Thank God We Don't Have A Knee-Jerk Board

[washsaint]

Hot on the heels of Farke, Dean Smith now sacked.  And the Watford manager was sacked early doors.

Thank goodness we finally have some stability at the club from a managerial perspective.  Many, including myself, have questioned whether Ralph is the right man for the job but Semmens and co have stayed the course and believe in the 'project'.  We at last have some stability and the foundations are in place (especially with Crocker) for us to start building on those foundations.

What are Norwich and Villa going to do?  There are not exactly great candidates out there and Norwich has a poor squad and Villa have simply spent money in the wrong areas.

Look at Everton - they made a big push, failed to make any impact and now seem to be short of funds.

 

[AlexLaw76]

5 minutes ago, washsaint said:

Hot on the heels of Farke, Dean Smith now sacked.  And the Watford manager was sacked early doors.

Thank goodness we finally have some stability at the club from a managerial perspective.  Many, including myself, have questioned whether Ralph is the right man for the job but Semmens and co have stayed the course and believe in the 'project'.  We at last have some stability and the foundations are in place (especially with Crocker) for us to start building on those foundations.

What are Norwich and Villa going to do?  There are not exactly great candidates out there and Norwich has a poor squad and Villa have simply spent money in the wrong areas.

Look at Everton - they made a big push, failed to make any impact and now seem to be short of funds.

 

Was getting rid of Mark Hughes a 'knee jerk' reaction?

[VectisSaint]

Used to be that managers were sacked after losing to us, now its before and after. Klopp better watch out. 

Edited 7 November, 2021 by VectisSaint

[CAH61]

 

"Thank God We Don't Have A Knee-Jerk Board"

 

Exactly this, I stated a couple of weeks ago that things can change quickly at this stage of the season (we were then 6 points from the top ten and 4 from the bottom 3 and now we are just 3 points from the top 5) and more should be taken from performances rather than league position.

The team are now showing the form of this time last season and hopefully this time we have the strength in depth to not be as adversely affected by a similar injury crisis after Xmas. We have also had a full pre-season and covid restriction are not affecting player's recovery time and the fixtures are more spread out this season too so fatigue and having to rely on inexperienced kids from the bench should not be a factor also.

It is now Ralph's squad and he should be judged by results this season but it was only fair to give him a chance to play all of the teams at least once before any action was taken.

Edited 7 November, 2021 by CAH61

[Baird of the land]

I don't particularly rate Dean Smith. However if Villa had any doubts they should have got rid in the summer. Wonder if its a bit of a snowball effect (everyone else is sacking so we better) because otherwise why wait 2 days. Curious to see who these great replacements they'll be after.

[CB Fry]

14 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Was getting rid of Mark Hughes a 'knee jerk' reaction?

We should have kept him for three full seasons, to let him bed in and get his ideas across because Alex Ferguson or something.

[JustinSFC]

It's not knee jerk though is it.

Smith spunked all that Grealish money.

That's what got him sacked.

[Billy the Kidd]

4 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

I don't particularly rate Dean Smith. However if Villa had any doubts they should have got rid in the summer. Wonder if its a bit of a snowball effect (everyone else is sacking so we better) because otherwise why wait 2 days. Curious to see who these great replacements they'll be after.

Erm, well Villa are after our Ralph according to the Telegraph…

[Sarnia Cherie]

25 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

Erm, well Villa are after our Ralph according to the Telegraph…

Let them hang on for Solksjaer. He ought to be available soon with his mind blowing CV from the Scooby-Doo Acadamy of Football Management. 

[Billy the Kidd]

Just now, Sarnia Cherie said:

Let them hang on for Solksjaer. He ought to be available soon with his mind blowing CV from the Scooby-Doo Acadamy of Football Management. 

Maybe, although I cant see Ole managing in England again (prays for Newcastle).

[Badger]

30 minutes ago, JustinSFC said:

It's not knee jerk though is it.

Smith spunked all that Grealish money.

That's what got him sacked.

Apart from the money spent non Ings and his three (or four ?)year that was a wise investment of course.

[Kenilworthy]

Guess Villa have moved quickly to get Lampard before he joins Norwich

[Badger]

Would Lampard consider Norwich in their current position though ? Can’t see it personally 

[HarvSFC]

But, not having a knee jerk board saw us miss out on the great Eddie Howe. 🙁🙁🙁

 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Isn’t it a bit early for this thread? Maybe see how the next few months pan out. 

[Toadhall Saint]

5 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Isn’t it a bit early for this thread? Maybe see how the next few months pan out. 

And we all know what you would be happy with.

[LiberalCommunist]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Was getting rid of Mark Hughes a 'knee jerk' reaction?

That was a knee jerk contract extension! 

[Lord Duckhunter]

4 minutes ago, Toadhall Saint said:

And we all know what you would be happy with.

“We all know”. I’d imagine most posters aren’t as childish as you.

Whilst fundamentally disagreeing with me, most won’t think I want us to keep losing. 

[trousers]

7 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

“We all know”. I’d imagine most posters aren’t as childish as you.

Whilst fundamentally disagreeing with me, most won’t think I want us to keep losing. 

You're a legend in my eyes Lord D. Ignore the distractors. 

[SFC Forever]

Lorrd D sometimes I wonder whether you are a skate. Very rarely do you seem to have thoughts similar to the majority of us Saints fans.

Edited 7 November, 2021 by SFC Forever
spelling

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 minute ago, SFC Forever said:

Lorrd D sometimes I wonder whether you are a skate. Very rarely do you seem to have thoughts similar to the majority of us Saints fans.

Shit, you’ve rumbled me. I should have known I couldn’t stay undercover with geniuses like you around. 

[Sheaf Saint]

13 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

“We all know”. I’d imagine most posters aren’t as childish as you.

Whilst fundamentally disagreeing with me, most won’t think I want us to keep losing. 

We don't keep losing though. We've only lost 3/11 this season, and only the top 4 have conceded fewer than us so we aren't showing any signs of going on a losing run anytime soon. Yet somehow you're still persisting with this 'Ralph supporters are a cult' narrative. You're obviously seeing something in our games that no-one else is seeing.

[Lord Duckhunter]

18 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

We don't keep losing though. 

I didn’t say we were. 
 

Read it again before writing pony. 

[stknowle]

3 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Was getting rid of Mark Hughes a 'knee jerk' reaction?

No that was a getting rid of a jerk reaction.

[Streaky]

2 hours ago, JustinSFC said:

It's not knee jerk though is it.

Smith spunked all that Grealish money.

That's what got him sacked.

If you think Smith had anything to do with signing players you don't know much about how villa are run.

[trousers]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Shit, you’ve rumbled me. I should have known I couldn’t stay undercover with geniuses like you around. 

Don't rise to the bait Lord D. You and I know that you're one of the bestest Saints fans around. Together we can combat this unfair assassination on your character. Stay strong. 

[SFC Forever]

😅😅

[sadoldgit]

3 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Was getting rid of Mark Hughes a 'knee jerk' reaction?

No Delldays, he was sacked because he was a poor manager. Ralph hasn’t been sacked because he isn’t a poor manager. A knee jerk reaction is when you make a poor decisions quickly. It was the right decision to sack Hughes. It was the right decision to stick with Ralph.

[whelk]

Seriously does anyone really think Dean Smith would turn it around?

[Billy the Kidd]

6 minutes ago, whelk said:

Seriously does anyone really think Dean Smith would turn it around?

No but that didn’t mean I wanted him sacked, I was more than happy him carrying on. 

[Charlie Wayman]

6 hours ago, washsaint said:

Hot on the heels of Farke, Dean Smith now sacked.  And the Watford manager was sacked early doors.

Thank goodness we finally have some stability at the club from a managerial perspective.  Many, including myself, have questioned whether Ralph is the right man for the job but Semmens and co have stayed the course and believe in the 'project'.  We at last have some stability and the foundations are in place (especially with Crocker) for us to start building on those foundations.

What are Norwich and Villa going to do?  There are not exactly great candidates out there and Norwich has a poor squad and Villa have simply spent money in the wrong areas.

Look at Everton - they made a big push, failed to make any impact and now seem to be short of funds.

 

Farke and Smith have been in their jobs for several years so nothing knee jerk about either decision, in fact just the opposite both Clubs have taken far too long to take action.

[Dellman]

WE spent money in the wrong areas and we are only now getting over it. Recent buys have been good and so this is the time for Ralph to reap the reward, not the time for him to move to Villa and go through the same long process all over again.

[OttawaSaint]

8 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Was getting rid of Mark Hughes a 'knee jerk' reaction?

No, if anything we kept him too long. He'd done his job and we'd scraped by, only really surviving because Swansea went off a cliff. The football under Hughes was utterly dire. He should never have been offered a 3 year contract. 

[Saint IQ]

Hughes played Wesley Hoedt Every. Single. Game 

[Singapore Saint]

I like Dean Smith, he got us £44 million (Ings, Targett).

[Verbal]

10 hours ago, trousers said:

You're a legend in my eyes Lord D. Ignore the distractors. 

Donkey

[CB Fry]

Reading up a little on the Villa thing, it is interesting to note that during the summer Villa did actually deploy the trademark SaintsWeb forum never-fails-solution-to-everything.

Villa recruited back-room coaching help to Smith: a new first team coach, and a new set-piece specialist coach. But despite how this is so often presented as the magic bullet on here (HE NEEDS HELP ON THE TRAINING PITCH) hilariously it seemed to bring no benefit whatsoever.

Add this to the previous poster boy of transformative new managerial assistants, Newcastle's Graeme Jones (just the zero wins in eleven this season under the influence of this breath of fresh air shaking things up).

Maybe, lads, the mythical powers of changing/"improving" the coaching team over the managers head not as great as you're making it out to be?

Edited 8 November, 2021 by CB Fry

[TWar]

11 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Reading up a little on the Villa thing, it is interesting to note that during the summer Villa did actually deploy the trademark SaintsWeb forum never-fails-solution-to-everything.

Villa recruited back-room coaching help to Smith: a new first team coach, and a new set-piece specialist coach. But despite how this is so often presented as the magic bullet on here (HE NEEDS HELP ON THE TRAINING PITCH) hilariously it seemed to bring no benefit whatsoever.

Add this to the previous poster boy of transformative new managerial assistants, Newcastle's Graeme Jones (just the zero wins in eleven this season under the influence of this breath of fresh air shaking things up).

Maybe, lads, the mythical powers of changing/"improving" the coaching team over the managers head not as great as you're making it out to be?

Villa have always been shit since being promoted, they were made to look good by one player who was far too good for them and then he left and they look shit again. Last season without Grealish they were like 17th in the form table. Season before they should have been relegated if not for an incredibly unlikely goal line tech glitch. Now they are failing again. Ralph would be mad to go there imo, the squad is full of mediocrity.

Edited 8 November, 2021 by TWar

[CB Fry]

6 minutes ago, TWar said:

Villa have always been shit since being promoted, they were made to look good by one player who was far too good for them and then he left and they look shit again. Last season without Grealish they were like 17th in the form table. Season before they should have been relegated if not for an incredibly unlikely goal line tech glitch. Now they are failing again. Ralph would be mad to go there imo, the squad is full of mediocrity.

Smith was basically Chris Wilder but with a significantly better star player. Arguable Wilder is actually better manager as he made less go further, more quickly.

Wilder finished above him in the Championship and again in year one in the Prem (much higher). Wilder then started spending last year and blew it, maybe the same here with Smith and the Grealish money.

Both are basically Championship level managers who can get promoted but probably not really going to consistently deliver much more at the top level.

Will be fascinating to see who they get in - agree it would be insane for Ralph to go there right now. 

[TWar]

1 minute ago, CB Fry said:

Smith was basically Chris Wilder but with a significantly better star player. Arguable Wilder is actually better manager as he made less go further, more quickly.

Wilder finished above him in the Championship and again in year one in the Prem (much higher). Wilder then started spending last year and blew it, maybe the same here with Smith and the Grealish money.

Both are basically Championship level managers who can get promoted but probably not really going to consistently deliver much more at the top level.

Will be fascinating to see who they get in - agree it would be insane for Ralph to go there right now. 

I think Smith and Wilder are both fine lower half managers, Wilder is better imo as his team was god awful. Villa spent a lot but they had to tbh, that team that came up was dogshite. It reminded me of that summer fulham spent a lot and still got relegated. Grealish played so well though that he got double/triple marked, he tracked back really well, could hold the ball up well, and could create a goal out of nothing. These traits made relegation level players like Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, look not wank. And mid table at best players like Watkins and Cash look like top level players.

[tajjuk]

I think Wilder is a good manager, he got a thoroughly unfancied team promoted (whilst others failed with parachute payments bloating their finances) and then did very well in his first season with basically a championship level squad, and even produced a tactical evolution in the game with his overlapping centre-backs. He failed second season because the squad just wasn't very good and the few bits of quality he had that were important to how the team played got injured or lost form. Kind of like how Liverpool lost their attacking threat because of the balanced Van Dijk gave them to play a higher line, Sheff Utd lost players to injury that were key to their system. Whenever I have heard him speak he seems pretty clued into the game and seems pretty tactically astute, it'll be interesting to see how he does as Borough manager. He has a 45% or better win ratio with his last 3 clubs, not many lower league managers have that, they are usually in the 30%. 

I feel there is stigma with British coaches because we have had crap like Pardew or Allardyce around for so long mentioned with every job, or overhyped people like Howe but I think there are some decent managers out there. 

But yeh as said be interesting to see where these clubs go, there is not a lot out there, look how hard Newcastle looked only to basically settle on Howe or how Spurs ended up with like their 7th choice in Nuno, those are both better propositions than Norwich or Villa are IMO, and they struggled to find decent managers.

Same situation for us really, I think Ralph is a good manager and he's shown that here, and previously, but honestly who would we appoint that would be better? There is not a lot talent out there, we would basically I think have to be taking a gamble on someone over performing somewhere in Europe, a bit like Potter for example doing so well with Östersund. 

 

Edited 8 November, 2021 by tajjuk