saintant

Probably right and, if so, that means another home game gone unless Ralph pulls a rabbit out of the hat. We are unlikely to gain many points on the road so these home games are gold dust and we can ill afford to waste any of them. Dragan and SR are certainly up for a gamble although for all we know they may have faith in Ralphball - maybe they're not watching our games often enough.

If that is true (and we have no reason to believe it is) then it would be another reason to get rid. He is paid a lot of money to win football matches so I'm hoping he's not cutting off his nose to spite his face by not picking his strongest team to make some point to SR. Personally I don't think Ralph would be that stupid.

If Ralph is still in charge we'll probably lose or draw at best. Can't see the performance level improving while he's calling the shots. Why would anyone expect us to suddenly start looking like a proper well coached football team? Not going to happen.

Lack of a newly signed quality striker doesn't excuse the very poor football being served up over the past 4 games, it runs deeper than that though I do agree SR were negligent in not bringing in the promised forward.

It seems to be working pretty well for Bmuff.

I think it's looking increasingly like SR have decided to give Ralph until the World Cup break and will make their decision then based on where we are. If so then they would surely be taking a huge gamble because if we fail to pick up some wins in the easier games we'll be deep in the mire by the time the break comes and will have wasted more fixtures. At that point we might find we've given ourselves too much to do. I find it hard to believe Dragan is willing to risk his investment but perhaps him and SR have more belief in Ralph than most of the fanbase.

Do SR seriously believe that Ralph will suddenly have a lightbulb moment and turn things around? It's not going to happen so they'll have to get rid of him eventually. The question is, will they leave it too late?

I think he used to but now he's less certain.

Semmens will be complicit in any efforts to convince SR to let Ralph carry on in my view. Didn't like their cosy double act at the fans forum.

Nice reward for failure. Great incentive to carry on as we are. Would rather those left behind are put through some rigorous training to make sure they're in tip top shape because I'm not convinced we're as fit as we should be.

I was making the point that there is only one game between the end of the world cup and the January transfer window opening. Your post suggests that we could use the period between the world cup and the opening of the transfer window to improve results - hard to do that in only one game but I take your point.

So whoever we get in is so brilliant that he makes us look like world beaters in his one game, Fulham away, between the end of world cup and transfer window opening? Who is the miracle worker 🙂

Stay away from the training ground and let Selles coach the players and select the team.

Semmens will be fuming having had to spend another Saturday away from his loved ones to watch more of Ralph's propaganda football.

Assume they are Pompey fans masquerading as Saints supporters

Agree with this - 2 narrow defeats and a more predictable loss to Arsenal.

If winger really is AMN's best position maybe play him there. Or is that too simplistic? He must have something about him although maybe he's another of those that waste their talent and just steal a living.

This is the important point. Granted we'll do things worse because our players aren't as good. However, they are all decent footballers and it should not be beyond the capability of man (Ralph) to coach them to play in a far more effective manner. They should all be drilled to pass and move, find space, play between the lines, look up and slide passes into dangerous areas, get the ball forward quicker, cut down the pointless sideways and backward passing, mark opponents etc etc. Yes, they will still make mistakes and won't be as technical as the top sides but for God's sake let's at least do the basics and bare minimum. For too long, apart from odd moments, we've looked like a bunch of strangers who've never taken part in a game of football but who've been put on a pitch with a ball and told to see what they can come up with. It is inexcusable to not even coach the basics.

Agree, it is sad to see and probably best for all if Ralph was relieved of his post and all the stresses that go with it. Sure, it'll hurt his pride to not see the job through but better not to risk the strain he's under now. When the team has performed at their best under him they've been very good and a joy to watch at times with some excellent results. He's done some great work on a very limited budget so plaudits to him for that but I think most agree he needs to go now because things are not improving and it's gone on for too long.

Ralph needs to go now. The incoming manager will face a huge task and may or may not be able to keep us up but as long as he brings a new culture and there is obvious progress shown towards getting this team back on track I think most would be happy. Relegation will hurt but it will not be a disaster provided any new manager gives the side an identity, some shape and the ability to compete particularly against teams outside the top six. If he keeps us up I would see that as a massive achievement. Should we go down and a new boss at least makes sure we do it fighting rather than the current whimper then not so bad as most of us are realistic enough to think relegation is going to come at some point unless SR suddenly start throwing big money around. The Championship is a good league and no reason we couldn't be among the promotion contenders. Who SR will opt for if and when Ralph is sacked is going to define our future. They are bound to have a list of names who they feel would fit the role. Maybe they'll decide on a young, up and coming manager and that will be a gamble. If they go down that route perhaps they should consider negotiating a short contract to the end of the season on a realistic salary and the offer of win bonuses. If the new manager does well and we stay up he gets a new contract. If it doesn't work out at least there wouldn't be a huge pay-off. Should he do a reasonable job but we don't quite avoid the drop SR can then decide whether to give him a crack in the Championship and renegotiate his contract accordingly. Whatever they decide I don't think they can afford to wait any longer because Ralph looks a beaten man who is all out of fresh ideas.

No thanks.

Four more consecutive defeats and just one goal scored. This is death by a thousand cuts. Nothing will improve until Ralph is out of the building and his playbook is burned.

But it's clearly far more than just a lack of a striker although I'm sure we all agree one was needed in the last window. We now play with no shape and no clear idea of what our style is, what we are trying to achieve and how we are going about it. It surely cannot be allowed to continue. Bournemouth sacked Parker after one humiliating 9-0 and look better for the change. A change in manager is now a must.

If Ralph remains in charge there is every chance we'll lose to West Ham at home and Bournemouth away is almost a given. The bloke is completely shot and every game he remains in charge is another nail in our coffin. I had high hopes of SR as they seemed to have good ideas and some clever people but now I'm beginning to wonder. I can't believe Dragan is happy to see his investment squandered like this. Surely he'll step in and insist this mess is sorted.

Why do you think we can't?