I was going to reply to you the other day about your Football Manager thinking. As already mentioned - recruitment is not Ralph’s job and is not the primary role of any modern manager. Indeed Tuchel was given an enhanced role in the chelsea recruitment in the summer and complained about how it took away time from all the other aspects Similarly it simply wasn’t the case that there was a super strict finite budget and that spending 10m on Mara meant that was 10m gone from the budget for a top attacker. This part isn’t even true any more on the FM games as you can approach the board to bend the budget for important signings And finally transfers move much more slowly in real life (especially permanent ones) and so when targets fall through late you can’t always just move onto the next one down the list and get it over the line. Sure Ralph has a final agreement but I’m not sure what you want from him. When presented with Adam Armstrong or nobody last summer due to lack of funds and presumed positive reports from scouts does he say no? When told we can’t afford Guehi so we spend 1/3 on Lyanco does he simply say “no - I’ll go in one central defender short” It was also obvious to me that we had the funds to make deals earlier than we normally would of in positions we wouldn’t normally have prioritised. We could have kept Romeu another year and hoped Lavia would have been available next year. We could have kept bednarek and/or Stephens and not signed ABK and DCC. But we’d probably be in an even worse place now (no guarantees though). Again this comes back to your seeming insistence that is was one or the other. A completely fixed budget. There was obviously a limit but not what you think it was Finally on the Broja thing - there is someone on Saintsweb who seems somewhat in the know who said we went in for him and Chelsea messed us around and Tuchel pulled the plug. He also said we had a medical lined up for Vale and they pulled the plug on that as well. And that all the rumours about Broja hating Ralph and not wanting to come back were nonsense (almost certainly cooked up by those who were firmly against Ralph due to the poor end of season form). That is all rumour though but I’m not sure why he would bother with making it up. So you are criticising Ralph for things that he really doesn’t have the level of control over as you think he does. Which is harsh Don’t get me wrong - I think this has gone on too long now. Our play is far too negative, players who used to be able to attack can’t or won’t anymore and Ralph has abandoned his pressing style. (Incidentally if the intention is to lean on a simulation computer game - I tried to sign a back up for Lavia who would be the 4th “defensive” midfielder. Told them they would be backup and they were moaning about game time by November. I made the error of not trying hard enough to find one that could cover elsewhere - but that isn’t always that common. So perhaps that hole in the squad is going to be harder to fill!)
Haven't played FM since it was Championship Manager back in the 90's. As to your second line; I know he doesn't actually recruit the players. I just wrote that to Schad. But of course he has a say in who we do and don't transfer in (save maybe for the youngsters). Semmens himself has said a few times that he, Ralph and the scouts discuss options together (this was pre-Dragan days though, but I expect it's similar still).
With regards to signing a decent striker, we’re in a kind of Catch 22 situation. Success attracts the better players, and our only success is staying in the Premier League. Whilst we are hovering above the relegation zone each season, the better strikers hold out for a better team to come in for them. Gakpo seemingly thought he was going to United, if I have it right, so for him to suddenly find the choice was us or Leeds I can understand why he said no to both. He’s having a decent season so will presumably be courted by higher placed teams than us in the next transfer windows. So, to turn it around, Ralph needs to move us up the league to make us a more attractive proposition.
Things are even more different with manager responsibilities now than back then I didn’t notice that reply as I wrote this a little earlier and didn’t realise I hadn’t sent so a few posts snuck in above!
He very much was going to be the Antony alternative. Quite how it would work if he went there in January o am not sure as rashford is best in his position from the left (not necessarily better than him) and Antony goes on the right. But I guess they could all rotate in game. And they probably want more depth as well He will likely go to United, Arsenal or Newcastle if he moves to England
The Gakpo scenario is probably bad for us. He is now having another great season at PSV which means he could bypass the likes of us and Leeds and go to a better side immediately rather than “proving” himself in the PL with a lower side. Joining a lower side is a big risk as whilst you will get more money in the short term it’s much more likely to go wrong than staying in a league where you have been dominant and can go straight to a top team potentially. If Gakpo had flopped at us or Leeds he never would get the chance at a top team
At some point, that's absolutely what they have to say. I have no doubt that they discussed getting a striker. The people responsible for completing transfers by all accounts attempted to make deals for several of them. But the reason the failed to do so has nothing at all to do with Ralph, who was not one of those people. I am skeptical in the extreme that there is anything he could have done in order to facilitate a deal, because again: not really his job.
Your fault for writing a bloody essay, haha. FWIW, I don't blame the board or Ralph for failing to get Gakpo, and I think our recruitment over the summer was great. We've got some fantastic players who will surely make us a handsome profit in a season or two from now. And, I wasn't even that fussed about not getting a new striker. I believed that with a decent play-maker, our strikers would benefit. We didn't get the playmaker, okay I was still happy. BUT, I'm not Ralph. My job and reputation isn't on the line etc. Ralph has to know these things. He has to make the key decisions about what the team needs etc.
Yeah I know ! But Ralph really should be doing better in my view. There have just been too many meek performances. Or ones where we only play for one half
I don’t think this qualifier is needed actually. There just aren’t many out there. Not least because one striker is common across many leagues
If this is true, then he is a gent. How many on here would agree to being sacked and still do the job for another 2 weeks. I am not talking about me giving notice to move on to another company - I am talking about my company saying "hey, No7, you are sacked, but we need you to stay for two weeks until we line up someone to do a better job than you".
Sounds to me like Ralph wants to move on as much as hes been sacked off. Mutual consent would be the best way to end his tenure to me. Feels like its the end of the trip with Ralph and I'm sure he's more aware of that than anyone.
I just don’t believe this tbh. It’s just not how this stuff works? If we are going to sack him, we will just sack him. Why would you let a manager stay in charge that knows he’s leaving? He could play the u18s and throw the game
Fergie knew he was retiring, did he throw games before retirement? Why would you think Ralph really wants this club and team to fail and be humiliated? He could still want the best for the team and still be wanting them to do well even though he is leaving. He could actually be leaving on good terms knowing he's burned out and given everything he can.
