I’m guessing he’s agreeing to leave. He can’t have much job satisfaction here so a mutual agreement seems likely.
Interestingly was listening to the Euro Football Show on 5 live last night, and Guilleme Balague was saying that Lopetgui has two firm offers from PL teams. One (as is widely known) is Wolves. The other surely has to be Leeds or us? I suspect it might be us, and Ralph is continuing until we have a replacement definitely lined up/the World Cup. Because he cares about the club and his legacy. People should remember that (should it be the case) when calling him a fraud etc (not so much here, but on Twitter etc).
Lopetegui will go to Wolves. The Athletic has a story about Ruben Selles’ influence and popularity growing among our players. The timing is interesting. Haven’t read the article, mind.
Oh absolutely, Balague says that's due to the intensity of Wolves' pursuit, but the interesting part is that fact that there's two offers for him.
I do think it makes a lot of sense for one of them to be us (though you could equally say the same about Leeds), and that we're lining someone up for the break. The Athletic article about Selles is saying that he's been a very positive influence, and wants to be a manager one day (and to manage a top four club), but whatever happens, he's likely to be part of the set-up long term. Selles for me would right now be too much of a risk though - we don't know if he can make the step up, and we need to get the next appointment right, as we are in a fairly precarious position.
Fair enough, seem to recall people laughing at him and calling him out a while ago when basically everything he said would happen over a bigish period of time didn’t happen. Only things he got right were to do with Espanyol iirc (who I think he supports?)
Bournemouth maybe? Or Leicester perhaps? There are other teams who could have a genuine interest there.
True enough. Forgot about Bournemouth. Can’t see Leicester being quite in the position of a firm offer though.
I don't believe this for one minute, but if it was true, he will no doubt go and get 6 pts from Newcastle and Liverpool!!
People take the piss because, whilst he does certainty have connections, he makes out that he is best mates with every player that has ever played in Spain. When Ronaldo was at Madrid and there was talk of him leaving, Balague would have you believing he got his information first hand whilst sat round Cristiano's house for dinner!
During the half-term week, I was fortunate enough to go to a meet and greet at St.Mary's (courtesy of Barclays Premier ... other reputable banking institutions are also available). The usual thing of canapes and wealth management people trying to find out if you're minted and able to invest (I'm not). The meet and greet was with Ralph and Willy Caballero. It was quite telling in terms of their current views, concerns and belief. It certainly wasn't downbeat by any means ... Willy - Very shy, not used to talking to a group I expect! He is excellent at helping to bring on the younger goalkeepers (according to Ralph). Has obviously been there and seen it all with Chelsea, Man City etc. One of the fittest at the club. Knows and understands his role explicitly. Nothing new there I expect but still interesting to hear it from him and also see how highly regarded he is with Ralph. Ralph - Commands a room, charismatic, dark sense of humour. Spoke about how clubs like Saints now need to work much harder to get players than even a few years ago. He mentioned how deals like Van Dijk or Mane are not possible anymore as these types of players no longer need the 'stepping stone' club - they are jumping straight to top 6 (hence the acquisition of the likes to Tino, Lavia etc.) - Scouting of the club has to work even harder. He spoke about the likes of Ings, Hojberg, Vestergard ... He said that you invest a lot of time in these types of players to keep them happy, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically on the treatment table. He said it's hard when they then just decide to up and leave but this is football. I got the impression that some of these departures smarted with him considerably. Romeu is the greatest professional he has ever worked with. He was gutted that he leaved this summer but totally understood his reasons and wouldn't have stopped him. He described him as a machine - never lets his levels drop regardless of what training is being done. Ultimate competitor. Overall, I got the impression of a man that is wholly immersed in the club. He wants what is best for the people he works with and the club as a whole. He clearly has passion but I got the feeling that perhaps that can cloud things for him. He so desperately wants things to work. He spoke about his career up until Saints and how he's learning more now than he ever did (The history for him was mostly relative success after success). He was adamant that the PL is the toughest of the tough - comparing it to F1 ... standing still is actually going backwards. He spoke about how clubs like Southampton can play at their very best and still lose due to the minor details at the highest performing league in the World. To the rumour that he would stay up to the World Cup to help see a smooth transition to a new coach ... based on that meet and greet, I could actually see him doing that. A mutual agreement perhaps, a solid pay-off probably and allows him to go away into the World Cup period with his head held high.
Fergie retired after decades of success, loved by all. If this is true Ralph is being dumped on his arse. Why would he show the club respect if so? If I was him I’d rather be sacked straight away than told I’m not good enough but have to work until the WC.
