UpweySaint

Ralph hit a wall but was also often doing things with one hand tied behind his back with Gao not able/willing to spend. I think we needed a refresh at the time and it’s often much easier to change a head coach than squad. If Ralph has his mojo back I would welcome him back. He had an immediate impact and we could (pre the drubbings and the wobble) all see how he wanted the players to play which largely got the team playing above the sum of their parts. Get Ralph, a proper 9 and a keeper in January and we can get things back on track. The argument goes Still lacked the experience/presence to get a tune out of the players. Ralph is certainly an antidote to this.

I’m not in the Still out camp (yet!) but that sort of selection puts a lot of pressure on him. Has the feel of a must win to get our season going again and give Still a bit of breathing space. Also feels like a big game for Azaz - still yet to see much of anything from him so far. Good to see Matsuki on the bench, I’ve liked him in the little I have seen of him. The November fixture list looks relatively forgiving so if we can find some momentum we could start moving up the table.

Is this a serious take? Would you have honestly been happy if, instead of a manager with Still’s background, we plumped for somebody from the Southern League?!? I can get not rating still so far and being unhappy with the style of play but some of stuff posted on here this season has me baffled - this very much included!

Clearly not at the same level but reminded me a little of Bale for Wales in the way he thrived with the responsibility of being one of, if not the, main men in the team. Very ‘all action’ midfield performance. Hopefully we can unlock more of that in a saints shirt!

Nope. I don’t get this reactionary attitude at all. We’ve not been good enough, no question - but it’s far too early to bin off the manager and start from scratch. If we get fuck all from Sheff Utd and Derby circle back to me.

He certainly harries less than Archer. Give him some credit he had a good flick down to Arma (I think) later on in the half but we looked much more mobile and aggressive with a three of Archer, Scienza and Armstrong. Shout to Armstrong for some really clever movement and showing a bit of experience- simple things like stopping a quick goal kick when we were overcommitted. Overall some positives today but more questions than answers really - also need to caveat it all with a much changed Liverpool side in a midweek cup game. Are we better as a five? If so, what’s the back three and what does it mean for Azaz? Did Jelert offer a bit more than Mads? Is there a place for Armstrong in the side? I think Still has got some tricky calls to make over the next few weeks. You never know - we might master more than one system/style of play and be able to adjust to opponents…

Maybe harsh because the second half has been a bit flat and coming on as a sub can be tough but Downs has barely made anything stick. We aren’t having too much of the ball this half so need him to make more of an impact.

If you see it as a lecture okay. It was intended as a polite ask on my part. Onto the footie I guess Jander may get a chance to show us what he can do on Saturday with Downes likely unavailable.

I anticipate you already know but the majority of people coming from Eritrea and Afghanistan are Asylum Seekers. I think you may well be doing schtick. Either way, fancy keeping it to the football on here? There is enough divisive stuff elsewhere to keep us all angry - whatever our politics or worldview. I would be interested to see what Jander offers but I wonder if it might be too soon. You are spot on about tempo though- we’ve looked our best this season when we have moved the ball quickly and with purpose. I think both Downes and Charles are capable of it - moreso Charles - but it may need coaxing out of them. A clean sheet away from home would be good. I don’t see us scoring three but could see a 2-0 - reasonably early goal, second if they open up sort of game.

Pretty much this. If we don’t get into gear quick enough for the autos and lose a play off for example that could be ‘acceptable’ in the context of noticeable upward trajectory that we think we could build on the following season. If we scrape in and we’re still scratching our heads about how best to utilise the squad it’s a different story.

True. I think I was still having glimmers of hope after the first handful of games last season. I may well end up looking stupid but I just don’t see us not coming good this season. I think there is too much proven championship quality to not have us in the top six come the business end of the season. How quickly things come together is the bit that worries me, if we don’t kick into gear quick enough we might not be able to catch the automatics - assuming some teams pull away. Again I could be wrong but I don’t see anybody who is going to piss the league this year - it could be quite close. Hull away isn’t a doddle but does feel like the sort of game we need to start ticking off with points in the bag to build momentum. They’re not up to much. Without wanting to get too into the Martin stuff the run we went on (was it after Leeds?) was important - you could see the players believing we would win week in, week out.

Change of ownership to who? Who are you hoping buys the club? They’ve made mistakes for sure but they have invested in the club without taking money out. They have admitted mistakes and took action to try to correct them. It’s five games into a season. Five. We have turned over almost an entire squad and made signings most agree are sensible- Fellows, Azaz, Roerslev … I genuinely don’t know what some fans expectations are for the club/owners. we’ve made a lot of change and it might not come good immediately.

Yeah, it does feel a bit reactionary. Downes has been a bit meh so far this season. The pairing with him and Charles hasn’t really clicked but we have also just changed shape after an international break so this may yet develop. We have a lot of games coming up so I expect Janders will get opportunities to press his claim but I don’t think we can assume he walks straight in even if he ultimately proves to be a better player than Downes.

Fair point on the awkward run. Another way of looking at it (if you feel positive) is that we arguably have one of the better squad depths in the league and the fixture pile up may impact others more than us. We need to build relationships and consistency so I can’t see us wanting to rotate at will but I feel fairly confident that many of the players we swap in as needed would be starting for other top end championship clubs.

This. It was dross but we came away with a point and it won’t define our season. We need to get some momentum going before the gap starts to open too much but no need to panic just yet.

Been on the beers or is this a serious take? Sacking a manager six games into a season after changing almost an entire squad… we’re not Sheffield Utd for fuck sake, we’re mid table and have looked patchy. We need to improve for sure but throwing the pieces up in the air and starting again by sacking the manager this early in a season if a bizarre suggestion in my book.

Based on what?

We’ve signed a cm and potentially have a full back lined up. I’m hoping we start to hit our stride after the international break.

Rowe has gone to Bologna. Can’t imagine Cresswell coming cheap or Sargent coming at all.

The Lazio game in preseason was the high point unfortunately. I thought he seemed like a bargain considering the goals he had got for Sheff Utd in the run in. Confidence and systems likely play a part - I wonder if somebody else will get a tune out of him?

Personally I’m not expecting players to be better than those we are selling but I am quietly hopeful about the squad building taking place. On paper (yes, I know) it feels like we have cleared a lot of big earners and identified players for specific roles with a consistent set of attributes (though Azaz is apparently not as physical as others). A transfer window is only ever really proved good or bad at the end of the season but I would be optimistic if we can get Fellows, Azaz and Jander over the line.

I’m not being obnoxious - or certainly not trying to be - but how does the change help accommodate UEFA comps? Is it to do with set schedules for midweek games or something? I have a vague memory of staggered games last season but if honest I can’t say I paid too much attention outside of our own cup games.

Tell us how you really feel…

I am not an expert on Rak-Saki but I think he looks more physical and possibly has more straight line pace but not dramatically so. I wouldn’t be unhappy if we signed him as we do need width but just hard to get too excited about him especially at the mooted price point. As per others I would hope we could find a bit more to make West Brom a good offer for Fellows. We seem to be doing well shifting players so hopefully we have a bit of wiggle in the budget for a couple of quality additions.

I usually don’t agree with you but I don’t see Rak Saki as a step up on Edozie and the price seems high considering he’s not especially proven.