austsaint

Yes, would love to see him back - playing where Armstrong is at the moment. Under Ralph I think we would see a much improved Boufal.

Redmond was very good, but I thought the first two players Ralph went to at F/T were the best on the pitch - Hoj and Romeu,absolutely controlled the midfield and provided the pivot for quick counter attacking. Yoshida and Vestergaard played well. Targett and Armstrong were both disappointing; Armstrong might get better but Targett is not going to be a consistent Prem LB. Valery showed some promise but we will be so much stronger with Bertrand and Cedric back. Ralph's subs were spot on - Obafemi to provide the speed forward as Ings had picked up a knock; Lemina for a largely ineffectual Armstrong and Stephens for Valery to stabilise the defence. The intensity, spirit, organisation and strategy Ralph has brought to this side is amazing. He has also very quickly summed up the wheat from the chaff - he can see Long and Austin aren't starters; he sees the weaknesses of Hoedt, the underwhelming impact of Moi and of course our academy poster boy Ward-Prowse who must surely now be moved on.

Great first half - Romeu and Hoj running things in midfield; Yoshida and Vest both commanding - Redmond very lively. Only two disappointments are Armstrong who isn't involved at all and Targett looks shaky at LB. I'd replace Armstrong with Lemina and play him advanced left side. The energy and some of the passing from Saints has been great to watch.

Have to agree. I don't think it will take Ralph long to work out that Austin and Long are "impact" subs these days, not starters.

Scarily good - L'Pool.

Lemina is our best player; and for most of this season has shown himself to be up there with the best box-to-box midfielders. If Carillo was worth 20 million to us, a player like Lemina is easily worth 30. I hope we keep him - Lemina, Hoj and Romeu at his best are an impressive midfield

Agree with this - Hesketh and Sims are two I'd like to see Ralph put a bit of spit-and-polish on - both have the pace, skill and pressing to do well in a new system. I'd be happy to see them replace Moi and Ward-Prowse in the squad.

Valery might end up being a good player; so far he has shown good defensive instincts, a reasonable first touch and pass together with a few effective crosses - not a lot of overlapping runs or speed down the flanks yet, maybe that will come. As things stand Cedric is streets ahead and has to be first choice, particularly while the relegation threat remains.

Can't believe how many people were not impressed with Romeu's game. He broke up so much of Arsenal's midfield play, hassled and harried, picked out good passes and got forward to press several times. Only that dithering moment on the ball which led to the deflected goal marred his performance. I hope Ralph uses Lemina, Hoj and Romeu together in some games and reverts to a back four, with Lemina given licence to push forward.

Romeu had a great game today apart from that one costly error.

Yoshida did have a very solid last 20 minutes - and unlucky not to score with thee bullet header.

The whole team cared and tried their guts out - that's the difference Ralph has made already. Hojbjerg magnificent today, Romeu very solid apart from his faux pas near the box. The three CBs all played well; Armstrong faded out of the game, Redmond good before his injury and Ings brace so good to watch. The personality and enthusiasm of RH clearly lifts the players and the crowd - such a great result.

Romeu looks back to his best, and Hoj good today too.

Is Lemina injured or omitted?

Good to read your comments. I've always liked RB, and at his top, sprinting down the flank, linking up with an attacking player and whipping a cross in there are few better in the modern game. I hope you are right - would love to see him back soon, working with Ralph and re-energising our squad. The new Manager needs players like Bertrand to launch the recovery from our plight.

Shame to read that; but it's very believable.

Fair enough - it's been obvious you haven't been on a wind up, and I take your point, that even in his pomp, Davis was at times poor defensively. It will be interesting to see if Armstrong fills that AM role consistently well which is where I thought Steven Davis was best placed.

It's strange how you write so much good stuff about Saints and the games we watch but have prosecuted this blinkered, negative view of Steven Davis - who is clearly now in decline but has been a tremendous asset for the Club and NI. Even now, he looks a better midfielder than JWP, yet your forensic eye has somehow missed our dead ball specialist.

Davis did play quite well v Spurs but Romeu was good v Cardiff - I'd be surprised if he isn't in RH's plans, with Lemina pushed further forward in that PEH, Romeu, Lemina midfield.

Yep, agree, if Targett wasn't an academy graduate it's hard to think he would be still part of the squad - should have been sold to Fulham, even Sam McQueen would have been a better retention, though he too is probably not good enough. One of the noticeable things at Cardiff was the lack of run, speed and width from both full backs,. made worse by Redmond appearing to play more central. Targett's playing days are numbered.

Disagree about Romeu - he played well, broke up attacks and distributed well.

Yet so many have argued it is a mid-table squad! Apart from the Vestergaard howler the two players who disappointed most were Targett and Armstrong who barely featured. Task for RH is huge.

Must be making it difficult - Cardiff have shown pace and threat on both flanks though. Haven't seen much from Armstrong or Redmond yet - Romeu, Lemina and Hojbjerg all looking ok.

I've got a feeling our new Manager is more than a good talker. One of the criteria I will be judging him against is whether he plays the dead ball specialist JWP or not. If he plays Ward-Prowse consistently up to and past the January transfer window, then there's reason to worry. I don't think he will.

I did - the Cup Final was a massive occasion ending in a cruel defeat and the Europa League was a great thing for the Club leading on from Koeman's second season - but the quality of Football and general direction of the Club has been in decline sine Koeman left and Ralph's appointment has turned around the malaise of the past 2 1/2 seasons, whether he can turn things round remains to be seen.