Guys, seriously, can people stop laying into Tom like he’s some kind of punchbag. It’s genuinely verging into bullying territory, and that makes me really uncomfortable. Of course he might say some things that can be daft, but which of us doesn’t? He may say things you disagree with, but so what? He’s a good lad, and a genuine fan. I read on another thread, a slightly patronising post, that because he’s young(er) he might learn to adapt his views as he gets older. I mean, yeah, that might be true, but then frankly, the older crowd are hardly covering themselves in glory here either.
A moderator is an arbitrator or mediator. Both roles, in my opinion, require a mixture of diplomacy and tact. Offering one's own opinion when in a moderating role is in my view likely to put meat on a bone of contention. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, but it changes the dynamic of a forum. The old chesnut of unintended consequences is a likely outcome.
Except that the role of a moderator on this forum isn’t to decide between people who might disagree, but merely to ensure that the rules of the forum are (fairly loosely at times, but hey) adhered to. Sometimes, in my experience, that means ticking off people I normally agree with, because they may have stepped over the line of discourtesy to another poster. I personally have no problem with anyone disagreeing with anything I say, and as far as I know, that goes for Brendy and Tom as well. That entitles us to express our opinions on things as much as anyone else. It would be grossly unfair on us if we weren’t entitled to do that, considering the voluntary nature of the job we do on here. When Tom made that throwaway comment about taking time out the other night, it was, as far as I could see, a piece of friendly advice which had nothing to do with his role as a mod. The eternal problem we have on here is centred on the well-known psychological fact that when communicating with someone face to face, only 7% of the data transmitted comes from the actual words used. The rest is all down to body language, facial expressions, intonation, volume, and so on and so on. On this forum we are limited to that bare 7%, and most of the subtleties are completely absent. We should all bear that in mind, both when we’re writing messages, and when we’re reading them,
Great points there. It's chicken and egg as an attacking approach against the right opposition will win us games and build Ralph's confidence in that sort of set up, allowing us to take more risks. But we need to speculate to accumulate and where those drubbings and poor periods of form are currently a more recent memory, he's a more tentative coach.
The season so far, for me, is the usual mixed bag of performances and results that I have grown accustomed to expecting from the Saints. In pretty much every game we have had spells when I have felt like pulling my hair out, and spells when we have upped our game and taken control. We haven’t yet,imo, put in a performance where we have been the dominant team for the greatest part of a game but we have put in an unacceptable performance (Friday) where we just weren’t good enough for 90+ minutes. The worry for me is how I have seen and heard that teams, such as Leicester, have been useless, yet they are just 6 points behind us, with the team in 19th just 3 points behind. I think we were unanimous in saying that Ralph ****ed up with the lineup on Friday and the players also let him, us and themselves down by not being able to do the basics well. I have said for a long while that we look a decent team when we press, as the teamwork and close proximity of our players to each other helps us to get better possession and allows for simple, short passes. It also covers up the lack of ability of some players, as well, as a heavy touch would often be rescued by a teammate picking up the loose ball. The formation we are using also needs looking at. 4-2-3-1 is fine, with the FBs overlapping to give width, but all too often I am seeing the midfielders ahead of the FBs hugging the line as well, which effectively makes our attacks predictable and concedes the centre of the pitch to the opposition, allowing them to pass through the middle, which then draws a defensive midfielder or CB out of position to challenge for the ball. For the next game I would like to see Ralph trust the flair players, Mara, Fandab, Stuart etc and try to win rather than try to restrict the opposition.
It's also bollocks. I moan on here constantly. I'm as Ralph out as it gets. I've criticised -his tactics -his team selection -his formations -his crying when we beat Liverpool -that stupid wriggly fingers things he does. -the fact he's ****. I've been very very clear I want him gone. Never once have I been told I can't post it, nor banned or even warned. I've had posters argue with me, I've had posters think (and probably still do) that I'm a bit of a dick and posters mute me. The moderators here are fair and do a great job, what happens is people assume that because the majority of posters here are pro poundland Klopp that you can't be against him. That's simply not the case.
Well said Linco, I know you're well balanced, it's the chip on both shoulders about Ralph that does it.
Lol I think you could have stopped there Seriously, I agree (not with your wanting him out [yet]). I sometimes take a few moments away from here as the rants (for both sides) wind me up, but I feel we can post any view we want. I do tend to walk away quite quickly from opinions that are polarised from mine - as it is difficult to argue the merits or cons of your opinion (especially when they are soooo far apart) on a forum sometimes when frankly I have limited time to post.
