saintant

City could score any number of goals unless we are right at it from the first minute.

I didn't read the Athletic article. Did it contain any new information in terms of Ralph's training methods and relationship with the players? If not I'm beginning to think they were short of something to write about so decided to just rehash some old news. It's strange that there has been no response from the club or owners unless I've missed it. I know the Echo said they're giving him more time but there doesn't seem to have been any denials or refuting of the claims against Ralph. He's run his course for me and it is time for a fresh start.

I accept those things but believe that Ralph struggles with man management and is an autocrat. Maybe those things didn't affect Ings' decision to join Villa or Broja's to return to Chelsea. You will disagree and that's fair enough but there have been more than enough rumblings coming out of the club along the lines that he doesn't handle the man management side of things particularly well. These stories persist and, if there was no substance to them, I think they would have gone away.

I would just say there is no smoke without fire and there has been an awful lot of smoke.

In the proverbial nutshell.

It'll break our own record then 🙂

Every time Sky flash up worst records of the season, no matter what the category, it seems we are one of the teams listed.

If you play the game the right way, move off the ball, play between the lines and reduce the negative sideways/backwards passing for passings sake, get the ball up the pitch quicker that will pressurise your opponents and lead to more chance for more players and more goals - ok, a good striker will increase the goal tally but I think the point is that our current style of football is not one that creates a lot of chances per game. In a way this puts more pressure on those getting the chances because they know they are unlikely to get many in a match so need to convert the scraps that come their way. It's our style of play that is the biggest problem because it is sluggish, turgid, uninspiring and easy to defend against.

Think SR might well live to regret their faith in Ralph.

Have a certain sympathy with Ralph but he does come across as a bit of an autocrat who will not listen to others and he also appears to struggle with man management which is a big part of the job. Not suggesting that's all his fault as we know what some players are like but other managers seem able to cope better than Ralph.

Well you have no proof of that as we have no real proof Ralph didn't speak with the players after Saturday's game. Either way I think a manager worth his salt should always have an immediate debrief after a game. I get that sometimes emotions are running high but even a few words should be said with a full debrief another time when calm has been restored.

If it is true that Ralph didn't even speak with the players immediately after the Everton game then that sounds like a dereliction of duty. He is paid a massive salary and should be taking responsibility not skulking off without a word of advice/criticism/encouragement or expression of his views in relation to the game. I'd sack him for that and sod his compensation but realise that it is not easy to sack people these days. If he's done it before he should have been given official warnings. With the money he's earning he really has to be more accountable and take his responsibilities seriously. It seems he can't take it when we lose but is quite happy to bask in the glory of victories.

Sounds like there were rumblings at the end of last season and he was probably given a chance to improve but he can't or won't.

How do you work out he is a Spanish Steve Wigley?

It sounds a bit more serious than that and why not make it public? Would you rather the players just sweep it under the carpet and carry on? There will always be one or two players that don't get on with the manager but this appears to run a lot deeper. There were rumours that Oriel left in part because of this. I have to say, JWP's demeanour and body language this season has not been normal for him so there is certainly something wrong. Best to get rid of Ralph now because these sort of things are never fixable.

Wouldn't surprise me to learn that Ralph has not been happy integrating the new coaching staff and probably doesn't allow them much of a say or any meaningful input in training sessions. He was fine with Kelvin and the rest because they weren't much more than his glorified puppets but I suspect the new guys have probably got up his nose and will have their own views and ideas.

He wouldn't play him at all until he proved he could adapt to Ralphball.

Don't they realise there is absolutely nobody out there who could ever replace him?

Amazing to see that Steve McClaren is still managing to steal a living at a big club.

It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel for Haaland next week. What are the odds for him getting a double hat-trick?

I think this is a distinct possibility. Would be madness imo.

But surely then you have lost your decent back up players.

It's a fair point but wouldn't you then play Salisu alongside CC and leave out ABK to protect him from the possibility of a bad injury?

The most damning thing about this is the three runs of consecutive defeats. In comparison there are no consecutive wins or even draws which is quite staggering. It's not a record that would give the owners of a Premier League football club any confidence in the guy masterminding these results. To let him carry on would appear tantamount to gross negilgence.

The previous defeats were 1-0 and I think the centre back pairing of Salisu and ABK hasn't done a lot wrong. It was a mistake to break up the partnership. The time to do that is when they look shaky and full of mistakes. That was not the case so they should have been picked together again yesterday.