Back, sack and crack - should Ralph stay in post

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It’s all gone The Clash - should Ralph stay and not go...

  • Yes stay

  • No.....go

  • Make decision on 31.12.19

Results are only viewable after voting.
st_brendy said:
I've said it a few times before, including before we even kicked a ball last season: we still had some poor results last season under Ralph. Two defeats to Cardiff, a thumping away to Newcastle, a draw at home to Huddersfield, a home defeat to West Ham, a draw at home to Bmouth.

Our results against the top eight, particularly at home, were generally very positive. Wins vs Spurs, Arsenal, Everton, Wolves and Leicester. A draw away to Chelsea. But below those sides? I can only think of Fulham at home, and Huddersfield and Brighton away, as wins. And lets be honest, basically everyone beat Fulham and Huddersfield - it's nothing to shout about (see Watford and Norwich this season).

Too many people though seemed to easily brush off those defeats, in favour of the bigger wins. Which for me was a whole lot of rose tinted spectacles. Surely it's most important to focus on what we did in the games where we would be expecting to get something, rather than the games where we pulled off somewhat surprise results. Replicating surprise results year-on-year is hardly something to be banking on. It's kind of in the name.

So I don't particularly see that we are any worse this year, as compared to last.

What I would say though is that our success in those wins last season is that, in most if not all of them, I imagine that we had 40% possession or less. We re awful in possession. We're not good enough to create much and, worse, we invariably lose the ball at some point and duly get caught horribly out of position. I think it was Jose, during his time at Madrid (when he was constantly being compared to Pep), who said that sides are at their most vulnerable when they have the ball. One misplaced pass, and you could find yourself kicking off just seconds later. So why, this season, does it feel like we've returned back to being a team who looks to have possession? Maybe the stats will prove me wrong - and to be fair, Villa this weekend will be the first away game I've been to this season, so I can only really judge from home games - but it does feel like the sideways passing, backwards passing, and errors on the ball are very much up as compared to last year under Ralph.

I hate to say it (and whilst I still support Ralph, it's why I said yesterday that Sam could currently get more out of this team), but becoming a side who looks to try and keep a solid defensive shape, whilst trying to hit our opponents on the counter attack as our only form of attack, could be a way to go. It certainly suits someone like Palace, for example. Sure, it will lead to horrendously dull games against the likes of Burnley, Newcastle and Palace themselves. But it might also be our best chance of getting points against the likes of Arsenal, Everton and Wolves. And Villa this weekend, whose crowd will be expecting them to take the game to us.
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Thanks for the response and pretty much how I feel. I thought the press at the start of the season was going to lead to us getting some kind of counter attacking going on, but it has all become a bit of a horrid mess and lack of understanding as to what the players are supposed to be doing. I do recall you saying that about last seasons results, and the issue now is we are playing worse than last season, on the whole. It just doesnt look to promising just now, and I dont really see Ralph changing tactics.

I understand the people who say Ralph didnt lose at Newcastle, and they could be correct, but by and large all the results are.

Im not saying I want Ralph replaced, I am not in that place today but by the next two week I suspect I will be.

I also think Sam may surprise a few people. It wasnt that long ago we kick started a previous England managers career ( let;s not count it was only one game for the sake of the point im making) :bandit:
 
thereisonlyoneno7 said:
Being a positive person, I remember everyone screaming for Koeman's head around this time of year. The rest is history.
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Didnt we have a few more points on the board and better players. Now I know Im likely to get shot down as people will rightly point out what Ralph has to work with, but he is setting the team out and how they should play.

I still wonder how many his points per game ratio compares last season to this.
 
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billyvegas said:
Didnt we have a few more points on the board and better players. Now I know Im likely to get shot down as people will rightly point out what Ralph has to work with, but he is setting the team out and how they should play.

I still wonder how many his points per game ratio compares last season to this.
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My positive vibe is lost on this board ;)
 
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Why would any manager come in if he had no funds to improve the squad ?

If funds are available , I trust Ralph to get us out of this difficult moment .
 
Saints_Alive said:
It would be interesting to find out if rumours that certain senior players were not happy with his management are true because all it takes is 5% off of a performance for it to not be good enough. I was optimistic about our chances this season mainly because of the second half of last season plus a fit Danny and better attacking options. In retrospect though the non signing of a dominant central defensive leader and and not sufficiently replacing Matty Targett has outweighed this plus the whole team's apparent timidity in front of the fans at SMS. When was our last clean sheet at home FFS?, we never get the easy home points that other clubs get and it is dragging the whole club down.
I like Ralph but results are everything, he has bought a bit of time and patience with me because of last season mainly and his ongoing problems in defence.
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I've lost time and patience with him because of the 9-0. That's simply unforgivable
 
Archers Road said:
I think they are playing their natural game.

Cedric's natural game is to be caught out of position a lot, and when he gets forward, aim his crosses at the big screen.
Jack Stephen's natural game is to shank one at the opposing CF. This doesn't make him any worse than the rest of our CBs.
The natural game of our entire midfield is to pass a football like I used to pass pubs.
Shane's natural game is to take shots that go out for throw-ins.

etc etc.
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You werent able to pass pubs. Is that your point?
 
Daily Mail reporting that the club are supporting Ralph. Interesting to read that some of the dressing room don't have faith (if you believe what they write). I doubt I would be surprised by who those players are. I'd be very surprised if they aren't among the longer serving members of the team, the ones who have played us into relegation danger for thee seasons in a row.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...outhampton-boss-gets-singing-endorsement.html
 
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billyvegas said:
So, how was it Ralph got a better tune of of the same old **** last season? Our average points per game was about 50% more than it is now.

So, if that was down to Ralph being a better manager, then great - but why cant he do the same again,if not better as he had pre season and got a better version of Ings plus Djeneppo? What is it that Ralph is doing different now than last season?

Cos the same **** is going on behind the scenes now as it was then, so I dont totally buy that as the only reason.

Or is he he isnt actually as good as we thought, he got lucky or had better support last season?

This season for me he has:

1. tried different formation and it hasn't really worked.
2. tried weird players in unnatural positions
3. lost Danny Rohl
4. not set out well at the start of games

Im sure there are more but im not sure i can be arsed to carry on.

I dont know if changing him is right, or if anyone else can do better, but I suppose I am getting tired of the Ralph love-in, blaming the hierarchy of the club etc when people must surely recognise he has to shoulder a large chunk of whats going on.

Personally, i hope he turns it around, I hope we back him in the transfer window, but my gut feeling is if this carries on too far as it currently is, we will be down.

For those of us saying that he can re-group, get different players then in the Championship, absolute bollocks - I dont believe he would stay, regardless to what he said, and if he wants to attract the right footballer to play his system it is far easier in the EPL than the one below. Also, if that happens, there is major work to ro boot at that level and come up, and I am not convinced our finances could take that.

People mention Sunderland - that might just be a wish for how far we could fall.
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I agree with a lot of this post. It is a strange one because when Ralph gets it right, Saints play well. We are much better when we press and play at tempo. Some of the results last season were fortunate but whatever was being achieved in the training sessions seems to be falling short this season. I agree that the club needs to be making 2-3 signings and an overhaul of the defence should have taken place 18 months ago at the latest. But when you consider the team has players like McCarthy, Bertrand, JWP, Redmond, Romeu, Djenepo, Long, Ings and PEH in the squad with promising youngsters like Obafemi and Valery on the side lines, I would have thought we would have done much better than we have. I still think Che Adams will come good and Armstrong has been far too under utilized for my liking. With the academy not really being explored this season, there is room for potential albeit the position of the under 23s this season does make you wonder if there is not a more deep rooted problem at the club.

We certainly need to overhaul the defence and maybe recruit someone who is more of a leader in this team. However, I do not think the team is quite as bad as people think. I am on the fence with Ralph. I do not think he was 100% backed in he transfer market in the summer but I also feel he was seriously over-rated by may people posting on this board. However, at the moment I feel the club should stand by him and I hope that the new appointment will allow the issues behind the scene to be addressed.
 
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Something ain’t right at the moment. I have to admit I not sure if this is the manager or some players or a combination.
 
Perfect timing for this article. http://sportwitness.co.uk/wanted-go...ly-mad-player-picking-southampton-red-devils/

As I said in the match thread, nobody comes to play for southampton because of the club and its history, they are coming to play for the manager. In Tadic's case Koeman. We can attract decent players if we have a manager with a good reputation and we can win games if we let them build a decent squad and get rid of the baggage we have been carrying all these years.
 
Ian Thumwood said:
I do not think the team is quite as bad as people think.
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Man for man they might not be that bad on paper but that isn't how this works. They've proven for season after season under four managers that they are not going to be any better than relegation candidates.

All it takes is 2-3 bad apples in a side of 11 players and Ralph can't even drop half the players even if he wanted to. See Bertrand at the start of the season for evidence.

Come january we might be able to see what the real problems are. Ralph needs the opportunity to build a team not just try and squeeze something out of this lot. That means significant change, particularly at the back and in midfield.
 
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SaintinNZ said:
Man for man they might not be that bad on paper but that isn't how this works. They've proven for season after season under four managers that they are not going to be any better than relegation candidates.

All it takes is 2-3 bad apples in a side of 11 players and Ralph can't even drop half the players even if he wanted to. See Bertrand at the start of the season for evidence.

Come january we might be able to see what the real problems are. Ralph needs the opportunity to build a team not just try and squeeze something out of this lot. That means significant change, particularly at the back and in midfield.
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Interesting that you chose to mention Bertie as a possible "bad apple" as i've thought for a while that he believes that he is too good for our club and as a senior player may undermine the team management. There is no doubt that he is an international quality player but it is telling that he has not played consistantly well enough to even be considered for England for quite a while now.
 
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