30 Sep 2019 15:56:38
Not posted for a while, but thought i would share my thoughts on RH.
I am starting to worry he is doing a 'Mourinho'; ie alienating himself from certain players. Clearly a difference between RH and Bertrand, Cedric and his latest Valery.

Playing Cedric on the wrong wing, Danso in a position he never plays ie right back . what was he trying to prove against Bournemouth? how to lose?
PLaying Danso instead of Bertrand previously . and now playing Vestegard RB instead of Valery .

If he is trying to bring their ego's down to earth, it's the wrong way to do it!


1.) 01 Oct 2019
01 Oct 2019 03:03:36
It’s confusing with respect to Cedric’s last minute. withdrawal at Tottenham with no explanation offered when so much tactical planning would have been invested prior. Very Peculiar, . We know Ralph is well respected coach but his ‘man- management style would only be known to those closer to him. Perhaps certain players have attitudes not tolerated by him. He obviously requires the 100% support of Squad Players to maintain discipline. It is noticeable however that the dramatic rise of Leicester (under Brendan Rodgers ) & Schalke inGermany (under David Wagner) less time RH has been sorting SFC out!


2.) 01 Oct 2019
01 Oct 2019 17:08:14
I think, for whatever reason, he has diverted focus away from tactics etc and onto the man management side. To play Danso right back was bordering on insanity, to move Vestegrard to right back with Valery on the bench was bizarre. I know a lot of people do say they have contacts in the club, but i do have direct contact with a lot of the younger players and some of the younger ones recently added to the first team squad. I was aware of his spat with Cedric and various other things. He seems to not like egos. While i understand that a bad ego can be negative for a team, a positive, cocky ego can be good for the team. WE are talking about professional footballers who need some cockiness to 'say' to the opposition, we're not afraid of you!
Bertrand has an air of that but why not, he is a good player, gives his all, been there done it. Cedric has won the Euros!

They didn't get where they are being nice, quiet, reserved people!
Maybe someone like Valery it's a different story, he's suddenly come from nowhere and just maybe he has got a bit full of himself.

Maybe RH needs to concentrate on his tactical skills and stop trying to play what is almost devils advocate!

Charlie Austin is a different category - relegated to training with the Under 21/ 23s and i am told was made to clean cars . how true i don't know.


3.) 06 Oct 2019
06 Oct 2019 08:39:58
I think you may be reading more into the situation than is actually there. Team selection is nuanced and match specific and shouldn’t be reduced to simple player – coach disagreements. RH has highlighted that YV has been struggling in training and his performance has dipped. He also underlined its not a case of not trusting YV. He is a young player, still developing and his from will be inconsistent. But now he has been training hard and is looking to be involved v Chelsea.

The club failed to invest in full back positions again this summer despite selling, so we have two right backs, one of which stated a desire to leave over the summer and the other is young and still learning. On the other side, we have one left back in Bertrand.

We praise RH for taking a stern approach with players, insisting they invest in his vision or they drop out, but then when things on the pitch aren’t perfect, you think we should bemoan his approach and say he’s going too far? We should second guess why certain players aren’t playing?

About Valery, RH has already spoken this week. Cedric pulled out against Spurs because of a calf injury sustained during the week’s training and aggravated in the pre-game warm-up. RH also explained the reasons for his line-up choice v Spurs which is perfectly sensible. Yes, experimenting with Danso in a full back position in the past has been unsuccessful, but so what? Given our scant options, I’m perfectly happy for the head coach to try a few things to see what works.

Comparing our team to Leicester and Schalke is ridiculous. Leicester have a very talented squad of players with a balanced blend of youth and experience that should see them challenging for European places this season. That alone is not down to Brendan Rodgers. Schalke have played 7 games so far under David Wagner and a season’s performance cannot be judged after 7 games.

Also, what’s the point in repeating silly rumours about Charlie Austin that you yourself state you don’t know are true? They are the seeds of undermining our head coach and sewing them does nothing but harm. If this forum is to become a negative spiral of nonsense and a platform for sharing unfounded conjecture then I for one will be checking out. Its disappointing that this forum is far more active when we aren’t playing well compared to when we are struggling. I understand why that is, but perhaps things would feel slightly less bleak if there was a positive post for every negative one.

Given we are only 7 games into the season, shouldn’t we just let things develop and see how we get on? RH has already demonstrated more ability than our last few head coaches and given the ability levels in our squad, we cannot expect too much. We are targeting a finish between 10 and 14 place this season. Anything more is unrealistic at this stage. Its frustrating that we are not playing better at the moment but RH has done enough to earn our trust and patience. let's not be hyper-critical before the season really starts to show its colours.


4.) 06 Oct 2019
06 Oct 2019 12:56:27
Just let RH do the job that he was brought in for. He can only work with what he has so we have to give him time.


5.) 06 Oct 2019
06 Oct 2019 13:29:19
He played a left sided centre half in a position he had never played - right back, while moving CEdric to left back and Bertrand on the bench. FACT
It was either stupid or naive or both :-)


6.) 06 Oct 2019
06 Oct 2019 13:32:02
and to add, it didn't work we were absolutely awful! not surprisingly . and as someone who has supported Saints for 52 years, just sometimes criticising the manager is allowed :-)


7.) 11 Oct 2019
11 Oct 2019 16:41:33
@South_hants_rich

Had Bertrand been fully fit, I don't believe he would have played Cedric at LB and Danso at RB.