Fitzhugh Fella

Walcott hardly counts as a "new" signing though - don't forget we signed him to help the youngsters

I think Ralph’s plan A worked well for a time but now clubs have worked out how to counter it and (this has been said before) he hasn’t really got much else in his locker. Watching the likes of Bielsa this past season had opened my eyes just how flexible and adaptable you have to be to be successful in the PL and I just don’t have the confidence in Ralph I had 12 months ago.

And then he got found out by by the more tactically astute. Once it is known how a magician does his tricks he becomes a lot less impressive.

I for one wouldn’t lose any sleep if this happened. Ralph only has one string to his bow and once he has been found out then he struggles to find another gear. Just don’t see us progressing any further with him in charge. A real shame because he has personality, is popular with the fans and cares about the club from top to bottom.

Hate to say this but here goes. Current transfer talk is akin to rearranging the Titanic deckchairs while the bloke in charge steams straight ahead at the iceberg. After lack of investment our next biggest problem is we have a manager who tactically is not Premier League status.

A sign of how we lack confidence as a club is that many want to keep Ralph simply out of a fear of the unknown or who would replace him. Talk about a negative reason for sticking with a man I believe to be tactically flawed . I still can't believe yesterday (Rusty Romeu for Walker-Peters). A great shame because at one stage I thought he was a great fit for us. I am not sure I want to trust him with the close season's budget. If he gets it wrong we really are up the creek.

I just don't think there is a "decent" owner out there. Gao at least does not take money out

If Ralph and Redmond are still at SMS come August then we are going down

I think we should all prepare for an influx of “Jack of all trades, master of none” type of player. Flexibility to play wherever seems to be the answer to dealing with the cash flow situation.

At the end of the day Bielsa is a better manager than Hasenhuttl. Much better in fact.

What a really stupid thing to say

This

I don't disagree but that is a luxury for us right now

If the club have already done this deal it proves they have learnt nothing from the Les Reed debacle. With money so tight they would be mad to sign Walcott who really hasn't contributed much on the field (nothing against him, he is probably an asset in the dressing room but with a relegation battle coming up next season we need to spend out money elsewhere).

I wouldn't sign Walcott personally, it would be an indication of a lack of ambition. He hasn't set the pulses racing and he's not going to get any better.

Yep Gary Chalk has a couple of the shields (they were designed to tuck in fans hat bands) and I have published photos in my pre-war Cup history book on Saints.

This question should be aimed quickly and directly at RH. His much vaunted lockdown manual has bombed judging by results.

At long last I feel a bit of pride tonight but some questions need answering inc Sky/Tyler’s appalling commentary, the truly awful decision to send JV off and the lack of VAR to come to right a blatant injustice. The question I would like to ask is - how can a defender tackle without a follow through and if that follow through impedes another player and there is no intent surely that is pure bad luck and no way a red card?

Yes MLT is absolutely entitled to his political views but there are a political views and there are political views. To deny the death of 3 million people worldwide through this pandemic I find abhorrent. To deny the benefits of the vaccine I find dangerous. To think otherwise is sticking your heads in the sand. It’s a great shame he has chosen to besmirch his reputation but that is his choice. However I maintain it massively insulting and disrespectful to anyone who has lost a relative or friend to this disease and no matter how many truly great goals he scored I can’t bring myself to bang the drum for him. It’s my loss I accept but I feel cleaner for it.

Yep: I still regard him as the greatest ever Saints player but I just cannot endorse him when I see Indian bodies piled high in mortuaries with his Covid denying Twitter posts. Sorry to all those who choose to turn a blind eye to his rants (dangerous) but I just can’t bring myself to promote him. Matt has been very supportive to Hagiology and he is a very generous man with his free time etc but he has become an utter idiot. Apologies to all those who cannot bear to see an idol being criticised but life is actually more important than footballer worship.

Really? His Covid denying etc has left me feeling a bit disinclined

I am under the impression the manager has the final say. Could be wrong but in the absence on non footballing people on the Board it’s a fair assumption I reckon.

I would argue that he has had reasonable support in the market and yet some of his buys have not really been that spectacular (Djenepo, Adams, Diallo, Salisu, Danso (farcical)). Not bad but not very good. Certainly not a Mane or van Dijk amongst them. Most teams have suffered with injuries this season so we are not very different and don't forget Ralph boasted when he arrived he liked working with a small squad. He has persisted with players who have just not been good enough (Redmond in particular) and made bizarre selections inc the recent one to drop Forster and not give the young Swiss player who got sent off at OT another chance even though we have been struggling in the middle of the park. Tella looked great when he was introduced but after a cracking game at Sheffield United he was benched. Minamino was a bizarre signing - what we needed was a full back. So Ralph has to take some blame. He was been manager for the worst two results in our 136 year history and couldn't even get a point v 9 man Newcastle. Crucially he doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes and that is suicide in the PL. He is good at communicating with the fans, he has a likeable, credible personality and I wish he was a better manager or even an improving one but sadly I think he is holed beneath the water line and in charge of a ship that might not be sinking but is in peril. Trouble is do we trust the Board to find us a decent manager to replace him. That's another argument I suppose.

Yep. The whole thing has dragged on too long though. It’s definitely become a distraction and I wonder how much his head has been turned by Levy.

I save my admiration to those who want to be at the club and don’t destabilise it. But having said that “twat” was a tad over the top and I will withdraw it. It’s just very frustrating that a local lad at his age is still having his head turned to the detriment of the team.