Whilst watching the game, when Theo came on, all I could think was "Not606 must be going into meltdown" lol I agree, it did actually work. I also believe that if Theo actually remembered that he was once a good footballer and had a bit of confidence, he would be quite good. Oh and he needs to remember that when running, it is advisable to take the ball with you sometimes.
Plenty can happen in the next three games. You wouldn't put it past us beating Palace and drawing to Toon and Liverpool, but I also wouldn't be surprised to lose all three If we lost all three, I'd expect Ralph to go. But I hope the club have someone lined up in that scenario, because really you want a manager in ASAP to work with whatever players don't go to the World Cup, and Wolves have clearly struggled to get a new manager in. Wonder if Villa will, too.
Villa seem to have the money whereby if they are really struggling for a sensible option they will just pay the release clause for the sporting guy (which is now being reported as much much lower than initially)
No because there are still people who keep on about this even though it seems like half the managers in the league will lose their jobs first (hyperbole). There was even a Ralph out person who felt after yesterdays performance it was a good time to phone 606 and tell and utterly bewildered Savage and Sutton that loads of fans wanted him out and he was one of them It will continue even if we get a string of reasonable results that see him in place post World Cup. It’s getting a tad silly but it will carry on
That wouldn’t end the Ralph debate. Would just mean it moves to the match day threads. At least here you can choose to ignore it.
It would also lead to more talk of some kind of mod conspiracy to silence certain views that are “not allowed”
Or, indeed, the conspiracy that saying that certain things are “not allowed” is itself “not allowed”.
Dunno what the world’s coming to; you can’t even say ‘Ralph out’ on a Ralph Out thread. Except, obviously, I just did. Ralph In btw. Rishi out
I'm still "unsure" and will see how things progress up until the World Cup. If the team show the same level of intensity, bravery, spirit and commitment for the remaining 4 matches we probably get more than the minimum 6 points I said that Ralph needed on Libby's next 6 PL games thread to take the pressure off as we'd only need another draw. Plus we should still be in the EFL Cup which we should be looking for a run in this season. It's about consistancy now, they have found a level of performance and need to keep playing at that level rather than the Wolves and Villa games
I think the fact that the thread is still going suggests people want to discuss it. I do think it would be interesting to have an updated poll though
Yesterday's performance was fascinating. We had a threadbare team which required Ralph's nous to produce a result in the absence of so many important players. Other than the first 30 minutes when Arsenal threatened to run away with the match, you could easily argue that the rest of the match underscored Ralph's coaching abilities. He is a real enigma. There is no way that he would ever be binned had he started the season with such a performance but there are other times when the performances and substitutions make him look clueless. For what it was worth, the substitutions yesterday worked well. I would include Walcott in that too as he seemed to add the necessary maturity at a time when we might have crumbled. If we play like that again this season, you would have to say that we should be mid-table quite comfortably. With the likes of Lavia, Bella - Kotchap and Livramento to be added to the squad, I would anticipate an unturn in fortunes after the World Cup. The problem with Ralph's teamss is that you can never anticipate the expected.
This is his issue. No one really expected to go unbeaten against West Ham, Bournemouth and Arsenal. Never know what to expect with Saints under Ralph.
Lots of people do think they know what to expect though. Such as a nailed on 4 or 5-0 drubbing at the weekend. I was one of them in that instance. Indeed it would be slightly more upbeat if we remembered that we don’t know what to expect !
Large article in the Times today about Premier League managers getting the sack but Ralph does not get mentioned once.
Sorry I posted in a hurry which is never a good thing. I have now amended it. The article is about Premier League managers at risk of getting the sack. Pointless posting a link as you have to have a subscription to be able to read it. Copyright laws prevent me from pasting it on here. You could always buy a copy of the paper or borrow a copy, or perhaps read it in the library. What interested me was that the non-mention of Ralph would seem to imply that his employment status is not considered to be currently at risk which is a very good thing.
