Saint Fan CaM

Interesting to hear from the happy flappy denial brigade - it’s all ok because we’ve only played one game. WARNING! Wake up call incoming - we’re sat bottom of the league after a tonking by Spurs. Not a surprise, especially given that we ended last season looking equally as bad. What IS a surprise is the failure by the coaching team to address the reasons for the lack of goals and inept defensive errors AND the Boards inability to bring in the required quality players to replace the departed etc. and raise result expectations.

No. Doesn’t match our squads profile and I hate the way he talks. But if he can score us 15 goals this season then it’s big thumbs up from me.

It’ll be the same old shit…”how pleased are you with…” or “are you happy with the…”. I’m not going but if I was it would be “Ralph, now the early optimism of new signings has been shown not to have had a positive impact on the manner in which the first team performs, can you help us understand how you will turn a 14 game losing streak around?” or, “Ralph, would agree that the tactics and style of football we play is responsible for our long streak of losing games, rather than the players themselves?” or, “Ralph, how long will you persist in playing players out of position in the hope they will be able to change our terrible run of form?”. You get the idea!

To be honest I don’t think Adams or Armstrong are the answer to our lack of goals, however as it’s stands Adams is our best striker so it seems crazy selling without a replacement. As has been said, the only explanation is that he’s put in a transfer request or we need to sell to buy. Time is running out and frankly I can’t see us getting the required 2-3 strikers into the club before the window closes which means a very miserable season ahead and likely relegation. All of a sudden the early optimism has bled away and the club looks to be in a tailspin.

Can see Ralph doing the Ralph thing and dropping Salisu and putting Bednarek and Stephens in place. Possibly even switching back to McCarthy in goal. Other than that, I just think we’ll lose this game…there’s no fight, no urgency, no spirit in this squad anymore and it’ll take very little time for that malaise to infect the new players. 0-2 Leeds.

Is Hudson-Odoi the answer? Not as a striker but he would immediately upgrade our attacking prowess beyond Redmond and Elly. We really should be all over this.

In some respects it doesn’t matter what formation is played within reason as it’s the style of play that’s letting us down - i.e. our movement in attack is ponderously slow, predictable and easy to break down because we move the ball too slow. Too many times this leaves 2-3 players tip tapping short distance passes right on the sidelines trying to squeeze past too many defenders who’ve had the time to re-group. To combat this we need to move the ball faster out of defence, moving up as a team, instead of having typically 4 players way ahead playing a flat front line, waiting for a through ball that never comes because the defence and/or DMF is sideways/backwards passing due to no-one offering themselves in space. This ends up with a risky ball being played and an inevitable turn-over. To play to the strengths of the current team I think 442 or preferably 433 would help achieve this more.

I’ve said it before when we’ve lost games, it’s not the defeat itself that’s a concern, but the fact that over time nothing changes in our style of play. Attacking build-ups are extremely slow…we don’t push-up fast enough as a team and don’t move the ball fast enough. It’s simple in a sense (it’s never this easy I know) - if you can’t stop the opposing team from scoring then ensure you’re able to score more. We can do neither. When we do score first, we don’t know how to capitalise on that position via attack…we sit back and hope to soak up the pressure…but then the impetus has gone, the opposition sense this and find composure to put pressure on our weak defence. Whatever the model is that Ralph and co are attempting to work to, is just not working (hasn’t done for months now) and so the regrettable consequence is a need to change manager in the hope that new coaching ideas and tactics win the day. If SR are really interested in ensuring Prem survival then spending significantly and wisely on at least one, if not two excellent forwards is of imperative importance now. I have grave doubts that we’ll see any of these changes, but of course would love to be proven wrong.

For his Ralphy bonus?

Unfortunately this was on the cards - new players maybe, but same tactical shite from Ralph. I honestly think a better Manager gets more from this squad, but we desperately need a much better striker or two…not bargain basement. Good to see Ralph has done the obvious and brought on a defender when 4-1 down. FFS.

Why is that not a red for a reckless challenge on Romeu - not even a fooking yellow?!?!

We could pinch a draw here with a goal - if only we had a striker or two on the pitch or even on the bench to score it. Oh.

Better than Armstrong!

FFS - too slow getting out to stop the cross and Bednarek a statue.

Armstrong is like a statue - no anticipation of what the next play will be - no strikers instinct.

That deserves a red, but we know it’ll not be given. We’re dominating midfield but too slow in attack to take advantage.

So you agree Forest are a rival club then? Potentially every club could be a rival, depending on the situation…if Saints found themselves 1 point behind Man City and played them in the next game, we would rival them for that specific league position. It could be argued every club is a rival of every other club at least twice a season.

It’s difficult to know how he’ll get on in a side that has seen a few changes and changes in the coaching team too. A lot will depend on the service he gets and the number games Ralph bestows on him (anyone’s guess!).

Surely every team in the EPL is a rival. Can you imagine Ralph’s team talk at a top six club match starting “guys, we’re not going to win this, so just conserve your energy and just ensure they don’t put 6+ away”! If that were the case we wouldn’t have seen some decent results against the top teams, even in last seasons dire performances! Forest are most definitely a rival especially when it seems most money is on Saints finishing somewhere in the bottom 6.

Not seen enough of him yet to decide and certainly not in a PL game. Hence why it’s imperative we get another striker that is more likely to be able to or at least reduce the risk that we end up with no-one with those attributes.

Agreed and yes, my fear with selling Adams is that the incoming player(s) will be of no better quality. It is essential that we sign at least one top quality striker even if we don’t sell Adams to perform better than last seasons dismal displays. Broja may not be the answer, but at least he had flair and the ability to create chances for himself.

Well it’s a possibility that the club need to sell one of the two established strikers to raise funds and I think Armstrong is favoured to Adams because of his versatility (and despite his lack of goals). Ralph has indicated from pre-season that he is able to use Stu Armstrong or Aribo as strikers if necessary, so in fact those two plus Mara, Armstrong and ‘new guy’ could give him 5 options. As both Armstrongs and Aribo are capable of also working in the wide attacking midfield positions, that also means more flexibility / playing time. As you say, I’m only completely guessing at this like most of us and providing a possible alternative.

Don’t disagree. As I’ve said, Che may have scored enough to make him a worthwhile striker to keep hold of, but if between him and Armstrong he’s the only striker we’ve received a decent offer for AND if funds are needed to obtain a striker who fits the squad makeup better, well for a ‘selling club’ on a limited budget he could well be a likely candidate.

We don’t just have the two strikers though now. We’ve got Mara, Aribo and Stu Armstrong who are capable in the role. What these guys don’t necessarily provide is the target man type of play, so that’s the type of player I would expect us to sign…perhaps Dembele? Whatever, it seems that the rumour mill expectation is that we need to sell to gain the level of striker we want in.

I’d be happy replacing him with Broja because I think he has demonstrated his value in the role, however I’m sure we’ve got a number of other promising targets. If the club needs to raise funds for an upgrade in the striker ranks, would you rather we sell Adams or KWP?