Dusic

Ramsay who has been ripped apart whenever he has played? Jankewitz who he probably rightly has no trust in? Personally I don't think those things would have made a real difference, and certainly aren't ridiculous decisions from Ralph.

Might be in a growing minority but I still think once we get KWP back and get one good result the confidence will come back a bit to some of the attackers. I don't think our poor run is all down to Ralph suddenly being a poor Manager and don't think that its worth getting rid of him just before a kind run of fixtures. Look at tonight, our three subs were Tella, N'Lundulu and Watts. Ralph certainly doesn't have a great hand to play at the moment and surely he has done enough to earn a chance to improve the situation once he has a few more options?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/14185085/blackburn-west-ham-transfer-adam-armstrong/ Obviously its The Sun, but its indicative of the problem we will have in trying to replace Ings this summer. Brighton shows exactly the value of a good goalscorer - they would be top half with one like Ings - so will be frustrating to give away a quality one for the same price as a Championship player will be quoted as.

After Everton, we play Sheff Utd, City, Brighton, Burnley, West Brom and Palace. If we don't get the 6 or 7 pts needed to stay up out of that run then its time to worry. Hopefully we can get Diallo and KWP back soon and then I am convinced we will improve, especially when we go to one game a week. Fulham have a tough couple of games coming up and Brighton's run-in is tough. We shouldn't be in any trouble unless this poor run stretches for another 6 games.

Just watched the highlights - Charlie McCann who scored twice for Utd, two great finishes setup by a good first touch and firing it into the corner. Compared unfortunately with Smith for us who had two absolutely golden chances and fluffed his lines both times. One of those players will have a successful pro career. (Saints keeper Bycroft, one absolute howler aside, made several good saves).

No, at the time we sold him Bertrand was much better than Targett and probably still is. The excellent fee we got enabled us to sign Adams to replace Austin. Ideal world we kept him and Bertrand but we have no money so needed to generate cash to improve other positions. Good to see Targett doing well, but the issue was not his sale but the fact we haven't replaced his role as backup LB.

Its been difficult, absolutely, but if we had a proper RB and LB backup (like when we had Chambers or Targett, even Cedric as a backup) then it would be so much easier to navigate. I also think, in fact I know, you will struggle to find another club who only has 3 senior central midfielders in the squad. We have been unlucky for sure, but alao its exposed the problem of having backup full backs (Vlaery and Vokins) who the manager basically decided, probably correctly, are not viable PL options. Vokins especially should have been loaned out for the season in the summer, with another senior LB brought in to cover and compete with Bertrand. Brighton for example have had Lamptey miss 15 games and March ruled out for the season, but they have cover for both which is of sufficient quality to enable them to cope, whereas one injury to KWP has basically killed us.

Also puts a total stop to any chance of JWP (or Diallo) covering full back for the rest of the season. What a fiasco.

The whole point with Puel, and the key difference between him and Ralph, is that CP was utterly unable to bring fans along the journey and build any kind of trust or rapport - because he couldn't communicate with us. (I'm pretty sure we did also end the season without a goal at home since Feb or thereabouts). That is a big flaw, and it cost him at Leicester as well. Ralph on the other hand still has a lot of support despite two 9-0 losses and a poor run of form. Why is that? I would suggest partly because he has shown that he can get the team playing in a a successful, entertaining way and people hope we can return to that, but also because he comes across as likeable, honest, a leader, someone who cares about the club and who fans trust and through the good and bad times we have understood and believed in what he is trying to do, even if it hasnt always worked. That is a powerful position to be in. There is no value at the moment in any comparison with Puel. We obviously did an awful job of replacing him, but the decision to get rid of him was widely supported.

I personally think this is a bad take. We were massively lucky not to get relegated in the Pellegrino/Hughes season - extremely fortunate that Swansea imploded. We then stayed up in Ralphs's first half season because he managed to change the whole atmosphere around the club and got Redmond playing well. Since then, despite very modest investment, we havent really been close to relegation - and likely won't be this season. IMO mostly down to how Ralph had the team playing (until recently) and the improvement he got from Ings. But I don't see how anyone can really expect much more from a squad that has one LB, one RB and three senior CMs. Re Valery and Vokins - Ralph sees them every day and obviously decided that they aren't up to PL level, as proven by being benched in the Championship and L1. We needed to replace those players absolutely - but is that his fault that we didn't? What more would 'a replacement' have done than what Ralph has? I think overall he has done a good job, with clearly financial limitations that many other clubs don't seem to have. Have you seen how much Tony Bloom has invested in Brighton? Newcastle and WH have both spent £40m on players (badly, but thats their fault). We need new Ownership, not a new Manager.

Interesting article and its a fair summary that Ralph is the most key component we have. Of course he is not perfect, but its accurate that on this bad run there are big factors - notably squad depth - that are not within his control. I am 100% sure that without Ralph we would be worse off than with him. Equally, I think if we can get through the Gao tenure and still be a PL club then that is quite fortunate given he had added absolutely nothing. I think the appointment of Ralph is probably the second biggest reason we have not been relegated so far, second only to Swansea's implosion. Gao has been very, very lucky IMO.

I'm not sure there is any evidence to suggest he is disinterested. Probably disheartened that the team isn't giving him a platform to really show his quality, and I'm sure well aware that he has real competition to get a place at the Euros. Can't fault his work rate IMO, nor his reluctance to sign a new contract.

This is a big problem, and ridiculous scenario for a PL side to get into. I think our only win of the season without KWP was vs Shrewsbury. The Bednarek experiment has failed, he is playing neither as a RB or a CB and it totally stunts the output goijg forward down that side of the pitch. With Ramsay and Stephens already tried and discarded, there isnt really anyone else to turn to apart from risking either Redmond or Djenepo there. With KWP likely to miss at least another 4 or 5 games we need to find something that provides a 6/10 stopgap at RB.

Yep. Given two of the next three are Everton and City away, we badly need to beat Sheff Utd or we will be bang in trouble. We have lost the same number of games as Fulham.

Juat looks like an old profile to me. He had that role previously.

Yeah table looks pretty awful considering what it was like 10 games ago. Some teams who have had rather poor seasons like Palace and Wolves now above us, and only the dross below...

Hopefully Phillips is out again, I don't think they have won a PL match without him this season. They push lots of people forward so hopefully we are a lot better with the ball than vs Chelsea as can cause them some problems. Will badly miss KWP composure bringing the ball out of defence.

Selling Adams would be a stupid idea unless for some reason the £30m offers start rolling in. Its absolute golddust to find a good striker as a bottom half club, which is why losing Ings for £20m or so would be so frustrating. There are a few sides near the bottom of the league who would probably be top half if they had Ings, Brighton and even Fulham come to mind. Ings will be such a massive loss for little compensation, so would definitely be keeping the only other PL quality striker we own.

Might as well look ahead. So, assuming we still don't have much/any cash, what are the key positions we need to be looking at? For me, in order of priority: 1. Striker - with Ings seemingly likely to leave, how we replace him will probably be the single diffefence between being in a relegation fight or not. Even if for some strange reason he stays (objectively why would he really want to sign a new deal if there is higher interest?) we still need to improve here. Adams is ok, but won't be prolific, Long will leave and N'Lundulu and Obafemi are squad players at best. 2. Full Back (both sides) - you can't be a serious PL side and only have one full back for each side. Every other PL side I can think of has a backup for each side for whom it is their actual position. Valery and Vokins are not the answer so signings needed (as per last two windows). 3. Goalkeeper - Forster surely will leave (!) for a chance to play, Lewis the same and it will be interesting to see what we do with Gunn who also needs games. Would make sense to sign a couple of decent prospects, one for bench/challenging McCarthy and another to develop im B team or out on loan. 4. No10 - I think Walcott will probably join on a free unless his injury is very severe and I think that gives enough options considering priority needs as above. Positions less needed: CM - arguably need one more but notnas pressing as positions above, assuming nobody comes in for JWP. CB - fine unless Vestergaard sold due to contract situation.

Another defeat for the U18s (1-0 vs Leicester). Seems Kelvin's nipper made the bench.

Solid, very good one vs one and calm. Bit of a dodgy first touch, but clearly looks a good signing and very promising PL debut.

Out of interest when you say "Ralph should have shut up shop at 2 or 3-0 down", what do you mean, in terms of actually how you do that?

Ralph talking about a switch to 3 CBs. Extremely frustrating that an injury to one player, a right back, potentially causes a change to the formation that the team has proven it is best suited to playing. Can argue about bad luck with injuries etc but this is simply poor squad construction and there have been two windows in which to secure a backup full back yet a failure to do so has really disrupted the season.

Surely you can apreciate the circumstances behind the 9? Its obviously poor to concede that many, but given the well documented injuries, opposition, red card, VAR its pretty clear to me how it happened. Re pressing, certainly not the only side that does it, but most of the others are teams who certainly have deeper squads and I don't doubt that a decent part of our poor form is due to the level of injuries and therefore inability to rotate or make much difference from the bench. Look at Villa - they have virtually had the same XI every game all season, with usually only one or two missing at most. Factor in their unfortunately fortunate break due to covid just when others were facing an intense schedule and it shows in their results. We have gone to players who are nowhere near PL level and those players will be exposed, Villa as an example have been able to pick a consistent side and their form has largely remained consistent too. Most of our key players have been absolutely flogged this season, and playing an intense style will eventually take its toll in these circumstances. Fans would have moaned had Ralph chucked in the cup - IMO very brave selections from him as he knew it would make the league games much tougher, as has been the case, and from his position the league is what is scrutinised and will ultimately affect his reputation. Fair play to him.

Seems like we will have midweek games confirmed shortly for City and Spurs away, brought forward from later in the season. Less than ideal timing, we could use some weeks with just one game, and to get Diallo back at least.