Poll…Ralph in/out Sept. 22 edition

[Saint Fan CaM]

Someone suggested a poll, so here it is. Will close at the end of the month.

[FarehamSaintJames]

I really like Ralph but our best form of defence is attack. And RH isn’t playing to those strengths.

We’re setting up to hold teams until the second half and then opting to bring the likes of Aribo, Stu Armstrong etc, when they should be starting.

He has been given a lot of time and for the first time a budget to work with but I’m not seeing much difference aside from a change in formation.

But I’m now of the opinion that another manager would get more out of the players we have.

All that said it would depend entirely on who the incoming manager would be; and for the first time I’d like us to get a bigger name that will see us gain an immediate positive bounce and one that will also be attractive to players.

Sometimes you have to draw the line.

Edited 20 September, 2022 by FarehamSaintJames

[Pamplemousse]

I've said it before and I will keep on repeating it - we will get relegated if we sack him.

Edited 20 September, 2022 by Pamplemousse

[Ex Lion Tamer]

The poll options are a bit skewed. He has a couple more games to prove himself for me.

He probably should have gone in the summer but now we've kept him he needs to be given a bit more time

Edited 20 September, 2022 by Ex Lion Tamer

[cloggy saint]

o  Any manager would struggle to get a consistent tune out of this squad, better the devil you know.

[Piran]

8 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

The poll options are a bit skewed. He has a couple more games to prove himself for me.

He probably should have gone in the summer but now we've kept him he needs to be given a bit more time

I agree.

[Pamplemousse]

My actual view is I will make up my mind after the Liverpool game. We've had 7 games, despite what Ducky says it has been tough, and the only two concerning performances have been Spurs and Villa.

After the World Cup break would be the time to make that assessment. Doing that now, and especially where a couple of wins bumps us up (winnable home games coming up) would be ludicrously stupid.

 

Also, our biggest issue was not signing a top striker. Changing the manager won't solve that problem

Edited 20 September, 2022 by Pamplemousse

[stevy777_x]

14 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

My actual view is I will make up my mind after the Liverpool game. We've had 7 games, despite what Ducky says it has been tough, and the only two concerning performances have been Spurs and Villa.

After the World Cup break would be the time to make that assessment. Doing that now, and especially where a couple of wins bumps us up (winnable home games coming up) would be ludicrously stupid.

 

Also, our biggest issue was not signing a top striker. Changing the manager won't solve that problem

Completely agree

[LuckyNumber7]

23 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

The poll options are a bit skewed. He has a couple more games to prove himself for me.

 

Agree with this. 

I am still just about in the 'Ralph in' camp, and prior to the Wolves and Villa games there had been decent signs of improvement. However we can't have any more desperate performances like the one at Villa Park, we need to get our identity back and at least have a go. 

With the new coaching setup and a lot of new players, I'm prepared to give him up to the World Cup break, if there's no consistent improvement by then it will be time for a change.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

4 minutes ago, LuckyNumber7 said:

Agree with this. 

I am still just about in the 'Ralph in' camp, and prior to the Wolves and Villa games there had been decent signs of improvement. However we can't have any more desperate performances like the one at Villa Park, we need to get our identity back and at least have a go. 

With the new coaching setup and a lot of new players, I'm prepared to give him up to the World Cup break, if there's no consistent improvement by then it will be time for a change.

We have been here before when he was playing a cautious 3 at the back towards the start of his tenure. Eventually we had to be brave and play the attacking 4222 that made him his name. It worked spectacularly

Edited 20 September, 2022 by Ex Lion Tamer

[PartridgeA]

*Losing 9-0 twice.
* prolonged losing streaks which clearly show we’re on a downward slope.

* baffling team selections, substitutions and often tactics which have had years to tune and improve.

* giving players like McCarthy and Djenepo long term contracts so we’re stuck with them financially.

* Playing weakened teams in cups but saying we want to win the trophy

* Winning 3 out of 27 PL matches in 2022 (worse record than Mark Hughes)

* Boring, abject displays, time after time.  Going through 90 mins and barely threatening whilst having a blind panic every time we slow down play and pass backwards to defenders clearly not comfortable with the game plan

* Over-reliance on JWP set-pieces when JWP has been absolutely dreadful from open play so far this season and set pieces not much better

* Not learning from previous mistakes

These are just off the top of my head.

Love Ralph as a bloke and we’ve clearly improved defensively this year but that improvement has been at the expense of attack and more than cancels out the positive.

We need a change 

[Alan Sugarfree]

43 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

I've said it before and I will keep on repeating it - we will get relegated if we sack him.

This is the same as when vince cable used to predict a recession every year. The odds were he had to be right eventually.

I’ll predict that Manchester United will be champions of England again one day.

[Give it to Ron]

45 minutes ago, cloggy saint said:

o  Any manager would struggle to get a consistent tune out of this squad, better the devil you know.

Even if he picks the wrong players in the wrong formation? A new manager would pick that side against Villa?

[aintforever]

The Villa game was shocking but I think he's earned the right to show what he can do with this lot of players, up until the World Cup at least.

If Ralph made the decision to go into the season with Adams, Armstrong and Mara as our only forwards then he should be sacked though. If he didn't then whoever did made the decision should go.

[Saintscummer]

Three wins in twenty seven should not be acceptable at all. 

he should be let go purely based on Salisu’s throw ins. 

he is tactically inept and had been for a few years 

we shouldn’t keep him based on a fear that no one else could do better. 
 

Villa game was horrific. I’ve never seen our defence, midfield and forward line look so far apart. 
 

Stop the rot 

[SaintZamboni]

Thought it might be worth looking up managerial changes last season and how it worked out for the team concerned.

10 managerial changes (excluding caretakers - 2 were at Watford). 5 of those teams finished below saints. United and Spurs are in their own mini league and another (Newcastle) started to spend their way out of mischief. Villa finished 1 place above us.

Changing the manager clearly doesn’t always solve the problem so I’d rather we stick with Ralph. There must be succession planning taking place anyway.

[Saintscummer]

Plus he picks Moi because he is good off the ball but doesn’t pick AMN because even though in Ralph’s words ‘he is good on the ball’, he hasn’t got Ralph’s way of how to be when he hasn’t got the ball. 
 

how about picking players that have talent when they are on the ball maybe ? 

[Saintscummer]

2 minutes ago, SaintZamboni said:

Thought it might be worth looking up managerial changes last season and how it worked out for the team concerned.

10 managerial changes (excluding caretakers - 2 were at Watford). 5 of those teams finished below saints. United and Spurs are in their own mini league and another (Newcastle) started to spend their way out of mischief. Villa finished 1 place above us.

Changing the manager clearly doesn’t always solve the problem so I’d rather we stick with Ralph. There must be succession planning taking place anyway.

I get this theory for clubs a la Watford who consistently change but he is the third longest serving behind Pep and Klopp. The definition of insanity is making the same mistakes again and again. This is what it feels like to me under Ralph. 

[MAY-Z]

Just look at the England test cricket team.

 

plenty of English people I know, said the team was no good and it wouldn’t matter who was coach and captain despite it being obvious the team wasn’t maximising it’s output

 

sack the coach and captain and look what happens, beat the world test champions, beat india and beat the leaders in the current world test championship 

 

this squad is so much better than what Ralph gets out of it, but the typical English attitude seems to ingrained to so many here

[saintant]

32 minutes ago, Saintscummer said:

Three wins in twenty seven should not be acceptable at all. 

he should be let go purely based on Salisu’s throw ins. 

he is tactically inept and had been for a few years 

we shouldn’t keep him based on a fear that no one else could do better. 
 

Villa game was horrific. I’ve never seen our defence, midfield and forward line look so far apart. 
 

Stop the rot 

Agree, the Villa game was an indicator of how poor Ralph has become. From start to finish we were abject and yet he was unable to do a thing to change the progression of the match. That spoke volumes for me as he should have been able to spot where he could make changes in tactics and personnel to turn the game around - maybe not to win it but at least to give us a chance of getting something from the game. As it was Villa were easily able to retain their lead without breaking sweat or enduring any pressure from us even though they played pretty poorly themselves. That is a telling indictment.

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 hour ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

The poll options are a bit skewed. He has a couple more games to prove himself for me.

He probably should have gone in the summer but now we've kept him he needs to be given a bit more time

So the option of ‘make a change later in the year’ is not what you’ve suggested there?  Obviously if he’s not sacked now and he manages to turn things around in the games before the World Cup, most fans will be very pleased to be proved wrong although I suspect they will still be doubtful of sustained success as performance history is not on Ralph’s side.

For me personally the issue is as much about the increasingly dismal performances as it is the match results. Every form of creativity and skill seems to have been sucked out many players. For example, JWP is looking a shadow of himself when he was at his best and it’s reasonable for fans to question why.

[trousers]

Whichever option is closest to my current position, which is: "Currently undecided. Let's see where we are cometh the World Cup. If we're comfortably around mid-table, I would probably lean towards sticking with him a bit longer but, equally, I wouldn't be unhappy if the board decided the time was right for change. However, if we're struggling around the bottom third of the table cometh the World Cup then I'd definitely be in the 'time for a change' camp"

Edited 20 September, 2022 by trousers

[Saint Fan CaM]

9 minutes ago, trousers said:

Whatever option is closest to my current position, which is: "Currently undecided. Let's see where we are cometh the World Cup. If we're comfortably around mid-table, I would probably lean towards sticking with him a bit longer but, equally, I wouldn't be unhappy if the board decided the time was right for change. However, if we're struggling around the bottom third of the table cometh the World Cup then I'd definitely be in the 'time for a change' camp"

Yes, this is covered by the second option, although admittedly it could equally mean ‘mind is made up now but sack him later because there is advantage to making a change around the World Cup break’. I was leaning towards this option, but history does suggest nothing will realistically change.

Edited 20 September, 2022 by Saint Fan CaM

[saintbenny]

Cant deny that I really like Ralph as a person but as a manager he's just horrible. Bizarre line ups, strange tactics, weird and sometimes non existent subs, appalling win record, etc.

How he is still in charge is beyond me. If I was as bad as Ralph is at my job I would have been sacked months ago

[Ex Lion Tamer]

1 hour ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

So the option of ‘make a change later in the year’ is not what you’ve suggested there?  Obviously if he’s not sacked now and he manages to turn things around in the games before the World Cup, most fans will be very pleased to be proved wrong although I suspect they will still be doubtful of sustained success as performance history is not on Ralph’s side.

For me personally the issue is as much about the increasingly dismal performances as it is the match results. Every form of creativity and skill seems to have been sucked out many players. For example, JWP is looking a shadow of himself when he was at his best and it’s reasonable for fans to question why.

No, I don't feel certain enough to say that we should make the change now or later in the year because I hope he turns it round. But I'm not going to commit to keeping him until the end of the season either. We need to keep assessing it over the next few games

Edited 20 September, 2022 by Ex Lion Tamer

[Baird of the land]

I went for keep till end of the season.

my view is more keep for now and see what happens. Obviously if we get more performances like villa that might change.

[aintforever]

1 hour ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Yes, this is covered by the second option, although admittedly it could equally mean ‘mind is made up now but sack him later because there is advantage to making a change around the World Cup break’. I was leaning towards this option, but history does suggest nothing will realistically change.

It's not though is it, option two is no, not undecided.

I'm on the fence as well really. One thing none of us here know is who is available and up for taking over from Ralph. If the board have a top candidate ready to go then it makes a big difference to what the best thing to do is. We also don't know what's gone on behind the scenes, if Ralph told the board we need a decent striker or we're fucked it's a bit harsh to blame him for not being higher in the league than we are.

 

[sydney_saint]

I'm still in the 'In' camp. But only just. Realistically this season our objective is to stay up and hope enough of our young talent progresses. With so many clubs spending big, it's difficult to even see a top 10 finish as much as I want that.

Ralph has managed to keep us pretty comfortably each season, and even now we already have a buffer between ourselves and the bottom 3. So he has a track record of keeping us safe.

Do I think we can do better than him - yes

Do I think we could do worse - yes.

By doing worse, we could go down, so it is a difficult decision. If we have someone amazing lined up sure. But change for the sake of change could be catastrophic. 

That said, I will shift quite easily to the out camp if we continue to play defensive turgid football, and if he continues to play awful players like Arma and Moi. If we get our mojo back, press teams, put players in the right position and attack swiftly like we have done under Ralph in the past, I will remain in. But he doesn't have enough credit in the bank for me to have too many performances like the Villa one

Edited 20 September, 2022 by sydney_saint

[egg]

I've wanted him gone for over a year, and despite some decent results this season, I still do. 

Re those saying give him more time. He/the team have been poor, in the main, for well over a year. Nobody has said what they expect to change, and I can't see how it can. 

Re those saying "but who'll take over ?". That's like being in a shit relationship but sticking with it, despite it making you unhappy, just because you ain't got a new lady lined up. When any relationship is fucked, it's got to end. 

[PartridgeA]

The beauty of football is that everyone is entitled to their opinion and no-one has the divine right to be correct as it’s so subjective !

I try and look at the hard facts, starting with results.  Clearly those stats stand against Ralph for 2022.   Secondly performance, I have not been entertained by a saints game in over a 9 months.  Yes we’ve had some hard earned points and we’ve shown mini spells of something clicking but the lack of consistency is compelling.

There are factors outside of Ralphs control of course.  I have no doubted he wanted a 15+ goal striker and the board didn’t deliver but how much of that is players not wanting to play for an underperforming team / Ralph and how much is it us not willing to spend?  I don’t know that answer.  Is Ralph asking for us to just sign kids?  I don’t think he is.  
 

I look at our tactics - we started as a high press team two/three years ago and I just don’t see that same press anymore.  It’s a half press and we are so easy to play through.  Romeu is a huuuge loss.  He was literally doing 2 peoples job in centre mid and some won’t want to hear this but he was carrying JWP.  I have no problem with this because what JWP offered with his dead ball play but you take that away and he’s a weak link IMO.  Neither strong defensively, or offensively.  He does however run his socks off (often to little affect).  He needs dropping but we have very little options with an injured Lavia and Romeu wishing to leave.

JWP > Vestergaard, now that was a weapon and was highly effective.  We lost that, we lost goals and attacking threat from set pieces.  We haven’t found an alternative yet.  The Salisu throw? LOL !!!

I’d say literally every saints fan wants Ralph to do well and not everything his his fault at all but he’s not improving things and we are regressing.  Many many managers will have been sacked for less and will do in future.

Being a realist, I don’t expect saints to be in the top 10, or even 12th,13th - I do however wish for some base entertainment, some kids to develop and move on to bigger things for profit and to not go into a game thinking WTF is that lineup (almost weekly).  Ralph hasn’t ticked those boxes for a while for me.

Last point would be, if Ralph was that good he’d have been poached by another club. Every single manager of any pedigree we have leaves to an arguably bigger or better club.  It’s great to have a consistent manager and even some loyalty but I think we can do better and we need to roll the dice.  So many new managers coming into the PL all the time.  I think we have enough talent to get excited once again and I think we have enough scouting resources to find the next “Poch”

Poch going to Nice.  Is that really a better option than Saints for him?  

[egg]

14 minutes ago, PartridgeA said:

The beauty of football is that everyone is entitled to their opinion and no-one has the divine right to be correct as it’s so subjective !

I try and look at the hard facts, starting with results.  Clearly those stats stand against Ralph for 2022.   Secondly performance, I have not been entertained by a saints game in over a 9 months.  Yes we’ve had some hard earned points and we’ve shown mini spells of something clicking but the lack of consistency is compelling.

There are factors outside of Ralphs control of course.  I have no doubted he wanted a 15+ goal striker and the board didn’t deliver but how much of that is players not wanting to play for an underperforming team / Ralph and how much is it us not willing to spend?  I don’t know that answer.  Is Ralph asking for us to just sign kids?  I don’t think he is.  
 

I look at our tactics - we started as a high press team two/three years ago and I just don’t see that same press anymore.  It’s a half press and we are so easy to play through.  Romeu is a huuuge loss.  He was literally doing 2 peoples job in centre mid and some won’t want to hear this but he was carrying JWP.  I have no problem with this because what JWP offered with his dead ball play but you take that away and he’s a weak link IMO.  Neither strong defensively, or offensively.  He does however run his socks off (often to little affect).  He needs dropping but we have very little options with an injured Lavia and Romeu wishing to leave.

JWP > Vestergaard, now that was a weapon and was highly effective.  We lost that, we lost goals and attacking threat from set pieces.  We haven’t found an alternative yet.  The Salisu throw? LOL !!!

I’d say literally every saints fan wants Ralph to do well and not everything his his fault at all but he’s not improving things and we are regressing.  Many many managers will have been sacked for less and will do in future.

Being a realist, I don’t expect saints to be in the top 10, or even 12th,13th - I do however wish for some base entertainment, some kids to develop and move on to bigger things for profit and to not go into a game thinking WTF is that lineup (almost weekly).  Ralph hasn’t ticked those boxes for a while for me.

Last point would be, if Ralph was that good he’d have been poached by another club. Every single manager of any pedigree we have leaves to an arguably bigger or better club.  It’s great to have a consistent manager and even some loyalty but I think we can do better and we need to roll the dice.  So many new managers coming into the PL all the time.  I think we have enough talent to get excited once again and I think we have enough scouting resources to find the next “Poch”

Poch going to Nice.  Is that really a better option than Saints for him?  

Good post - you're clearly a quality over quantity man!

 

[Ex Lion Tamer]

20 minutes ago, egg said:

I've wanted him gone for over a year, and despite some decent results this season, I still do. 

Re those saying give him more time. He/the team have been poor, in the main, for well over a year. Nobody has said what they expect to change, and I can't see how it can. 

Re those saying "but who'll take over ?". That's like being in a shit relationship but sticking with it, despite it making you unhappy, just because you ain't got a new lady lined up. When any relationship is fucked, it's got to end. 

The other way of putting it is that we've stayed up comfortably every season under Ralph despite some horrendous runs, so why do you think this season will be different? If we stay up comfortably again this season then I'll be happy, especially with the potential for our young players to improve next season.

That said, he needs to turn things around soon otherwise he'll need to go

[egg]

5 minutes ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

The other way of putting it is that we've stayed up comfortably every season under Ralph despite some horrendous runs, so why do you think this season will be different? If we stay up comfortably again this season then I'll be happy, especially with the potential for our young players to improve next season.

That said, he needs to turn things around soon otherwise he'll need to go

Just about staying up, and having embarrassing results along the way, is not an acceptable benchmark for me. 

[Alanh]

22 minutes ago, PartridgeA said:

The beauty of football is that everyone is entitled to their opinion and no-one has the divine right to be correct as it’s so subjective !

I try and look at the hard facts, starting with results.  Clearly those stats stand against Ralph for 2022.   Secondly performance, I have not been entertained by a saints game in over a 9 months.  Yes we’ve had some hard earned points and we’ve shown mini spells of something clicking but the lack of consistency is compelling.

There are factors outside of Ralphs control of course.  I have no doubted he wanted a 15+ goal striker and the board didn’t deliver but how much of that is players not wanting to play for an underperforming team / Ralph and how much is it us not willing to spend?  I don’t know that answer.  Is Ralph asking for us to just sign kids?  I don’t think he is.  
 

I look at our tactics - we started as a high press team two/three years ago and I just don’t see that same press anymore.  It’s a half press and we are so easy to play through.  Romeu is a huuuge loss.  He was literally doing 2 peoples job in centre mid and some won’t want to hear this but he was carrying JWP.  I have no problem with this because what JWP offered with his dead ball play but you take that away and he’s a weak link IMO.  Neither strong defensively, or offensively.  He does however run his socks off (often to little affect).  He needs dropping but we have very little options with an injured Lavia and Romeu wishing to leave.

JWP > Vestergaard, now that was a weapon and was highly effective.  We lost that, we lost goals and attacking threat from set pieces.  We haven’t found an alternative yet.  The Salisu throw? LOL !!!

I’d say literally every saints fan wants Ralph to do well and not everything his his fault at all but he’s not improving things and we are regressing.  Many many managers will have been sacked for less and will do in future.

Being a realist, I don’t expect saints to be in the top 10, or even 12th,13th - I do however wish for some base entertainment, some kids to develop and move on to bigger things for profit and to not go into a game thinking WTF is that lineup (almost weekly).  Ralph hasn’t ticked those boxes for a while for me.

Last point would be, if Ralph was that good he’d have been poached by another club. Every single manager of any pedigree we have leaves to an arguably bigger or better club.  It’s great to have a consistent manager and even some loyalty but I think we can do better and we need to roll the dice.  So many new managers coming into the PL all the time.  I think we have enough talent to get excited once again and I think we have enough scouting resources to find the next “Poch”

Poch going to Nice.  Is that really a better option than Saints for him?  

Good post and I agree with a lot of what you have said.  Just taking the bit in bold, to finish 14th in the PL (since we got promoted) you need to get between 41 and 45 points (there was an outlier year when 38 points got that place.  That's an average of just over 1 point per game, which is pretty much where we are now.  You also have to expect to lose about 17 - 20 of your games in a season.  Essentially based on currently form we are on course to be around 14th place extrapolated over a season.

Some entertainment to get there like the Chelsea and Leicester games this year, the Everton and Brentford (home) and Spurs (away) games last season will come along but so will some crap performances like Villa and Spurs this year.  That's pretty much the life of a lower mid table team between 11th and 15th.

[Saint86]

We always do these polls after a bad performance and before we play again - so they are highly skewed (i presume innocently). Purely out of curiosity i'd be interested to see how they turn out after a game like the Chelsea win as there is definitely a marked difference in forum users and their moods depending on results.

[PartridgeA]

20 minutes ago, Alanh said:

Good post and I agree with a lot of what you have said.  Just taking the bit in bold, to finish 14th in the PL (since we got promoted) you need to get between 41 and 45 points (there was an outlier year when 38 points got that place.  That's an average of just over 1 point per game, which is pretty much where we are now.  You also have to expect to lose about 17 - 20 of your games in a season.  Essentially based on currently form we are on course to be around 14th place extrapolated over a season.

Some entertainment to get there like the Chelsea and Leicester games this year, the Everton and Brentford (home) and Spurs (away) games last season will come along but so will some crap performances like Villa and Spurs this year.  That's pretty much the life of a lower mid table team between 11th and 15th.

Agree with you Alan.  It’s not so much that I want to finish 14th and above.  I’d be happy with 17th but I’d like to be entertained.  We have enough talent to stay up, I’m unequivocal in that.  Do I think Ralph will keep us up again?  I’m genuinely not sure he will (and the football is also shite).  Lots point out we have 3 teams worse than us….  Now I don’t want to state the obvious but if we’re constantly looking at who’s worse than us rather than who need to emulate or be better than you know you’ve got problems.

Best example would be that we hounded out Puel for the boring football and at this point I think he’s an upgrade on Ralph!

Yes I am a relatively new poster (to other comments).  I’m an observer usually.  Naturally we all want what’s best for the club and I feel I’m reasoned in my thought process and it worthy of sharing.  If we beat Everton 6-0 would I immediately think different, no, I would bask in the glory of a win and hope we keep it up - I’m quite certain however that it ain’t gonna happen!

[hypochondriac]

27 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

We always do these polls after a bad performance and before we play again - so they are highly skewed (i presume innocently). Purely out of curiosity i'd be interested to see how they turn out after a game like the Chelsea win as there is definitely a marked difference in forum users and their moods depending on results.

I agree. I was really trying to remain objective and ignore the last game in isolation. I do think he should go now because I think that we could be performing better with the players we have whereas before I felt he had a bit of an uphill battle with the lack of quality in the squad.

[Lord Duckhunter]

I thought he should have gone preseason 2021, then thought he should have gone last preseason. I actually think the new owners dropped a bollock by not getting their own man in.
 

 However, I’m not a great believer in changing  horses mid season unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’m not 100% sure we’re at that stage yet, but we can not accept many more of the lacklustre performances he produced on Friday. I’d probably reassess once the World Cup starts, and depending on results by then and more importantly who is available, make a decision then. One thing for sure, unless he shows some solid consistency or gets us to a final, he needs to fuck off come the end of May…..

[Whitey Grandad]

7 hours ago, Pamplemousse said:

I've said it before and I will keep on repeating it - we will get relegated if we sack him.

“always keep a’hold of nurse

for fear of finding something worse”

[SNSUN]

Keep, for now.

 

I predicted we will be in a relegation battle before the season began despite the new signings and I still do. We made good signings despite their age but even so we needed to, our form at the end of last season was awful and had the season been two or three games longer we would have gone down - we had little quality but Ralph also showed he couldn't turn it around. This season we have picked up points against a poor Leeds and Leicester side and a Chelsea side that is in transition. We've been poor in the last two games against opposition that shouldn't have been tough to get at least a point from - especially Villa which was one of the worst performances I've seen in ages.

 

Then you look at the selections - Moi is not good enough for the Premier League. He just isn't. He might work hard and be OK technically but he really doesn't do what an Attacking Midfielder should do, and that is create chances... or even score them. And yet Ralph continues to select him over Aribo, Stu and Edozie. We also have Adams up front as our main goal threat because we didn't bring in a properly good striker and currently have Diallo in midfield alongside JWP because, apparently, AMN isn't ready.

 

Personally I'm conflicted about sacking him now. I wanted him gone in the summer and was surprised the powers that be kept faith in him (as it seems were some of the players) but with the new signings I was going to see how he did until Christmas.  We've started...averagely. For me I would keep him for now and see how he does over the next few games... especially Everton who we REALLY should be trying to beat. If we can't beat Everton at home then I would be seriously concerned.

 

Our saving grace this season is a long break for the WC and the January transfer window that we already know we will have spending money in (Gakpo money if that was ever serious). It is for this reason that I believe if we are going to bring in a new manager, it has to be done by then, to give the new manager a while to get used to (most of) the players during the break and decide where we need to strengthen in January (ATTACK!!!).

 

We have Everton, West Ham, Bournemouth and Palace (alongside tougher fixtures... and possibly the rearranged Brentford game) between now and the WC - those will be the big decider as to whether to keep Ralph. If we're not on 15+ points by then he needs to go - and even then only 15 points going in to the second half of the season would leave a lot on for the new man.

[Mr X]

Got to love an overcomplicated poll, should have been a simple do you want Ralph to be manager of the club yes or no 

[Sarisbury Saint]

7 hours ago, PartridgeA said:

*Losing 9-0 twice.
* prolonged losing streaks which clearly show we’re on a downward slope.

* baffling team selections, substitutions and often tactics which have had years to tune and improve.

* giving players like McCarthy and Djenepo long term contracts so we’re stuck with them financially.

* Playing weakened teams in cups but saying we want to win the trophy

* Winning 3 out of 27 PL matches in 2022 (worse record than Mark Hughes)

* Boring, abject displays, time after time.  Going through 90 mins and barely threatening whilst having a blind panic every time we slow down play and pass backwards to defenders clearly not comfortable with the game plan

* Over-reliance on JWP set-pieces when JWP has been absolutely dreadful from open play so far this season and set pieces not much better

* Not learning from previous mistakes

These are just off the top of my head.

Love Ralph as a bloke and we’ve clearly improved defensively this year but that improvement has been at the expense of attack and more than cancels out the positive.

We need a change 

Spot on.

[saintscottofthenortham]

11 hours ago, Saintscummer said:

Three wins in twenty seven should not be acceptable at all. 

he should be let go purely based on Salisu’s throw ins. 

he is tactically inept and had been for a few years 

we shouldn’t keep him based on a fear that no one else could do better. 
 

Villa game was horrific. I’ve never seen our defence, midfield and forward line look so far apart. 
 

Stop the rot 

What he said. Word, for word.

[gsweet87]

Need a don't know option. I don't rate Ralph particularly but also have a nagging "better the devil you know" feeling.

[daldridge7]

We were crap against Villa but we get a win against Everton and we are mid table which if the season ended there, I’d be happy with considering all the changes to the team and the experience lost. My only concern is his insistence on playing hard working 10s over creative ones. Hopefully Edozie can come in to his own because he doesn’t seem to fancy Stuey right now who is arguable the most likely of our 10s to put a good pass in or find the back of the net. Diallo is also too inconsistent and doesn’t play well with JWP. Hopefully we can get Lavia back ASAP but again that’s not really a Hassenhuttl issue, that’s just bad luck with injury and AMN is getting up to speed with the system. 

[Mr X]

16 minutes ago, daldridge7 said:

We were crap against Villa but we get a win against Everton and we are mid table which if the season ended there, I’d be happy with considering all the changes to the team and the experience lost. My only concern is his insistence on playing hard working 10s over creative ones. Hopefully Edozie can come in to his own because he doesn’t seem to fancy Stuey right now who is arguable the most likely of our 10s to put a good pass in or find the back of the net. Diallo is also too inconsistent and doesn’t play well with JWP. Hopefully we can get Lavia back ASAP but again that’s not really a Hassenhuttl issue, that’s just bad luck with injury and AMN is getting up to speed with the system. 

The system which doesn't work 

[egg]

12 hours ago, Mr X said:

Got to love an overcomplicated poll, should have been a simple do you want Ralph to be manager of the club yes or no 

That's too simple. Give him more time is an obvious alternative. Regardless, the overwhelming consensus is that people don't want him anymore. 

[gsweet87]

 

[Singapore Saint]

How can he know what our best team is when he can't even decide what to wear?

[Saint86]

Next manager to be sacked - surely that's Miss Brenda Bodgers before its Hassenhuttle? They're a far better quality team than us (recent history) and they're rooted to the bottom of the table without a win and on -12GD. 

Edited 21 September, 2022 by Saint86