Saint Fan CaM

Think this will be a hide behind the sofa type of game. If they come away with less than a 5 goal advantage I’ll be surprised.

What the hell is Ralph thinking? McCarthy twice beaten at his near post. This is a terrible indictment of this team and Ralph’s tactics playing for fucking draw when playing a bottom three team. Time to go for me…had enough.

Get Diallo off he’s been utter shite. As has JWP, KWP and Moi. We’re being outplayed by Norwich now…let that sink in.

Think Norwich at home will give more to their new Manager than some here think. 1-1 is more than likely. Having said that we have all the capability to spank them 0-3, but that’s not going happen…it never does.

Agreed, but Pulis was equally totally out of his depth and if ever there was a sign of a dodgy deal it was that with that lad and his Dad. I thought Pulis Snr was a good manager and passionate about the game, so it must have been painful seeing his Son watch every game pass him by.

Don’t wholly disagree with this, but I do think it’s component of a wider problem with how we set-up in attack time after time. I’ve watched carefully and what I see is a very flat front four, everyone looking to wait on the shoulder of a defender but the pass is not there and if it does come there’s no runner. I loved Armstrongs goal at the weekend - why? - because he did something we rarely see by running from behind the front line onto a lose ball and taking a (belter of a) shot. This comes down to coaching and how our 4222 system transitions into attack in the final third…it needs improving because it’s at the heart of why we’re not scoring many IMHO.

The sort of game that we should win comfortably but will struggle to score in. Can’t see this being more than 0-1, with even the remote possibility that they throw away the progress and concede a couple of goals to lose despite dominating. Would love to see us put an opposing team like Norwich to the sword though and come away with a 0-4 or 5.

Difficult to call even if they have got a few players out. Think we might fair better if playing away as their home fans will be baying for blood. If the defence holds strong and the strikers find their boots perhaps 2-0, but in reality this could go either way with a single goal separating the teams. I’d love to see us put Villa to the sword and put the game to bed by half-time, but there’s little hope of that with our slow build up play and Villa will be set up to defend. My seat will be empty as we’re away, but hopefully I can get a good stream. COYS!

Perfect win. Took all our chances.

What’s the betting Ralph will blow smoke up their collective arses at half-time and enthuse them the team to a 2-1 loss?😂

Fucking Championship standard strikers…it’ll throw this game away and sink us this season.😉

Schlong to miss his pen.

Theo and Long coming on - we’ll be fine now!😳😒

Lyanco and Salish look good. Unfortunately Diallo is having a mare giving the ball away in midfield danger areas. A Armstrong and Adams’ look like league one contenders rather than Prem strikers - no surprise there really. Such a shame Stu Armstrong is playing so deep. Can’t see a way back TBH.

It’s a strange one - Djenepo earnt his place for the excellent defence splitting ball through to Redmond, but I think you’ve got it spot on.

I have the grace to forgive you for labelling me mental in World Mental Health week, but thankfully this will be the last post of yours I will have the misfortune to read on here.

And there we have it… the usual slip into personal insults. Why do you feel it necessary to label someone ‘mental’ when you don’t know them? Outrageous and in the same league as racial or homophobic abuse. Well done.

Yeah, you must be right. After all, Ralph’s results in 2021 have been exceptional and it’s clear he (& his current staff of coaches) have everything under control. There’s no need to think outside the box, because let’s face it we have money to spend on new players in January and/or pick from a huge pool of talent in the Academy. Yep, nothing to see here…move on. Hey, just realised this facetious response game is quite easy and fun.😂

As usual the context is lost in the rush to make a point. The issue here is that the idea of having a strong assistant manager is not an unusual one but was trashed by the usual know-alls on here. Take a look at the managerial/coaching strength with many top sides to see evidence that it can work if there’s a will (and money of course). Fact is Ralph’s results continue to deteriorate, so the Board can either replace him entirely (likely) or find a way to bolster the coaching team with PL experience (slightly innovative compared to the usual merry go round). Ralph has plenty of good attributes but his golden moments are far behind him and getting 3 points has eluded him significantly of late. If he doesn’t turn things around quickly change is inevitable.

Obviously you’re being facetious here, but to be fair Rohl did have a positive influence while with Ralph and there was a marked downturn in results after he left. It could be argued that he was capable of being a manager in his own right, so the concept of having a strong co-manager working in a consultative role is not exactly innovative. But then there are many football fans who are still steeped in the game of the 70’s and couldn’t recognise innovation if it slapped them in the face!

I think we are entering a definitive period for Ralph. Next 5 games you would expect a minimum of 7 points and probably 10 to show improvement in what could be a disaster for the club if not addressed decisively. What would be an excellent move for the club is to bring Howe in as assistant to Ralph, although I doubt this has any prospect of happening to be fair. Pity because I don’t think he’s being challenged/supported enough in terms of his pre and in-game tactics.

Yes, I think this is the sort of weird selection Ralph would make. Long, Tella or Broja? His reason being Long in theory will provide a better foil for Armstrong who will almost certainly start. Ultimately though there’s few, if any, goals coming the way of a a Championship pairing. My preference would be to use the pace and natural ability of Tella and Broja, but we all know that’s not going to happen.

Think Ralph will pick his usual suspects…Redmond and Long to start, Tino at RB and KWP as LB. That’ll allow Stu Armstrong back into the side…possibly. Bench is starting to look a bit thin again. Son in Laws 1 - Leeds 2

Well we’ve managed to have Long on the books, so why not Pelle? I know who I would prefer and his names not Shane 😉😂

I think the key point is that irrespective of the number of goals scored so far by individual players, it’s not been enough to win a game and collect three points. This is why relegation is so easy to imagine given our form in 2021 so far. For me though it’s more about the system being played by Ralph - our squad is not suited to it. In fact the entire club is not. This is what needs changing the most and if that means saying goodbye to Ralph so be it. Lastly, we need a better coach who can focus on attacking moves. Rarely do we see any variance in our build up play in the last third. Rarely playing through lines. Strikers with their backs to goal most of the time. Set plays such as corners never appearing to be a threat (is JWP really that good?). The list goes on.