Ralph - Stick or Twist..?

It's really sad.

He's proved them very wrong before. But then they've forgotten that.

 

I wasn't having a pop, I was comparing posters here to the likes of saintsweb/twitter/fb. I'd say it's remarkably calmer on here

 

Oh you look at twatter and facebook. That does explain a lot.

 

Thankfully so, yes.

But social media sites are hardly good barometers. It's a large group of people making noise to get noticed. They're constantly on send, never receive.

 

Couldn't be further from the truth. I'd love it if we weren't ****

 

We are ****. At the moment. Just like we weren't in 2020.

But us being **** doesn't mean wholesale that the manager is. He's struggling right now to get a tune out of these players, just as Ronald was previously (with a far more capable squad). But he's turned it round before and deserves the chance, any chance, to do so again.

(For what it's worth, I'm not having a pop either. These types of conversations are always far better with a pint. I'm quite sure we'd get on fine in real life!)

 

With a more progressive ownership, we should have been like Leicester. Unfortunately we've been on a downward slope for a while now, and had a succession of managers whose first job is to try and stick their fingers in the (van) dyke.

We now have a manager whose capability, and ceiling, is far, far higher than that (as has been shown). And some fans want to sack him. It's utterly bonkers.

 

Absolutely.

 

I think we can write this season of early promise off now and focus on the next.
It will be disappointing that we haven't made progress in the league although a strong finish could yet see us match last season's position but most fans understand that the lack of a pre-season, relentless fixture schedule and endless injuries since the new year and a thin squad has taken its toll.
When we get it right playing the fast tempo, high press we are an exciting and winning team and that is what we need to get back to but we may not see it again fully until after a full pre-season's intensive training and a few holes in the squad filled in the Summer.
Mid-table and an FA Cup S/F would be an acceptable season all things considered but the results and performances will need to be better in the second half of 2021 than the first part and I think that they probably will be.

 

100% agree.

If (big if) Ralph gets at least some chance to improve the squad over the summer (and I mean improve the squad, not just add bodies or replace), but we still find ourselves in the situation we are now, then would be the right time to start asking questions.

 

I'm not trying to find more excuses here, but has Ings contract situation also impacted us? Yes he had Covid and injuries, but he's been nowhere near the level he was at the end of last season - and I don't just mean with number of goals scored, but overall contribution to the team - and I wonder if his contract situation has turned his head at all.

What I would say, is that it's a little worrying now that we do have most of our players back fit that we still don't really seem to be finding our form from the start of the season.

 

It’s just a shame we can’t finish in the top six and join the European Super League.

That’s how it works?

 

These pages have been an interesting read. There's an overwhelming feeling that Ralph is still the right man, which is great to see. He's got everything we are looking for in terms of personality, playing style and connection with the fans and players, but is clearly struggling. Much like others i feel a Summer clear-out is needed. That doesn't necessarily mean spending a rake load of cash, but some of the faces need to go and be replaced with players who have the hunger and drive to succeed. Ultimately Ralph needs that opportunity, so I'm happy to give him another season with some fresh faces.

Some managers just don't work with the type of club and resources available, but could flourish elsewhere. I truly believe Ralph is a good manager (some dodgy tactics/ subs aside), but if our club doesn't change in terms of ownership/ budget and Ralph can't turn it around next season, then maybe it's time to go and we look for a more solid manager that maybe doesn't play such an attractive brand of football, but can make us a more solid unit with the players and resources we have.

 

Hold that thought. Make it your default position

 

God that depresses me though.

 

We've shown with the changes in the boardroom in the last year or so that our signings have improved but stayed at a similar price range. I'm optimistic if we can shift a few that we can improve a lot just by investing the money we receive from transfers. I would also be happy to start looking at the Championship for signings, there are a lot of great players there for reasonable money.

 

I think that just getting good cover for the full-backs would make a huge difference to the squad, the poor run began when Ralph had to fill in those positions with square pegs and we lost momentum which we haven't recovered yet.
Another CM would be good if Ralph feels that Weird Al is not ready yet.

 

Romeu - GET WELL SOON mate ..........

 

QUOTE="Dohnut, post: 14828495, member: 1012357"]Romeu - GET WELL SOON mate ..........[/QUOTE]

Absolutely! If it wasn’t for that ****ing awful Leeds pitch, we’d still have him ......

 

We need a better owner. Until that is sorted you can stick, twist or explode the manager. It won't make much difference.

Whoever does manage us will be working on a shoestring in a league full of silk ropes.