I think that most fans are savvy enough to understand the difference between when we are playing well but not getting the results like at the start of the season and now when we are just waiting for the capitulation after another piece of poor defending being punished and not looking likely to pull it back. The season has come to a timely end for Ralph and I expect that he will be in place for the start of next season but there has to be a serious re-think in the summer and assistance coming in on and off of the pitch.
My position hasn't really changed over these past two weeks: I'm still expecting today to have been his final match. I might be wrong - I wouldn't be surprised if I am - but it feels like it's time to make a change. If he was to remain in charge, then we essentially have to start the season well. He'll be under pressure from the word go, and will struggle to make it even to October if we start poorly. And for a side like us, that's a lot of ask - arguably an unfair amount to ask. Even if we have a good summer, going through a poor run of, say, seven games at some point is very conceivable. For a manager with credit in the bank, that is easy enough to shake off. But not for a manger under huge pressure. And the risk - a relatively high risk, I would suggest - is that such a poor run occurs early doors for us. And looking for a new manager in October/November is far less ideal than looking for one in May/June.
I think this case is different… I do think Ralph is a good manager somewhere in there. When he gets a tune out of us we have been fantastic. Couldn’t say the same about Hughes. But for some reason Ralph’s methods just aren’t working for us. There’s an argument to be made that it’s because he needs more technically gifted players for his style to work and we have sold all of our technically gifted players. There are some very obvious and simple things that 99% of people can see, but he misses. Weird selections, weird subs, defensively frail. I have gone from giving him the benefit of the doubt to being indifferent over the last month.
I've waited all season before deciding my thoughts on Ralph. Purely because it's so difficult, we're so up and down. Is thst down to poor management, or weak players? Maybe its both and we need a huge clearout, but as this is the Ralph thread ... He's been very hamstrung in his time here. We all know it. Still paying for dross like Hoedt, Lemina, Vestegaard has had an impact. We haven't been as maneuverable in the market as maybe he would have liked. Add in to the fact covid, & the financial impact of that plus the Gao and owners situation mean that he has been, really, performing miracles in keeping us up with some of the cards he's been dealt. But the last summer window was meant to stop most of that. This was, and we all pretty much agreed on this at the time, his squad for the first time. And we haven't improved one iota. In fact, some players have gotten worse. I'm thinking of Diallo, Salisu, Broja off the top of my head while gone backwards this season. The guy uat doesn't help himself tactically. His tactical decisions are strange and have us all baffled. Both in game and his starting line ups are often confusing to the point of ridiculous. From his favouritism towards certain players (eg. Bednarek should have been dropped from the team months ago), to his reluctance to play others (eg. Stephens & Redmond not making matchday squads and suddenly becoming regulars again, Arma being ignored for weeks on end), and just random lineups thst noone can work out (eg. Smallbone starting at home to Watford out of the blue, being hooked at HT and then never being seen again). His reluctance to play youth at the end of this season is also baffling. You're telling me the likes of Long & Walcott on the bench today would be more beneficial than, say, Olaigbe or Ballard? We've had some cracking times this season. Tottenham away will live long in the memory and I really thought we were on the up. Again, we can't sustain it. Ralph, this is your team now, no more excuses, and you can't get them firing. I'm very much Ralph out now. I love him, I really do, and I'm thankful for what he's done to our club, but it's gone stale, his decisions are baffling and I don't think the players quite believe in him.
I wasnt comparing him to Hughes and certainly agree that he's a better manager with a far higher ceiling. Just always find the couldn't get anyone better argument to be a bit daft as there's absolutely no way to know that. We seem willing to pay decent money to a manager and PL jobs will always hold an appeal so I'm sure there are people out there. That's not to say we're certain to get an improvement, we may well **** it up woth an MP2 like appointment, but the idea that there is NOBODY out there who could do better is absurd imo. It also depends on what people want to watch. I reckon a more defensive minded manager could maybe get more points but I personally wouldn't want to see that.
To take this further, from my memory there are 6 sides we didn't lose to this season with only one being a bottom half team (Leeds). Four of the other five finished in a European spot with Brighton being the only midtable side. Bizarre really, and shows where we need to improve.
I flew over for the Watford game. It was probably one of the most pathetic efforts that I can remember in person from Saints in decades! As a season ticket holder at the Dell, and the 1st couple of seasons at St Mary's, there where bad performances, but we didn't have the squad back then.
This is a really good post imo. I don't want him out but I agree with pretty much everything else you've said.
I think it gives an idea of how Ralph aspires to play and the complete inability to grind out the dirty, unattractive draws or narrow victories which are necessary in the PL.
Yeah he has no plan B. And we tend to do well against bigger teams because they set up to attack and give our ****e attacking players way more space to create/score. For me this goes back to money again, we need a creative number 10 type who can open up defences of teams who sit deep and dont give us much space. This role isn’t needed as much in Plan A of Ralph’s tactics so with limited funds he chose to not address it and use the funds to play one way. he should be better at using the squad he has to adjust tactically but I don’t think he is a good tactician and mainly trusts his plan A to work.
Just went to see what people were saying on saintsweb and came across this corker: “We were dreaming of the FA Cup and top half and they slapped us repeatedly in the face with a sock filled with festering sh!t”
Is it really, really, really silly to wonder if we could make a huge statement of intent and tempt Poch back? It is, I know, and I don’t think we have the Cortese levels of ambition to do so, but I’m not sure where else he goes right now, other than another long wait on the sidelines. I’d ask him the question, at the very least.
Good post mate. Like Libby, I don’t necessarily want him out, but I do agree on all this, and moreover I’m glad you say that he deserves a lot of thanks for what he has done if he were to go.
This really is a poor argument that keeps getting trotted out. We finished in the top 15 of the richest league in the world, managers will want to come here from abroad or from lower leagues if they have potential, or even want to have a stepping stone to prove themselves. Just because we could never get Pep or Klopp, we should stick with whatever we have? We’d still have Adkins if that was the attitude.
