I've been as positive as anyone on this board but I really don't see any signs of progress. Quite the opposite in fact Archers. Our GK, CBs and Lavia have been the only standout players and we still have a sole clean sheet. I maintain, its not the players, its the system.
I think what Chilco is saying is for people to cool their beans, me included (although i seriously doubt he meant me, with my politeness and wide acceptance of other people’s views). We all have a common gaol, for us to see Saints win, we just see things a little differently as to how we get there. I still think we will do the Geordies too, we owe them one…
Once again, why are you harping on about last season? It's just stats that have absolutely no relavence on our current predicament. We will go down under RH at some point be that this season or next, we all know it.
yeah, I remember someone telling us that last season was irrelevant and we should only be discussing this season, do as I say not as I do.
I wasn't - I was replying (maybe misquoted you) that there are those that say last season is irrelevant and some using the last 26 games to show we havent improved. The last 13 games of last season compared with the first 13 of this is a fair comparison and in context. Stats are just that stats and as I keep saying irrelevant. You are only as good as your last game.
I got my head bitten off when I said last season's results and performances were irrelevant when considering Ralph's future due to the amount of signings made in the summer. The Ralph outers can't have it both ways.
You need to move your seat mate. Everyone near me wants him to stay. As for the majority view on line I'll never trust them. It was that kind of mob mentality that brought us Brexit and Boris ****in Johnson.
It took Alex Ferguson 6 years to start being properly successful at Manchester United and that was with players like Bryan Robson. Before that, they were patchy and up and down in form. Ralph is not incompetent and while I don't always agree with his selections, tactics or substitutions, there is a good coach in there. The most worrying trend this season is moving away from his principles, which for me is the biggest issue.
This is why i've changed my vote to out, Ralph has become a conservative coach here and I could accept the league position if we were playing the fearless and exciting football of a couple of years ago but I believe that is a vain hope even though we have signed some exciting young talents. My own view is that Diallo and Mo El are contributing to the slow play with little creativity and should not be starting regularly but are decent enough as back up squad members. The form has been well below par for most of the last year and I think that the team needs a different direction with fresh ideas and i'm sure that Ralph will get another job and do well.
I was in, then out, now unsure. It's not good enough at the moment, but in his defence he wasn't given the attacker he wanted (and it seems like we had no backup to Gakpo) and he's had some key injuries to Lavia, Tino, ABK and KWP. He might not get a run of games with a fully fit squad post-World Cup, though. That said, all the games I've watched this season we've passed the ball dreadfully. So many misplaced passes or passes that go straight out of play. Is that the players, or is that the setup? Maybe it means the players aren't playing for Ralph, but then sometimes they do? Missed passes, poor finishing, not a great deal of attacking, but sometimes we do. It's infuriating. I think we'll lose the next two and he'll be sacked, but I really don't know what we should do now.
I think this is very fair, and raises something which needs explaining. Maybe one of the @TotalSaintsPod journalists could raise the dreadful passing at a presser sometime?
Before you start saying Ralph has to go ask yourselves what you think are the three principal tasks on his job description. I believe they are : 1. develop young players to be sold at profit to maintain the club in the PL; 2. Keep the team in the PL; 3 Entertain the fans. The first has to be a priority because that provides the resources for 2 and 3.. Ralph has to play all of his players to help in their development and put them in the shop window. But you have to go easy on playing the kids too hard and too often or you get what we witnessed last season with Tino.
This forum was never founded for people to make personal attacks on individuals. We really do not need that nonsense. Our opinions on the team and it’s performance is what this forum is all about. There is no doubt the inconsistency of Saints players and management is very frustrating. Is it the managers fault, the players, who knows? At times saints have played very well surely most would agree we were all over palace second half. What frustrates me the most we are never the same match on match. We have seen that the players can do it against good teams even if they lose. The consistency is surely down to the manager surely how he sets them out to play.
im not sure players like Alan Shearer would agree, didn’t he score a hat trick when he was sixteen or seventeen against Arsenal wasn’t it?
On 8th April 1988, at the tender age of 17 years and 240 days, Alan Shearer scored a hat-trick against Arsenal F.C at The Dell and, in doing so, became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the top flight of English football.
And I remember being at the game and thinking he was good, but that other guy with the French sounding name would be the one to keep. Remember thinking that Shearer wouldn't go on to much after us. Proves what I know about football lol
I used to manage a newsagents when Shearer was in the academy, making a name for himself with all the goals he was knocking in. One of my customers, with his dad, was a STH and they always watched the seconds and the academy and he was always saying that MLT was the one to look out for.
