revolution saint

Ralph seems to have players that he falls out with regularly. Bertrand seemed to be one and Adams seems to be another (alongside S Armstrong). Hard to know what it is that he's got against them. Feels to me like he drops them up until the point where he absolutely has to play them because things are so bad he doesn't have much choice. I guess there's two possible reasons - one is he rates Moi more than he does S Armstrong and the other is that they've had a disagreement. Neither of those reflect well on Ralph. There's been rumours around S Armstrong leaving for a couple of seasons now. Wouldn't surprise me if there's a grain of truth in them.

Completely agree. Last night he should have played. If Ralph didn’t fancy AMN as part of a three then S Armstrong could have done it easily and he should absolutely be starting instead of Moi. There’s an interview with Stu on YouTube on the saints channel where he talks about Ralph and how Ralph didn’t like him when he first joined. I think that’s still the case and Ralph always seems to be looking for a reason not to play him.

It's Ralph every time he gets a player that might have an opinion of his own. He can't cope and it's why he prefers younger players. Let's take him at face value though and assume that AMN isn't quite up to how he wants him to play. Does dropping him from the squad completely help him develop? Is that really the optimum way to getting the best out of him or improve him? We needed three in midfield today. Diallo isn't capable of playing in a two and maybe AMN isn't either but Diallo, JWP and AMN might have been better. To ignore that option and still have Walcott on the bench is nothing short of mental.

I don't think we've got a bad team by any means and it will take time for them to gel. We'll need to get used to the odd poor performance and loss of form. From what I can see we don't have a manager capable of coping with that. I see a tactically inept manager that appears lost. He picks formations that simply don't work and experienced players that aren't good enough whilst better options are frozen out. If we want this team to develop then Ralph is making a hell of a case for someone else being better at doing it.

He's in because he either plays like Pele in training or Ralph can't handle the personalities of those players who are better than him. I think it's the latter.

Get rid. I'm sick of bizarre lineups, formations and a team that simply can't pass the ball. For all his talk of working against the ball, always leaving everything on the pitch - we've had far too many gutless performances. How the hell Moi gets a starting position is beyond me; he does nothing.

Fucking lazy cunt.

I'd like to see a midfield of JWP, AMN and Diallo. Would mean sacrificing (probably) Elynoussi but I'm OK with that. Back four and keeper picks itself as does Adams so that just leaves two wide positions. I'd go with Aribo on the right and Djenepo on the left. If they have issues over the keeper then there's a temptation to go with Adam Armstrong instead purely because he'll try and shoot whenever he gets a chance. Wouldn't be disappointed if either Mara or Edozie start but if not then I hope they get a decent amount of time on the pitch.

I don't think this will happen because it's inflationary and would be hypocritical to condemn people on strike asking for more money whilst giving the green light to bankers to increase bonuses. Team Truss and the new chancellor are far more savvy than that.

Whatever mate, as I said it’s boring now.

Bit disrespectful isn’t it? Not sure the queen would like that. Anyway bit bored of this now, you can’t justify the cancellation of the games and are getting a bit worked up over it all. Go back to your candle lit vigil.

Can’t be arsed mate. Suspect you can’t really give me an answer but that’s fine.

OK what is it then?

Sure looks a lot like being miserable to me. By you lot I meant the grief police, it was a general point and probably doesn’t really apply to you that much so apologies for that. Just think the disrespectful argument is a bit of a cop out. Sure some people have been but generally most aren’t and no one as far as I can see has come up with a reason why going to a football match is disrespectful. Stupid idea and should rightly be criticised.

To be fair you lot are obliged to be miserable for 10 days so probably not really the best point you could make.

Nothing is happening this weekend though so it’s not clashing with a major historical event. Cancelling the matches is a gesture, nothing more than that, and instead of going to the football most people will do something different that doesn’t better reflect any sense of grief. There simply isn’t a compelling reason to cancel the games.

None of us are getting any time off to mourn so, in that respect, sport will be no different to the rest of the country.

That's the thing though - it's a personal choice isn't it? If someone feels that bad about it then they're perfectly at liberty to not do something. I've no problem with that. Anyone who doesn't want to mourn in a specific way shouldn't have to either. Win, win. Slightly related note, I'm not sure what exactly we're supposed to be doing whilst we mourn and not go to football matches etc. Do we sit in silence thinking about the Queen?

On the last point I've been preparing for this and I'm in a much better position than when Diana died. That was horrible. I've got Netflix and prime and the internet is pretty good for alternative viewing. I don't even listen to UK radio stations much of the time so I think I should be pretty much insulated from all of it. You can never quite be sure though so I'm still a little apprehensive.

How does that work then? Truss announces a new home secretary and Patel leaves? That's pretty much a given, you don't have to write a letter for that - it's patently obvious you've been sacked.

When you promise not to buy imported cheese.

She hasn't even got the support of most of them. Of the people entitled to vote only 47.2% voted for her, 35% for Sunak and the remaining 17.8% either not bothering or spoiling their vote. I think she'll struggle to galvanise her own party let alone attract anyone outside it to vote for her.

Yeah, makes sense to go the country after the next Tory leader is announced. Do we have any news on when the first round of voting for new leader starts? I'm assuming they'll want to get it over with by Christmas.

Pretty sure I read that City also have a clause that gives them the opportunity to match any bid that we accept. So the buy back might not kick in till 2024 but if we choose to cash in next summer when Chelsea bid 100 million then we’re obligated to invite City to match that bid.

I like Che Adams and that chance epitomises him. It’s a big fuck you to the premier league and his own team mates. He’s basically saying don’t give me an easy chance that anyone can score, I’m better than that you cunts. OK, in the context of the game it looks bad but we’ve all got to look at the wider picture and applaud the sheer audacity of a man that refuses to take the easy way out. Good on ya Che, you’re a legend.