Ralph - Stick or Twist..?

Thing is, in Brighton he has waaaaaaay better owners.

 

The state of SFC is more complex than knowing what is wrong on and off the pitch.
I think Semmens and Ralph are well aware of what is wrong and have a plan to put things right.
The file is locked in a vault somewhere under the heading "new owners".
At the moment this feels like an endurance test for Saints fans with some already giving up and conceding defeat.
Marriage is like that.
It takes years to find a winning formula for a happy married life before realising the happiest moments are when you just go along with the flow and see what happens. Things that you worry about are never as bad as first feared and often turns out for the better in the end.

 

Agreed, particularly re waiting on a new owner.

 

The thing is that the Pellegrino period has mentally scarred me and I always fear that any unnecessary change might see a return to those dark days. The bigger picture with Ralph is that we have had some very good performances mixed with some very poor ones but the good outweighs the bad overall and as I have previously stated, his win % measures up well with previously popular managers.
He has definitely earned another shot at a new season but he will know that there needs to be an improvement on the second half of this season.

 

If we end up finishing 14th then that would turn out to be a very good thing based on our current form & remaining fixtures, however to even finish 14-16th could be a push based on the games left to play.
Our remaining games could only see us picking up the odd point against Fulham who are fighting for survival & likely to be more up for a fight than us, as for the rest of our games, Leicester, Liverpool, Leeds & West Ham I really struggle to see us getting anything from those & if that does happen then we could very well see ourselves in a relegation fight with the likes of Newcastle, Burnley & Brighton for 17th place & all of those teams have arguably easier run-ins than us. The way we are playing at the moment doesn't fill me with confidence that we can handle a scrap should one arise.

 

Thing is were

I'd prefer at least trying to defend. 1 clean sheet under Ralph since the Liverpool game. 1.

I'd much rather lose 2-1, 1-0 then getting hammered. Look at our GD.

Seriously, what aspect of how RH has us set up are you happy with? It can't be the defence, it can't be attacking, why do you think his tactics are fine?

 

You've left out Palace.

 

Sorry, formatting issue there

 

We won't beat Palace

 

Because his tactics have been proven to work when the players are playing well. He just needs more depth in the squad. We need 4 PL quality fullbacks, not 2 for instance.

 

Do you really think we will ever get 4 PL quality FBs? Which teams outside of the big 6 have 4 PL quality FBs or indeed any position? Also how much would we need to spend on getting them? Not having a go just genuinely interested.

 

Look at our squad. Realistically, how many of our players would be a first choice in teams above us. I don't necessarily mean just the big teams either. I'm talking the West Hams, the Evertons etc.

JWP (possibly, but not in any of the big teams). KWP (similar). Vesty (questionable). Dings (yes up to about 8th).

That's it realistically.

We used to have at least one or two players that the seriously bigger clubs would be very, very interested in. Under Poch, Koeman, Puel we absolutely did. We don't now. We have nobody of that calibre. And coupled with that, our up and coming players are pretty pony. Yes, Tella shows flashes, but other than that? Jankewitz might become a player. N'Lundulu looks lost.

Our squad, I think, is marginally worse than Newcastles. Better than Sheff Utd and Fulham. Similar to a Burnley or Palace. Which is why we are where we are.

 

Not saying we need 4 good PL full backs. 2 good ones and 2 steady ones who are capable of providing back up. Ideally we would get those coming through the academy but it doesn't look too promising.

 

We need back ups that are not fill ins and we can interchange without changing the formation or style too much. Maybe Brandon Williams would've solved the problem but Ralph was unlucky that KWP got injured a couple of times too (I think he is a key player as is Bertie for our style of play).
He did say that efforts were made to get FBs in in January but due to covid they never materialised.

 

Or we can, may or will win. I'm not one for losing/drawing games before they're played. It wasn't an attitude I took onto the pitch or expect the Saints team to have.

 

Or his tactics have now been found out and every team knows how to nullify them. Why would the players, collectively, all suddenly be **** for 4.5 months? All at the same time?

 

And yet here we are. With the exception of a really really bad Sheffield United side, we've beaten Burnley. That's it. Over 4 and a half months.

We've lost to Champions league sides
Top 6 sides
Top 10 sides
Sides who are about our level
And sides below us.

Why on earth would we be in a position to beat Palace, especially as we'll lose to Leicester and Liverpool first? The fans know it, the players have all but downed tools, what miracle do you think is going to play out here?

We are completely and utterly reliant on west brom and Fulham continuing to be ****

 

Team being affected by a LOT of injuries, no back ups and having to fill in with players out of position and academy players playing and on the bench and then poor results causing a lack of confidence would be my theory.

It hasn't all been **** btw, we got to an FA Cup S/F.

I can't be bothered to count all the injuries but Danny alone has been injured 3 times in that period.

 

Actually, we've beaten, Arsenal, Wolves and Bournemouth as well.

 

Sorry mate, that means **** all to me. No different whatsoever in getting knocked out in the first round.

Besides Hughes got us to a FA Cup S/F. That made bugger all difference in having a good season either