Have a punt on the Esponal manager? And before anyone gets all hoighty toighty, I’m not Ralph out but there’s serious flaws which need fixing. Anyone better? Yes I’m sure there are. Give me £5m & I’ll find & if I’m wrong you happy clappers can bitch me which won’t happen because you don’t ………
We’re not a bottom 3 side; we don’t have a bottom 3 squad but there’s some danger here; and if we don’t recognise, we could be. Of course there MC away, MU, plucky Chelsea games etc. Oh sorry, criticism.. yes not allowed here, only on Twitter, SaintsWeb, etc.
What are you waffling on about? You can criticise. And we did also win three from four today, so you can recognise improvement too. It’s not one or the other. And we’re not in the bottom three either, so you’re right, we’re not a bottom three side.
Agreed. There are clearly improvements on last season defensively. Armstrong is showing himself to be a great replacement for Ings but unlike Ings he needs a quality partner to work off. I would not be surprised to see a new striker in the January window. The keeper is an issue which needs addressing in January or next summer. That aside, my only frustration is that the quality of set pieces has gone down from last year. But the club are looking long term. We've spent the last couple of years offloading high earners over 25. We have a young squad who signed because of Ralph and who will undoubtedly review their options if he leaves. He will improve most of them given time. I expect a mid table finish and push on next year.
Not sure about the 3 from 4! (Waffling!) Maybe I missed something? Improvement? Marginal! Losing a “few points” from winning positions!? First half vs 2nd half performances?
Whilst also noting that the second half performance against Norwich deserves criticism too. It wasn't good enough. Does the first half deserve it today? Yes and no. No in the sense that it was worth trying something. Yes in the sense that when we went two down, it was worth changing it back to what we know. You know who was most critical about that? Ralph. But criticism (like praise) needs to be made with context attached. It's ridiculous people on here saying "you can't criticise on here" whilst...err...criticising on here, which entirely invalidates whatever weird point they're trying to make.
Sorry, my mistake. Beaten once in four before today. Two wins, one draw. Yes, the points from winning positions is a concern. Yes the second half performances (in two of the games) were poor. Everyone agrees. Even the supporters of Ralph.
Thank you. You’re waffling term wasn’t required. I’m pointing out major deficiencies which need improvement/ correction. I’m not R out but there’s serious holes which need addressing. I’m just continually surprised at R decisions. Of course I have no idea about the wider picture …..
No problem with pointing out deficiencies that need correction. That's all well and good. It's the stuff about "not allowed to criticise" that brought the waffling comment into play.
Well there’s a few on here that seem to balk at any criticism, which I don’t get. We all want same? What’s wrong with highlighting ****ing obvious issues. I’ve supported Saints for 50 yrs & for me I’d never boo at the match but here, fair game. That’s my shout.
Nothing wrong with it. I don't think anyone here baulks at criticism, but if they disagree with it they'll say. Which in my mind is the point of a forum.
You’re right. All about differing views. I’m disappointed with the above deficiencies (my view) which others find innumerable reasons to support / justify. Last week was pants & today was ….. better(?) of course today was a “free hit” (not my term). Last week was ****ing ****e & today was a screw up but I can see what R was going for although I thought foolish at start. The rest is history & roll on Wednesday and I’ll be there shouting all I can to push the lads on …
This is the thing though. Everyone is disappointed with our deficiencies. Where are you seeing that people are supporting them? Nobody is. If anything, people are just providing sensible context. Nobody is happy with them. Yes, today was a screw up, and yes, we can all see what R was going for. It didn't work. Move on. So essentially we're agreeing, but for some reason you think everyone is disagreeing with you?
Everyone is on the scale of positivity somewhere. You have Mowgli flying off the top end on the positivity scale and some miserable **** like Saints Alive at the bottom. I am the voice of reason