Christophenburg

I've been mulling on this all weekend and it's been really interesting to see the reaction, especially from fans on Twitter. For my 10p: 1 - By Ralph's own admission he knew McCarthy was injured - I mean we all knew! If you know a keeper is too injured to kick a ball, how the heck do you expect them to be able to dive? Requires a lot of the same muscles... 2 - My guess is that Ralph gambled because without Fraser on the bench he didn't want to risk Harry Lewis in goal. Whether Macca indicated he would give it a try, or Ralph just straight-up gambled I don't know. Either way, that spectacularly backfired and Ralph sought to blame McCarthy to cover his own handling of it. That's incredibly unprofessional from a manager in my opinion - will be interesting to see if there's any fall-out in the coming weeks 3 - JWP knew McCarthy was injured and knew he probably couldn't cover the whole goal. As it was a free-kick, and that's his speciality, he probably had a good idea of where it was likely to go and as Captain took it upon himself to support Macca on the line. That clearly backfired as the wall blocked the free-kick - wonder if the reaction would have been different if JWP had blocked it. Criticism of JWP isn't necessarily misplaced (particularly in the lead-up to the free-kick itself) but from my perspective he was trying to do the right thing to support Macca 4 - I've been genuinely surprised at the lengths some fans are going to to absolve Ralph of any responsibility for the darkle. It's absolutely staggering 5 - None of this would matter if we didn't crumble in the 2nd half every game!

The LAMF group raised slightly more then expected when they went public a few weeks ago, something like $250m, so things could be moving. Not sure Saints are an interesting target for them though

Part of the problem around the Ralph In/Out thing is that nuance is dead - if you're remotely critical of team selection or tactics then the Ralph fans slate you for being negative, if you want to give Ralph a chance to turn things around in a bad patch then Ralph critics slate you for being part of his supporter cult. It means that a 1-0 loss is a sign Ralph is the worst manager in the premier league to some, and to others a 1-0 win is a sign he's the greatest manager Saints have ever had. For my 2p - I still think some of Ralph's selection choices are baffling but we're beginning to find some confidence and momentum again which is great, particularly as our defence seems much more stable/less error prone.

I'd rather have Jan Kluitenberg back

If that's true then it has to be Fonseca or Favre, both infinitely more qualified and talented then Howe...

Has he? I do think this "playbook" stuff is a little bit of a red herring. It's just gegenpress, there are lots of managers who play that style and could hypothetically replace Ralph without binning the playbook. The issue is that we can't afford to sack him...

Do I think Ralph will be sacked? No - it seems the club are all in. Do I think he should go? Yeah probably - I don't think he's shown anything that gives me confidence he can turn things around unless something changes (such as a new assistant to challenge him). As much as I like the guy, this is a results business... Are there other options? Yeah sure, obviously there are. I don't think it's a fan's job to suggest a replacement manager (which seems to be the standard challenge when you dare questions Ralph's ability), but there are options - Sanchez Flores tanked at Watford but has stats overall that aren't dissimilar to Poch's, nor are Javi Garcia's for that matter. Chris Wilder has had some success in the PL and has a Saints connection. Ranieri or Favre have impressive stats. Rudi Garcia has done great in France and Italy, maybe he'd like to give the Costa del Itchen a go? AVB always seems to be available and perpetually linked with us. Fonseca has great stats from Portugal and Italy, and even proved he can win on a rainy day with Shakhtar. Tedseco did the business from Schalke and Spartak, does he want to add another S to the list? I'm not for a second saying we should go for any of those, nor that any of them would jump at the chance, but the idea that there are no available managers that are better then Ralph, considering the club's stats under him, is frankly ridiculous. And even if it wasn't, is sticking with Ralph really less of a gamble then replacing him?

No, probably nothing to read into there

Feel this might end up being a mistake but clearly not a part of Ralph's plans

That's him - he was Dutch Football Talent of the Year whilst at Ajax before he was sold for about €20m to Nice

I thought Dolberg looked like a really promising young forward yesterday, offered something different to Saints' current forward options

I can't see the logic in people arguing we should let him run his contract down - no incentive to put in 100% effort (he'll get a transfer anyway), huge risk if he gets injured, and nothing to invest in a replacement. It's like running your car into the ground and then still needing to drive to work the next day

I do find it slightly odd - he had tested himself at a higher level, that's why he ended up at Saints. At his age I'd rather become a legend at my boyhood team then constantly chase a higher paycheque, but then I'm not a professional footballer. If it's all true I'd cash in now - it's clear that we can't afford to let him leave on a free next season unless we have a new owner willing to invest, and that money to purchase a replacement is going to be more valuable then his potential goals this season

Reminds me a little of Maehle when he was at Genk (I've not seen him play for Atalanta)

Exactly - if Ings isn't going to sign a new contract lets at least use any income his sale generates to buy a replacement. Doing so on a free at the end of next season seems unnecessarily reckless. As for JWP - that's probably the one sale I don't get. Could we conceivably replace what he offers the team with even two transfers at £15m (assuming he leaves for £30m or so)? I'm not convinced, and on balance would rather keep him and evolve the side with one or two replacements then lose him and risk it all on a handful of new players

Oh, is that it? I don't hate it, certainly better then the majority of the UA kits, and it has some nice personalised touches, but of everything Hummel has to work with - all of our legacy kits with them - it's about as basic as it could be (yes I make no secret of finding basic stripes a little insipid) Great launch video as always though, media team outdo themselves every year!

Frank I'm guessing

At least that's over

Either the players are rubbish and by some miracle Ralph had them performing wonders at the start of the season, or the majority of the squad can actually do a job in the PL under the right circumstances and Ralph isn't getting the best from them anymore. Ralph isn't schrodinger's manager

Jan Kluitenburg - he was the conditioning coach. He's at Al Jazira now and they've just wont the league. Genuinely think he's probably missed more then most - Saints were never fitter and in finer form then when Jan was overseeing fitness and conditioning

Like this a lot, that's really smart and very Saints (though I'm aware we're reverting regressing to stripes this year

Thank you - I'll see if I can get a copy of the book

I'm 33 and have supported Saints since going to the Dell in the 90s, would definitely not consider myself a youngster. It was only a question as to whether the rumours had legs as they seem annual, and then my personal opinion on the design itself. Seems that was probably not the right thing to have an opinion on... Can anyone answer the question about the 1888/89 crest?

There seems to be near annual rumours that the crest/logo may change, though never really comes to anything? Are there any legs to this at all? Got to say I've never been a fan of the current crest, looks exactly like something a fan would design in the 1970s! Lots of interesting concept designs out there, but I'm not sure if there is much of an appetite to change it these days. The earliest crest was a white shield with a red stripe, created by a fan way back in 1888/89 season long before Saints wore anything on their kit (bar the Hampshire FA crest occasionally). This is also where the Saints nickname originates. These were really common at the time, but does anyone know if any survive? I've never seen a picture of one.

Was hoping for an 87-89 take, particularly as those halved kits go back to our professional foundation in 1894 as Southampton St. Mary's in the Southern League