Ralph Fastenbüttl

I find critical positivity far less worrying than the endless shrieking and whining we get on here. The reason some folk are still pro Ralph is that for all the faults, struggles and frustrations, we can and have played some incredible football under him. After years of getting nothing from the big teams, he has at least made us into a team that can get points from the big six. Of course that doesn't render all the negatives meaningless, but it is a legitimate reason to try and be balanced. We've had a transfer window unlike anything seen at the club for some time. It's perfectly logical to want and see how Ralph gets on after that, and it's insane to judge that from one game... even if that one game is supremely frustrating because we lost for all the same reasons we've been losing for months. On balance I'd say I'm a pro Ralph'er, albeit a very tired and irritated one. Seeing names like Djenepo, Valery, Stephens and AA on the team sheet was massively deflating after what felt like an exciting window. And I fully concede that this run can only go on for so long and I'm sure everyone is in agreement - SR included - that if there isn't some positive change very soon, the time will have come for Ralph to leave us.

I was in favour of backing Ralph with a decent summer, and I'm not gonna wet my pants after one game... but fuck me these defensive performances are spectacularly tedious.

At least Lavia and Aribo look great, as does JWP and... shock horror... Djenepo. I hate to say hit but Adam Armstrong is looking especially poor. Off at half time I'd guess.

That's not what I meant at all - I totally agree with everything you say. I was referring to his supposed frustration with Ralph and what was ultimately a surprise move to a mid-tier club (all of which could be debated, of course).

Of course we all like Che - nice lad, incredible work rate and attitude, and definitely the best striker at the club. But there's no denying that he scores nowhere near a sufficient number to carry us. Obviously I'd much prefer to see AA leaving, but if someone's willing to part with £20m+ for Che and that money gets us a double figures per season striker then I would understand the move.

Pretty gutted about Delap so this would be amazing if true. I have no idea why anyone thought Danny would want back, considering the manner of his departure.

TBH I was talking more about the tone of the actual write-up. And yeah, you're right - 14th would be entirely acceptable.

Quite a downbeat assessment of our chances this season here: https://www.football365.com/news/predicting-positions-other-14-premier-league-clubs 14) Southampton: Over the course of their last 12 games of the 2021/22 season. Southampton won just one match and scored nine goals, while conceding 30, dropping from 9th place in the table to 15th in the process. It’s now been five years since Southampton finished above midway in the Premier League, and they finished 15th or lower in four of those five seasons. Southampton may well be preparing for spending another season with one eye looking over their shoulders at those below them in the table. The arrivals of Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia from Manchester City for £27m are certainly adventurous. These are young players with considerable potential. And Southampton have retained the services of James Ward-Prowse for at least another year, which gives them one of the greatest goalscoring threats in the division from set-pieces. But there have been times since his appointment at St Mary’s when it’s looked as though Ralph Hassenhuttl was living on borrowed time and it’s not particularly surprising to see him near the top of betting lists for the Premier League’s 2022/23 Sack Race. Southampton only finished five points above the relegation places last season, and it’s difficult to see where substantial improvement upon their 15th-placed finish last season will come from.

Quoted for truth. Just fucking imagine if this had been a Gao window. We'd be sitting here watching the club fail to shift dead weight like JB/MD/NR and we'd perhaps have managed to scrape together the pennies for one or two youngsters. The Championship would be looming super fucking large. Instead, we've at least got hope - hope that some of these signings may 'do a Tino', hope that the increased competition will inject some oomph into these fuckers, hope that with the new coaching setup the team might have something new about them, hope that Ralph might step up now that he knows he's got 'til Christmas to prove himself and the hope that we may at least get to enjoy some entertaining football in the months ahead. That all sounds pretty good to me.

Perhaps this explains our problems up front. Imagine the dent your morale takes when you're facing the might of Jack Stephens and Yan Valery in training every day. Being totally shut down and unable to penetrate their unrelenting presence day in day out is gonna mentally wear you down.

Nothing we've seen from SR thus far suggests this will be the case. I'm positive they're aiming for Delap as our main option with Mara to come on from the bench - whether that's alongside Che or instead of remains to be seen.

Like many here I initially completely dismissed the idea of us moving for Broja at a price of £35m-£40m, but thinking about it a little more I'm not so sure. SR's ethos is to buy young, develop, sell at a profit. If they forked out £35m for Broja and he becomes the player many of us think he has the potential to be, we could realistically be looking at anything from £50m-£75m in two or three years time. Which is a perfect fit for the model, no? It's a bigger gamble, of course, but having already forked out over £50m this window, SR is clearly not afraid to spend and gamble on returns. I dunno, perhaps I'm being daft?

Well, it is if you're doing it regularly...

I've hired people into my team who, despite my not liking them personally, I've known are good choices because they have a certain skillset or fulfil a particular role we need. It's called being pragmatic.

This. 1,000x this. Just calm down, people. This game, and the other pre-season games to follow, mean literally nothing, as is always the case.

Do you think Salisu is nailed on then and there's no prospect of him being forced onto the bench by Colwill/Kotchop? Presumably as he better fancies his chances of fighting for starts at Saints. Which would surely be the case.

I must admit that the thought of Broja returning doesn't fill me with a huge level of excitement. He's obviously a class player, but he was very average for a long period with us. There are a hundred reasons why that might have been the case, and there's every reason to hope that whatever caused the downturn wouldn't repeat itself if he returned. But it might. I personally find the idea of a fresh prospect like Delap a bit more juicy. As far KWP, I can't help but think that there's no smoke without fire at this stage. There's so much noise on this one that I sadly think we may well lose him. But at least £30-40m is a good sum to get a decent replacement IF we reinvest the money into that position. 'Post of the Year' winner right here 😂

Fuck me, really?

I must admit I'm not really sure what to make of Diallo. My wife asked me to describe him as a player and I really struggled. "He's just kinda like this guy who plays in midfield and sometimes receives the ball and sometimes then passes it." How would others assess him?

Kyle Walker-Peters already knows 'right choice' as Tottenham and Man Utd transfer links emerge https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/kyle-walker-peters-tottenham-transfer-7319249

There's an amount I'd be happy for us to sell Che for, but it certainly isn't £20m. Double it maybe and perhaps that's the sort of cash that could get you a striker with a 15-20 goals a season at Prem level record. Anything less than that and we'd lost too much if Che left.