That Everton game is not going to be easy. They made some very solid signings in the window and they are more than just ten men plus Gordon. They are unbeaten in five games, and drew with Liverpool and beat West Ham in their last two. A real banana-skin for Ralph, because our fans are going to expect us to get the three points. If we put out the same team as against Villa, we'll be beaten.
I really like it. Slightly baffled how they make lots of jokes about the differences between the two forms of English but then persist with using “locker room”. Even having the English characters (journalists and commentators) use it. But I can get past it A few contrivances with the setup of football to make the plot work but, again, can get past it
I agree but we still can’t be losing it really because then you’d really be wondering where are points will come from. We can’t rely on nicking results on the counter against top teams who don’t come to ours to defend
Always takes me a while to 'get' humour from across the pond. I'll give it another go at some point but it just seemed to be the staple American main-character-wise-cracking-his-way-through-a-world-populated-by-morons type of thing. EDIT: Plus, the very first episode already needed jokes about bad weather, drinking too much tea, and bad food. Cliche after cliche.
But he is ostensibly the moron in the world he inhabits being the fish out of water My frustration with it is that it is Apple TV only and they still haven’t released season one for sale. So oh have to subscribe to watch it and I don’t recall there being enough else of real interest on that service to justify a prolonged sub.
I think there’s an impression that at no point will people say “enough is enough, it’s just not working out” and we could be fighting relegation and people will still back Ralph. First it was Gaos lack of investment, this season the excuse will be we didn’t invest in a striker.
I take it that's your impression possibly shared by others. If that's your interpretation of pro Ralph posts, so be it.
Off topic, but I get Apple TV+ sub with my watch (3 months only but they all add up...especially when you upgrade like I do) and also now as an add on with my EE contract. So it is 'free'. Also, that is what the internet is for, downloading it for free
I watched it after seeing a YouTube video where they discussed how it is a show that had no right to work primarily because of the cliches (notably the cliche premise) but that it really does because it rises above it.
I've enjoyed much of Ralph's tenure, particularly the football played in the earlier part of it but I feel that he has lost his mojo somehow and has become a much more tentative manager after the heavy beatings and extended poor runs of form. I still want him to turn it around and for the team to start playing that brave and fast football that made me fall in love with him but I somehow feel that is maybe a forlorn hope sadly. If he starts to select his best team to start then I may feel differently but performances like the one against Villa have been too frequent in the last few months to ignore and we must start showing progression soon.
I don’t think anyone has actually shown unwavering support. Everyone who still wants Ralph to stay has given him plenty of criticism on these pages, including myself. My own patience has its limits, as I have said previously, and a loss against Everton, depending on the manner of the loss, the starting XI, the subs, and so on, might just be the final straw. I’m pretty sure that goes for the majority who have still supported him up until these last few games.
Gaos lack of investment lasted Ralph's entire tenure up until this season - and it is undisputedly the reason we didn't climb the table. Spending less than every other team that was not relegated is clearly an indication of exceeding expectation. This season, we have spent money and can no longer view survival as our main goal. However, we are 7 games into the season and been about average apart from Chelsea (above) and Villa (waaay below). Unless we start losing every single game we would be stupid not to give him until the winter break.
I'm with Chilcs and Ronnie as many others are so far as I can see. Your cults and unwavering support comments are way off the mark.
I am leaning towards 'out,' but as neitoned above it would be madness not to wait until the winter break. If his tactics continue to be consistently exposed then we should look to replace. Would need to be a manager used to blooding youngsters. I'd love to get the hgih press style back; such a shame we've lost a key pillar of our identity.
It seems like there are far more people who are closer to “unrelenting criticism” than there are “unwavering support”. The latter simply doesn’t seem to exist
My attitude towards Ralph is one of absolute puzzlement. When he first arrived he put time and effort into coaching the squad into becoming a high pressing team that gave us an identity and made us a team that even neutrals, journalists and commentators began to enjoy watching. We might lose but we would be covered with praise and often considered to have been unlucky not to get something out of the game. Even most fans, despite a loss, would often be quite happy, as we had made a good fist of the game and we could see hope. I have said before that it was Ralph’s tactics and game plan that made a squad of very average individual players look like a better than average team. It was often said that we lost games from winning positions because we ran out of steam which, in part, was true but as big a part of the problem was that the players weren’t that good, individually, which often led to us not scoring enough goals, from good chances, when on top. How often did we almost unanimously agree, at half time, that we might live to regret not taking those chances we created in the first half? And how often were we right? And this is where the puzzlement comes. Why the **** has Ralph stopped using the press especially now the 5 subs rule makes it easier to sustain for the whole game? That other top flight teams weren’t too interested in taking our players, in the summer, indicates that despite the early good signs from our new players we are still a squad with too many below average players, (especially in the attacking and creating sense) and because of that I really think we need to return to the high press and work as a team.
