Smirking_Saint

But is that a significant stumbling block ? I don’t know ? I would imagine they aren’t on big wages, so is it just sentiment ? If it was me Id want my own trusted staff I think

I think theres a tidy player in there, on the ball he is technically gifted but realistically he looks as if he needs to play as an 8 as part of a midfield 3 because he doesn’t have sufficient attributes to defend or attack as part of any double midfield pairing and I just don’t think we’re the team to accommodate him

What is Smallbones correct position ?

Fucking hell… if we’re really making do with Tom Lawrence, Ryan Fredericks and some unknown relegated turkish keeper then we are monumentally in the shit But you know… no holds barred and all that…

I mean… if true.. I have to wonder who it was the kept Davis et al around ? Was it Semmens/Crocker insisting that they remain part of the staff ? Was Ralph just happier to have a set of coaches under him that he could keep at arms length ? Its all a bit odd really and Id have to question why a head coach wouldn’t want an experienced set of trusted coaches around him ?

Apart from the better squads and budgets of course ?

Thats a very very good signing, Im surprised considering Newcastle were heavily linked that he has rocked up at villa though

This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, why would you bring in someone under him to pressure him into thinking about his tactics ? You either bring in a proper DoF or you give him the boot They obviously for whatever reason have faith in Ralph (Im on the fence really, couldn't care less where we went at this point) and want to give him the 'help' he needs... quite why his coaches around him was never addressed by him in the first place is baffling really considering how important he seems to be by the footballing hierarchy at St Marys

https://www.mumsnet.com/

Im not sure there is any direct definitive quotes anywhere but so far Ive seen; Ely Stephens Bednarek Walcott Redmond As the ones that are being talked about as 'open to offers' from reputable sources.... personally Ive not really seen mention of Romeu anywhere other then questioning whether we will offer him a new deal

People say 'cover the near post' because if Im advancing onto goal at an angle that is my easiest shot to take.... its pretty much basics Obviously you try to cover as many angles as possible but covering the 'near' post means as a striker you have to consider a harder shot and it is now effectively angling across the goal, Im not really sure how much better I can explain it without actually playing the game in front of someone

Its all well and good saying this kind of crap, and lets me honest we've heard similar before but I'll believe it when I see it I mean... its patently obvious to everyone that YES we need to spend big this summer, we needed a large overhaul last summer but now we are STILL without a decent first choice striker and we've not only lost a starting RB but Romeu arguably looks like he no longer has the legs for a full campaign It'll be interesting to see where we go, so far its just being linked with a significant number of young players that we won't be signing all of or maybe even any of on a permanent deal Going back to a previous topic around quality over anything, that is of course true, but lets not forget that when our squad is firing on all cylinders it can match anybody on its day (as shown in purple patches over the last two seasons) however we struggle when results and momentum gets on top of us, to help that you need experienced heads that can help galvanise a squad and 11 under 23's isn't going to solve that.... we need a couple of leaders at least

Why would you sack him 3 games before the end if the season ? I know that there is a significant sway of anti Ralph thinking but Im not sure anything changes at all over these next 3 games and IMO Ralph doesn’t deserve that show of disrespect He may not have had the best end of this season but he is still working hard and trying to make things happen for us

Noticed this too, he didn’t have to work hard to find space at all

Its eased but we still set up to play it, far too often against Brentford we ended up with Salisu/Bednarek exposed against Toney, Wissa and Mbuemo I imagine tactically you’d want Diallo to drop and support but he didn’t, and once you don’t ‘trap’ or win the ball high in their half it just turns over and you’re in the shit Currently I don’t really know what are tactics are, we aren’t pressing to any real degree (Id argue you either commit or you don’t, a half arsed press just causes your shape to dissolve), we do nothing in possession, we seem to build up, play wide, cross early, lose the ball and repeat Its just tired But back to my main point… its not JUST that Bednarek/Salisu are having a hard time, its also a lack of any significant shield or defensive organisation

I think the main issue is Ralph still continues to play his high risk press, without our forwards having the energy or will to carry it out, our fullbacks continue to push to enable the transition but it eventually fails, the ball gets turned over and then we get countered Diallo was terrible defensively yesterday but even Oriol has struggled to get around the pitch as much since Feb Im not excusing Bednarek, he’s been terrible, and yesterday was the worst Ive ever seen him, Toney had him on strings… positionally awful, weak in the tackle and just all over the place. BUT, our insistence to play a failing press hirts us even more

I don’t really know what the answer is but I am getting to the point where I wonder if Ralph has the ability to find any consistency over a 38 game season, especially as the wheels fall off when we really need that momentum for cup runs, relegation avoidance or European place pushes

Again this could be argued that it is symptomatic of our fall off from our tactics, maybe fatigue I don’t know Primarily we are a sort of gagenpressing team, in a way, and a lot of our goals come from forcing mistakes in the final third and we just aren’t as effective in it these past couple of months.. this means we then become reliant on standard chance creation and to be honest we just don’t have the players with the ability to do that

Our final third press has gone off the boil, and Broja profited from many of those traps Its not just an issue of Broja failing, its symptomatic of our tactics as a whole since Jan/Feb

The problem is mate, this Ralph team that does have extreme swings in form is all well and good until we find ourselves into a season that our positive results do not outweigh our negative results, and then we are bang in trouble He plays this high risk high reward football, its great to watch at times but struggles towards then end of the season, I suppose fatigue plays a part and not only removes the effectiveness of the press but starts to cause us more mental mistakes... Romeu hasn't been able to get around the pitch to his imposing level since probably christmas time(ish), the defence are making mistakes in and out of possession (could be a symptom of Romeus poor form), our 'press' and final third 'traps' aren't as effective Ultimately Ralph needs to adapt or find a way to ensure that we can carry on with our primary tactics because otherwise we'll be found out and unfortunately we don't have the cash to fund depth to the levels required

I think we'll get another point, realistically we are safe, more because those at the bottom are so very bad Ultimately that win against Arsenal is the difference maker but we have every right to be looking over our shoulder right now

What exactly does this mean ? We got away with one against Arsenal, and without those three points we would be bang in trouble.... in fact... I think it will be decisive come the end of the season Back to Ralph... Ive never really been Ralph out, he shows fantastic periods of form but when it goes wrong he doesn't seem to have an answer, and unfortunately every year we somehow fall back into a relegation battle (to certain degrees) despite some blistering mid season form... there is an argument that one year this could catch us out We need more consistency, im not sure if its Ralph, his high risk high reward tactics, a lack of leadership or a mix of all of them but moving forward we need to do better

No... but they do need to be able to galvanise the team and help to keep the team moving forward when its not working on the pitch, Ralph can only do so much So yes... its a valid question, our last decent captain was Fonte, then it was probably VVD to an extent but we've had nobody come close to displaying the required leadership since those two

Romeu has dropped off a lot over the last couple of months, I think if pushed it would be JWP because of his goals but KWP has been a very consistent runner up

Its very easy to explain when you apply a bit of coaching logic to it International football gives you very very little time to actually coach phases of play and tactical intricacies as well as allow players the time to 'gel' this isn't a 5 a side tournament where your mate brings a ringer along and you just get on with it International coaches, in the main, pick players from top clubs that; Play in top level competitions, play similar tactics to those employed, are already used to playing with each other This is why we see these pockets of players being picked with the odd outlying 1 or 2 that arguably have better alternatives at lesser clubs picked It is annoying but a perfectly valid strategy for top international sides to employ, especially England where the majority of the squad plays within the Premier league