The Odd Guy

I would have thought any new manager coming in to manage Saints after Pellegrino and Hughes would want to start building his team from the back. His priority would be buying 1 or 2 experienced but older players to organise the defence during the summer window. Instead the priority was on assembling a team of youngsters all under 24 years old but as previous managers have realised our academy players aren't good enough for the PL. It's taken a while but I think Ralph has realised too late the folly in trying to put a team of youngsters together while fighting relegation in the PL. If there is money to spend in January who will spend it more wisely Ralph or a new manager?

Regardless of the Leicester match and that scoreline I don't think many of us would have Saints down for a win or even draw tomorrow against City. I think Ralph has got a free ride on this game and it will be all about pride, performance and damage limitation. It's next weeks match that will be interesting Hasenhuttl Vs Silva. If Saints beat Everton Silva could be gone. Man City 3 Saints 0

If Reed, Krueger and Wilson were planned departures the ownership board would have had replacements lined up. The board can't do anything without Gao's say so and he reacts to a crisis far too late. More is lost by indecision, than by wrong decision.

We have no choice Saints have to get out of this mess. If Gao thought spending the bare minimum to stay in the PL was fraught with danger then he has not reckoned on what it will cost him to get out of the Championship. I can't see the Gao family ever making their £220m investment back never mind what they lost in the transfer market. I only wish they had already made their profit by now and buggered off sharpish.

It's a shame but it's just not going to work with Ralph in charge. This is all about damage limitation but really it's getting to the stage where it would be better for Ralph and the cub if they paid him off and we move on. If Ralph brings players in the next transfer window and it doesn't work then the next manager will have the same problem as Hughes and Ralph.

Martin Caceres was a strange signing, he was quality at the time, 29 years old, operate as a left or right back but only played 1 game for us. If the new Player Expert can find an experienced Central defender of that quality who could organise our defence on the pitch it would be a big plus.

We play City twice in a week and I can't see us winning both (haha) but winning in a cup game tonight and still being in a cup competition will focus the manager and players minds on another major final which can only be a positive. Their goalkeeper Ederson might be rested as will Stirling. Stones might get a run out which is good for us and the rest of the City team will be mostly youth team. The only other real danger is Ralph's team selection.

It's a quote that I Saw and read it as "preside over a saints team" as in any one game in our 134 year history. I didn't think preside over A team was that hard to understand but hey ho....

What I read and quoted "Officially Ralph is the worse manager to preside over a Saints team in our 134 year history." was in context with that game. If you have decided it wasn't and have made up your own mind fair enough. I can live with that.

I agree about freak results and that some team had to set a record for the first time in 131 years but the next few games will show us if the players are any good or not. I daresay some on here will know the answer to that as well.

I didn't mentioned Pellegrino in my OP, you and another poster are contemplating that idea. I merely pointed out what I read "Officially Ralph is the worse manager to preside over a Saints team in our 134 year history." I went on to say no other Saints manager including Pellegrino has lost a game 0-9 at home. "Preside over" can mean 1 or more games. I take it to mean 1 game you took it to mean more. It's not that difficult when read in context.

Depends how you read my post but Pellegrino didn't preside over a 0-9 home game in fact no manager has in 131 year history of the football league. Apart from that Ralph has a 13% win ratio over the past 15 PL games. Make up your own mind if he is worse than MP2.

The problem is if Ralph is as good as we thought he was but loses 0-9 at home what does that tell us if we can't get new players (don't laugh) until January. There must have been worse teams and players then the one on display Friday night and in the 131 year history of the Football League but none of those managers lost a match 0-9 at home. Officially Ralph is the worse manager to preside over a Saints team in our 134 year history. The facts are there and so is Ralph neither of which are going to get any better.

Yep, at the end of the day it's just a game of football but to that chap it means a whole lot more. Good luck to him and I hope he gets his wish and then some.

Most of these players have shown the exit door to three managers and have no qualms about showing it to a fourth. The first thing the players will do is look to the manager for inspiration in preparation for the City game. Does Ralph allow a frank, open warts and all discussion about what went wrong? Or will it be straight onto training where the players think to themselves "we tried that and it doesn't work" mentality? We have players looking at each other or the manager when things go wrong instead of themselves. Do any of them actually want to be here or is it just about the money? The next performance isn't down to the manager, he is irrelevant, it is purely down to the players who ever is picked. The whole footballing world will be watching to see how Saints react to such a crushing defeat and whether we can do the impossible and beat Man City or at least die trying. The only people who are going to restore some pride in SFC are the players, they are the ones that need to show the whole world what they are capable of after a 0-9 defeat. The players have to show in every game from now until the end of the season that no other team will rip them apart so easily. That will be the start of the healing process I'm looking for.

Make no mistake what ever crap bargain buys we have bought, no matter how bad the defence is, no matter how bad or potless the majority owner is, no matter what excuses are put forward...no professional football team should get beat 0-9 at home in any top flight league match EVER.

The PL for all it's money is still a pretty poor league full of average players at best. That's why for the last couple of seasons I was of the opinion that there will always be three worse teams than Saints fighting relegation in the PL. With every new season and nearly always a new manager to Google plus the obligatory bargain buy no Saints fan can ever be sure how the Saints team will perform in the first game but we all cross our fingers and hope for the best. I honestly thought this season under Ralph Saints would be one of the improving teams and given a couple of transfer windows he would have us in the top 10. Everything was in place Ralph came back early to get transfer targets over the line, the enthusiasm was there, the support and anticipation for the season ahead was there...but...as usual it turns out to be all hype. When Leicester recorded the biggest ever victory by an away side in an English top-flight league match in the 131 year history of the football league there can be no hiding place for a Saints manager or player involved in that game. Make no mistake what ever bargain buys we have bought, no matter how bad the defence is, no matter how bad the owners are, no matter what excuses are put forward...no team should get beat 0-9 at home in any top flight league match ever. There is only one person to blame and he knows the mood of the players more than anyone and he picks the team. Ralph Hasenhuttl wanted to make a name for himself in the PL (and then move on) and he has achieved that for all the wrong reasons. There is no coming back from a 0-9 home defeat and Ralph has to go, have we learned nothing by keeping Pellegrino beyond his sell by date.

You will probably get your wish under potless Gao.

And if it was down to you...who would you thank **** for then?

For me the most worrying aspect of the result last night wasn't the record breaking loss but the fact that the Leicester players knew at half-time they were going to set a new record and they knew that our players were unable to stop them. If we show that same mentality in any of our games from now until the end of the season there will be plenty of teams going for a big win. It might not ever be as bad as that again but Leicester have sent out a message to other teams facing us. Once you score a couple of goals Saints Hasenaclue. [h=1][/h]

Ralph is nowhere near to bringing his preferred high press game to SFC with the mish mash of players previous managers have gathered. If you want a coach to get the best out of the players we have now then we need proven PL manager. I would go for Chris Hughton and Sammy Lee.

True, but we wouldn't have had "The best season of recent years" without his vision that he sold to Markus. My point is, like him or loath him and despite the circumstances of his departure, if Kat had kept faith with Cortese we wouldn't find ourselves in a position as bad as we are now.

There is a big difference between an Italian banker as chairman who despite having little knowledge of football, sold his vision and a 5 year plan for PL and European football to a Swiss billionaire and our present potless Chinese chairman. Under Cortese Ralph would have been sacked at half-time last night and a new manager would be in already. We have to be honest and say Ralph didn't come in at the beginning of something he came in at the end of it. The best is over.

Ralph's enthusiasm stopped the same day Burnley beat us 3-0. I think he knew then, what the fans knew already. Ralph's limited PL coaching skills match the players limited PL ability perfectly. Everyone of them has been found out. No i-pad or classroom lectures followed by endless video's are needed to tell a professional manager and players just how dangerous Leicester are on the break. Ralph can't even teach them the basics, at least Puel and Pellegrino taught them the boring method of not to lose football making a defeat seem not so bad. Sad to say but that performance has finished Ralph as a PL manager. Make no mistake there is no coming back from a 0-9 home defeat no matter who or how good the opposition is. If Ralph stays and Saints go three behind in any game there will always be doubt in his mind about a bigger scoreline which will have an effect on his decision making and the players. Tonight has been a disaster, we knew a thumping was coming but the thought on every fans mind is how much worse can it get. Man City next, at least we are away from home.

How significant is the loss of Ralph's right hand man Danny Rohl?[h=1][/h]