I've really been disappointed by the last 13 games just like everyone else. At the same time, I look back on the season and remember more positives than negatives. Someone else already said it, when we are good we are very, very good, when we are bad we are awful. There's also a middle ground which is where we have lived recently where we are neither one thing nor the other. I look at the work RH has done at the club and see that it goes far beyond the first team results. The U18 and U23 squads have had outstanding seasons which will hopefully start to once again yield positives for the first team down the track. We have remained financially solvent and been competitive during one of the worst ownership arrangements in the league. Top to bottom the club is committed to playing fast flowing football which I like to watch win or lose. We have strengthened the squad and on the whole improved the individual players. We have been well managed through a difficult period overall and into the start of a new ownership era which may see significant changes. The negatives have been significant as well. The mentality of the squad has been improved but remains weak overall. We are prone to collapse and panic still and the rollercoaster of performances indicates that we aren't able to maintain focus and be consistent in our gameplay. At our worst we are predictable and lacking in creativity going forwards and hurried and vulnerable at the back. We lack the ability to change a game and this is our number one issue. We start with a hiss and a roar, play good football and then falter either conceding or not getting a goal. This is when we need to find another way and generally thats not happening. We can shore up at the back going to 3 CBs occasionally but not find a positive attacking adaptation. There do need to be changes across the board. Playing and coaching but I don't think RH needs to be one of them at the moment. When I compare our backroom staff to Villa for example I see southampton men but very little experience outside of the club and overall. Ralph is carrying a lot of responsibility that other managers aren't because they have more staff and more experienced staff. It may be that this is RH's way but it may also be that Villa and leicester have bigger budgets and can afford more staff. Ultimately, firing RH now will achieve nothing. Guardiola wouldn't get us a result against Liverpool and Leicester could go either way regardless of who comes in. If he goes over the summer he goes with my thanks and appreciation and thats how it should be done given everything he has done and given to the club. If he stays and gets the investment we need so much then he deserves a crack at the new era. If its more of the same, that would be the time to let him go.
I still want Ralph to get it right, but I’m beginning to think it’s not meant to be, for him and us together. I hope for him if he does leave, that he either does a ‘reverse Koeman’ and becomes a success everywhere he goes - or else goes to Everton and gets them relegated (from whatever division they’re in).
I posted this in the comments section of an article by Dan Sheldon on the Athletic website. Article was about Ralph's future so I will post my comment here: It's been an incredibly frustrating last couple of years. I firmly believe Ralph could take us into the top half - some of the performances we've put in against the big teams have been exceptional. But there's no hiding away from the damning run of results and performances against the bottom half teams since March. Ralph said it was an insult that the players are "on the beach". Well - what are we supposed to think after yet another wretched display on Saturday? I'm still backing Ralph - I think he deserves a chance with a transfer window where one arm isn't tied behind our back. I'm hoping to see a bit of an overhaul to our squad TBH - several players have simply not been good enough and I suspect don't want to be here anymore. 3 things I think need to happen in the summer: 1. Shake up the squad - easier said than done admittedly but at least Long and Fraser's contracts come off the books. Try and get rid of Walcott, Bednarek, Elyounoussi or Redmond (don't need both), Djenepo etc and inject some freshness into the squad with new signings. 2. Get a good number 2 in for Ralph! This is a must do in my book. The role of an assistant manager often is undervalued. Ralph needs support. 3. Get youth players more involved with the first team. Looks like our academy is on the up again. Great to see Dibling involved in first team training and in the match day squad on Saturday. More of that please.
Ralph in, regardless of Saturday's result. The problem lies with the shower of spineless, chicken hearted, feeble minded, chickenshits (google synonyms) we have for a team. They've now added a half hearted attitude and we are now where we are because of it. They've shown how easily they surrender in the 9-0's and the 6-0 against Chelsea. Jack Stephens admitted they gave up after the Leicester debacle. To me it shows a lack of respect to the club, the fans, the manager and themselves. Although they've shown they can occasionally play great football, I firmly believe the root cause is a lack of quality coupled with a weak temperament. Ralph might not be the best but even the best would struggle with this lot. And while I'm ranting, another thing; Fans have the right to be angry about poor gutless displays from the team but those who were singing about Ralph getting sacked in the morning are a bunch of ill-mannered, brainless, morons. He's a decent bloke who doesn't deserve that from his own supporters.
Personally, if the players are showing a lack of fight week in week out, I'd want him gone, that's why I wanted Pellegrini & Bilic out, and why I wanted Moyes to stay the first time.
Hello Ern, you know how sensitive our boys on here are sometimes so it's nice to see you posting without it being a piss take. Or is that coming later? please log in to view this image I think it depends on whether you think he is a good manager let down by poor players (attitude and ability) or good players that are poorly managed. I think he is the former and would be quite happy to see a player clear out in the summer. At WH you may have felt that the managers you mention weren't getting the best out of decent players but with us I think there are too many that can't cut it in the PL. I don't see the point of moving on a good manager when the root causes will still be at the club. Congratulations on your season by the way. I never thought I'd see myself saying that to a WH fan.
I respect Ralph as a manager and an all round good bloke but he has to take his share of the blame for this current poor run as it is his job to build a team to play in the way that he wants it to and he has had plenty of time to do it. The performances of the last 2 months are of a relegation team and it is worrying that he appears to not have any answers to halt the current slump and he is the one that has to motivate the players and instill some kind of team spirit into them. We are at our best when we play a high pressing, high energy game at a faster tempo and we have to somehow get back to that way of playing as the players struggle with a slow possession style of play. I think a massive part of the problem recently is the central defence and I believe that Mo and Bedders are lucky to still be selected in the starting line up as they have let Ralph and the team down badly and it is demoralising when we let in soft and avoidable goals in almost every match and I suspect that the high pressing game has suffered because of it. I still want Ralph to turn it around but he needs assistance both off and on the pitch with motivation and organising the backline and I believe that if he can sort the defence out then the rest of the play and hopefully the results will follow.
How can the entire squad be guilty of this attitude though? Are we just incredibly unlucky in that all our new signings happen to have a piss-poor attitude? Come on. The common denominator here is that they all share the same coach. If the entire squad has a sh*t attitude, as you say, sorry but it's on Ralph. One of the primary jobs of a manager, is to motivate the squad and get them playing for the shirt.
Crikey, someone with a brain on TalkSport! I mean, he's going a bit far but I agree with the sentiment.
This is the entire problem imho "some of the performances we've put in against the big teams have been exceptional" The way we play, the only way we play, relies on the opposition coming at us. When they don't, we don't have a fecking clue. Is this the player's fault? Sure we don't have the best squad in the league, but a stubborn refusal to do anything different is why I'm fed up with Ralph. I think he's done a good job, and he's been the best manager for quite some time, but I'm ready for something else. Anything else. We have naively been allowing "lesser" opposition teams do to us what we want to be doing to them - steal the ball, push forward quickly and use our pace up front. I'm not in the least bit surprised Broja hasn't scored for x-number of matches. It's not for lack of effort, but teams have been just sitting back waiting for us to give the ball away.
It's not unknown for a team to have a weak temperament (Spursy) while others are known for their never say die attitude. That temperament can be infectious quite quickly (in either direction), particularly if the senior players display it. The youngsters or new signings are hardly going to start knocking heads together on the pitch, that is the job of the captain and an area where Prowsey seems ineffective as he also disappears when we are up against it. Maybe not a Roy Keane type but a strong character to drive them on would likely help. You are right that it's the coaches responsibility to motivate the team and I would say that he does but how many times have you seen us come out all guns blazing, even take the lead, only to capitulate later on. There's not much a coach can do if the team lacks resolve, other than change players.
Yes there is a point and it's two draws. There are also points for the wins vs Arsenal, spurs and West Ham three for each in fact. Whatever keeps us up is the point.
