CanadaSaint

I suspect that's what they're doing. It's a mix of reasonable confidence that we have the squad to stay up (some of which involves hanging on in CD until Yoshida's back), and preservation of funds for a better-value time. If the funds really are that tight (disappointing), it's the most prudent course of action, but there's an element of gamble in there. The other angle is whether they've given up on Boufal and Carrillo, or are considering the possibility that they'd be different players under Ralph (as many of the current squad already are). That would be a pre-season assessment in the Summer. The only change I'm half expecting is Cedric out/RB in.

It's pretty cool to actually meet him - and then watch him jump up and down like all the rest of us - when you know who he is and what he's done. Like my Dad used to say "You never know". But I fear that today's story will not have a happy ending.

Don't you feel that there's a different ethos at the club now that Reed has gone? He was the guy who oversold himself on buying cheap and selling expensive - loyalty lasting until a bid comes in. Until it all went pear-shaped. I really get the sense that Hasenhüttl is a man of principle who expects from others the same things he demands from himself - like effort, commitment and loyalty. He seems genuinely committed to "the project" and bringing youngsters through - more than any recent manager, including Poch. I can actually see him staying here for some time, and the same goes for players like PEH. Lemina maybe not.

The biggest change that Ralph has brought, for me, is in individual confidence levels. That has made a night and day difference in numerous players. We see Redmond looking to go forward rather than turn back, Stephens bringing the ball out of defence rather than whacking it, JWP with a real sense of purpose instead of looking to shunt the ball sideways to the nearest player, Bednarek looking like he really believes he belongs at this level, Romeu back to his dominant best, and PEH working to erase his brain f*arts and looking like a long term club captain. There are others. It makes you wonder what he might be able to do with some of the players who have been loaned out - even if it's just to increase their transfer value. Yes, even Guido Carrillo.

Ralph has improved us tactically but he has improved us even more mentally. I said a couple of weeks ago that Valery has a lot of potential but needs to toughen-up; he overdid it today, but you can see the mental toughness that Ralph is instilling across the squad. We look very good going forward, with intelligent movement and quick passing - taking the pass opening when it's there rather than over-thinking and turning back. Romeu was superb but quite a few were not far behind him, including Redmond - who was a brilliant one-man press, and the middle three at the back. JWP looks to have found his role - even if it is more a squad role than a starting role. Targett made one mistake (chose to go and double-mark someone JWP was already covering rather than picking up Ricardo) but otherwise played very well. I get the sense that Ralph has a better idea of implementing "the project" than anyone we've had so far, including Poch. And there's something about his personality that makes me think he might not want-out the first time a big club comes knocking.

Yoshi is going to be a big loss for the next few weeks. He's the best defensive reader of situations we have. Vestergaard and Stephens are reactors, not readers, and slow reactors at that - making us vulnerable down the middle. How often did they both try to clean up the same situation today? So I'm glad that Romeu, PEH and Lemina are getting some time off now. They will be vital in the coming weeks.

He clearly has the potential but I think he needs "beefing up" a bit - physically and psychologically. There are key moments when he "plays small", and looks as though he feels he's a boy playing in a man's game. I certainly wouldn't blame him for the throw-in issues. The whole team is far too static at throw-ins, seemingly waiting for their marker to magically disappear. Under previous management I don't think he would have developed. Under Hasenhüttl he's got a good chance of becoming a real talent.

It's hard to believe that people are going so ballistic about a loss to City - especially as I think Ralph wrote this one off as un-winnable in favour of having a slim but better chance at Chelsea. There isn't a team in the division with better players than City (including Liverpool, even though they will probably win the title). There isn't a team in the division less likely to be disrupted by our press than City - their ball control, passing accuracy, and movement off the ball are on another planet. A month ago, pretty much everyone on here would have bitten your arm off for 6 points from Arsenal (h), Huddersfield (a), an in-form West Ham (h) and City (h). That's what we got. Sure we're in some trouble, but there are some big "buts": We have a manager who can improve things dramatically - and already has, given the squad limitations. The senior pros are finally being held to account, and will either do things Ralph's way or disappear. Some youngsters are being brought through; this is valuable experience even if their immaturity costs us in the short term. We have Romeu back, PEH has turned into a real leader (brain farts aside), and Redmond knows that he can be a major force if he plays the right way. JWP looks like he finally might start contributing something beyond dead-ball involvement. After the Chelsea game a majority of the "impossible" games are behind us. And I think we WILL spend in January, and - with Reed gone - actually get some value for the money. Yes, we're still in trouble but the knee-jerk wallowing-in-misery reaction on here tonight is ridiculous.

Am I the only one on here who hates the idea of the opposite full back taking corners? Unless the cross is excellent, there's a high chance of a fast counter and us not catching up to it. I doesn't matter whether it's Targett, Bertrand or Usain Bolt. I will never see the point of taking that risk just to get an in-swinging cross in.

It's certainly not an excuse but perhaps an explanation. The fixtures come thick and fast at this time of year, and on top of that the players have seen more training, higher-intensity training, and higher-intensity playing tactics. There were signs of not only physical fatigue tonight, but also mental fatigue - players who now have to think about what they're doing rather than play by instinct. We'll be much better for this in the long run, but pulling this club out of its self-created hole is going to be a work in progress for some time.

Yes, we really missed PEH, especially in our play as we entered the final third - giveaway after giveaway. Vestergaard played quite well, Bednarek was okay. Valery has some way to go before he's ready at this level, and Targett for Bertrand is a massive drop-down. Redmond was back to his headless worst. But the thing that really got me tonight is this: I fricking hate opposite-full back corners. Unless the delivery is excellent you're totally screwed, especially with three CDs up for the corner.

You're right - he arrived after Pellegrino left. I get confused when we're talking about the expensive, highly talented players we've signed that end up looking like an utter waste of money. Couldn't disagree more. If they are being forced to play in a system that doesn't suit them, alongside players inculcated with a strong possession first/attack later mindset, their natural style does get beaten out of them. We've seen a much more direct Redmond and we might yet see a much more direct Elyounoussi.

From what I remember of the forum 'research' when we signed him, he was an aggressive, attack-minded player who always wanted to go forward - not sideways or back. That was beaten out of him by the 'style' of Pellegrino and Hughes. If we can see the change in Elyounoussi that Ralph has brought out of Redmond, we might yet see that side of him - and it would be a hell of a plus. It would also raise the question of what Ralph could do given a little time with some of the on-loan flops - even if it's just to increase their transfer value to fund signings better-suited to his style.

Iconic because of what was ahead for two people in this 1967 photo:

He was outstanding - excellent situational reading, no rash tackles and his passing was solid. The spirit has changed totally - no more glowering and gesticulating at team mates, but plenty of encouragement - even from the bench. Ralph's personalty is already coming out in the players. Bertrand in for Targett would take this team up a notch.

Early ball - goal, early ball - goal, early ball - goal. Ralph has certainly cut out the tippy-tappy in cul-de-sacs that hasn't created anything in two years. Bednarek excellent, Yoshi much improved (accounting for a better Vestergaard), and Valeri defended really well along 50 yard corridor. He's going to be tough to leave out for Cedric. With a bit more luck Yoshi could have scored ten in the past three years.

Amazing how much more incisive an early delivery is than fart-arsing around in a cul-de-sac.

Whether or not the rumour is true, I suspect that one of the first things Hasenhuttl will be doing is looking for any "bad apples". If he finds any they will get short shrift. It also wouldn't surprise me if he threw in the odd "two-a-day" because his style needs a higher level of fitness than they've shown so far. That'll go down like a fart in church with some of them.

Hard to disagree - but he kept us up last year, if you think about it (WBA). That was the point of the comment. And (agree with Ottawa) Sims is certainly one who might fit Ralph's style.

I wondered the same thing as Laptop - especially as there is supposedly no transfer budget for January. Today's line-up was picked by someone who doesn't really know the players, and it was missing 2.5 key pieces - Bertrand (questionable attitude and all), Ings and (can't believe I'm saying this - hence the 0.5) Cedric. It looked like a team caught between how they've been playing and how Ralph wants them to play, but some of them will never be able to play Ralph's way and I'm sure he already knows it. But he's seen two games and lots of film, so I'd imagine that there will be a ton of talking going on - including the possibility of cancelling some loans where it can be done. Boufal can change a game but fell out with Hughes, Carrillo was trying to play in Pellegrino's 'system' (whatever the hell it was) but can be an aggressive front-runner. They won't be season-changers but who knows, they could be more effective pieces after a fresh start with Ralph. Does anyone know whether their loans can be rescinded? That was a horrific result but we've got to at least try to cling to some optimism.

That's not a post. It's the last central defender Reed signed before getting fired.

I'm with you on this. Trying to detach from the natural game-to-game mentality for a minute (mostly negative because of the never-ending bad results), I'm wondering what the hell has actually happened. Have we really spent a p*sspot full of money on bad central defenders (who were hitherto well regarded enough to play for their national teams). Or have we turned decent defenders into error-prone disasters with our system? Today's errors were a barely tyro level, ball-watching embarrassment. It almost looks like we get caught in a void between man-to-man and zonal marking, with nobody ever seeming to know what "mode" we're in - until it's too late. I've always liked Yoshida but he has been awful for several games, and his ball-watching/back turning performance today was dire. I guess we'll soon find out whether we really did buy crap CDs or whether the defensive system has actually been at the root of their errors. A fresh set of eyes and all that ...

We're seeing some pattern in the individual defensive errors that are costing us points - fart-arsing around when the safe play is to put the ball out. Hoedt last week and Yoshida this week both had chances to clear things up but opted to try to nick the ball, and it cost us big-time on both occasions. I'm starting to think that our best central pairing might be Yoshida and Stephens (or even Bednarek). Vestergaard isn't fast enough to cover space, and his brain seems to work as fast as his feet. Still reasonably optimistic. We missed Ings and Bertrand, but Hughes will have to find a way of dovetailing Ings and Armstrong because they both deserve to play. With Lemina and PEH that's a pretty damn good unit. Redmond's playing well up until the final ball. He needs to alternate between tricky-dickie and early delivery, but everyone knows he will be tricky dickie every time. Alternating might give him that extra yard of space.

Not a bad performance so far. Sure, they don't have Vardy but we're without Austin.

This fixture isn't an inconvenience in a competition we're very unlikely to win, or a chance to give under-used players a run-out - it's a opportunity to start fixing the issues. From Saturday I would think (hope) that Hughes's faith in Hoedt must be crumbling. I'd go with a back four of Bednarek, Yoshida, Vestergaard and Bertrand. Yoshida didn't play well on Saturday but he had Hoedt alongside him, and - for me - he's the best "reader" of situations among our CDs; the rest are reactors, and slow ones at that. Sure, Bednarek is vulnerable to wide pace, but Cedric keeps getting done like a kipper anyway and is inept in the air. Sadly, I don't see Hughes leaving Cedric out at any point. Lemina and PEH are fine. If Ings is fit I'd play him and leave out Austin - Ings and Armstrong will need to figure out a dovetail. If Ings isn't fit, I'd give Obafemi another run - he was nippy in the box, or try Gallagher. That's an attacking line-up, but we would have a more solid back four - and Hughes needs to stress the need for Gabi and Redmond to track back earlier rather than later. We can't keep conceding goals from wide (even touchline) concentration errors. If Ings, Obafemi and Gallagher are unavailable I'd still leave Austin out and play with ten, as we did for most of Saturday.