Ralph Fastenbüttl

Well, on balance I think I remain in the 'Pro Ralph' camp, but that's conditional on the new owners doing three things: 1. Replacing the coaching staff. All of them. They're fucking shite. 2. Forcing Ralph to get an Assistant Manager. Ralph is capable of getting us playing good football, but he needs a knowledgeable and experienced partner to help him in the situations in which he struggles, and to provide other plan B options when shit on the pitch ain't working. 3. Investing a good three figure sum into the squad. We need first team ready signings, not just promising youngsters, and of course a reliable, quality striker. Also, let's get some proper Prem experience in the heart of defence and midfield - a couple of 30 somethings who've maybe even won stuff or at the very least challenged for honours, and are perhaps looking for their last decent contract. Then we build around them with youth. If the above isn't going to happen then there's clearly no point sticking with Ralph, as three years in he's still struggling to achieve any progress with what we've currently got.

Overall I think this board is far too harsh on Ralph, but I can't argue with this. You're right 😪

Calm down, folks. Nearly all of us would have taken 1-2 before kick-off.

I started writing a reply to this, but it's wasted energy, isn't it? The fact that as soon as I saw the news, my first thought was "Turkish is gonna be all over that"... and then I see you being the first to share it... and then I see the other posts of yours on this page (I'm not digging back into the thread)... so instead I'm just gonna wish my best to Jake. Let's hope he feels better for it and perhaps helps some other folk feel a bit better about themselves too.

I hate to be harsh, but Macca as our no.1 going into next season just isn't acceptable. We've not been good enough between the sticks for several seasons now and it needs sorting. It's the easiest problem to fix, too - whereas, say, a good CB might not be able to fix an otherwise weak defensive line, a keeper is a lone appointment. Get it right and that's one problem solved. Frasier's been a fantastic servant for us but the time has come. We need a proper Prem quality no.1, a genuinely promising youngster with some Prem experience (or even cup experience for a Prem club) as no.2, and then I think Caballero's a decent enough back up at no.3.

Just popped in to see what's going on in the thread.

This is an interesting thought exercise, actually. My take, fwiw: World Class: <big empty space> 'Big Six' Quality: JWP, KWP Solid Starting XI: S Armstrong, Romeu Good Potential: Livramento, Broja, Salisu ---------- Acceptable Squad Players: Che, Redmond, Forster, Bednarek Could Yet Prove To Be Decent: A Armstrong, Diallo, Perraud, Tella, Small ---------- Probably Not Up To Scratch: Djenepo, Elyounoussi, Long, Lyanco, Stephens, Cabellero, Smallbone, Lewis Get Rid: Valery, Walcott, Macca ---------- Written down, it doesn't look great. If everyone with potential comes good then we have a team that should be able to avoid relegation and fight for good Top 10 finishes, but that doesn't feel likely. In truth, Ralph is probably getting all he can from what we've got. He's not really over-achieving in the way that Poch and Koeman did, but certainly he's a step above a lot of the shite that followed. Essentially it's a problem that can only be solved with cash, which we haven't had for ages. And still may not have now, who knows?

A second season on loan would be great. Even if we did sign him, it's not like we'd be able to keep him for more than a season or two until someone came in with big money and we'd have to sell (either due to finances or the player wanting a move to a big team).

I met John Terry at a launch event for one of the PES games (I worked in the games media for years). Fucking prick. A thick yob. Everyone's right in picking out Fernandez. Colossal, whiny twat. Just got one of those faces you want to slap, right? Vardy can do one, too. I agree with the poster above - every part of me wants to hate Ronaldo, but sadly I'm forced to respect him for his achievements, ability and work ethic. Zaha, too, is a comedy villain. As for older players, I'm surprised the vile Ryan Giggs hasn't been mentioned (unless I missed it). I would also have named Gary Neville had you asked me a few years back, but I shall admit that he's won me around.

At least in a few years time when Broja's scoring in the knock out stages of the Champions League, we'll be able to reminisce about the days he spent with us.

Indeed. Paying a word monkey £10 a piece to pump out endless stories to up your page views and maximise click revenue becomes quite appealing from a business perspective when paying a professional reporter a professional wage to write perhaps one professional story per day results in the same or fewer clicks. The whole advertiser local news model is completely broken. There's a reason why the best sports reporting (arguably) can be found on The Athletic.

I don't think uneducated journalists is the problem - it's more the inability of local news outlets to pay for original reporting. If you pay for a proper professional to get out there and talk to people, and to form the sorts of relationships that result in scoops in genuine reporting, you'll get good journalism. However, if you pay for someone to sit at a desk and scan RSS feeds, you won't. Unsurprisingly the latter is far cheaper, and with people being largely unwilling to pay for news anymore, this is where we end up. You've gotta make money if you want to pay a journalist. Local news is virtually dead at this point.

Yes but WHY WOULD HE? You're telling me a guy for some reason acquires this real-world vendetta against a football club, and then seeks to enact has fury on an actual football pitch in front of millions? Just imagine the reality of that scenario for a moment.

Just take a moment to actually think logically about the events that would have to take place for a referee to not only have "an agenda" against a particular team, but then also to act on those feelings. Our matches take place in the real world, and not the pages of a comic that's been scribbled on some reclaimed lined A4 by a dreamy-eyed adolescent. The notion alone is absolutely farcical.

I like Ralph and I really, really want him to come good. It feels like he's grown somewhat this season, making some smart tactical changes and actually employing subs as a resource. But how long can it go on with exactly nothing in the way of results to back any of it up? It's the same shit game after game after game. There has been no poorer team in the league than us in 2021. Hand on heart, I can't say that given the chance to swap Ralph for Ranieri I wouldn't go for it.

I loved Adkins. And not just for his success with us - which to deny is madness, incidentally - but also 'cos he was a decent human. As great as Poch was for us, I never got over the nature of his appointment, announced hours after Nigel was sacked. Compare that with, say Strachan, who refused to even talk to the club while Stuart Gray was in the job. And yet despite this, Nigel still returns to the club for special events to this day. A class act by any measure.

An inevitable consequence of having a squad fit for the PL is that good players will spend time on the bench. The idea that we'd persist with square pegs/round holes to avoid it baffles me. I've personally had my fill of Ralph's fun and games with the full back positions tbh.

Jesus, wtf is going on in this thread? When it's the reaction to racism that makes you furious as opposed to, y'know, the actual racism, that should be a large fucking red flag telling you you're going about shit all wrong. As a newcomer to this forum, can someone PLEASE tell me how to put people on the ignore list?

That's not necessarily true. Armstrong could have a single-figure season and we could still hope for returns from Adams, Tella, JWP and Broja. Perhaps even S Armstrong and Moi. It's probably hard to argue that our starting XI is much improved, but our squad depth most certainly has - and that was the weakness that properly fucked us last season. Of course I'd have liked a new keeper and another CM option, but the window probably delivered more than I would have predicted in the summer.

Well this is all a bit dull, isn't it?

I try to stay away from political threads on football forums because it reminds me of how far removed I am from a lot of the fanbase. Fuck knows why I made the mistake of venturing into this one. Regarding the shirt, I'd love for these kinds of gestures to be redundant, but until we no longer hear homophobic language from the stands and players can be honest about their sexual orientation without fear, they remain necessary. We still sing about Graeme Le Saux "taking it up the rear" because he had the audacity to do crazy things like 'read books' and 'show interest in the arts'. The horror. That an open show of support for gay rights is seen as "virtue signalling" when support of causes such as the poppy is not is very telling. A rainbow shirt does not effect me, or you, or the majority of us in any way whatsoever, but to a few folk it'll mean the world. It's very easy to assert that homophobia (or racism, for that matter) is not a problem when you're a white male. I might suggest that if you do have a problem with it, then perhaps the real problem is not the one you think.

Our collective optimism pays off.

Thank feck for that.

I can see why Ralph wants another No.6. Orio has his strengths, of course, but a near complete inability to pass is somewhat problematic for a footballer.

Blimey, he looks insanely good on the ball.