It is sad to see anyone sacked. The truth is though he just did not seem to know what to do towards the end. He did not seem to know what his best team was. I don’t remember any manager playing so many players out of their natural positions as much as Ralph did. All the best for the future Ralph!!!
There's a very good chance he saved our club, and that isn't hyperbole. As wildly inconsistent as his sides could be, he got as much as could be expected from the talent level overall, because that talent level was quite bad at times. And given that we quite literally could not afford relegation before SR arrived on the scene, who knows where we would be without him.
I knew nothing about Ralph when he joined but what an impression he made. Instantly became one of my favorites and took us on a wild ride from there. The games during COVID were unforgettable where he had Ings scoring for fun. The pace, precision and excitement of the football was so fun to watch. Never forget that he came on the heels of Puel, Pellegrino and Hughes an era we should hope to not experience again anytime soon. We were desperate for someone who gave a **** about the club. He oversaw some of the most challenging years of any manager both on the pitch and away from it and he set about helping to improve the club from top to bottom and throughout the age groups. I'm a long way away but it seems his years in charge have yielded results even if the first team hasn't achieved the heights all of us care about so much. I believed in the idea that a philosophy within the club was needed and he seemingly worked pretty tirelessly with the leadership to instill that. That's work that other men could have said no to but it seems Ralph wanted SouthamptonFC to thrive and prosper and hopefully he still does. I for one thank him for the good times and share his disappointment with the bad times. He seemingly did the absolute best he could with the hand he was dealt and no-one could ask for more from any manager. I hope the work he did at the club continues to yield results so that there's some legacy of his time with Saints. I'll remember him fondly knowing that no manager lasts forever. We should all hold onto the wins and the great performances and remember that but for missed chances on the pitch there would have been many more. Football is a team game and he was part of a great team at times.
It was 100% the right call but still very sad. If we signed a striker, Gakpo perhaps,that had scored maybe 6 or 7 goals rather than Arma's 1, then i think he would still be in the job. Interesting to hear Arma wasn't Ralph's choice. He did an incredible job for those seasons when we spent next to nothing. We should be grateful for that and he should get credit for that. Hopefully he goes on and enjoys either a happy retirement or success if he stays in the game, just hopefully abroad as it would be painful to see him succeed in England.
I agree, 100%. Genuinely feel like he’s been stitched up in badly in his 4 years here. I would love to know how many of the signings were his and how many were forced upon him. As someone else said, I wish he was coming in again now, fresh with some money to spend. Instead we have worn him down
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but maybe we owe him a lot more than we think with our impending relegation. Yes, maybe the time was right as he went stale, but IMO I am pretty sure we would have a few more points on the board if we had kept him. With hindsight, the World Cup was the reset maybe HE needed. Anyway, water under the bridge now. Onwards and upwards we go next year.
Pretty sure he and the relationships were too far gone. He had the summer for a reset after the shocking second half to last season, but even despite the staff and player overhaul he did not come back looking refreshed and ready to push on and we continued to struggle. Easy to look back with rose tinted glasses because what’s followed has been even worse, but doesn’t mean Ralph should have stayed, just that we shouldn’t have hired Jones or Selles as the replacements.
Yeah I do agree, maybe Ralph shouldn’t have stayed and it is the replacements that have screwed us. As I said at the time though, sometimes it is better the devil you know and be careful what you wish for. And yes, I do love a cliche
Remember he played Romeu as a number 10 instead of JWP during preseason? I'm so glad Ralph's gone. Couldn't stand him by the end. Obviously not happy with who we replaced him with, but that's a separate issue.
A number of bad decisions have been made in the past 12 months, the first of which was not to sack Ralph after the final day game last season vs Leicester. That's not said with hindsight; it was so clear at the time. (We really, really, really can't afford to repeat that mistake with Selles after the Liverpool game. Literally that very evening it should happen.)
I don't see how he could have kept this squad up tbh. Despite significant arrivals in defence he was still on track to concede 60+ goals as per every other season he was here and half the squad/senior management had clearly lost faith. And as we all knew/have seen there was never enough goals in this squad to stay up unless the team was sound defensively, which it hasn't been for a long long time. He did a good job here overall up until last year or so and I'm glad he didn't end up overseeing the relegation which was inevitable once we didn't sign a striker last Summer.
Who knows but when he was sacked we had 13 points from 14 games. So, at that rate according to my maths we would get 35 points. Better than now but still close to relegation.
