the sort. That just strikes of re-writing something to make your point stand out more. 

Lots of very vague points there, truth be told. He's had injuries, we have no squad, the form has dipped as a result and the players are struggling to rediscover form. It hardly requires a complete redesign of the club.

The club just gave him a new 2 year contract. They obviously rate him. 

[Saint_clark]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Can you show me where he's highly rated, as I'm yet to see anything of the sort. That just strikes of re-writing something to make your point stand out more. 

Lots of very vague points there, truth be told. He's had injuries, we have no squad, the form has dipped as a result and the players are struggling to rediscover form. It hardly requires a complete redesign of the club.

I can't be arsed to dig out articles and the like now, but a premier League club offered him a professional contract, that means they believe he is good enough or will be good enough to play in the premier league. This guy is 20 years old, he's not a nipper. When are we going to give our 20 year old youth team graduate chances if not when we have no fit players ahead of him in the system? To the point of completely nullifying out offensive and defensive quality in that position by playing a centreback there. 

I'm not asking for a complete redesign of the club, I don't even really want Ralph to go as I firmly believe he's a good manager, but we can't just blindly stick with him regardless of how it's going, that would be madness. If we don't beat Sheffield United and get knocked out the cup by championship local rivals, after the run we've had and a second 9-0 defeat, it will be very, very hard to see how he survives it. 

I feel for the bloke as like I said he looks completely broken, depressed and like he simply doesn't know what to do. Gone is the Ralph that encouraged the players from the touchline and he's been replaced with someone who wanders up and down with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head with watery eyes. It's sad to see.

[Streaky]

53 minutes ago, stevy777_x said:

You lot are so fucking fickle.

3 months ago Ralph was our best ever manager with us riding high up the table.

All of a sudden we need shot of him and you propose managers who have relegated their teams such as Howe.

In what world do you live in? Seriously go have medical checks over your mental health.

Our poor run has coincided with our worst injury list I can remember in a squad that was already thin before that, referees making outrageous decisions against us.

And fast forward a few defeats later our team is devoid of confidence (your interpretation of playing like utter shit because the manager has lost the plot bla bla bla)

Well fuck me, what do you expect?

It s called being out of form. And what do you want to do as soon as we hit a hurdle? You want to sack the bloody manager? 
You absolute fucking cunts.

You are so short term oriented it i can see your shit sticking out of your arse.

Judge a manager at the end of the season not after a run of 12 games. 
I bet you all the money in the world that once we will get a few get a few wins under our belt (because we will) you will have changed your fucking minds again. It s called modern day fickle spectators, you re not even fans, it is embarassing.

 

 

Would we be fickle when we get relegated this season or next. Two 9-0 defeats, worst ever run without a win. Also the squad is  thin because ralph wanted it that way. Nice language too, lay off the Stella boy.

[stevy777_x]

5 minutes ago, Streaky said:

Would we be fickle when we get relegated this season or next. Two 9-0 defeats, worst ever run without a win. Also the squad is  thin because ralph wanted it that way. Nice language too, lay off the Stella boy.

No he didn’t want it that way.

Its called making sacrifices in certain positions to strengthen others.

Targett sold to finance Adams.

Hojbjerg sold to finance KWP

Reed sold to finance Diallo

Long loaned out to finance loan of Minamino salary wise.

If we had the choice i m sure we wouldn’t say no to squad depth.

But we are so skint with Gao that we can’t do otherwise.

I do agree that loaning out Vokins and Valery was a mistake and given our injury list he probably regrets it now. But the way there are lighting it out at Birmingham and Sunderland suggest that they are far far away from the required level.

[S-Clarke]

38 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I can't be arsed to dig out articles and the like now, but a premier League club offered him a professional contract, that means they believe he is good enough or will be good enough to play in the premier league. This guy is 20 years old, he's not a nipper. When are we going to give our 20 year old youth team graduate chances if not when we have no fit players ahead of him in the system? To the point of completely nullifying out offensive and defensive quality in that position by playing a centreback there. 

I'm not asking for a complete redesign of the club, I don't even really want Ralph to go as I firmly believe he's a good manager, but we can't just blindly stick with him regardless of how it's going, that would be madness. If we don't beat Sheffield United and get knocked out the cup by championship local rivals, after the run we've had and a second 9-0 defeat, it will be very, very hard to see how he survives it. 

I feel for the bloke as like I said he looks completely broken, depressed and like he simply doesn't know what to do. Gone is the Ralph that encouraged the players from the touchline and he's been replaced with someone who wanders up and down with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head with watery eyes. It's sad to see.

I think we're in danger of overanalysing and reading way too much into things, in my opinion. I still see him encouraging and communicating from the touchline, as much as we can see from TV anyway.

Key mistakes he's made, in my eyes - letting Valery and Vokins leave without adequate depth (but we don't know for sure how much of that was his call). Persevering with Bednarek at right back, when he isn't a right back.

I know people keep saying it's excuses, but look at the injuries. We lost KWP, decided not to keep Valery...Ralph seemed to consider Diallo an option at RB due to his speed and agility. What's up with Diallo? Injured. Another option we have to put at right back (right wing back) is JWP. Can we do that? No, because Romeu is now injured so he has to continue in midfield. It really is a bit of a perfect storm at the moment. Compound that with Ings out of form and we are really in a pickle.

That's why I think we're close to over analysing things. It really is quite simple in my eyes, we have no squad, no depth, no experience. When we have a mini injury crisis we will struggle. When we have an injury crisis like this (which ahs run over 3 months) we are in big, big trouble. As soon as we get players back, they're out again as we've had to rush them back. We've also run the core 11 into the ground truth be told. I still think JWP is some sort of cyborg though.

Biggest lesson everyone needs to take from this season is that our squad isn't strong enough. There is no depth. Beyond the first 11 there is nothing and that is not sustainable at this level, so that needs to be addressed. How we can do that is the question. Ideally you'd replace Redmond in the starting 11 with a new player, Redmond drops to the bench. Replace Adams in the first 11, he drops to the bench. It's about evolving the squad now I think, and I hope Ralph is afforded the opportunity to do that.

Edited 2 March, 2021 by S-Clarke

[egg]

36 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I can't be arsed to dig out articles and the like now, but a premier League club offered him a professional contract, that means they believe he is good enough or will be good enough to play in the premier league. This guy is 20 years old, he's not a nipper. When are we going to give our 20 year old youth team graduate chances if not when we have no fit players ahead of him in the system? To the point of completely nullifying out offensive and defensive quality in that position by playing a centreback there. 

I'm not asking for a complete redesign of the club, I don't even really want Ralph to go as I firmly believe he's a good manager, but we can't just blindly stick with him regardless of how it's going, that would be madness. If we don't beat Sheffield United and get knocked out the cup by championship local rivals, after the run we've had and a second 9-0 defeat, it will be very, very hard to see how he survives it. 

I feel for the bloke as like I said he looks completely broken, depressed and like he simply doesn't know what to do. Gone is the Ralph that encouraged the players from the touchline and he's been replaced with someone who wanders up and down with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head with watery eyes. It's sad to see.

Good post. Can't disagree with any of that. 

I like Ralph, a lot, but he's like a punch drunk boxer at the moment. 

If we don't beat Sheffield United, we can't avoid change imo. 

[Dusic]

45 minutes ago, egg said:

The club just gave him a new 2 year contract. They obviously rate him. 

We give loads of young players contracts, it doesnt mean the Manager thinks they are all good enough to play in tough PL games. Part of it is to protect the asset as we might be able to sell him for 500k in future. If he was that highly rated they wouldn't have let his deal run down to less than 6mths left and would have given him 4 or 5 years.

Ramsay played against Man City aged 18 and was poor, understandably.

He then played against Derby in the cup and was poor and didn't play for the first team for two years until the Man Utd game when there was literally nobody else. He was poor.

I get that people want Ralph to change it up, but its pretty obvious that he doesn't think Ramsay is the next TAA and that tallies with his performances when he has played.

PL is ruthless and I can see why the Manager will go to experienced PL players rather than inexperienced players with 4 or 5 pro games to their name - especially if he doesn't especially rate that player.

See also clamour for Jankewitz to play - why would Ralph trust him over a player like Armstrong?

Edited 2 March, 2021 by Dusic

[Teddeer]

9 minutes ago, Dusic said:

We give loads of young players contracts, it doesnt mean the Manager thinks they are all good enough to play in tough PL games. Part of it is to protect the asset as we might be able to sell him for 500k in future. If he was that highly rated they wouldn't have let his deal run down to less than 6mths left and would have given him 4 or 5 years.

Ramsay played against Man City aged 18 and was poor, understandably.

He then played against Derby in the cup and was poor and didn't play for the first team for two years until the Man Utd game when there was literally nobody else. He was poor.

I get that people want Ralph to change it up, but its pretty obvious that he doesn't think Ramsay is the next TAA and that tallies with his performances when he has played.

PL is ruthless and I can see why the Manager will go to experienced PL players rather than inexperienced players with 4 or 5 pro games to their name - especially if he doesn't especially rate that player.

See also clamour for Jankewitz to play - why would Ralph trust him over a player like Armstrong?

Indeed. Just watched Wolves bring on a highly rated young American against City. The first thing he did was try to dribble the ball out of his own penalty area. Needless to say he got swamped by City players, lost the ball and it eventually broke to Mahrez who slammed it into the bottom corner. Lesson learned the hard way.