Ralph Fastenbüttl

I mean, yeah, I'm not going to argue with you about the opposition. Dogshit. Tho QPR are above us in the table, so maybe we shouldn't be quite so sniffy? Nor will I argue that we're good or played well. We're not and, overall, we didn't. But what we did do was win, and that objectively is an improvement! Obviously lots and lots of improving is still required, of course. Nor did I claim any such thing! That's not really the thrust of my post, is it? Honestly not sure we would have gotten three points against Wednesday under Still, but guess we'll never know (thank fuck).

I'm not saying Eckert is the man or anything, but you lot are IMPOSSIBLE to please. Like, we NEVER enjoy a new manager bounce. Never. So two on the trot is actually pretty massive. Most of us would have creamed our pants if Still had taken off Downes and brought on youth. And for all the folk saying "yeah, well, we should be beating QPR and Wednesday" I'm like yeah, and we SHOULD have beaten loads of teams we've lost to recently! Obviously Eckert would not be my No.1 choice - I'd much prefer a far more experienced hire - but if he keeps winning (big 'if', of course) then the point will come when SR would be stupid to get rid of the one bloke who seems to be able to get results from our repeatedly disappointing players. It's like we've forgotten how to be pleased. We lose = we're sad. We're shit = we're sad. We win = we're sad, because it means we might stick with the winners who we're convinced are actually shit!

All you can do is beat the team in front of you. A win's a win. The great teams are the ones who still find a way to grab the points when playing badly. The only stat that matters is the scoreline. We got the job done. Anyone got any more gems tucked away in the Shite Pundits' Locker they can drag out to paper over the fact that we play like a poor Under 11s side?

I'm just so fucking exhausted at even the THOUGHT of RM returning. How the fuck can anyone have forgotten just how miserable that season in the Prem was? My worst as a Saints fan, without question. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to emotionally invest in the club if it commits such an act of wanton self harm. Fuck 'em, seriously.

Like many of you, I loved Ralph the bloke and I'll always be thankful for the great times we had with him. But it's easy to forget how bad it was toward the end, albeit with extraneous factors (but are there not always?). The big frustration with Ralph toward the end was the lack of Plan B, and that's something that's been a common a massively frustrating trait among most of the managers since. Still barely had a Plan A but certainly had no Plan B. And no, swapping from three at the back to ALL THE ATTACKERS most matches is not a Plan B. Selles was like a poor clone of Ralph, warts and all. Mad Nate had some tactical acumen but was rarely able to counter the counters of rival managers, although looking at him this season really does reinforce the argument that the managers are not the problem at all. Although I fear that we'll never make good under SR, I just long for a manager who is organised and has a solid tactical grasp of the game. They don't need to set the world alight - just someone who can set a team up in a way a squad can understand and adjust his tactics through the course of a game. Kind of feels like the bare minimum, but we haven't had this since fucking forever. No more gambles. Proven experience and an understanding of the game, please. And a bit of discipline, too - knock these lazy, hapless fuckers into line.

Well you can't possibly fucking know that, can you? There's every chance he would have.

I know the players are hardly doing themselves proud at the moment but I honestly believe their is genuinely a lot of ability in our squad, but this manager is now obviously very clearly not capable of getting it out of them. Time for a change. This is no longer knee jerk - he's had long enough. Only problem is there is zero evidence to suggest Sport Republic's next hire will be any better. Flop after flop after flop. We don't need a 'clever' appointment - we need a sensible one. Someone with proven experience and success and this level and above.

It would be an incredible (and very un-Saintsy) story if Ross were actually able to battle through two super frustrating years and emerge a goal scoring hero. His performance tonight was superb, and as @HarvSFC says, what he showed tonight was something very different to anything else we have in the team. A bit Lambert-like, perhaps. Obviously we all remain terrified about his fitness but certainly he looked physically comfortable and confident in a way we've never seen in a saints shirt tonight. We can but hope that's a positive sign. Best of luck to the lad - I'm rooting for him.

That's the question, really. It has literally been years since Saints had a positive impact on my mental state. It's fucking harrowing.

I just posted this in the match day thread, and think it applies here too.

On the one hand, I think the people calling for Still's head this early into the season are insane alarmists. On the other hand, you look at the team and can't help but wonder what it is they're actually trying to do? We're playing with the same lack of identity we had under Mark Hughes. It honestly looks like he's just sending them out there with instructions akin to "just get stuck in, lads". Except they're not even doing that. What is the objective? What is the system? What is our style of play? I couldn't answer any of those questions. And I'm already exhausted by it all.

TWELVE MIGHTY POINTS!!!

Well bugger me sideways and call me Roger!

Oh fuck me, I'd forgotten about the living nightmare that is Baz. Something else to look forward to. God, will the horrors ever cease?

People are just despairing, mate, after what has been a season far worse than any of us could have ever imagined. Unsurprisingly that leads people down a dark and hopeless path. But as others have said, people all too quickly forget how godawful we were when last relegated. Not as shit as we are now, of course, but plenty shit nonetheless. Yet look how things turned out. And despite the epic clusterfuck that is Sports Republic, they're clearly invested in sorting this bullshit out. The one fortunate thing for us is that turning a middling Prem team into top half or even European contenders is a gargantuan undertaking, requiring untold resources. Turning a terrible Prem team into Championship contenders is nowhere near as big a job, demanding resources that are well within our means. We might not bounce straight back, but I doubt it'll be long. And I really can't see us going down.

Like, why are all our players so shit? Why is the manager setting us up like this? Just... why is it all so relentlessly terrible all the fecking time? Getting a bit sick of this, lads.

Smallbone seemingly has the club in his heart but I just don't understand him as a player. I don't see what he offers. Honestly, I sadly do think we're best off getting rid.

'Magic of the cup' my fucking arse. Least magical thing I've ever witnessed.

All these folks convincing themselves that Juric won't be here next season may be in for a shock this summer, I suggest. Of course, if we get do in fact hire some shit hot DoF, they may come in with aspirations of bringing in one of their guys. But on the presumption that doesn't happen, I think SR are relatively settled on him.

Who's gonna give Will the bad news?

How dare you sully the name of the Mighty Tall Paul, official Club Hero and Champion?!?!

DEAR FUCKING GOD

One of the many, many players who will probably look instantly better the moment they step away from the drudgery of our club. Yet another example of us failing to get the best, or even just the 'not worst', out of someone.

Never a truer word spoken.

Great job, OP.