Ralph - Stick or Twist..?

You say why should we stick with Ralph when he may go and buy players to suit his style, then get sacked, then have a new manager who's stuck with players he doesn't want....

Well Ralph is still stuck with a lot of players he doesn't want himself. Players who were bought under different managers, who haven't been much good at all since we signed them. Sack Ralph and you then have a fourth manager who comes in to deal with a squad made of signings from a variety of different managers and styles. Arguably we'd be even more disjointed.

Since Ralph came, his permanent transfers are Adams, Djenepo, KWP, Diallo and Salisu (hopefully I've not missed any). Some were signed due to their potential, which doesn't exactly help for the here and now, and some have gone straight into the starting line-up. Up to now, he's been hamstrung by a very small budget, hindered even further because the failed signings of previous managers/chairmen have taken up a lot of our budget and wages - and although some have moved on finally, there are a few STILL to be shifted like Hoedt and Lemina.

Five permanent signings or so in five transfer windows is hardly much to work with. He needs this summer window before we can truly judge him in my opinion.

 

Ings.

 

Yeah but he was signed on loan with an obligation to buy before Ralph was manager, so Ings technically signed before Ralph came in?

 

Was talking to an Everton-mad mate recently and he was saying how pleased he was that the people who thought David Moyes a 'one hit wonder' had been proven wrong. Let's face it, he took over a joke team and is now managing a decent West Ham team. As my mate said, when he left Everton he didn't suddenly become crap, he needed the sort of stability he'd enjoyed at Goodison.

There is a parallel. We may not have the spending power of West Ham, but Ralph hasn't become a poor manager. This is the testing time for Southampton FC, and we've been here before. Show some ambition and Ralph will stay and develop a half decent team that will compete in the PL. Fail to do so and the managers door will open again and we'll bring in another manager doomed to fail.

 

What a good idea a pint is, a couple more and the wisdom will flow. La Choffe blond and Texel on tap at our local

 

There is a funny idea here. The funny idea is that Ralph will get the budget he needs to fix this team over the summer. He won't. Hopefully he will be able to plug one more hole and we will play decent football for a slightly larger proportion of the season. No way does he get enough money to do more than slap another bandaid on the gaping wound.

 

I put stick, but maybe Daniel Levy has other ideas for Ralph.
His raid on Saints has proved successful in the past.

 

I voted no. 2 months ago I was saying we must stick with him.

We don’t have a great squad and he hasn’t been backed fully but he should have at least stopped the rot.

I really like his style of play but it’s not working and given our run he should concentrate on making us solid at the back and hard to beat. Even if we had to play direct or defensively.

He’s had long enough, I’m not actively calling for his head but if I were the board I would be looking for replacements soon.

 

I absolutely love Lincoln. I'll challenge him when I think he's talking balls (most of the time) and rib him, and I know he'll do the same.

But I'd 100% buy him a pint too.

 

We went for hard to beat in the semi final. That wasn't so great either.

 

Haha true. Wrong game though, don’t get a point for drawing in the cup!

 

However, I am never wrong.

I am just less right