Saint Fan CaM

My view is that it started to go wrong a good 24 months ago. I’m sure Ralph will pick up a really good job in a European club somewhere, perhaps closer to home and family. For us SR have a massive challenge to repair the damage, recruiting a suitable and highly competent Manager - someone who can truly inspire our young squad to better results. I just hope whoever it is gets to decide how to coach the players into playing in a faster, more dynamic manner that befits the EPL. Then they have to back that Manager significantly in the January window with 2-3 top class players to raise the overall quality of the squad. It may be too late - let’s hope not.

I cannot believe there’s any supporter that did not or still does not want Ralph to succeed, however for reasons we may not be fully aware of, the performances on the pitch have been extremely poor. And the troubling thing is that this has been apparent for two seasons and not properly addressed. There has been some improvement across the defensive line, however that’s masked a new young goalkeeper being given the no.1 shirt but actually not being an EPL level player. The midfield and attack have been progressively weakened without sufficient quality being brought in, with some players apparently losing their way because they rely on better players being next them (e.g. JWP and Romeu). However, the above is overshadowed by the style of football we play…overly defensive, predictable in attack and a lack of precision in passing. This is not about silky skills, it’s about resilience, belief and stamina and if our players are not able to achieve the fitness levels expected of them to move faster then our recruitment and coaching staff need the light shone on them. Ralph may not be entirely to blame then, but inevitably if something is not working a change needs to be made. And in the case of SFC’s continued tenure in the EPL that needs to be made without further delay. Plus we need at least one excellent proven striker in January…possibly also an attacking midfielder too.

Forum as flaky as the management of our club. Ralph out but I’m so despondent I actually don’t give shit anymore.

Once again AMN acting like a complete pussy letting Woods have a sight of goal. We’re going down without significant surgery by SR…make no mistake.

Utterly abysmal finishing one again from Adams after a great cross from Ely. We’re losing very, very ordinary. There’s only one option to shake this up. Ralph out!!!

YeH, saw this too and thought it was a really good analysis that aligns to where we’re at.

Yeah, PO postcode starts a stones throw from us in Locks Heath. When we moved to the area I rejected a couple of houses that were across the divide with PO address codes. Stupid, but just couldn’t face seeing it on my mail every day.🤪🤮

I retired this year and one of the first benefits I realised was going to be possible was watching as many of the daytime games as I wanted. Since being a kid I’ve always liked the big ceremony of the World Cup and the chance to see how the likes of Brazil are playing compared to our players. However, the excitement for this coming tournament has been significantly subdued largely due to the controversy surrounding it. I’ll still be watching a good number of games though because I can! Like so many things for those of us of a certain age, the now doesn’t seem to match up to the expectations of the ‘glorious’ past. Back in the 60’s-80’s life’s experience’s had some substance, rather than the corrupt, superficial, fake news, throw-away society we live in now. Rant over…I need some caffeine!

He’s clearly not at De Bruyne’s level, however he could be our version of Saha or to some extent even MLT. At the moment he’s neither a really competent defensive mid or a link-up attack minded mid…his set pieces are not as potent. To be honest I’m struggling to see his value at all, which is a shame because he’s definitely got the ability to be more.

Again agree - our front line tends to be very static and flat along the last line of defenders. We don’t move forwards as a group effectively. However, with JWP I don’t think his awareness of what’s around him is particularly keen - even when he’s in acres of space to make a turn and dribble forwards he’ll still favour a backwards or sideways pass. I’m convinced this is why his successful pass stats look so (superficially) high.

Agree with most of this, but do wonder whether JWP is a key part of the problem. His highly negative play is either of his own making or because he’s been instructed to be ‘safe’. I tend to think it’s the latter because I’ve noticed that when we’re chasing a game he changes and shows a willingness to attack more, albeit not entirely successfully. One of the important missing elements of our game is effective link up play from midfield…JWP could be the answer if only he was given the green light to be more positive. IMO of course.

I’d say that we’re looking very Norwich-like at the moment and ultimately Pukki didn’t manage to save them did he? I don’t think he’s the answer - we’d end up having three Championship level senior strikers who can’t find their feet and still be relegated.

Arsenal are not Newcastle and let’s face it, it’s a rarity nowadays to see a move as fluid and quick as the one that created our goal.

Indeed.

Yes, so I go back to my original point of being interested in what that difference is. To me it looks like the coaching and management rather than the players.

Not sure if you’re aware, but last seasons GF and GA don’t carry forward into this season! Oh yes, and they improved they’re squad since last season. Can’t be new manager bounce because they were doing ok anyways.

They’ve got better players, particularly in midfield and have a better manager who knows how to get the best out of a team, unlike Ralph who persists with a system that doesn’t work. They’ll trounce us 0-3…perhaps worse. Would love to go into a home game against a club like Newcastle thinking we’ve got a fighting chance, but those days are long gone. We’ll see JWP get his pass completed stats up by going sideways and backwards 95% of the time. We’ll see a lack of attacking guile to pass through defensive lines, with most going out to the wing before being recycled back to a defender or Bazunu. We’ll see a small number of shots on goal and some fluffed chances. Hovering just above the R zone, think this one will mark the beginning of the end of our EPL tenure unless SR find the balls to sack Ralph and the money to buy a very decent striker early doors in January.

Because they’re in a position in the table that we should aspire to? Maybe they’ve not got better players, but they score more goals and win more games, so what should we attribute that to?

I would suspect that should he be recalled, he’ll revert to being ineffective because (a) he’s found his level now and (b) he’ll be operating under Ralphball conditions.

Brightons strikers interest me - are there any names that we would have said “yep, that guy will do a great job for us”? But they’ve not spent mega bucks to assemble a potent strike force have they? Especially in comparison to what we paid for Adams, Armstrong and Mara.

Has he gone yet?

That’s because Ings actually moved into dangerous positions and created chances for himself.

True. The difference between us and Palace? They’ve a better midfield (inc. Zaha) and are coached to move the ball faster in transition.

Let’s be clear, the improvement in defence has come about because we’ve signed better players that have gelled better than our previous misfits. This is not because Ralph has devised some tactical master class. Remember the confusion, panic, poor decisions etc we saw with Bednarek and Co? Well we’re now seeing a similar shit-show in midfield and up front. Losing Romeu has effectively made JWP a worse player and we’re relying on a youngster to fill the gap, but it’s exposed how weak JWP is in reality. Going back 4-5+ years I remember thinking he was a luxury player - a lad who could take a mean free kick on goal, but offered little more at CM unless he had a great player next to him. If JWP is the best player in our midfield, then it’s clear there’s a big problem that’s not been addressed. Up front we have two good Championship level strikers in Che and Armstrong who have just not adapted to the EPL and the tragedy is this has been evident for at least 2 seasons but not rectified. We signed youngsters that have not been good enough, Tella being an example (but doing well in a lower league). in essence we’re doing what Lowe did several years ago…thought it was sustainable to progressively dilute squad quality over successive seasons with unproven youngsters, managed by struggling managers. We all know what happened there. Could these players do any better with a different manager? Possibly, it’s difficult to determine, but after such a long extended period of underperformance something needs to change and quick.

This completely. Ralph had the opportunity to try something slightly innovative today given we needed an extra man in midfield. Go 4-1-2-3 with Djenepo at RB, Lyanco as a DMF enforcer working across and protecting the back four and JWP/Diallo pushing forward to assist the forward line when needed. That effectively plays five at the back but provides an out path and quick break option. But what do I know?!