The Possibility of a Proper Derby Match is on the Horizon

Personally I don't think it will happen but who knows Portsmouth may get promoted but at the moment despite the team not gelling I don't think Saints will get relegated.

I think we have no really outstanding players who can turn a game most are pretty good but not excellent also we do seem to blame Forster a lot but not defenders who continually foul in dangerous positions.

Thanks John. Very enlightening.

Good, something to really look forward to each season.

We're not going down.

They're not going up.

Hope that helps.

We're not going down.

 

They're not going up.

 

Hope that helps.

Complacency personified.

Long way to go yet Pompey could easily go up and we could easily go down if reed stays stubborn

It would be ****ing embarrassing to be in the same league as Portsmouth.

Good, something to really look forward to each season.

This. It's ****e being the only team without a proper derby for years on end. Rivalries are part of what makes football and apart from some faux thing with Bournemouth we have none.

So it's not on the horizon then, in fact, not even close yet.

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The only possible benefit would be if it were guaranteed we would stuff them. But if we were relegated, all the better players would be sold, and they would be on a high….

On 16/12/2017 at 18:43, Micky said:

So it's not on the horizon then, in fact, not even close yet.

 

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But it is getting closer and no doubt one day it will happen

6 minutes ago, John B said:

But it is getting closer and no doubt one day it will happen

That goes without saying. We were never going to get to the end of the Universe without Saints and Pompey being in the same league again at some point. 

Damn, I thought Dalek was back for a second there!

5 minutes ago, trousers said:

That goes without saying. We were never going to get to the end of the Universe without Saints and Pompey being in the same league again at some point. 

My original post nearly five years ago

Personally I don't think it will happen but who knows Portsmouth may get promoted but at the moment despite the team not gelling I don't think Saints will get relegated.

I think we have no really outstanding players who can turn a game most are pretty good but not excellent also we do seem to blame Forster a lot but not defenders who continually foul in dangerous positions.

now 

Personally I am not sure it will happen but who knows Portsmouth may get promoted but at the moment despite the team not gelling I am not Saints will get relegated despite not being able to decide what other teams may get relegated.

I think we have no really outstanding players who can turn a game most are pretty good but not excellent and are young and in  experienced  also we do seem to blame Ralph when the players do not perform consistently well 

1 hour ago, John B said:

But it is getting closer and no doubt one day it will happen

How weird is it having something I said 5 years ago quoted today.  Who knows perhaps this is the year our luck runs out and we end up as relegation fodder whilst they eventually manage to claw their way out of league one.  Wouldn't bother me after the last few years, at least there would be some interesting games and we would hopefully win a few more than we have done in the last couple of years.  Bring the pleasure back to football again.

On 16/12/2017 at 17:11, Pamplemousse said:

We're not going down.

 

They're not going up.

 

Hope that helps.

I'm going to requote myself 5 years later because the same will apply for this season as well..

Think they will do it this season. Pretty weak league this year. If they don't don't now they never will 

7 hours ago, trousers said:

That goes without saying. We were never going to get to the end of the Universe without Saints and Pompey being in the same league again at some point. 

You are assuming I presume no civilisation-ending asteroids, CMEs or Putin nukes.

Fawley refinery is awash with skates and they are beginning to chirp again !

I think we will finally meet them next season as we have no goal scorer !

buckle up ! This season is going to the wire ! 
 

Needing Swansea type wins against seagulls away and bin dippers at home at the end of the season might be a tall order !

heres to hoping the wheels come off the skates season soon .. law of averages says the have to do it at some point tho.
 

35 minutes ago, Chris cooper said:

Fawley refinery is awash with skates and they are beginning to chirp again !

I think we will finally meet them next season as we have no goal scorer !

buckle up ! This season is going to the wire ! 
 

Needing Swansea type wins against seagulls away and bin dippers at home at the end of the season might be a tall order !

heres to hoping the wheels come off the skates season soon .. law of averages says the have to do it at some point tho.
 

I love derby games, and if we're going down, playing them twice a season would soften the blow. I can see it happening sadly, we can't score or create, only have flyweight cover at full back, the keeper looks bang average, and we're light in midfield. Pompey's centre forward would improve us.

At the moment it’s difficult to see where an improvement of the order needed to survive relegation is coming from. You can argue that we don’t have the quality in the squad, however until we attempt to play more attacking progressive football we’ll never know for sure.

So for me the entire responsibility for our EPL survival or the lack of derby games next season lies completely with Ralph and his coaching team. They’ve got a huge job to change the course of direction in which we’re currently headed and so far there’s little to feel optimistic about.

2 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

At the moment it’s difficult to see where an improvement of the order needed to survive relegation is coming from. You can argue that we don’t have the quality in the squad, however until we attempt to play more attacking progressive football we’ll never know for sure.

So for me the entire responsibility for our EPL survival or the lack of derby games next season lies completely with Ralph and his coaching team. They’ve got a huge job to change the course of direction in which we’re currently headed and so far there’s little to feel optimistic about.

The bed wetting after the villa game is truly something to behold. 

The only way in the far distant future we have a Derby Game is if by some fluke them down the road get into the Prem. I know we were absolute shite on Friday and Ralph knows it. However they have to get into the Championship first and that’s beyond their capability.

30 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

The bed wetting after the villa game is truly something to behold. 

It's beyond pathetic.

3 hours ago, Saint86 said:

The bed wetting after the villa game is truly something to behold. 

Behave. It's not the villa game. It's the last christ knows how long. It's the lack of a goalscorer, the lack of a creative force, the lack of midfield cover, the lack of proper full back cover, a kid in goal.

The rose tinted specs/blinkered view/head in the sand of some fans is truly something to behold. 

1 hour ago, egg said:

Behave. It's not the villa game. It's the last christ knows how long. It's the lack of a goalscorer, the lack of a creative force, the lack of midfield cover, the lack of proper full back cover, a kid in goal.

The rose tinted specs/blinkered view/head in the sand of some fans is truly something to behold. 

Exactly this. This must be the longest knee jerk in history. A lot of people have been worried for a long time, it’s not just “the Villa game” (tm Gaston) 

On 18/09/2022 at 13:01, Saint86 said:

The bed wetting after the villa game is truly something to behold. 

Really? So you’re confident he can turn around the most shocking record of a Saints EPL manager for quite some time? You’re really happy with the trajectory of the 1st team performances?

I applaud your confidence and unparalleled knowledge. For me I see no change to, unfathomable squad selections, poor tactical preparation, poor team performances, lack of successful attacking tactics, strange demotivating speeches and above all distinctively poor results over the last 12 months or more, particularly at home. It’s time to move on with our thanks for his service.

44 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

So you’re confident he can turn around the most shocking record of a Saints EPL manager for quite some time?

He's turned things around in phases before, so why would it be surprising if he did it again?

Whilst I'm having doubts about Ralph's overall capabilities, and wouldn't be against a change of manager during this season if that's how it pans out, I don't think it's beyond belief that he may go through a similar purple patch to that which we experienced last season that saw us hit top 6 form for three consecutive months, and seeing us safe in February, after a below par start.

Basically, I'm inclined to keep an open mind on such matters rather than conclude the season is bound to go one way or t'other after 7 games. 

On 18/09/2022 at 13:31, cloggy saint said:

It's beyond pathetic.

Ralph’s love child’s ! 😂

2 minutes ago, Chris cooper said:

Ralph’s love child’s ! 😂

Ralph's love child's what?

39 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Really? So you’re confident he can turn around the most shocking record of a Saints EPL manager for quite some time? You’re really happy with the trajectory of the 1st team performances?

I applaud your confidence and unparalleled knowledge. For me I see no change to, unfathomable squad selections, poor tactical preparation, poor team performances, lack of successful attacking tactics, strange demotivating speeches and above all distinctively poor results over the last 12 months or more, particularly at home. It’s time to move on with our thanks for his service.

You’re wasting you’re time .. they can’t see it .. you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink !

On 18/09/2022 at 16:35, egg said:

Behave. It's not the villa game. It's the last christ knows how long. It's the lack of a goalscorer, the lack of a creative force, the lack of midfield cover, the lack of proper full back cover, a kid in goal.

The rose tinted specs/blinkered view/head in the sand of some fans is truly something to behold. 

Nicely put mate .. tis absolutely staggering isn’t it ! 

3 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Really? So you’re confident he can turn around the most shocking record of a Saints EPL manager for quite some time? You’re really happy with the trajectory of the 1st team performances?

I applaud your confidence and unparalleled knowledge. For me I see no change to, unfathomable squad selections, poor tactical preparation, poor team performances, lack of successful attacking tactics, strange demotivating speeches and above all distinctively poor results over the last 12 months or more, particularly at home. It’s time to move on with our thanks for his service.

To be fair we haven’t been in serious relegation trouble ever during his time here and we are currently 14th. The inconsistency and shit performances are frustrating but we have been here before and he has turned it around before.

Having said that I think he’s on borrowed time, the fact that so many new signings are being ignored means something isn’t right. Can’t see him being sacked with the club in 14th position though. Changing a manager is always a gamble, whoever we bring in won’t change the fact that we probably have the worst set of strikers in the league.

5 hours ago, trousers said:

He's turned things around in phases before, so why would it be surprising if he did it again?

Whilst I'm having doubts about Ralph's overall capabilities, and wouldn't be against a change of manager during this season if that's how it pans out, I don't think it's beyond belief that he may go through a similar purple patch to that which we experienced last season that saw us hit top 6 form for three consecutive months, and seeing us safe in February, after a below par start.

Basically, I'm inclined to keep an open mind on such matters rather than conclude the season is bound to go one way or t'other after 7 games. 

You may be right - make no mistake, I start watching each game with a high degree of expectation that the team will turn a corner and find the winning combination. But then we’re mostly disappointed and confused by the result.  The trouble is it seems Ralph’s management record is a bit like that old saying “a broken clock is always right twice a day”… i.e. it’s starting to feel like a bit of luck that we get a result rather than by design and tactical competency.

We don’t do the simple things like triangulation passing very well at all…or at all in some games. We don’t press as a unit anymore. We don’t attack at pace. The list goes on and on. And that’s the essence of my misgivings about Ralph’s continued tenure - nothing has significantly changed to suggest the extremely poor end to last season is going to improve at the start of this season, other than admittedly we’ve been blessed with a better CB pairing.

2 hours ago, aintforever said:

To be fair we haven’t been in serious relegation trouble ever during his time here and we are currently 14th. The inconsistency and shit performances are frustrating but we have been here before and he has turned it around before.

Having said that I think he’s on borrowed time, the fact that so many new signings are being ignored means something isn’t right. Can’t see him being sacked with the club in 14th position though. Changing a manager is always a gamble, whoever we bring in won’t change the fact that we probably have the worst set of strikers in the league.

That we’re 14th currently glosses over the fact that we look like a team heading for relegation - the performances are just seriously awful now…there’s a rot set in and it’s not just the grass at SMS! I think you’re right unfortunately…the Club are unlikely to sack him now, but he must be on borrowed time. It’s very difficult to tell whether another Manager could get this squad working more effectively, but one thing is for sure…they can’t be much worse.

On 18/09/2022 at 16:35, egg said:

Behave. It's not the villa game. It's the last christ knows how long. It's the lack of a goalscorer, the lack of a creative force, the lack of midfield cover, the lack of proper full back cover, a kid in goal.

The rose tinted specs/blinkered view/head in the sand of some fans is truly something to behold. 

In fairness Egg, the points you make above are about squad quality (on which i do partially agree with you - i'd love us to have another CDM and a quality attacker). And not the manager - which is the point i was reacting to.

But regardless, we rebuilt the squad this summer - and with that we've beaten Leicester, got a solid draw vs Leeds, outplayed United where we were unlucky to lose, beat Chelsea fairly comprehensively... So how long do people want to take? Are we going back to last season when it was frankly a totally different team? And are fans complaining about the squad quality or the manager's quality? Because I don't think its reasonable for it to be viewed both ways given we've never been in a relegation scrap since he's been here... so are some of our fans now basically on the Sports Republic out bandwagon? 😰

Anyway, the reactionary extremes between Chelsea and Villa are imo ridiculous, i don't think that saying effectively that is misbehaving 😅🙈.

We played well against Chelsea, and we had a bad game vs Villa, but that does not a certain relegation make. Reality is that some people had us pegged for the relegation zone, no wins, and manageress by the international break before we even kicked a ball.... and if our squad is as bad as you make out above, its a genuine wonder that all 6 teams below us haven't also gone and sacked their managers - especially as most of them have had easier starts than us.

Any preseason talk of giving this young side the time it needs seemingly going out the window because Tyrone Mings is 6ft 5in and we couldn't outmuscle a bigger villa side.

Man CIty away is on the 8th October. I look forward to reading the comments in the days that follow.... 

On 20/09/2022 at 01:03, Saint Fan CaM said:

That we’re 14th currently glosses over the fact that we look like a team heading for relegation - the performances are just seriously awful now…there’s a rot set in and it’s not just the grass at SMS! I think you’re right unfortunately…the Club are unlikely to sack him now, but he must be on borrowed time. It’s very difficult to tell whether another Manager could get this squad working more effectively, but one thing is for sure…they can’t be much worse.

Heh? Squad is better than it has been for years, there is so much potential in it. We are going to be inconsistent as its such a young squad but no way are we heading for relegation, the team is just gonna from strength to strength the more games we play have some faith ffs. 

17 minutes ago, stevy777_x said:

Heh? Squad is better than it has been for years, there is so much potential in it. We are going to be inconsistent as its such a young squad but no way are we heading for relegation, the team is just gonna from strength to strength the more games we play have some faith ffs. 

Did you watch the Scotland Game midweek mate ? 
our attacking players are not prolific enough for us to try sustain a challenge to stay in the league .. stu and che couldn’t hit a donkeys arse with a banjo 🪕if they played all night .. championship standard striker had to save their blushes for all the guilt edge chances they missed and that’s a similar story domestically.
Ralph doesn’t help with his team selections.. Playing Ely every game wen he’s one half decent against the ball performance gets him a guaranteed starting berth. 
The lad mera doesn’t know wot he has to do to get a run out. We’ve missed lavia yes and have tino coming back sooner rather than later...  but not getting in a Striker who can score us 15 goals this season will almost certainly see us with a local derby next season..if the skates don’t fall off!

11 minutes ago, Chris cooper said:

Did you watch the Scotland Game midweek mate ? 
our attacking players are not prolific enough for us to try sustain a challenge to stay in the league .. stu and che couldn’t hit a donkeys arse with a banjo 🪕if they played all night .. championship standard striker had to save their blushes for all the guilt edge chances they missed and that’s a similar story domestically.
Ralph doesn’t help with his team selections.. Playing Ely every game wen he’s one half decent against the ball performance gets him a guaranteed starting berth. 
The lad mera doesn’t know wot he has to do to get a run out. We’ve missed lavia yes and have tino coming back sooner rather than later...  but not getting in a Striker who can score us 15 goals this season will almost certainly see us with a local derby next season..if the skates don’t fall off!

There's the truth right there. People don't want to believe it though. 

9 minutes ago, egg said:

There's the truth right there. People don't want to believe it though. 

They still won’t wen we are actually playing at notarf krap !

2 hours ago, stevy777_x said:

Heh? Squad is better than it has been for years, there is so much potential in it. We are going to be inconsistent as its such a young squad but no way are we heading for relegation, the team is just gonna from strength to strength the more games we play have some faith ffs. 

The problem is the same that most on here were pointing out, we needed a striker to score goals. Its all very well having these wonderful young players but if you cant put the ball in the net all their work is wasted. Im not too sure who would have been any good for us to score the goals, but we sure need someone. Che may score 8-10 but we need a player who will do more than that. We relied on JWP who had a purple patch with his free kicks last season, these is no way he will score 5 or more goals this season. 

I do hope your faith does come to pass, but a g0alscorer was/is a must

On 18/09/2022 at 16:35, egg said:

Behave. It's not the villa game. It's the last christ knows how long. It's the lack of a goalscorer, the lack of a creative force, the lack of midfield cover, the lack of proper full back cover, a kid in goal.

The rose tinted specs/blinkered view/head in the sand of some fans is truly something to behold. 

And yet we've had a decent start, there's plenty of midfield and full back cover and that kid in goal is doing fine.

On 24/09/2022 at 14:02, Chris cooper said:

Did you watch the Scotland Game midweek mate ? 
our attacking players are not prolific enough for us to try sustain a challenge to stay in the league .. stu and che couldn’t hit a donkeys arse with a banjo 🪕if they played all night .. championship standard striker had to save their blushes for all the guilt edge chances they missed and that’s a similar story domestically.
Ralph doesn’t help with his team selections.. Playing Ely every game wen he’s one half decent against the ball performance gets him a guaranteed starting berth. 
The lad mera doesn’t know wot he has to do to get a run out. We’ve missed lavia yes and have tino coming back sooner rather than later...  but not getting in a Striker who can score us 15 goals this season will almost certainly see us with a local derby next season..if the skates don’t fall off!

Didnt realise Scotland games had a bearing on how we'll do this season. Che will chip in with his usual 8-10 PL goals. It's whether theres enough goals outside of that. Hopefully Mara, Edozie, JWP, Stu etc can get some goals. Our defenders are also capable of contributing. We're also only 10 games away from the next transfer window. We were in the market for a striker in the summer so I'll sure we'll be looking again

3 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Didnt realise Scotland games had a bearing on how we'll do this season. Che will chip in with his usual 8-10 PL goals. It's whether theres enough goals outside of that. Hopefully Mara, Edozie, JWP, Stu etc can get some goals. Our defenders are also capable of contributing. We're also only 10 games away from the next transfer window. We were in the market for a striker in the summer so I'll sure we'll be looking again

We’ve been in the market for a striker apparently all summer and should have been priority.. che is not guaranteed 8-10 goals Every season his finishing this season is even worse .. the Leicester game is the only game so far of Note where he put the ball in the onion bag. but that isn’t all his fault he’s isolated up top on his own .. defenders just give him a yard and let him take the ball down .. he has no one to head on too or flick on ! 
 

mara needs to start with him give the lad his shot or he’s going to be shot of confidence. .. 10 games we could be bang in the shit by then .. let’s hope we get something out of Everton next Saturday.. can’t see goals but 💯 percent better defensively! Won’t move us away from danger tho !

26 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Didnt realise Scotland games had a bearing on how we'll do this season. Che will chip in with his usual 8-10 PL goals. It's whether theres enough goals outside of that. Hopefully Mara, Edozie, JWP, Stu etc can get some goals. Our defenders are also capable of contributing. We're also only 10 games away from the next transfer window. We were in the market for a striker in the summer so I'll sure we'll be looking again

Hmmm, January window and desperate for a striker. Monaco et al are licking their lips!

2 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

Hmmm, January window and desperate for a striker. Monaco et al are licking their lips!

I doubt this ownership will solely entrust the manager to decide who we sign. Joe Shields and Matt Crocker will have plenty of input. January definitely isnt a buyers market but we'll try

3 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

Hmmm, January window and desperate for a striker. Monaco et al are licking their lips!

Could sell us ben yedder then

On 24/09/2022 at 13:26, stevy777_x said:

Heh? Squad is better than it has been for years, there is so much potential in it. We are going to be inconsistent as its such a young squad but no way are we heading for relegation, the team is just gonna from strength to strength the more games we play have some faith ffs. 

But that’s the point I’m making. The squad maybe good and yes it’s got potential - it’s that I’m highly sceptical that Ralph is able to utilise the players he has at his disposal to best effect.

There’s a perfect example of the poor tactical decision making in utilising JWP, bearing in mind that he has the ability to score goals. What we see at the start to games is him sitting deep distributing the ball sideways backwards mostly, however after we’ve gone behind and chasing the game, he changes to being more forward thinking and attack minded, moving the ball quicker and making himself available further up the pitch. In my opinion that’s due to instructions from the Manager who sees less risk in us playing keep ball.

On 16/12/2017 at 16:49, John B said:

Personally I don't think it will happen but who knows Portsmouth may get promoted but at the moment despite the team not gelling I don't think Saints will get relegated.

 

I think we have no really outstanding players who can turn a game most are pretty good but not excellent also we do seem to blame Forster a lot but not defenders who continually foul in dangerous positions.

Getting more likely for next season perhaps surely will happen soon

One small consolation of failure to get promoted* will indeed be the prospect of a proper Derby match next season. A match against Derby which is just down the road from me.