Radio Solent Fans Forum

[Colinjb]

1 minute ago, Appy said:

He definitely didn’t say that

Edited accordingly. Thankyou.

[macca155]

Didn't really learn a great deal, but body language said a lot. As we all know, the clock is ticking on Ralph. No way did he want to be there.

 

[Colinjb]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

Semmens just shot himself the foot... Blaming fans reaction for players poor reaction during games...

So much for 'professional' footballers.

[SambaMaverick]

If the fans aren't at it the players aren't at it? Fucking seriously?

[saintant]

36 minutes ago, Suhari said:

Nice Q: future of AM and Theo, and how about signing a more experienced striker......

.....non committal on AM and Theo. 'They're good guys'.

On striker: it's about quality, not experience. RH says we're looking... so are lots of others. Says we need to get more clean sheets. Hard to defend against some PL strikers. We do need another striker though.

More to the point, are they good players?

[Pamplemousse]

I wish they'd have got a player there as well

[Mr X]

1 minute ago, macca155 said:

Didn't really learn a great deal, but body language said a lot. As we all know, the clock is ticking on Ralph. No way did he want to be there.

 

Ralph's body language not good either looking down a lot and looking pissed off 

[sydenhamssocks]

Semmens and Ralph are right pair. They’ll sink each other and probably us. 

[Convict Colony]

I think we can call that a score draw.

Fans or club didn't win that encounter.

 

[Saint Garrett]

Thought it was a decent watch, Ralph looks full of passion I thought, but you could tell he's not happy with current situation. Too much crap about the womens football for me though. Could have gone on for 3 or 4 hours that.

[saintant]

38 minutes ago, Suhari said:

Nice Q: future of AM and Theo, and how about signing a more experienced striker......

.....non committal on AM and Theo. 'They're good guys'.

On striker: it's about quality, not experience. RH says we're looking... so are lots of others. Says we need to get more clean sheets. Hard to defend against some PL strikers. We do need another striker though.

How many strikers scored against us on Saturday? He comes out out with some rubbish.

[The Cat]

3 minutes ago, trousers said:

Semmens just shot himself the foot... Blaming fans reaction for players poor reaction during games...

He is right to say away fans are better than home fans though because since lockdown we have had very good, vocal away support.

[Convict Colony]

Just now, sydenhamssocks said:

Semmens and Ralph are right pair. They’ll sink each other and probably us. 

These are the dudes who kept us up with no money the last 4yrs.

The hysteria on this forum is next level considering we've spent more than ever on transfers and we got dicked away to spurs after giving them a game for 60mins, spurs who will be tough for every team.

 

[Bad Wolf]

6 minutes ago, trousers said:

Semmens just shot himself in the foot... Blaming fans reaction for players poor reaction during games...

Well he's got a point. The atmosphere at St Mary's is toxic. One single misplaced pass and it's moans, groans and jeers. 

[Baird of the land]

3 minutes ago, macca155 said:

Didn't really learn a great deal, but body language said a lot. As we all know, the clock is ticking on Ralph. No way did he want to be there.

 

We learned he's completely abandoned 4-2-2-2. I'd hoped this awful 5-3-2 was a temporary blip but Ralph has instead gone completely round the bend with nonsense logic about 5-3-2.

[Mr X]

2 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Thought it was a decent watch, Ralph looks full of passion I thought, but you could tell he's not happy with current situation. Too much crap about the womens football for me though. Could have gone on for 3 or 4 hours that.

Full of passion? I thought Ralph looked bored and wanted to be anywhere else but there 

[Greenridge]

We have an unhealthy amount of manic depressive bedwetters. That was what we learned from tonight’s forum. 

[saintant]

27 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Everyone here was saying we should play Armstrong over Adams last week...

Don't think so.

[The Cat]

1 minute ago, Saint Garrett said:

Thought it was a decent watch, Ralph looks full of passion I thought, but you could tell he's not happy with current situation. Too much crap about the womens football for me though. Could have gone on for 3 or 4 hours that.

It's definitely too short. Needs to be a couple of hours really especially if there's going to be questions about men's and women's.

Otherwise it was fine. I get the impression that even if Semmens and Ralph had come out and said we're going to spend a billion pounds some people would have complained that it wasn't 2 billion.

[Bad Wolf]

6 minutes ago, SambaMaverick said:

If the fans aren't at it the players aren't at it? Fucking seriously?

Well everyone goes on about this '12th man' crap and laps up how important fans are etc. Would you rather him just go "Nah, the players really don't give two hoots what the fans think"

[Bad Wolf]

1 minute ago, Greenridge said:

We have an unhealthy amount of manic depressive bedwetters. That was what we learned from tonight’s forum. 

It's not just us. It's a general PL thing. Support is far better the lower down you go.

[Saint Garrett]

They're not going to rock up to these, tell us who they're wanting to sign, the tactics they're going to play, how we're going to go about beating other teams etc. I thought they said what they could, but without a doubt the players gave up at the end of last season.

[The Cat]

1 minute ago, Mr X said:

Full of passion? I thought Ralph looked bored and wanted to be anywhere else but there 

I didn't get that impression at all. He was definitely passionate when he said we were shit at Brentford.

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Do you think Lavia competed immediately?

I forgot one player makes a team. 👍🏻

[saintant]

23 minutes ago, JRM said:

First time I've ever really listened to Simmens, not impressed at all , women's game will be as big financially and commercially as the mens , absolute nonsense and he knows it. 

He said exactly the same thing last time.

[badgerx16]

Why did Ralph say it was hard to defend against PL strikers. All the teams we play seem to manage it.

 

( I know, you will all say we don't have any PL strikers ).

[Saint Garrett]

1 minute ago, badgerx16 said:

Why did Ralph say it was hard to defend against PL strikers. All the teams we play seem to manage it.

 

( I know, you will all say we don't have any PL strikers ).

Because we have shitter defenders than other clubs?

[Convict Colony]

Just now, badgerx16 said:

Why did Ralph say it was hard to defend against PL strikers. All the teams we play seem to manage it.

 

( I know, you will all say we don't have any PL strikers ).

Cos our defence is championship and attack championship so their only experience is match day.

[Saint Scott]

8 minutes ago, The Cat said:

He is right to say away fans are better than home fans though because since lockdown we have had very good, vocal away support.

Because fans are allowed to stand up and sing without being told to sit down by stewards. Toby and Martin contradicting each other.

[Bad Wolf]

Just take a minute and think "How else were they going to answer that?" every time you think they give a stupid answer. You have to remember the age we're in and how answers will be taken completely out of context if there's one word not right.

So them saying if the fans aren't at it, the players aren't - They're obviously trying to encourage the fans to be the so called 12th man.

Just think..."What were they realistically going to say there?"

[Bad Wolf]

9 minutes ago, The Cat said:

He is right to say away fans are better than home fans though because since lockdown we have had very good, vocal away support.

Away fans have always been generally better than home fans, in any club, in any sport. Isn't that a generally accepted fact?

[S-Clarke]

It wasn't great, there were some good questions but some absolute time wasted on nonsense like JWP's testimonial. 

I've always been impressed with Martin, but tonight I sense he was very irked by the mood and maybe the atmosphere. He was very defensive not just in vocal tone but his body language, he was ready to confront fans pretty much. Not the look you really want, I'm sure he'll look back at tonight and be a little disappointed at how he came across. Ditto Toby, I thought he dodged a few questions and then got quite defensive when his responses were challenged.

Ralph's answers were full of truth, they were full of the passion we know he has. They didn't answer much I'd say, the reasoning behind Armstrong starting was loose to say the least. There has been some re-writing of his words on this thread though, not at a single point did he say he'd abandoned 4-2-2-2. 5-3-2 is going to be used in some games, and we'll also see 4-2-2-2 used as well. That's what he said, I have no problems with people having opinions but don't make up shit to add weight to your own argument.

Overall it was a bit of a damp squib of an event I thought. The lack of questions around the ownership and the plans for the future was shocking, it waited until the end for a somewhat useful question on that - but I expected more, although I'd have also liked to have seen one of the ownership group sat at the table as well to maybe prompt those questions and give us an insight from that side of the fence.

Edited 10 August, 2022 by S-Clarke

[saintant]

15 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Poor fans forum.

the tone was set about how grateful we should be just playing in the league. We can’t defend so need to play 5 at the back, and we have signed young players who need time to learn how to play 4222. However, being young is not a limiting factor, more about quality rather than experience. 
 

Ralph a little rattled and said it is not easy being saints manager, and the team have been a bit shit. Also, Broja just stopped being good from about March.

We are going down IMO. The stage was set about just being grateful to be playing in the league.

I though Big Adam was going to start crying at the start. Jesus wept!

So Ralph still blaming the players and taking zero responsibility while collecting a big fat wad for the privilege.

[saint1977]

28 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

I'm still convinced there are more than 3 teams that will finish below us. I reckon we'll be OK once Ralph sorts out some of the tactical issues and we get out of this rut.

Hope so, because that gave me no sense of how the men’s first team are going to pull out 6 months of the worst string of performances in the club’s history. Pity about Blackmore’s filibustering, 3 or 4 decent Qs asked that either weren’t answered, or blustered or laughed off. Fair play to Rob, his Q about resilience got right under Ralph’s skin judging by his remarks.

Semmens even worse than Ralph, that last comment about ‘the players are only into it if you are’, even that got heckling from an audience who were the football equivalent of a dead sheep. What will the little darlings do when they have 40k scousers, Mancs or geordies bellowing at them? Squad are treated like weaklings hence they play like them and fold at the first sign of adversity, if that’s the culture set by the CEO.

Can’t see how this will be turned around anytime soon - SR needs to have a big clear out of the club leadership group. Get their own people in and inject a bit of energy as well as structure. The current group looked beaten tonight and lethargic - if that’s what it’s like inside SMS and Staplewood then they will fall a lot further than the PL. If Dragan sees that back, he surely can’t be happy? Energy between Semmens and RH notably a lot cooler than previous forums, even when there had been a poor run before those as well. Manager will be gone very shortly.

Edited 10 August, 2022 by saint1977

[The Cat]

1 minute ago, Saint Scott said:

Because fans are allowed to stand up and sing without being told to sit down by stewards. Toby and Martin contradicting each other.

Do stewards tell people in the Northam to sit down?

I had a season ticket in there for the first 5 seasons or so and they used to but then gave up. Now I sit in the family stand and can't say I've noticed stewards in the Northam doing it recently although I could be wrong.

I know they are doing it in Block 1.

[Ldnsaint]

couple of disgraceful comments from Semmens this evening, he talks some absolute crap. 

"I go to games too, and miss my kids" HE GETS PAID A FORTUNE TO DO SO. Hardly comparable to a fan 

 

[Dorchester Saint]

30 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Some clown in the rainbow shirt there over a check shirt FFS

Yeah but ‘SOLIDARITY’ comrade!! 

[The Cat]

2 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

Away fans have always been generally better than home fans, in any club, in any sport. Isn't that a generally accepted fact?

Some teams do have consistently good home fans. Others have vast differences between home and away, and we are one of them.

[Saint Garrett]

4 minutes ago, saintant said:

So Ralph still blaming the players and taking zero responsibility while collecting a big fat wad for the privilege.

Absolutely not, he straight up said he takes full responsbility for every performance, good or bad.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Saint Garrett said:

Absolutely not, he straight up said he takes full responsbility for every performance, good or bad.

Exactly that. Why are people changing what he said to make him sound worse, it's doing my head in.

[Roger]

4 minutes ago, Ldnsaint said:

couple of disgraceful comments from Semmens this evening, he talks some absolute crap. 

"I go to games too, and miss my kids" HE GETS PAID A FORTUNE TO DO SO. Hardly comparable to a fan 

 

Agree terrible completely out of touch. Thought it was rubbish tbh tonight. 

[Saint Garrett]

Just now, S-Clarke said:

Exactly that. Why are people changing what he said to make him sound worse, it's doing my head in.

Yup same...he has his faults no doubt about that, but making random stuff up to beat him with isn't cool.

[Roo1976]

16 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

Well he's got a point. The atmosphere at St Mary's is toxic. One single misplaced pass and it's moans, groans and jeers. 

But i dont think there is much to cheer at this moment in time do you? Dour unimaginative tactics and team.

[Baird of the land]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

It wasn't great, there were some good questions but some absolute time wasted on nonsense like JWP's testimonial. 

I've always been impressed with Martin, but tonight I sense he was very irked but the mood and maybe the atmosphere. He was very defensive not just in vocal tone but his body language, he was ready to confront fans pretty much. Not the look you really want, I'm sure he'll look back at tonight and be a little disappointed at how he came across. Ditto Toby, I thought he dodged a few questions and then got quite defensive when his responses were challenged.

Ralph's answers were full of truth, they were full of the passion we know he has. They didn't answer much I'd say, the reasoning behind Armstrong starting was loose to say the least. There has been some writing of his words on this thread though, not at a single point did he say he'd abandoned 4-2-2-2. 5-3-2 is going to be used in some games, and we'll also see 4-2-2-2 used as well. That's what he said, I have no problems with people having opinions but don't make up shit to add weight to your own argument.

Overall it was a bit of a damp squib of an event I thought. The lack of questions around the ownership and the plans for the future was shocking, it waited until the end for a somewhat useful question on that - but I expected more, although I'd have also liked to have seen one of the ownership group sat at the table as well to maybe prompt those questions and give us an insight from that side of the fence.

His answer made pretty clear 5-3-2 is now the default formation. Had a whole blather of a justification of why 5-3-2 was better and that new players couldn't really adopt 4-2-2-2. The mention of 4-2-2-2 was extremely throwaway.

[Saint Garrett]

Just now, Baird of the land said:

His answer made pretty clear 5-3-2 is now the default formation. Had a whole blather of a justification of why 5-3-2 was better and that new players couldn't really adopt 4-2-2-2. The mention of 4-2-2-2 was extremely throwaway.

I think they'll go back to 4222 once we get these "tougher" fixtures out the way.

[Dorchester Saint]

So there’s no decent striker inbound anytime soon, we are still looking…..the season has started and we are still fucking looking  🤦🏻‍♂️

Edited 10 August, 2022 by Dorchester Saint

[Bad Wolf]

Just now, Roo1976 said:

But i dont think there is much to cheer at this moment in time do you? Dour unimaginative tactics and team.

Maybe, maybe not but it wasn't like this during poor runs in League One or The Championship. My local team is in League One and usually float between League One and Two and I'm always bowled over by how much they get behind the team regardless of how frustrated they are, how badly the team is doing on the day or form wise, when they lose the ball because of a stupid pass, they spur the team on. It was like that for us in League One as well.

[saintant]

4 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Absolutely not, he straight up said he takes full responsbility for every performance, good or bad.

He might think he does but it rarely comes across in his post match interviews.

[SNSUN]

1 minute ago, Saint Garrett said:

I think they'll go back to 4222 once we get these "tougher" fixtures out the way.

What all 38 of them? 😜

[Saint Garrett]

Just now, Dorchester Saint said:

So there’s no decent striker inbound anytime soon, we are still looking…..the season has started and we are still fucking looking  🤦🏻‍♂️

Were you expecting them to tell you who they're after and where they are in negotiations?!