Ralph - Stick or Twist..?

I want to firstly point out that this isn't a get Ralph out campaign. I've seen many of my mates who have remained loyal to Ralph, turn after last night's performance and say that enough is enough. I'm in two minds and can't work out my feelings.

I've always been fully behind him, even after the two 9-0 losses. I've enjoyed his style of football, his passion and loved his connection with the City and the fans, but after last night's abject performance I'm worried whether he can get us out of this slump and move us forward.

Admittedly he is only working with what he's got, and some of the older members of the squad need to be moved on (Redmond/ Bertrand to name a couple), but on paper our squad of players should be able to turn in better performances than the last few months have shown, so Ralph and his coaching staff take a big part of the blame.

Genuinely interested in everyone else's view on this as i just don't know anymore. My heart says he can turn this around with a Summer overhaul, but my head isn't so sure.

 

I'd be more inclined to make changes on the playing side to be honest.

Team Ralph still.

 

I don’t care what some people say, I, personally, think Ralph is quite probably the best manager we can get at the moment. There’s no way we could afford a “big” manager (and I’m not talking BFS here) as, apart from salary, they know they have to work on an extremely limited budget, so with the players we already have.
Stick with Ralph, please, for gods sakes, give him a little financial back-up in the summer, get a half decent squad together with some depth and move on the deadwood.
Whether it will happen or not is anyone’s guess. I have a nasty feeling that the investment won’t come and Ralph will move on to bigger things - probably back in mainland Europe.
It’s a depressing thought and has been brought about by years of neglect, poor transfer business and poor management.

 

This thread will attract some very "Saints web" type of posts.Yawn!
The team needs three or four major changes,if we were able to achieve that then next season with Ralph could be exiting.

 

For me right now the question is, Football, stick or twist?

 

Despite my frustrations about our abject performances and lack of any sort of game plan recently, I'm still team Ralph. He is far from perfect, but I still think he's a good coach who can be very good for us given the right circumstances. As somone else said yesterday, I don't think it's just our playing staff that needs a big shake up though. I would like to see the coaching staff freshened up too, and Ralph given a proper right hand man that he can bounch ideas off, but also someone who will challenge him when he is being stubborn, blind or slow to react to whats happening. Danny Röhl 2.0. A criticism I have of Ralph is that he can be slow to react to things, with subs and tactics and can get stuck in a rut when things are going against us. Whether thats because he's stubborn, has no other ideas or what I don't know. But I feel like the right "number 2" could help.

My big concern at the moment and looking forward is that it's all very well and good thinking (as I do) that Ralph needs a chance with his own playing squad, but realistically is that going to happen here? How are we going to have this big squad overhaul that we want and need with a shoestring budget? And if we don't get the overhaul, then Ralph does need to work out a more effective gameplan with the players we do have, because at the moment it seems like we are just hoping that Armstrong or Ings has a good game and can dig us out some points. Even if some teams can work out our press style and beat us at it, I'd still rather go back to that because you felt playing that way we still had a chance in games, not to mention it being far more enjoyable to watch!

 

In fairness to Ralph (and my goodness, as you say, he's far from perfect), he did make those subs we've cried out for pretty early yesterday, but they made bugger all difference.

I think the loss of Oriol is far bigger than we anticipated (though I think Diallo has the makings of a very good player).

The point that worries me most, and I mentioned it yesterday, is this nervy mindset and the immediate compulsion to play things safe. I do think it was part of the tactic yesterday as we were trying to constrict them (which worked to a greater extent, but nullified us as an attacking force) and hit them with a set piece/on the break. It's typified by JWP, but you saw it in the previously dynamic Diallo too. We need that knocked out of the players, and they need to be braver and more progressive. Redmond's comments were really interesting after the Bournemouth game, saying that Ralph had been encouraging him to take players on and run with the ball, but he hadn't been doing it and he "didn't know why", which makes me think it's not a tactic that Ralph has been extolling, it's a weakness and fear in the players mindsets.

Now should Ralph be good enough to get more into their heads to fix that? Yes, probably. And that needs addressing.

Sorry, slightly rambling post, but there we go.

 

I think he is the right manager but at the wrong time. With our owners we can’t just give him loads of money to go and put together “his” team. We’ve tried for a few windows to move on players he doesn’t want, unsuccessfully in the main. This summer really has to be when we go all out and make huge changes on the playing side, if we don’t then I doubt he lasts next season.

Id stick with him and hopefully we give him a fair crack of the whip with recruitment in the summer so we can really judge him properly next season.

 

If Ralph gets backed in the transfer market properly he could do great things at Saints. But that won't happen until Gao sells the club to someone who actually is prepared to do that. This summer definitely has a "make or break" feel to it.

 

He did make those subs yesterday, but one swallow doesn't make a summer or whatever the phrase is. It's the same as the Burnley game, just because we showed spirit and fight to come back into that game and win it, that was the exception. That was what, our first comeback win since 2016? We still have a team with a weak mentality and Ralph is still too slow to change things. Not even purely talking about substitutions here because it could be argued that the players at his disposal are not good enough to make an impact so that's why he doesn't use them. But tactics or the way he sets us up is all very samey despite things going badly (and we are talking worse in the league over a prolonged period badly now). The prolonged experiment with playing players out of position as an example (when injuries wasn't an excuse) shows how he can just get stuck doing something that clearly isn't working for far too long.

Our mentality affecting the way we play is a big worry and one that I'm not sure can be fixed by anything other than this big overhaul of the playing staff (and possibly coaching staff) that we all want to see. It's been at the club for too long now and I agree in theory Ralph should be addressing that, but this is a long ingrained weakness we have at the club. And this goes back to the big overriding problem we have with our ownership. Where do we go from here if things don't change behind the scenes?

 

Yes, I do agree with this in the main. As I say, he's not perfect.

Jose is available though

 

I agree with most of what’s been said. If the club were going to sack Ralph, they have had plenty of seismic moments when most boards would have said “Twist”. Assuming we claw the last few remaining points together to guarantee safety in the league, he is here for the next year or two and the club simply have to back him.

We all know there’s no pool of owner’s money coming forth for this, so players will have to be sold. Ings, Redmond, Bertrand, Bednarek, as well as whatever loan players anyone will take off us, should raise enough for a decent RB and a young striker.

We need a specialist defensive coach more than anything, because Ralph doesn’t seem to have a clue about stopping other teams scoring. Zonal marking might work against some teams but some players need watching man-to-man, and the number of times we have seen our not-so-pacey CB’s floundering in the wake of a flying winger because our full backs are in the opposing penalty area is heartbreaking.

But yes, I’m still firmly of the opinion that we would struggle to replace Ralph, so let’s give him the chance to build his own team.

 

Stick with Ralph 100%. I hope the club back him too and get him some better players in the summer and clear out the dead wood.

 

We should get Mourinho in. Him and LincolnSaint will get along like a house on fire.

 

F*** me Tom, if they got him in I'm sure I'd be able to finally give up my season ticket and stop going. Mourinho what a horrible thought.

 

I like Ralph's style when we see it at its best....and more importantly, so does the Board. I like a lot of the players, but consistency isn't there.....unless you regard them all playing poorly on the same day as consistent. Ralph just needs backing by giving him the players that suit his style. Whether we can afford a team like that is a different issue.

 

Stick... just.

The performance yesterday was a big mark against all involved for me.

Only reason I am still backing Ralph is I’m not convinced there is anyone else adequate to take this team over.

 

Not to mention the goodwill he should have earned from how we were playing at the back end of last season and the first half of this.

 

Stick, for me. Yesterday was dogshit but I still love the Austrian hunk.

 

Firstly i'd like to point out that I like Ralph & I think he has been largely a good signing However:
One 9-0 defeat is bad enough & other managers would & probably should have been sacked, two 9-0 defeats is unforgivable.
We have the lowest points total in 2021 (10 points) this is relegation territory & it is only because we had a fairly good start to the season points wise that we are not in the relegation places.
We have a squad of decent premier league players who with the right manager could & should be comfortably in the top 10 of the league, ok some players are not good enough but on the whole the squad is healthy.
We capitulated against West Brom & you could forgive that as we are pretty much safe from relegation & had a Semi-final to look forward to however yesterdays performance was lackluster & frankly diabolical. That is down to no-one else but Ralph & his team.

If he stays then i fear we will be in for a torrid time next season & most probably looking at a relegation season.

Sorry Ralph fans but he has to go.