Ralph Hasenhuttl

[egg]

2 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

So unlifelike. And my fans have never once questioned the lack of bog roll in the toilets. Sort it out MLG! 😀

Kids computer games aren't what they used to be. In "theme Park" back in the day you could put extra salt on the chips to make the punters buy extra soft drinks, which you could water down to make more profit. 35 years later you'd have thought they'd have 1, 2 or 3 ply bog roll option in the toilets, and bungs to agents etc to add a bit of reality. 

[The Left Back]

6 hours ago, Red said:

Ok bit of balance/sanity check here - firstly I said I'm not calling for his head, just that I would not be overly upset if he went. Secondly just 4 games ago most on here were calling for his head, and whilst we have done well in said 4 games it is not convincing IMHO. Yes football is a fickle game but in all honesty are we much improved in the last 3 years since Ralph has been in charge? Maybe we are getting there and I would be more than happy to be proven wrong but I'm not sure he's found the secret sauce as yet (appreciate he saved us in his first year but I'm talking about progression since then).

Yes we might get someone a lot worse and get relegated but who dares wins. Oh and yes Pahars was tongue in cheek but would be a great story if he turned out to have been a great emerging manager and returned to us - remember reading an article where he said he loved his time with us and hoped to return in some capacity in the future.

Again, I am not anti Ralph, it's just that I don't think he is the best thing since sliced bread despite our last 4 games 

I'm surprised this thread has still got any momentum.  But seeing as it has I'm feeling the need to counter the so-called 'balance/sanity check' put forward by @Red.

You say you are not calling for his head - but then you say who dares wins.  So I think if it was down to you, and thankfully it is not, Ralph would be gone.  It's ok to admit it.

You say 4 games ago 'most on here were calling for his head'.  If you look back to before four matches ago (about page 84-88 I think) you will see that relatively few on here were calling for his head.  And most of those were people who were have been calling for his head like some sort of hobby on and off for most of his tenure.

You ask if we have improved since Ralph joined in a way that suggests you don't think we have.  Everyone is entitled to an opinion.  Mine is more aligned with @stevy777_xabove.  I accept we've had a very unusual ride over the three years (going top, getting thrashed x2, struggling on long poor runs, going on good runs) so it's hard to know but it just feels to me like we have.

There is no secret sauce.  It's hard work, skill, inspiration, perspiration, innovation, resilience and luck.

You say Pahars would be a great story.  But why?  MLT, Benali, Dodd, Case, all loved their time here and would make a great story.  Is that really the criteria you want to use?  

I agree with you that Ralph is not the best thing since sliced bread.  I don't see many on here who do say that.  I just happen to believe that it would be madness to get rid of him now, at this stage of the season, especially on the basis that "who dares wins" and "it would be a great story"

[Greenridge]

6 hours ago, Red said:

Ok bit of balance/sanity check here - firstly I said I'm not calling for his head, just that I would not be overly upset if he went. Secondly just 4 games ago most on here were calling for his head,

No they weren't. Some is not most.

[TWar]

I'll confirm, I have never called for Ralph's head. 

4 games ago most sensible posters were pointing to our difficult schedule and our good performances and taking points off big sides like city, United and west ham, as evidence we were soon to turn it around. There was even a thread to this extent called "the season starts now" 

[once_bitterne]

12 hours ago, Turkish said:

Anyone know what Dave the builder makes of all these stories?

Pompey v Harrogate in the Cup then.  You going Dickie?

[Turkish]

25 minutes ago, once_bitterne said:

Pompey v Harrogate in the Cup then.  You going Dickie?

Dont worry about what im doing Bradley

[TWar]

Seeing that Villa are going for Gerrard. Would be happy to see that go through as this whole thing is giving me Koeman to Everton flashbacks!

Gerrard is a strange choice imo. Doing well at Rangers but his first job in a top league being to turn around a slumping Villa who could be in danger of relegation feels risky! I'd have kept Smith to the end of the season and seen where they were after that as I think he would have been better at keeping them up than someone as inexperienced as Gerrard. Then maybe give it to Gerrard in the summer with a big budget to build his squad. We'll see what happens though!

[once_bitterne]

54 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Dont worry about what im doing Bradley

The Maze Hill Mauler moves in mysterious ways, yes?

[CB Fry]

56 minutes ago, TWar said:

Seeing that Villa are going for Gerrard. Would be happy to see that go through as this whole thing is giving me Koeman to Everton flashbacks!

Gerrard is a strange choice imo. Doing well at Rangers but his first job in a top league being to turn around a slumping Villa who could be in danger of relegation feels risky! I'd have kept Smith to the end of the season and seen where they were after that as I think he would have been better at keeping them up than someone as inexperienced as Gerrard. Then maybe give it to Gerrard in the summer with a big budget to build his squad. We'll see what happens though!

Gerrard being appalling at Aston Villa seems so starkly obvious to me.

Achieving at Rangers don't mean shit. 

Maybe he'll prove me wrong. But he won't, he'll be terrible. Haven't they suffered enough with Tim Sherwood? Actually what do I care, that's a club who can take up valuable space in the bottom six.

[cloggy saint]

Success with Rangers in a Mickey Mouse league isn't that impressive but they've had some decent results in Europe. I think it's a lazy assumption to say he'd be terrible at Villa. Most said Vieira would sink at Palace but he's doing a decent job.

[Charlie Wayman]

2 hours ago, adriansfc said:

Funny seeing comments like "people called for Ralph's head now they want him to stay". Surely there's always some fans who don't like a manager? Just saying "people" is meaningless. I imagine the fan base was majority behind Ralph. Even at moments of greatest frustration with him I couldn't see us getting anyone better. And I have no doubts we'd be top half if we weren't relying on Redmond/Moi/Walcott/Djenepo. 

Just seen him linked with Norwich. That's a weird one. Want a demotion Ralph? Just really keen to live in East Anglia?

Hopefully Villa go for Gerrard. And hopefully that's a Lampard style disaster. Not going to read much into success in Scotland, let alone at a time when Celtic have gone downhill so badly. Not a huge fan of the big player as manager appointments, especially when it's cunts like Gerrard, Lampard, Terry. The only one I'd go for if Ralph left would be Pirlo. Just because that style of player who could dictate games from deep showed far more intelligence. One poor season at Juventus with players that didn't fit his system and everyone looking to pass to Ronaldo shouldn't write him off. He needs a longer term project and really interested to see how he gets on next job. Same with Xavi, I've more faith he'll do well as he's probably the most intelligent player I've ever seen play live. But they're rare exceptions. Most former top players make terrible managers. 

Don't fall for that old chestnut, it's naive mind games to try to unsettle Saints who surprise, surprise are their next opponents.

Ralph is rock solid with Saints, he isn't going anywhere for quite a while yet!

[rooney]

Ralph would not go to a club that is likely to be relegated again with a bunch of players he does not know. Especially, at last, he has his own team together at Saints and is waiting for take off.

[Snopper]

I wish he would just come out with it, say he`s flattered by the rumours but has no intention of leaving Southampton as he`s very happy here.  (Maybe he already has?)

[TWar]

18 minutes ago, Snopper said:

I wish he would just come out with it, say he`s flattered by the rumours but has no intention of leaving Southampton as he`s very happy here.  (Maybe he already has?)

The official twitter just put out "Boss ❤️" which is probably the closest you will get. They don't tend to rule things out like that. If he does go though, that's a very silly tweet.

[Sheaf Saint]

23 minutes ago, Snopper said:

I wish he would just come out with it, say he`s flattered by the rumours but has no intention of leaving Southampton as he`s very happy here.  (Maybe he already has?)

Or maybe the idea is just so laughable he doesn't feel the need to waste his time doing that.

Edited 9 November, 2021 by Sheaf Saint

[Dman]

51 minutes ago, rooney said:

Ralph would not go to a club that is likely to be relegated again with a bunch of players he does not know. Especially, at last, he has his own team together at Saints and is waiting for take off.

Norwich is clearly a non starter. However, Villa on the other hand would be a really, really appealing job for a lot of managers, including ours id imagine. 

Talk of them being a backwards step is foolish and to be honest, they’d probably be a step up from us.

Theyve got the fundamentals of being a really good team with an ‘ambitious’/wealthy owner, so whoever comes in will be backed in the transfer market.

In Ings, Watkins, Bunedia & Bailey (yes I know they weren’t very good against us on Friday) they have a very, very good front 4 with a top class keeper in Martinez and players like Konza, mings (no doubt people on here won’t like this, but he’s an England international) and McGin who are more than capable premier league players. 

Imo they’re a little short at full back and CM but with a little investment, they could easily have a top 10 team without having to do a great deal. 

The only thing we can really offer Ralph is job security no matter results, as shown. I’m not sure how much of a factor this would play though, as any manager going in would back themselves to succeed. 

However, after 3 years, he must be looking at how much further he can take us without any real investment. 

Long and short, unless he knows something we don’t about a potential ownership change, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s looking at jobs like villa and thinking it would be a better option for him. 

FWIW, I think he’d do a decent job there and would be a top candidate if I was within the villa hierarchy. 

Edited 9 November, 2021 by Dman

[Snopper]

6 minutes ago, TWar said:

The official twitter just put out "Boss ❤️" which is probably the closest you will get. They don't tend to rule things out like that. If he does go though, that's a very silly tweet.

Thanks for that - I don`t do Twitter though.

 

[TWar]

8 minutes ago, Dman said:

Norwich is clearly a non starter. However, Villa on the other hand would be a really, really appealing job for a lot of managers, including ours id imagine. 

Talk of them being a backwards step is foolish and to be honest, they’d probably be a step up from us.

Theyve got the fundamentals of being a really good team with an ‘ambitious’/wealthy owner, so whoever comes in will be backed in the transfer market.

In Ings, Watkins, Bunedia & Bailey (yes I know they weren’t very good against us on Friday) they have a very, very good front 4 with a top class keeper in Martinez and players like Konza, mings (no doubt people on here won’t like this, but he’s an England international) and McGin who are more than capable premier league players. 

Imo they’re a little short at full back and CM but with a little investment, they could easily have a top 10 team without having to do a great deal. 

The only thing we can really offer Ralph is job security no matter results, as shown. I’m not sure how much of a factor this would play though, as any manager going in would back themselves to succeed. 

However, after 3 years, he must be looking at how much further he can take us without any real investment. 

Long and short, unless he knows something we don’t about a potential ownership change, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s looking at jobs like villa and thinking it would be a better option for him. 

FWIW, I think he’d do a decent job there and would be a top candidate if I was within the villa hierarchy. 

Villa are wank, Buendia is no better than Stu, Ings is crocked, Watkins was carried by Grealish, Bailly we will see but is lazy as all hell in defence.

Their midfield needs a complete overhaul, not a single player is top half level. Mings is wank.

Villa spent a lot when coming up when their squad was shit, like Fulham did when they came up. The summer after, as they realised that the squad they had was relegation level (should have gone down if goal line tech worked), they spent a bunch again. Two spends like that just to get to midtable 11th. This year they had a positive net spend, has the money run out or do the owners feel the season they sell their only top player is the one to tighten the purse strings? Either way I don't like their chances. 

Bad team, only going one way for me. Ralph would be a fool to take it.

Edited 9 November, 2021 by TWar

[Dellman]

4 minutes ago, Dman said:

Norwich is clearly a non starter. However, Villa on the other hand would be a really, really appealing job for a lot of managers, including ours id imagine. 

Talk of them being a backwards step is foolish and to be honest, they’d probably be a step up from us.

Theyve got the fundamentals of being a really good team with an ‘ambitious’/wealthy owner, so whoever comes in will be backed in the transfer market.

In Ings, Watkins, Bunedia & Bailey (yes I know they weren’t very good against us on Friday) they have a very, very good front 4 with a top class keeper in Martinez and players like Konza, mings (no doubt people on here won’t like this, but he’s an England international) and McGin who are more than capable premier league players. 

Imo they’re a little short at full back and CM but with a little investment, they could easily have a top 10 team without having to do a great deal. 

The only thing we can really offer Ralph is job security no matter results, as shown. I’m not sure how much of a factor this would play though, as any manager going in would back themselves to succeed. 

However, after 3 years, he must be looking at how much further he can take us without any real investment. 

Long and short, unless he knows something we don’t about a potential ownership change, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s looking at jobs like villa and thinking it would be a better option for him. 

FWIW, I think he’d do a decent job there and would be a top candidate if I was within the villa hierarchy. 

I think (and hope) that Ralph likes the idea of living on a shoe string. It makes the Club buy young and cheap and gives the manager the job of coaching and improving youngsters. That's what he likes and does well, the idea of buying big and coping with egos to match doesn't appeal to him. That's my impression and that's why I think he is pleased to have Crocker on board with the same plan. He'll stay-- in spite of so many of our own fans rubbishing him.

[Snopper]

3 minutes ago, Dellman said:

I think (and hope) that Ralph likes the idea of living on a shoe string. It makes the Club buy young and cheap and gives the manager the job of coaching and improving youngsters. That's what he likes and does well, the idea of buying big and coping with egos to match doesn't appeal to him. That's my impression and that's why I think he is pleased to have Crocker on board with the same plan. He'll stay-- in spite of so many of our own fans rubbishing him.

Agreed.   There`s a word that seems out of place in football - commitment - but in my 82 years old naivete I would like to think that Ralph will show the commitment to the club that the club has showed to him over `difficult times.`   Besides which I wonder if his application to join that posh golf club down Wimborne way has been approved yet.  If it has, it could be a game changer.

[saint1977]

33 minutes ago, TWar said:

Villa are wank, Buendia is no better than Stu, Ings is crocked, Watkins was carried by Grealish, Bailly we will see but is lazy as all hell in defence.

Their midfield needs a complete overhaul, not a single player is top half level. Mings is wank.

Villa spent a lot when coming up when their squad was shit, like Fulham did when they came up. They doubled down last summer, but this year they had a positive net spend. 

Bad team, only going one way for me. Ralph would be a fool to take it.

I think there’s a middle ground between SKD’s over-optimistic view and this one of Villa’s squad. Buendia and Martinez are the star assets for me, and Buendia is clearly better than Stu, much as I rate Stu. Their midfield is clearly inferior to Saints hence the noise about JWP but they would need more than that. Luiz is decent but they are limited there.

Ings is a good short term fix for this season, possibly the next with a fair wind. They won’t get relegated with his dozen goals or so if he is fit enough to play 20-25 games but that’s a big FFP drain into his 30s for 4 years on the spreadsheet for the new manager to work around. Watkins has good raw materials and potential, seen a lot of him earlier in his career but not getting a lot of service. Bailey is showing why the top clubs didn’t buy him. Could turn into a Mane yet but Sadio works a lot harder than that. Cash got run over by KWP and Ely, Villa improved when Bailey went off. 

They will give the manager money but he needs a striker - you have to be looking at Danny as a squad option past 18 months, 2 starting CMs, a LB (£17m for Targett was a good sale), RB competition and a couple of CBs. Mings is better than he is showing but his distribution would cause much angst on match day threads here. Hause and Konsa have looked clumsy so at least one new starting CB. Won’t get much change out of £125-150m for that lot and unlikely as a net figure without some sales as well, assuming they haven’t spent all the £100m from Grealish. 

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 November, 2021 by saint1977

[Dman]

17 minutes ago, TWar said:

Villa are wank, Buendia is no better than Stu, Ings is crocked, Watkins was carried by Grealish, Bailly we will see but is lazy as all hell in defence.

Their midfield needs a complete overhaul, not a single player is top half level. Mings is wank.

Villa spent a lot when coming up when their squad was shit, like Fulham did when they came up. The summer after, as they realised that the squad they had was relegation level (should have gone down if goal line tech worked), they spent a bunch again. Two spends like that just to get to midtable 11th. This year they had a positive net spend, has the money run out or do the owners feel the season they sell their only top player is the one to tighten the purse strings? Either way I don't like their chances. 

Bad team, only going one way for me. Ralph would be a fool to take it.

Pointless trying to have a well balanced, reasonable debate when people post biased Drivel like this. 
 

Buendia is significantly better than S Armstrong. McGin is arguably better than Armstrong, let alone Buendia, who is a very, very good player. I know you like your stats, In his last full season in the premier league, he created more chances than Grealish. 4th overall and that was for a very poor Norwich side. 
 

The midField does not need A ‘complete overhaul’. They’re a little light, I agree but 1 maybe 2 players maximum isn’t a complete overhaul. 
 

Mings isn’t the best CB (he’s a very good organiser though; something we miss), but he’s at least on par (imo an improvement) on Stephens and Bednerak. Salisu clearly being the stand out for both teams. 
 

Not many, other than a few happy clapping idiots would see Villa as foolish move from us. At the very least, he’ll get a pay rise and be in the same position as us. 
 

As I said, unless he knows something we don’t, there’s not a great deal more he can achieve with us given our current business model. 

[TWar]

5 minutes ago, saint1977 said:

I think there’s a middle ground between SKD’s over-optimistic view and this one of Villa’s squad. Buendia and Martinez are the star assets for me, and Buendia is clearly better than Stu, much as I rate Stu. Their midfield is clearly inferior to Saints hence the noise about JWP but they would need more than that. Luiz is decent but they are limited there.

Ings is a good short term fix for this season, possibly the next with a fair wind. They won’t get relegated with his dozen goals or so if he is fit enough to play 20-25 games but that’s a big FFP drain into his 30s for 4 years on the spreadsheet for the new manager to work around. Watkins has good raw materials and potential, seen a lot of him earlier in his career but not getting a lot of service. Bailey is showing why the top clubs didn’t buy him. Could turn into a Mane yet but Sadio works a lot harder than that. Cash got run over by KWP and Ely, Villa improved when Bailey went off. 

They will give the manager money but he needs a striker - you have to be looking at Danny as a squad option past 18 months, 2 starting CMs, a LB (£17m for Targett was a good sale), RB and a couple of CBs. Mings is better than he is showing but his distribution would cause much angst on match day threads here. Hause and Konsa have looked clumsy so at least one new starting CB. Won’t get much change out of £125-150m for that lot and unlikely as a net figure without some sales as well, assuming they haven’t spent all the £100m from Grealish. 

 

 

 

 

Martinez is decent, to be fair. What makes you say Buendia is good though? He did well in the championship but a lot of players do that (McBurnie, Nugent, Brewster) who don't translate it. For Norwich he was relegated and was actually dropped a few times mid season as his form dipped. Now for Villa he has looked basically anonymous in every game I've seen him in except for one well struck goal (which we know Stu has in his locker too).

Ings already has a hammy injury, I would be shocked if he outscores whichever of Adam Armstrong or Broja locks down our starting spot personally, purely because he just can't stay fit.

I'd say if they want to get europe the teams they are competing with are Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham, and Leicester. They'd need to spend imo about £250-300m to get near those levels. Two europe level CBs will set them back ~£70m, two europe level CMs is probably £100m considering the likes of JWP and Bissouma have a price tag of £50mish. A RB for £20m, genuine quality in attack rather than Buendia who is rubbish ~£60m. And a better striker than Watkins is like another £40m. It might seem steep but go through Leicester squad player by player and see how much each of them costs. They can make sales to cover it obviously but some of them will be tricky to shift.

[TWar]

18 minutes ago, Dman said:

Pointless trying to have a well balanced, reasonable debate when people post biased Drivel like this. 
 

Buendia is significantly better than S Armstrong. McGin is arguably better than Armstrong, let alone Buendia, who is a very, very good player. I know you like your stats, In his last full season in the premier league, he created more chances than Grealish. 4th overall and that was for a very poor Norwich side. 
 

The midField does not need A ‘complete overhaul’. They’re a little light, I agree but 1 maybe 2 players maximum isn’t a complete overhaul. 
 

Mings isn’t the best CB (he’s a very good organiser though; something we miss), but he’s at least on par (imo an improvement) on Stephens and Bednerak. Salisu clearly being the stand out for both teams. 
 

Not many, other than a few happy clapping idiots would see Villa as foolish move from us. At the very least, he’ll get a pay rise and be in the same position as us. 
 

As I said, unless he knows something we don’t, there’s not a great deal more he can achieve with us given our current business model. 

Give your reasoning if you want a debate. What makes you think Buendia is significantly better than Stu?

McGinn is honestly dreadful, he has been so wasteful this season, he can't make simple passes, and his defensive output is minor.

Of all the people I thought would misuse the "chances created" stat for Buendia, I didn't think it would be you. Buendia was second for "chances created" under the older definition. He was however not even top 15 for big chances created or xA, he was actually behind Walcott and Boufal for BCC per 90. This is because the chances he created were not of a high quality, there were just a lot of them.

Bednarek is better than Mings by a good margin. One of them has kept 4 clean sheets in 7 this season including against city, the other has haemorrhaged the third highest goals conceded in the league and was dropped for Hause (who is also rubbish) despite being the captain.

What Ralph gets with us is a project, slow growth, good recruitment of younger players and a youth system set up to help him use it. What he would get with Villa is a bunch of entitled fans and an entitled board who don't seem to realise Grealish was all that stood between them constant relegation battles. They'd sack him immediately when he didn't get that sorry squad to europe, which I'm not convinced Pep/Klopp could do.

Regarding bias, just because something favours us, it doesn't make it wrong. We dominated villa on friday, we are above them in the table, and they just lost 5 on the bounce, maybe there is a reason for that? 

Edited 9 November, 2021 by TWar

[WALK DMC]

3 minutes ago, TWar said:

What makes you say Buendia is good though? He did well in the championship but a lot of players do that (McBurnie, Nugent, Brewster) who don't translate it. For Norwich he was relegated and was actually dropped a few times mid season as his form dipped. Now for Villa he has looked basically anonymous in every game I've seen him in except for one well struck goal (which we know Stu has in his locker too).

Against Saints, Buendia was anonymous in the first half, but was excellent in Villa's 20 minute hot spell after half time on Friday and was at the root of their onslaught. Many have said that Ralph's formation was the major factor in us defending the lead, but Buendia going off with cramp could also be considered a turning point. I know Villa fans thought the same. 

Clearly, a 15 minute spell isn't good enough for a £33m player and he needs to deliver more regularly, but he is still in the settling in stage so I wouldn't be too quick to write him off. He may yet come good. 

[TWar]

2 minutes ago, WALK DMC said:

Against Saints, Buendia was anonymous in the first half, but was excellent in Villa's 20 minute hot spell after half time on Friday and was at the root of their onslaught. Many have said that Ralph's formation was the major factor in us defending the lead, but Buendia going off with cramp could also be considered a turning point. I know Villa fans thought the same. 

Clearly, a 15 minute spell isn't good enough for a £33m player and he needs to deliver more regularly, but he is still in the settling in stage so I wouldn't be too quick to write him off. He may yet come good. 

I remember him having a snapshot that went wide and playing the ball about a bit, he had a brief hot spell but didn't have a single shot on target or chance created. I wouldn't call it an onslaught when Macca made one save which was straight at him.

Also did he go off with cramp? I thought he was hooked because he wasn't getting anything done.

Edited 9 November, 2021 by TWar

[Dman]

12 minutes ago, TWar said:

Give your reasoning if you want a debate. What makes you think Buendia is significantly better than Stu?

McGinn is honestly dreadful, he has been so wasteful this season, he can't make simple passes, and his defensive output is minor.

Of all the people I thought would misuse the "chances created" stat for Buendia, I didn't think it would be you. Buendia was second for "chances created" under the older definition. He was however not even top 15 for big chances created or xA, he was actually behind Redmond for xA per 90. This is because the chances he created were not of a high quality, there were just a lot of them.

Bednarek is better than Mings by a good margin. One of them has kept 4 clean sheets in 7 this season including against city, the other has haemorrhaged the third highest goals conceded in the league and was dropped for Hause (who is also rubbish) despite being the captain.

What Ralph gets with us is a project, slow growth, good recruitment of younger players and a youth system set up to help him use it. What he would get with Villa is a bunch of entitled fans and an entitled board who don't seem to realise Grealish was all that stood between them constant relegation battles. They'd sack him immediately when he didn't get that sorry squad to europe, which I'm not convinced Pep/Klopp could do.

Regarding bias, just because something favours us, it doesn't make it wrong. We dominated villa on friday, we are above them in the table, and they just lost 5 on the bounce, maybe there is a reason for that? 

Possibly. Possibly it’s the same as ours when we went something like 30 games with a handful of wins. 

The difference being they considered their manager to be underachieving, we didn’t, it seems. 

Edited 9 November, 2021 by Dman

[TWar]

3 minutes ago, Dman said:

Possibly. Possibly it’s the same as ours when we went something like 30 games with a handful of wins. 
 

In that same period they had like one more win...

Since last Jan they have had 9 wins, we have had 10.

Edited 9 November, 2021 by TWar

[Chapel End]

Just now, TWar said:

I remember him making one or two chances, he had a brief hot spell but didn't have a single shot on target or chance created. I wouldn't call it an onslaught when Macca made one save which was straight at him.

Also did he go off with cramp? I thought he was hooked because he wasn't getting anything done.

Yep,i must have missed the "onslaught " as well, probably because there wasn't one just a lot of huff and puff

Buendia looked good last season but has yet to show anything great yet, maybe he will, maybe he won't but for that kind of cash the expectation is high.

As far as SKDMAN is concerned everything is better somewhere else, he rarely has anything positive to say about sfc and his negativity is as predictable as it is boring 

[egg]

Are people really doubting that Buendia is a very good player? 

[TWar]

1 minute ago, egg said:

Are people really doubting that Buendia is a very good player? 

Yes.

[egg]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

Yes.

Blimey. That's a tad ridiculous. 

[Chapel End]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

Are people really doubting that Buendia is a very good player? 

 Just saying he hasn't really proven it consistently yet

[egg]

6 minutes ago, Chapel End said:

 Just saying he hasn't really proven it consistently yet

Agree on that, but suggesting that he's not a good player is a bit stupid. He'd walk onto our team. 

[East Kent Saint]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

Agree on that, but suggesting that he's not a good player is a bit stupid. He'd walk onto our team. 

Not if Ralph doesn't like him !

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Norwich is clearly a non starter. However, Villa on the other hand would be a really, really appealing job for a lot of managers, including ours id imagine. 

Talk of them being a backwards step is foolish and to be honest, they’d probably be a step up from us.

Theyve got the fundamentals of being a really good team with an ‘ambitious’/wealthy owner, so whoever comes in will be backed in the transfer market.

In Ings, Watkins, Bunedia & Bailey (yes I know they weren’t very good against us on Friday) they have a very, very good front 4 with a top class keeper in Martinez and players like Konza, mings (no doubt people on here won’t like this, but he’s an England international) and McGin who are more than capable premier league players. 

Imo they’re a little short at full back and CM but with a little investment, they could easily have a top 10 team without having to do a great deal. 

The only thing we can really offer Ralph is job security no matter results, as shown. I’m not sure how much of a factor this would play though, as any manager going in would back themselves to succeed. 

However, after 3 years, he must be looking at how much further he can take us without any real investment. 

Long and short, unless he knows something we don’t about a potential ownership change, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s looking at jobs like villa and thinking it would be a better option for him. 

FWIW, I think he’d do a decent job there and would be a top candidate if I was within the villa hierarchy. 

So you think (or is that wish) he would do a good job there but doesn’t here? Is that right? Or have I got it totally wrong?

[Chapel End]

6 minutes ago, egg said:

Agree on that, but suggesting that he's not a good player is a bit stupid. He'd walk onto our team. 

I wouldn't go that far but he would be another option 

[TWar]

29 minutes ago, egg said:

Blimey. That's a tad ridiculous. 

The year he was up in the prem he got 8 goal contributions, this year he has two. You know who has identical in those two seasons? Nathan Redmond. Do you think Redmond is a "very good player"? Redmond has managed it in much fewer minutes too.

Buendia is wildly overhyped. I can't see how a player who got relegated after scoring one single goal and then wasn't considered sufficiently talented to be signed on relegation is now so good that even doubting he is a "very good player" can be classed as ridiculous.

What has Buendia possibly done to earn this adoration? Finish bottom of the prem with a mere 8 goals plus assists? Curb stomp a bunch of crap championship sides like multiple mediocre players before him? Or when he got back up, look basically completely anonymous while his team slumps to 15th on the back of 5 consecutive defeats?

Edited 9 November, 2021 by TWar

[egg]

19 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Not if Ralph doesn't like him !

That's true, but he likes a good 10 and he's better than ours with perhaps the exception of S Armstrong. 

[egg]

8 minutes ago, TWar said:

The year he was up in the prem he got 8 goal contributions, this year he has two. You know who has identical in those two seasons? Nathan Redmond. Do you think Redmond is a "very good player"? Redmond has managed it in much fewer minutes too.

Buendia is wildly overhyped. I can't see how a player who got relegated after scoring one single goal and then wasn't considered sufficiently talented to be signed on relegation is now so good that even doubting he is a "very good player" can be classed as ridiculous.

What has Buendia possibly done to earn this adoration? Finish bottom of the prem with a mere 8 goals plus assists? Curb stomp a bunch of crap championship sides like multiple mediocre players before him? Or when he got back up, look basically completely anonymous while his team slumps to 15th on the back of 5 consecutive defeats?

You're obsessed with stats. I prefer what I see. Good creators only get assists if chances are taken, only play key passes if players make the runs, etc. You stick to your stats, I'll stick to spotting a good player. 

I'll finish on just one question - is your opinion that Buendia is no better than Redmond? To answer your question, no he isn't, but he's better than many believe him to be. 

Anyways, we've digressed enough from the subject. Hopefully Ralph is staying, but there's enough at Villa to tempt him imo. 

Edited 9 November, 2021 by egg

[TWar]

7 minutes ago, egg said:

You're obsessed with stats. I prefer what I see. Good creators only get assists if chances are taken, only play key passes if players make the runs, etc. You stick to your stats, I'll stick to spotting a good player. 

I'll finish on just one question - is your opinion that Buendia is no better than Redmond? To answer your question, no he isn't, but he's better than many believe him to be. 

I don't think noting "goals and assists" is being "obsessed with stats", attackers are measured off output and his is Redmond level. But if you argue "Good creators only get assists if chances are taken", Redmond has a higher xA this season and, whilst his xA is lower in 19/20 he also scored 4 times as many goals as Buendia.

If you prefer what you see, did you miss him being relegated with a mere 1 goal to his name all season? Or him being absolutely woeful this season? I can see why you might not see it, he's been basically invisible all season...

To answer your question, Buendia is probably marginally better than Redmond on the whole, as Redmond is very patchy and the two Buendia has been in the prem for happen to coincide with two of his better seasons, but Buendia has been considerably worse this season. He most certainly isn't as good as Armstrong.

If you think he is a very good player then most of our team are very good players or considerably better in some cases. He is decidedly average and it amazes me people can't see that.

Edited 9 November, 2021 by TWar

[egg]

1 minute ago, TWar said:

I don't think noting "goals and assists" is being "obsessed with stats", attackers are measured off output and his is Redmond level. But if you argue "Good creators only get assists if chances are taken", Redmond has a higher xA this season and, whilst his xA is lower in 19/20 he also scored 4 times as many goals as Buendia.

If you prefer what you see, did you miss him being relegated with a mere 1 goal to his name all season? Or him being absolutely woeful this season? I can see why you might not see it, he's been basically invisible all season...

To answer your question, Buendia is probably marginally better than Redmond on the whole, as Redmond is very patchy and the two Buendia has been in the prem for happen to coincide with two of his better seasons, but Buendia has been considerably worse this season. He most certainly isn't as good as Armstrong.

If you think he is a very good player then most of our team are very good players or considerably better in some cases. He is decidedly average and it amazes me people can't see that.

Buendia is on Redmonds level. 

A Armstrong has more potential than Broja. 

I think I'll leave it there mate, seems a tad pointless discussing the merits of footballers with you. 

[TWar]

4 minutes ago, egg said:

Buendia is on Redmonds level. 

A Armstrong has more potential than Broja. 

I think I'll leave it there mate, seems a tad pointless discussing the merits of footballers with you. 

Buendia has scored and assisted the same amount as Redmond in both his prem seasons, so with regards to output he is Redmond level.

This "Armstrong is worse than Broja" thing should really die now. Armstrong is considerably better and will likely get the nod from here on out, like he did against villa and rewarded it by scoring a belter to win the game. Broja is good, but he isn't as good as Armstrong.

Feel free to not discuss what you want, but honestly I don't think you actually made a single argument in favour of Buendia, you said you disagreed over and over but I didn't catch a single actual point? Does that count as discussing merits to you? Where did you list a merit, I might have missed it?

Edited 9 November, 2021 by TWar

[Ted Bates Statue]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

FWIW, I think he’d do a decent job there and would be a top candidate if I was within the villa hierarchy. 

Don't you think he needs to stay here for a bit longer, for both his sake and that of other interested clubs to show he is capable of not getting thumped by a record scoreline again?

I'd give it about two more years needed to rebuild his reputation. And I wouldn't say no to a decent cup run or two either 🙂

[Lighthouse]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

FWIW, I think he’d do a decent job there and would be a top candidate if I was within the villa hierarchy. 

We used to have a poster called SKD who insisted that San Marino were better managed than Saints, at the back end of last season. He got banned just before you registered, which is a shame really as I think you’d have had an interesting debate on this issue.

[Give it to Ron]

Gerrard has expressed an interest in Villa approach to Rangers coming

Edited 9 November, 2021 by Give it to Ron

[JustinSFC]

52 minutes ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

Don't you think he needs to stay here for a bit longer, for both his sake and that of other interested clubs to show he is capable of not getting thumped by a record scoreline again?

I'd give it about two more years needed to rebuild his reputation. And I wouldn't say no to a decent cup run or two either 🙂

Personally I wouldn't be one bit arsed if Ralph walked tomorrow.
 

It's amazing what a home draw to Burnley and a few wins does.
 

Ralph is still seriously questionable for me.

We've been here before.

A few good games and then dogshit.

Admittedly we've been good lately but Ralph still has it in his locker to lose the plot.

[stevy777_x]

1 hour ago, TWar said:

Buendia has scored and assisted the same amount as Redmond in both his prem seasons, so with regards to output he is Redmond level.

This "Armstrong is worse than Broja" thing should really die now. Armstrong is considerably better and will likely get the nod from here on out, like he did against villa and rewarded it by scoring a belter to win the game. Broja is good, but he isn't as good as Armstrong.

Feel free to not discuss what you want, but honestly I don't think you actually made a single argument in favour of Buendia, you said you disagreed over and over but I didn't catch a single actual point? Does that count as discussing merits to you? Where did you list a merit, I might have missed it?

Adam Armstrong better than Broja? 
Laughable.

[The Cat]

Just now, JustinSFC said:

Personally I wouldn't be one bit arsed if Ralph walked tomorrow.
 

It's amazing what a home draw to Burnley and a few wins does.
 

Ralph is still seriously questionable for me.

We've been here before.

A few good games and then dogshit.

Admittedly we've been good lately but Ralph still has it in his locker to lose the plot.

Doesn't he also have it in his locker to take us on a great run?

It was previously more than a few good games, it was a lot of good games.

We also have a better squad now, so chances of us going dogshit again are slimmer because a load of injuries or suspensions won't hurt the team as bad.

I'd be gutted if he left, don't get me wrong I'm not super fan but I do like him and it's notoriously tricky appointing a good new manager. Look how many other teams fuck that up on a regular basis.

[Manuel]

I'm behind him.  He's built a decent squad now, with limited resources, and we're doing ok.  I would say most of our players improve under him and despite what I hear, I think he does react well to squad problems, better defensively now for example .  I think he's improving as a manager with his experience of the Prem and the club. 

Lately we're difficult to play against and create a lot of chances.  A force to be reckoned with, start converting more of those chances and who knows.