Ralph Hasenhuttl

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, UpweySaint said:

I do consider myself a bit of an idealist so fully expect many to disagree but my view is one of faith in what Saints under Ralph could be. We've seen glimpses, we know it's there and could be possible. At points under Ralph we've gone toe to toe with the best playing a distinct style and some of the best football I've seen from us since Poch. We were going into games each week actually believing we could pick up results.

 

Ralph has plenty of flaws and his stubbornness can frustrate but I can envision a scenario where we are better than the sum of our parts and punch above our weight rather than just hoping we get to the run in without relegation snapping at our heels. Much the same with Poch he gives genuine hope. While lots of circumstances have conspired against him/us even those of us who back him can acknowledge a more pragmatic manager may have done better in spells. 

 

We will never be able to compete on a level playing field with a significant number of clubs in the league in terms of spending power so we need to gain an advantage in other ways. The club are trying this with a long term approach based on buying in to Ralph's philosophy and it being embedded throughout the club. 

Exactly this, but on your last paragraph the club need to back this philosophy if this is the case. It's self defeating if they continue to commit to this way but don't actually provide the squad needed to sustain it. This is the tough position we're in, so we need to be quite clever in the market - and there have been signs, albeit tiny, that we are a bit better (Diallo/KWP/Salisu are all bought with the philosophy in mind)

Ralph feels a bit like right person wrong time to me. The summer will tell us a lot.

[Billy the Kidd]

13 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

I doubt we will move on that many first teamers in one go, plus who would have them...

Wel, Minimino (and Theo) are on loan so they can go easily.

Bertrands deal would expire. So from my initial list of 8 players, 3 are very easy to move on.

That leaves 5 possibly. I expect he may keep one of Djeneppo/Redmond (think NBathan will make way) and a newly promoted side may pay c. £8-10m for him, maybe a little more.

Jannick and Ings are final year of contract, so again easy to move on.

[Convict Colony]

Decided to review the approach Ralp did with RB and looking at that teams tactics for me I am now convinced Romeu is the key man for our formations success with this current squad.

https://www.getfootballnewsgermany.com/2018/analysis-the-strengths-and-weaknesses-of-rb-leipzig-under-ralph-hasenhuttl/

In that team the "Leipzig field a strange 4-4-2, where one of the central midfielders quickly becomes an attacking midfielder whose sole purpose is to press and operate behind the two attackers. The wingers tend to drift inside often, once again leaving space for the wing backs."  I think we saw this occur when it was JWP and Romeu in the midfield as we had the confidence and Romeu can manage the midfield incase of a break etc, it was a clear relationship you always go forward and I'll hold.  

Since he has been out neither Diallo or JWP are that type of specialist defensive midfielder and as a consequence neither really knows when to go forward and we are caught in this no mans land meaning there is always a midfield part missing when we attack or press. Personally i wouldnt mind seeing Diallo and Romeu matched up as i think Ibra's quickness makes him ideal to be that attacking midfielder.

[UpweySaint]

2 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

Exactly this, but on your last paragraph the club need to back this philosophy if this is the case. It's self defeating if they continue to commit to this way but don't actually provide the squad needed to sustain it. This is the tough position we're in, so we need to be quite clever in the market - and there have been signs, albeit tiny, that we are a bit better (Diallo/KWP/Salisu are all bought with the philosophy in mind)

Ralph feels a bit like right person wrong time to me. The summer will tell us a lot.

Agreed. Diallo has had a few poor games of late but has shown enough to make me think he develop into a really effective box to box type midfielder. Salisu looks very classy. KWP, let's just say Spurs must be wishing they still had him.

 

If Ralph is backed with the right signings in the summer it will very much be put up or shut up.

[JustinSFC]

This season is done.

But even for the most ardent of Ralph fanboys surely the bare minimum expectation now is to finish above fucking Burnley or does he get a pass for that aswell?

[Chapel End]

20 minutes ago, JustinSFC said:

This season is done.

But even for the most ardent of Ralph fanboys surely the bare minimum expectation now is to finish above fucking Burnley or does he get a pass for that aswell?

Ralph fan boys!! Cult of Ralf!!

Top banter this🤣

What hilariously funny stuff will be next?🥱

 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

4 hours ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Yeah, the grinding out stuff is the main piece that is missing for me. I think him making us hard to beat is the next step.

I quite like the way ralph can grow with us as a team, I like the approach, and let's not kid ourselves we are a City or Real. We've been luck with Poch and Koeman, and I think Ralph can and will do far better, starting next season.

Interesting Q for you, how long would you give Ralph nezt season.

Say for example, how many points would you want to see after 10 games?

Others may have better memories but I swear there was a period where we were grinding out wins. I remember thinking how we seemed to have got rid of the old fragility when defending leads.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

4 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

Agreed, need to stop the rot. The thing with Ralph is that it's all about extremes, there's no middle ground. We either play really well and stack up the points and wins as per the start of the season, or we just lose every week. I want to see him capable of getting the odd 1-0 or 0-0's during the bad periods, i.e. just shut up shop and get a result on the board when we're not in a good place. I doubt it would make much difference in terms of our finishing position though over the course of a season though.

In my opinion a new manager probably wouldn't have got this group overachieving as well as they did at the start, so whilst we'd have not had the extreme highs and lows under a different manager, we'd probably still be sat around the same points/position in the table. 

He might well be like Bielsa, who has a history of getting teams playing amazing for much of a season and then falling apart at the end. Leeds might not have got promoted if the season hadn't been paused for Covid.

Oddly Leeds seem to have managed to buck the trend this year

 

Edited 25 April, 2021 by Ex Lion Tamer

[Lord Duckhunter]

27 minutes ago, Chapel End said:

Ralph fan boys!! Cult of Ralf!!

Top banter this🤣

What hilariously funny stuff will be next?🥱

 

Wish it was Bantz... But cult and fan boys sum it up perfectly. How else can you describe the  posters who refuse to look at his record dispassionately , and keep making excuse after excuse for his inability to react to the game in front of him. There’s absolutely no doubt these people don’t judge him as they’ve judged other managers, and if his name was Ralph Higgins they wouldn’t be so generous. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

23 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

He might well be like Bielsa, who has a history of getting teams playing amazing for much of a season and then falling apart at the end. 

 

How do you explain our awful start to last season then? 
 

Maybe he’s just not that good. 

[John B]

6 hours ago, qwertyell said:

I mean, there is a quote function so you can highlight exactly what I "stated" rather than your own misrepresentation.

For the record, I was chiming in a conversation around the hypothetical question "Of the 13 teams above us, which should Hasenhuttl be disappointed not to be higher than?"

I think ten clubs have better squads than us and four have worse

So I would expect us to finish 11 to 16th but as we recently lost to both Villa and Wolves recently 13th to 16th is not an unreasonable place to be at the moment

[Lord Duckhunter]

I doubt there’s many supporters who thought we’d be in the bottom 4 or 5 this season. All of a sudden 16th is ok. However the Ralph cult try to spin it, this season has been a terrible disappointment so far and can’t end soon enough. 

[Chapel End]

29 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Wish it was Bantz... But cult and fan boys sum it up perfectly. How else can you describe the  posters who refuse to look at his record dispassionately , and keep making excuse after excuse for his inability to react to the game in front of him. There’s absolutely no doubt these people don’t judge him as they’ve judged other managers, and if his name was Ralph Higgins they wouldn’t be so generous. 

In your words.... pony

They just see the good and bad not just the shit, try it

[Ex Lion Tamer]

35 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

How do you explain our awful start to last season then? 
 

Maybe he’s just not that good. 

It was because he was trying to play 3 at the back, and couldn't make it work

[Ex Lion Tamer]

12 minutes ago, Chapel End said:

In your words.... pony

They just see the good and bad not just the shit, try it

Exactly. The supposed fanboys are actually the ones who are seeing both sides of things, the good and bad. The real ones wearing blinkers are those who can't acknowledge that he got us playing well for a long period and that this justifies giving him as much time as possible to turn around the current terrible run

[Lord Duckhunter]

47 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Exactly. The supposed fanboys are actually the ones who are seeing both sides of things, the good and bad. 

Pony. They make excuses for the bad. We were fucking woeful at City, they stuffed us whilst in second gear, if you read some of the cult it was a decent performance. The 9-0 was down to the officials, other defeats it was tiredness or injuries. We lose to Spurs and it’s all about how well we played first half, not that we chucked the game away AGAIN. 

You haven’t answered the fundamental point, the cult judge him differently than previous managers. If Mark Hughes had us 11th one season, suffered two 9-0’s, been stuffed countless times and had a run like this, they wouldn’t be sticking up for him or making excuses. 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Pony. They make excuses for the bad. We were fucking woeful at City, they stuffed us whilst in second gear, if you read some of the cult it was a decent performance. The 9-0 was down to the officials, other defeats it was tiredness or injuries. We lose to Spurs and it’s all about how well we played first half, not that we chucked the game away AGAIN. 

You haven’t answered the fundamental point, the cult judge him differently than previous managers. If Mark Hughes had us 11th one season, suffered two 9-0’s, been stuffed countless times and had a run like this, they wouldn’t be sticking up for him or making excuses. 

If Mark Hughes had a specific system and style of play, which had been shown to work wonders both for us and for other clubs in the past, but which didn't seem to work in a compressed season when we suffered from a terrible injury crisis and lack of squad depth, and we were safe from relegation, then I'd absolutely be giving him as long as possible to turn it around.

Don't get me wrong, if we fail to get any more points this season then it will probably be time for Ralph to move on. But if he does I think there's a big chance he will transform another club and we'll be left rueing that we didn't give him more time.

Hughes ground out enough points to save us from relegation but there was never really anything to suggest that he had a vision or a plan that would do anything except have us clogging away at the bottom of the table

[Lord Duckhunter]

8 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

If Mark Hughes had a specific system and style of play, which had been shown to work wonders both for us and for other clubs in the past, but which didn't seem to work in a compressed season when we suffered from a terrible injury crisis and lack of squad depth, 

Again excuses. 
 

It didn’t work at the start of the 2019/20 season. Why is this always overlooked by the cult. It wasn’t a “compressed season” we didn’t have “a terrible injury crises” and as for lack of squad depth, Ralph specifically said he wanted a smaller squad. He got the size of squad he wanted, yet the cult use that as an excuse. Unbelievable. 

Edited 25 April, 2021 by Lord Duckhunter

[sadoldgit]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Wish it was Bantz... But cult and fan boys sum it up perfectly. How else can you describe the  posters who refuse to look at his record dispassionately , and keep making excuse after excuse for his inability to react to the game in front of him. There’s absolutely no doubt these people don’t judge him as they’ve judged other managers, and if his name was Ralph Higgins they wouldn’t be so generous. 

Duckie, why the childish comments? I don’t see any cults or “fan boys” here, just people who are able to see the bigger picture, something you seem incapable of. The club have stood by him. They know him a lot better than any of us and clearly have faith in his ability. Would you call Selena a fan boy or cultist? There are a number of reasons for our poor second half of the season as well you know. Many of the were beyond Ralph’s control. These are not excuses as you would say, these are reasons. Ralph as also made errors, people can see that. Every manager does. Some lose the faith of their Boards, Ralph, so far, still has a job here because people who are paid to make high level decisions think he is worth persevering with. If it bothers you that much, instead of hurling childish insults around on a football forum, why don’t you take the issue up with the Board?

[Lord Duckhunter]

3 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

 There are a number of reasons for our poor second half of the season as well you know. Many of the were beyond Ralph’s control. 

Again excuses.

Again, I’ll ask. What about his first horrendous spell? Were those awful performances beyond his control?

[Ex Lion Tamer]

15 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Again excuses.

Again, I’ll ask. What about his first horrendous spell? Were those awful performances beyond his control?

I literally already explained that to you, do you have memory problems or something? He was trying to play 3 at the back and needed to go back to 4222. Yes he is tactically one dimensional, but that one dimension is really good when it works

[Lord Duckhunter]

7 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

I literally already explained that to you, do you have memory problems or something? 

Frustrating isn’t it.
 

Seeing the same thing over and over and over again.

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

30 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

I literally already explained that to you, do you have memory problems or something? He was trying to play 3 at the back and needed to go back to 4222. Yes he is tactically one dimensional, but that one dimension is really good when it works

Problem is it seemingly doesn't work anymore does it, teams seem to have figured a way to counter it and we haven't adapted at all to this change of circumstances.

We are literally on the worst run of form since we got relegated to League One in 2008/09 (yes I checked). That includes a 9-0 loss - our tied worst result ever (the other also being overseen by Ralph) and a 6 game losing streak which is the worst streak since we've been promoted. In the past 19 games (i.e. half a season) we have only got 12 points. Think we've lost 21 points from winning positions so far this season as well. A poor run of form is fine for a smaller team like us, a run of 15 going on 20 games barely being able to pick up a point is not just poor form it's a sign of a straight up problem with the team setup which falls under the remit of the manager as far as i'm concerned.

For all the criticism the likes of Puel, Hughes or Pellegrino got they never had a run as bad as this. He's also had more time than any of them to put together a squad and implement his tactics and formations. Many of the problems we have - lack of funds, lack of squad depth, injuries, fatigue etc... are all just as applicable to the other bottom half teams so we should at least be competing with them.

As has been pointed out this isn't the first time we've had a poor run under Ralph either - we only got 15 points in our first 17 games last season. You admit yourself he got the tactics wrong then and I think you'd agree he took too long to change it and it looks like now history is repeating. I've said previously i'll wait to the end of the season to give final judgement - he has turned things around previously after all and I don't believe he is a bad manager - but the poor run is already worse than the last one, he's running out of games this season to show he can do it again and from what i've actually seen with my own eyes there's nothing suggesting an improvement in performances is imminent.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

1 minute ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

Problem is it seemingly doesn't work anymore does it, teams seem to have figured a way to counter it and we haven't adapted at all to this change of circumstances.

We are literally on the worst run of form since we got relegated to League One in 2008/09 (yes I checked). That includes a 9-0 loss - our tied worst result ever (the other also being overseen by Ralph) and a 6 game losing streak which is the worst streak since we've been promoted. In the past 19 games (i.e. half a season) we have only got 12 points. Think we've lost 21 points from winning positions so far this season as well. A poor run of form is fine for a smaller team like us, a run of 15 going on 20 games barely being able to pick up a point is not just poor form it's a sign of a straight up problem with the team setup which falls under the remit of the manager as far as i'm concerned.

For all the criticism the likes of Puel, Hughes or Pellegrino got they never had a run as bad as this. He's also had more time than any of them to put together a squad and implement his tactics and formations. Many of the problems we have - lack of funds, lack of squad depth, injuries, fatigue etc... are all just as applicable to the other bottom half teams so we should at least be competing with them.

As has been pointed out this isn't the first time we've had a poor run under Ralph either - we only got 15 points in our first 17 games last season. You admit yourself he got the tactics wrong then and I think you'd agree he took too long to change it and it looks like now history is repeating. I've said previously i'll wait to the end of the season to give final judgement - he has turned things around previously after all and I don't believe he is a bad manager - but the poor run is already worse than the last one, he's running out of games this season to show he can do it again and from what i've actually seen with my own eyes there's nothing suggesting an improvement in performances is imminent.

We don't actually disagree that much. We're on a terrible run and I was expecting results to pick up when we had our fullbacks back. I do still feel that with some squad additions in the summer he could turn it around and make his system work again, but he's got to show something in the remainder of this season. It's just too risky to get rid before we have to, given how brilliant 2020 was

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

17 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

We don't actually disagree that much. We're on a terrible run and I was expecting results to pick up when we had our fullbacks back. I do still feel that with some squad additions in the summer he could turn it around and make his system work again, but he's got to show something in the remainder of this season. It's just too risky to get rid before we have to, given how brilliant 2020 was

Maybe, I just feel that when you look at how well we performed the second half of last season and the first half of this season compared to current form - the tactics are the same, the players are the same and the manager is the same so what has changed? How other teams play against us. Changing players may improve us a little but I think the tactics are what really needs a tweak. Having said that having a left back that can regularly overlap rather than have to rely so heavily on play down our right side would certainly help as I think we are incredibly lopsided at the moment with KWP and Armstrong on the right looking significantly better than Bertrand and Redmond/Djenepo/Tella on the left.

[SKD]

1 hour ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Yes he is tactically one dimensional, but that one dimension is really good when it works

When we score more than the other team we win. 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

5 minutes ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

Maybe, I just feel that when you look at how well we performed the second half of last season and the first half of this season compared to current form - the tactics are the same, the players are the same and the manager is the same so what has changed? How other teams play against us. Changing players may improve us a little but I think the tactics are what really needs a tweak. Having said that having a left back that can regularly overlap rather than have to rely so heavily on play down our right side would certainly help as I think we are incredibly lopsided at the moment with KWP and Armstrong on the right looking significantly better than Bertrand and Redmond/Djenepo/Tella on the left.

I agree that it could be that other teams have worked us out, which is why he will have to go if results don't improve. But it could also be that he needs Romeu back and a decent attacking left back. The run of games without a proper RB may also have hurt our confidence and we need time to get it back.

Given the amount of doubt, I think we need to stick as long as possible rather than lose someone who gave us the best spell of football since Koeman and who could possibly do it again

Edited 25 April, 2021 by Ex Lion Tamer

[Charlie Wayman]

33 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

We don't actually disagree that much. We're on a terrible run and I was expecting results to pick up when we had our fullbacks back. I do still feel that with some squad additions in the summer he could turn it around and make his system work again, but he's got to show something in the remainder of this season. It's just too risky to get rid before we have to, given how brilliant 2020 was

I do not agree. It is just as risky to entrust him with our very limited resources to bring in new players that make no impact at all and we end up exactly where we are now.

His picks have not covered themselves in glory so far.

Give what money we do have to a new coaching team, they cannot possible do worse than our current level of performance.

Edited 25 April, 2021 by Charlie Wayman

[Ex Lion Tamer]

9 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

I do not agree. It is just as risky to entrust him with our very limited resources to bring in new players that make no impact at all and we end up exactly where we are now.

His picks have not covered themselves in glory so far.

Give what money we do have to a new coaching team, they cannot possible do worse than our current level of performance.

Well the transfer window doesn't open until the summer, but to be honest I think his recruitment has been good, within our financial constraints

[Ted Bates Statue]

6 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

I agree that it could be that other teams have worked us out, which is why he will have to go if results don't improve. But it could also be that he needs Romeu back and a decent attacking full back. The run of games without a proper RB may also have hurt our confidence and we need time to get it back.

Given the amount of doubt, I think we need to stick as long as possible rather than losing someone who gave us the best football since Koeman

Agreed. Even under Koeman we had the odd poor spell, and with a stronger group. The difference is that with Koeman and Hasenhuttl we also had extended excellent runs of good form, whereas Puel, Pellegrino and Hughes would bob along with the occasional win to stave off the inevitable.

On that basis I'd give Hasenhuttl a dozen games to show we've had a reset to this season, and if he doesn't succeed, then I'm sure we can fulfil the needs of the ever-growing, increasingly baying mob and get BFS or Marco Silva or whatever imaginary chump saviour happens to be available meet the requirements of the black box around Halloween as we slide further down the table.

[Lord Duckhunter]

56 minutes ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

Problem is it seemingly doesn't work anymore does it, teams seem to have figured a way to counter it and we haven't adapted at all to this change of circumstances.

We are literally on the worst run of form since we got relegated to League One in 2008/09 (yes I checked). That includes a 9-0 loss - our tied worst result ever (the other also being overseen by Ralph) and a 6 game losing streak which is the worst streak since we've been promoted. In the past 19 games (i.e. half a season) we have only got 12 points. Think we've lost 21 points from winning positions so far this season as well. A poor run of form is fine for a smaller team like us, a run of 15 going on 20 games barely being able to pick up a point is not just poor form it's a sign of a straight up problem with the team setup which falls under the remit of the manager as far as i'm concerned.

For all the criticism the likes of Puel, Hughes or Pellegrino got they never had a run as bad as this. He's also had more time than any of them to put together a squad and implement his tactics and formations. Many of the problems we have - lack of funds, lack of squad depth, injuries, fatigue etc... are all just as applicable to the other bottom half teams so we should at least be competing with them.

As has been pointed out this isn't the first time we've had a poor run under Ralph either - we only got 15 points in our first 17 games last season. You admit yourself he got the tactics wrong then and I think you'd agree he took too long to change it and it looks like now history is repeating. I've said previously i'll wait to the end of the season to give final judgement - he has turned things around previously after all and I don't believe he is a bad manager - but the poor run is already worse than the last one, he's running out of games this season to show he can do it again and from what i've actually seen with my own eyes there's nothing suggesting an improvement in performances is imminent.

Good post, really good. 
 

He also seems to employ a game plan of substitute by numbers, rarely surprising anyone with the timings or personnel. 
 

For an alleged good man manager his use of the goalkeepers is bizarre, it wouldn’t surprise me if both were wondering what the hell is going on and both were suffering because of it. He also dropped Che recently when his confidence must of been sky high and he’s accountable for the complete loss of confidence that Bednarek is suffering from. 
 

I question making Prowse skipper, as it smacks of wanting a yes man in the role. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

9 minutes ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

The difference is that with Koeman and Hasenhuttl we also had extended excellent runs of good form, whereas Puel, Pellegrino and Hughes would bob along with the occasional win to stave off the inevitable.

 

What a load of pony. Puel did a far far better job than that. 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

15 minutes ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

Agreed. Even under Koeman we had the odd poor spell, and with a stronger group. The difference is that with Koeman and Hasenhuttl we also had extended excellent runs of good form, whereas Puel, Pellegrino and Hughes would bob along with the occasional win to stave off the inevitable.

On that basis I'd give Hasenhuttl a dozen games to show we've had a reset to this season, and if he doesn't succeed, then I'm sure we can fulfil the needs of the ever-growing, increasingly baying mob and get BFS or Marco Silva or whatever imaginary chump saviour happens to be available meet the requirements of the black box around Halloween as we slide further down the table.

This is where I'm torn because I'd like to give Ralph the start of next season with a fresh squad, but this run of form is testing even my patience and I wonder if we'll get a better manager in the summer then if we wait until mid season

[SKD]

1 hour ago, Diabolus Ex Machina said:

Problem is it seemingly doesn't work anymore does it, teams seem to have figured a way to counter it and we haven't adapted at all to this change of circumstances.

We are literally on the worst run of form since we got relegated to League One in 2008/09 (yes I checked). That includes a 9-0 loss - our tied worst result ever (the other also being overseen by Ralph) and a 6 game losing streak which is the worst streak since we've been promoted. In the past 19 games (i.e. half a season) we have only got 12 points. Think we've lost 21 points from winning positions so far this season as well. A poor run of form is fine for a smaller team like us, a run of 15 going on 20 games barely being able to pick up a point is not just poor form it's a sign of a straight up problem with the team setup which falls under the remit of the manager as far as i'm concerned.

For all the criticism the likes of Puel, Hughes or Pellegrino got they never had a run as bad as this. He's also had more time than any of them to put together a squad and implement his tactics and formations. Many of the problems we have - lack of funds, lack of squad depth, injuries, fatigue etc... are all just as applicable to the other bottom half teams so we should at least be competing with them.

As has been pointed out this isn't the first time we've had a poor run under Ralph either - we only got 15 points in our first 17 games last season. You admit yourself he got the tactics wrong then and I think you'd agree he took too long to change it and it looks like now history is repeating. I've said previously i'll wait to the end of the season to give final judgement - he has turned things around previously after all and I don't believe he is a bad manager - but the poor run is already worse than the last one, he's running out of games this season to show he can do it again and from what i've actually seen with my own eyes there's nothing suggesting an improvement in performances is imminent.

Spot on mate 👍🏻

[Ted Bates Statue]

4 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

What a load of pony. Puel did a far far better job than that. 

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Once Gabbiadini signed, we looked like a different side, like we could beat anyone.

Unfortunately we didn't win the League Cup Final, and apart from that our best run of form meant getting two wins in a row, twice. 

4 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

This is where I'm torn because I'd like to give Ralph the start of next season with a fresh squad, but this run of form is testing even my patience and I wonder if we'll get a better manager in the summer then if we wait until mid season

If we can get someone better, great, but I'd be keen to know who. I would probably accept BFS by that point as I'm pretty sure he will be available with West Brom getting close but no cigar (They hired him way too late - as I write, Villa equalise 😂). What stops me from losing my patience with Hasenhuttl just yet is that every side, without exceptions has had the occasional dip in form this season which is surely related to Covid. Of course it's up to us to be at the top end rather than where we are, but I'd like to see him have a go, and get to November before we decide on the axe.

[aintforever]

I would wait until the end of the season to judge, if we finish with some decent results he’s worth another shot next season IMO. It has been a freak season.

[Lord Duckhunter]

2 minutes ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

What stops me from losing my patience with Hasenhuttl just yet is that every side, without exceptions has had the occasional dip in form this season which is surely related to Covid. 

Is Covid worse in Southampton? 

[SKD]

4 minutes ago, aintforever said:

I would wait until the end of the season to judge, if we finish with some decent results he’s worth another shot next season IMO. It has been a freak season.

Absolutely nothing to suggest that we’ll Have a couple of good results 

[Lord Duckhunter]

On 25/10/2019 at 20:51, aintforever said:

**** it, sack the c*nt. This is embarrassing.

 

On 25/10/2019 at 21:55, aintforever said:

**** off back to Germany Ralph you c*nt.

 

7 minutes ago, aintforever said:

I would wait until the end of the season to judge, if we finish with some decent results he’s worth another shot next season IMO. It has been a freak season.

Lol, consistent as ever. 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

10 minutes ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Once Gabbiadini signed, we looked like a different side, like we could beat anyone.

Unfortunately we didn't win the League Cup Final, and apart from that our best run of form meant getting two wins in a row, twice. 

If we can get someone better, great, but I'd be keen to know who. I would probably accept BFS by that point as I'm pretty sure he will be available with West Brom getting close but no cigar (They hired him way too late - as I write, Villa equalise 😂). What stops me from losing my patience with Hasenhuttl just yet is that every side, without exceptions has had the occasional dip in form this season which is surely related to Covid. Of course it's up to us to be at the top end rather than where we are, but I'd like to see him have a go, and get to November before we decide on the axe.

It all depends if the club have scouted a great manager that we've never heard of. If they have, that might influence their decision

[supersonic]

To put things into perspective, Villa, who have nothing to play for, have had more shots on target in the 4 mins stoppage time in today's game v WBA (2) than we managed to muster in the last 20 mins v WBA, the whole of the Semi Final and the last 25 mins v Spurs combined (1).

And yet the manager continues to play the same style of football that clearly isn't working and people think he isn't the problem....

[Diabolus Ex Machina]

13 minutes ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Once Gabbiadini signed, we looked like a different side, like we could beat anyone.

Unfortunately we didn't win the League Cup Final, and apart from that our best run of form meant getting two wins in a row, twice. 

If we can get someone better, great, but I'd be keen to know who. I would probably accept BFS by that point as I'm pretty sure he will be available with West Brom getting close but no cigar (They hired him way too late - as I write, Villa equalise 😂). What stops me from losing my patience with Hasenhuttl just yet is that every side, without exceptions has had the occasional dip in form this season which is surely related to Covid. Of course it's up to us to be at the top end rather than where we are, but I'd like to see him have a go, and get to November before we decide on the axe.

To be fair to Puel he had to deal with a squad that had just lost it's top two scorers in Mane and Pelle and it's midfield defensive rock in Wanyama. This was followed by Fonte going in January and Van Dijk being injured practically the day Fonte left and being out the rest of the season. He still got us to 8th and while not on a lot of points showed he was at least performing at the level of the teams around us.

Again though there is a difference between saying a 'dip in form' and talking about runs of results that haven't been seen since we were relegated from the Championship to League One. People seem to be underestimating just how historically poor this run is and I see it getting worse after our next 2 games against Leicester and Liverpool.

I want Ralph to turn it around I really do, seems like a good bloke and the players still seem to be behind him but the longer it goes on the less faith I have in him. It's just too long a run to put down to outside factors or just bad luck for me and he's had time during this run to try and stop the rot but it just hasn't happened. I dread to think how things would be if we hadn't managed to come back from 2 down against Burnley.

[Billy the Kidd]

1 minute ago, supersonic said:

To put things into perspective, Villa, who have nothing to play for, have had more shots on target in the 4 mins stoppage time in today's game v WBA (2) than we managed to muster in the last 20 mins v WBA, the whole of the Semi Final and the last 25 mins v Spurs combined (1).

And yet the manager continues to play the same style of football that clearly isn't working and people think he isn't the problem....

I don’t recall many people saying Ralph is blameless, far from it, but other people have a view that things can improve under him. Lots of people, me included say there are major concerns, but prefer to wait it out.

And as said many times before, if it keeps up the way it is, I’d be thinking about changing him. Just others aren’t at your point of thinking, yet.

What if we get to 20 games into next season, and we are in the top 8 in the league. Will you want him gone then?

[supersonic]

45 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

I don’t recall many people saying Ralph is blameless, far from it, but other people have a view that things can improve under him. Lots of people, me included say there are major concerns, but prefer to wait it out.

And as said many times before, if it keeps up the way it is, I’d be thinking about changing him. Just others aren’t at your point of thinking, yet.

What if we get to 20 games into next season, and we are in the top 8 in the league. Will you want him gone then?

What if, what if. That's all you offer and it's boring.

 

We've been the worst team in the league at pretty much every statistic for the past 6 months and you seem to think somehow things are going to change when the manager sticks to the same style of play. 😴

[Lord Duckhunter]

49 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

 

What if we get to 20 games into next season, and we are in the top 8 in the league. Will you want him gone then?

You’d think not, but I guess it depends how he conducts interviews and of course the famous measure of , how many points he’s got. Is it a good 8th or a bad 8th. 
 

 

[aintforever]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

 

 

Lol, consistent as ever. 

Quoting me after a 9-0 defeat, brilliant.

[egg]

7 minutes ago, supersonic said:

What if, what if. That's all you offer and it's boring.

 

We've been the worst team in the league at pretty much every statistic for the past 6 months and you seem to think somehow things are going to change when the manager sticks to the same style of play. 😴

Yep. I really can't fathom what people think Ralph is a capable of doing to suddenly start getting results. There's been loads of posts on this thread over teh last couple of days from people saying give Ralph time, and unless I've overlooked it, not one person has said what they think will change. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

7 minutes ago, supersonic said:

 

We've been the worst team in the league at pretty much every statistic for the past 6 months and you seem to think somehow things are going to change when the manager sticks to the same style of play. 😴

This is it in a nutshell. 
 

That’s see how the season pans out before deciding whether he should go. However, I really can’t see anything changing. You can’t give players heart, he seems incapable of changing course and sides aren’t suddenly going to forget how to counter his tactics. We read that his finger prints are all over the club, that his style is imposed on all our sides, if that’s the case then results in the lower age groups damn him as well. 

[egg]

5 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

You’d think not, but I guess it depends how he conducts interviews and of course the famous measure of , how many points he’s got. Is it a good 8th or a bad 8th. 
 

 

If it's a Puel 8th, he's a dead man walking. If it's a Poch 8th, he'll deserve a Knighthood. 

[SKD]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

Yep. I really can't fathom what people think Ralph is a capable of doing to suddenly start getting results. There's been loads of posts on this thread over teh last couple of days from people saying give Ralph time, and unless I've overlooked it, not one person has said what they think will change. 

And this is the issue. I think everyone likes Ralph, but he’s trying to play a style and system that doesn’t suit our players and isn’t willing to change.