Match Day Thread Saints v Wolves Sunday ❤26th September❤ K.O. 14.00

I think that is the mistake some fans make, last season has finished and we finished 15th and 15 points clear of relegation. It was a disappointment certainly after the very good start but there were mitigating circumstances as to why the team tailed off in the new year (multiple injuries to key players with limited recovery facilities, crowded fixture schedules causing fatigue and a subsequent loss of confidence).
This season is what counts now and there can be no excuses as we have a better balanced virtually full squad available (minus Stuey) with more cover, a full pre season and a less severe fixture schedule and this is where the results and performances should be judged.
Ralph has earnt time to get things right but not indefinitly and I still believe that the form of 2020 is a truer reflection of his management than this year but if the team is still performing like we did against Wolves on a regular basis then Xmas seems like a good time to review it and would give a new manager time to turn things around.
We have seen in the past that hastily sacking a manager is not always the panacea that fans want, Pellegrino replacing Puel for example and I think that it's far too early in this season to fire the bullet.

 

Surely it's time for a headless chicken meltdown? Get Kenny Jackett in, before it's too late!

 

One of my favourite expressions is "You never meet a poor bookie"

 

........but they may have played a proper left back for balance. Stick WP on the right and Livramento ahead of him and we become more dangerous.

 

Don't bite. The vast majority of his posts over the last year or so have been about changing the manager. It's not the fans that sack managers - it's the board (thank goodness!). And they don't spend the day looking at the internet to see how the fans feel.

The trouble is, the FIFA 2021 players will only benchmark against the very best record and keep changing managers until they find one to beat it. Then repeat...

 

Thank you. We will continue to see Ralph's record used against him last season but its disingenuous to pick January as the start point. Football doesn't run with calendar years, selectively picking the second half of the season and failing to highlight the extreme pressures faced is not reasonable. What about the first half of the season?

Right now we have a decent team and are on a fair run of results. Our goal talisman walked and we aren't scoring but its not all doom and gloom. Christ, a solid defence is boring but it wins points and a leaky one loses games. Hopefully we can tweak some formations and make a few different things happen.

this is a really good assessment of the 4-1-4-1 formation Ralph used earlier in the season. It has promise but if anything we will struggle without creative AM's