I would suggest that the end result mirrors Puel on paper yet the Frenchman never had to deal with Covid. It is difficult to judge Ralph and I feel he remains something of an enigma. I don't think it is in doubt how good his teams are when playing well. Conversely, we still have a vulnerable defence and the inability to make the most of the chances of goal remains a massive frustration. When it goes wrong, I feel Ralph's coaching does seem questionable. I am not sure how you can really judge Ralph in these circumstances, especially when it has not been possible to attend matches. I am on the fence if you had to ask me whether Saints will stick by him. At the end of the day, football is about entertainment and the Saints fans took against Puel's pragmatic style of play. With the quality of players he had available, I think that we under-achieved under him. Hasenhuttl has frustrated insofar that the results have been very contrasting. There are question marks over his choice and timing of substitutions and I feel that signings like Diallo, Djenepo and Salisu have not really had the desired impact, albeit the latter has been frustrated by injury. Armstrong's recruitment was inspired yet the young Austrian defender we had last year seemed woefully short of the quality we required. Adams is hit and miss for me at the moment and I think he will ultimately come good. All in all, Ralph's transfer market dealings are more successful when he pursues British talent like KWP. There appears to be a clear divide in quality between the British and European / African players he is recruiting. We no longer seem to be recruiting the next Tadic, Mane, VVJ or Fonte. Signings like Walcott strike me as make-weights and are a temporary solution. The other question mark i would have over Ralph is why players like Obafemi and Valery show promise but then get discarded because of "attitude" problems. Puel seemed to be keen to employ academy players who showed promise yet JWP, easily the best player we have produced in recent years, flattered to deceive under Puel. I can see why the comparison might be made and that the argument that we have not pushed on as much as we should under Ralph is valid yet it totally ignore that way football has been played in the last 10 months. I could see a situation where the board get twitchy with Ralph although I don't think that the doubts about him are currently sufficient for him not to be here in 21/22. Circumstances have been such that it is very difficult to effectively judge him. I would be intrigued to see what he would achieve at a club like Spurs and think that with better resources available, he would be more effective. There is currently insufficient depth in the Saints squad for Ralph's potential to be unleashed yet I am not convinced that his recruitment has not exacerbated this problem. Don't think Diallo and Djenepo are good enough, to be honest.
Hold up, Ian. You're saying that he has greater success recruiting British players, and then in the next breath say that Walcott is a make-weight. Plus, Salisu hasn't had the desired impact? What?! He's probably the brightest prospect we've recruited since VVD. So yes, we are recruiting the next Tadic/Mane/VVD/Fonte - he's playing for us right now. It's way, way, way too early to be judging Diallo. He's a month older than Tella and coming into one of the most demanding positions in a team. It's his first season playing premier league football, and he's only just turned 22. Give the lad a chance! There's a player in there. Djenepo is, to coin your phrase, an enigma, but I wouldn't be rushing him out of the door just yet either. Remember as well that Ralph isn't personally responsible for all our recruitment either. I do totally agree that we have insufficient depth in the squad though, that's absolutely a problem.
Salisu is a fantastic talent. I was among a few to say this before he even kicked a ball at Saints. And like @Le Tissier's Laces said, it's way too early to judge Diallo. He had a very impressive start before he got injured.
The Portuguese thing was a Wolves policy because of Mendes rather than a Nuno idea Don’t know if he is going to be heading to Spurs or just fancied a change after a poor season, Interesting to see what happens to both Wolves and him
I agree about this bit think that there are going to be a number of teams in the Premier League next season who may have a bumpier ride that has been typical. Palace will be just as interesting from this perspective. Spurs seems like the obvious choice but It think Nuno will also be attracting the attention of clubs in the continent too.
Such a shame he had a team full of injured players. But to be fair, if we'd had our full team fit and out playing through the season, he still wouldn't have won the league! That's life Jurgen, try it sometime
I keep seeing Parker mentioned for Tottenham, but what has he actually done in management to deserve that job?
Made Fulham Barcelona for 5 games I think Spurs will go for Rodgers, whether he is interested is another matter.
Just watched the Leicester v Spurs highlights. For me there's some hugely questionable refereeing decisions in there Penalty 1: Alderweireld clearly dangles his leg out and Vardy chooses to trip over it. Should that be a penalty? For me, no. Vardy could easily have chosen not to trip over him. Penalty 2: For me Vardy gets his arm wrapped around Sanchez then levers himself over to make it look a foul. Cleverly done but no penalty I'd say Schmeichel OG - This is the one I think the ref got right. Leicester crying for a foul on the GK but for me Schmeichel jumps into Sanchez and goal is the right decision. Bale first goal - very grey area as to when 'immediate build up' starts! Hitting Kane's hand is why he's able to control it, before teeing up Bale. I'd need to know the rules better here.
