Christophenburg

I know we don’t play for another 10 days, but I feel it says a lot that some of the lads have jetted off on holiday. I wonder just how much Ralph encourages the players to take responsibility, or even pushes them when they’re underperforming

Ralph attends quite a few of the youth team games I gather

Yeah, Adam Blackmore is quite close to Ralph and by his own admission (on Twitter) he likes him. The downside, I think, of what can happen when journalists and managers become too close to each other. Ralph certainly knows how to win games, but he knows how to lose them to, and most significantly other managers know how to beat him - something Ralph doesn't adapt to. He's his own worst enemy. I won't be disappointed if he's here next year, in general I like our style of play (if the execution isn't great) but he needs a good kick up the bum. But after 3-ish years and the majority of the deadwood he inherited now moved on we should seem much less precarious then we do

I was so torn last night wanting both Bournemouth and Forest to lose. Someone like Steve Cooper feels like a Saints like appointment, my gut still says Niko Kovac though

Maybe it's so it look straight on fans with a bit of a paunch?

The change to 5 subs feels like it boosts JWPs stock to for the bigger clubs too. I'd hate to see him go, but for good money he'd singlehandedly bankroll a squad overhaul

Too much attention is played to the playbook being Ralph's, I really don't think it is, it's just that Ralph as a manager fits the model - i.e. high pressing, youth development etc. There's no reason Ralph couldn't become our Rangnick (the Red Bull Rangnick not the United Rangnick...). There are plenty of clubs and plenty of managers that offer essentially the same thing Ralph does to lesser or greater success, and there are certainly some managers who absolutely don't and wouldn't fit at all at Saints despite what some fans keep thinking. Personally I think Niko Kovac would be a good fit but I think that's pretty unlikely. I'd have assumed that someone like Nagelsmann, Marco Rose or Lucien Favre would be dream choices for the board if money were no object.

I'm 100% in the ditch the stripes camp - nothing original or remotely marketable about something seemingly half the other teams in England wear. Would much prefer the traditional sash or an early 80s single stripe. That said 88/Denmark kit would be a nice change

The biggest issue seems to be confidence, we cave so easily and heads drop the second things get tough. That's surely on Ralphs softly softly no consequences style of management. I think it's probably time for a change, but who? Nuno's stock is pretty low in England right now. Favre's style matches the playbook but he's been out of work for two years and would be hard to lure to us. AVB was always perpetually linked to us but seems he's keen to retire (again). Rudi Garcia? Javi? Leonardo Jardim? Farke yo-yoed with Norwich. Mark van Bommel seems like a Saints-like appointment but had a rought stint at Wolfsburg.

I mean they literally are a level above, and last season were in the WSL...

What is Danny Mills' problem with Saints? Can't think of any club connection in his history that'd imply a dislike of Saints. It's a shame as he seems a nice guy, does a huge amount for charity! (To clarify - Ralph deserves credit where credit is due, and criticism where it's warranted - no-one should be above criticism. I'm glad things have turned around though - the set-up last night was near perfect)

Alex Crook said it's not happening, so maybe something in it...

He was confirmed about two and half hours ago

They don't. Melbourne Hearts were renamed Melbourne City and their badge changed in 2014. Their kit was finally changed in 2017 (it's city blue not sky blue due to a technicality). Club Atlético Torque changed their name and badge in 2020 - they're Montevideo City Torque now. Mumbai City were already called Mumbai City before City Football Group purchased the majority stake, but in 2020 changed their home strip colour changed to sky/city blue to match the rest of the group. New York City was obviously designed from scratch to match Man City. Lommel SK and Troyes AC are the only exceptions, but they're both comparatively new acquisitions so that might change. Girona even introduced a sky/city blue third strip and they're only 47% owned I think. CFG have certainly put less emphasis on 'brand synergy' and realised it's less important then a good talent pipeline, so they may not bother moving forward, but it certainly was a core part of their initial strategy. (The rest of City Football Group's clubs are majority owned by others.)

Like I said, unlikely to happen (not least because it's not desired) but I was just curious as to what approach they could take if they wanted to (a bit of playful imagination if you will). I like your Republic suggestion, the word comes from the Latin 'res publica' which means a public thing or a public matter, but can mean something held in common for many people - such as a park, or a football club!

I know it's unlikely to pan out this way as most multi-club owners don't, and I know both organisations use different multi-club models, but I'm curious how Sports Republic might brand itself if it followed the City Group/Red Bull branding approach. Both have continuity of branding across the clubs they own - Red Bull obviously use their own brand heavily, whilst City Football Group's was built around Manchester City as the flagship club - and both are rebadging and rebranding all their clubs to apply that continuity.

This is not the news you're looking for...

Is there any mechanism within the PL rulebook to say that players purchased in the January transfer window are ineligible for selection for postponed games? Seems much fairer when Newcastle are very shrewdly gaming the system

I've always had an irrational dislike for Mark Noble, not quite sure why. Vardy and Zaha probably make the cut for me too

Are we sure TWar isn't actually Ralph?

Is Harry Lewis really worse?

I don't agree with this. There are plenty of managers on the continent who are adept at developing pathways through the academy into the first team. They might not attend every youth game like Ralph does, but realistically that's not actually paying any dividends at the moment so not a huge loss

Good grief - some of our fans have got to be careful or the JWP u-turn from the summer to now is going to cause a lot of whiplash! Can you imagine selling JWP in January of all transfer windows!

That's because the system itself isn't the problem, it's the delivery and execution of that system from our gaffer. Similarly Liverpool and Leeds apply variations, Bielsa is famous for it (known as the Bielsa Burnout). In fact it's really not that unique, plenty of teams and managers apply it or variations of it - Marsch at Salzburg and Leipzig, Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim, Lepizig and now at Bayern, even Farke at Norwich! And many of these managers inherited a high pressing game from their predecessor managers. Whether the club can even afford to sack Ralph and replace him with a similar manager, like Favre or Marsch who are both out of work, attempt to poach someone like Weinzierl (Augsburg), Schmidt (Eindhoven), Stoger (Hungary somewhere I think), or even a lower budget gamble like Herrlich, Hannes Wolf, Ernest Faber or Achim Beierlorzer, is the ultimate barrier though. I think Ralph feels pretty secure, the club seem comparatively happy, and everything else is an irrelvenance. For me personally, I can't see anything changing, and I think our team is better then it is performing at the moment, so I'd gamble on Marsch or Favre if we stood a chance of attracting them.

Oh it does absolutely, but it doesn't go north or eastwards though. My rough Saint's catchment area is roughly only comparable to Leeds city population itself, not even factoring in the wider met area which, as you say, is huge - 4th largest in the country and with only 3 football teams of note. I suspect why I don't think Leeds is a bigger club is probably irrelevant - by any real metric it is (fanbase, achievements etc.), just doesn't feel like it is, purely subjective.