26 Apr 2021 21:23:59
Kept quiet for a while, seen so many posts about the sad situation we have found Saints in.
Lots and lots of criticism of Ralph. do I feel sorry for him, yes part of me! he has players who are simply not performing as a professional footballer should. Where once the premier league was made up of a core of exceptional teams, a few middle of the road teams, and the rest 'also ran', today's premier league has quality players in every team.!
Djenepo and Redmond have not progressed at all. I start with them because they are responsible for providing for the strikers, they are simply not good enough.
Bertrand . adds nothing, too slow, needs to foul to recover situation

Diallo . absolutely has no concept of how fast the PL is!
JWP? I have started to believe that to achieve 100% play time is all that matters! He hides behind KWP. he hides beside Bednerek and Vestergard For god sake get up that pitch and play smart balls to Ingsy .

Ralph .
has a liking of playing players out of position even when players are available
His substitutions are bordering on amateur!
Great bloke ., not good enough for the PL.

1.) 28 Apr 2021
28 Apr 2021 12:22:19
Unfortunately I have to agree with most of what you say. At the moment I can't name one of our players that would get a regular spot in any of the top ten teams. Bertrand needs to move on as do Redmond, Djenepo, Wallcott, Stephens and one or maybe even both of the keepers. I can't see Ralph being given much of a transfer pot for summer signings so I think relegation beckons at the end of next season that's assuming of course that we don't get relegated this season which looks more than possible.

2.) 29 Apr 2021
29 Apr 2021 21:43:52
Hi Teejaysaint
I’m finding it really hard to criticise Ralph as he is such a nice guy, he loves Southampton as a town, he is also sociable and genuine. BUT and it’s a huge but, he has some huge deficiencies when it comes to managing in the PL.
I haven’t delved into the Austrian Leagues etc but some how I doubt the bottom clubs have international players flowing through their veins, let alone mid table teams full of quality players.
As it stands, you could give Ralph 200 million to buy better players, but I’m not sure he has the ability/ knowledge to utillize those new players.
Let’s look at the spurs game .
Ingsy injured . he doesn’t bring on an attacker, he disrupts the midfield instead and brings on Diallo
If us mere mortals who played at amateur level can see Diallo has been awful, why can’t the manager?

Is Ralph still learning and we should give him a chance? Maybe!
Imagine being in his shoes, having multiple international players, playing at an unacceptable level.
he’s trying to learn his PL trade while baffled at watching professional footballers not performing how he expects!
I’d love a season where Redmond, Djenepo, Bertrand, are no longer in the team.

3.) 30 Apr 2021
30 Apr 2021 00:57:33
Hi buddy. I've supported Saints for 58 years and I've seen some brilliant players and some downright awful players but never have I seen a whole team looking bewildered and disinterested like the present side have over the past few weeks. Yes some of the blame must go on Ralph and his coaches but once the team is out on the pitch the least they can do is give 100% but that's not the case recently. Take JWP. Captain and so called loves the club and should be leading by example but he seems to have gone into a patch where he's not sure what he's supposed to be doing. Most of our senior players seem to have hit bad form at the same time. Next season is make or break for Saints in my opinion. I think that if we are relegated it will be many years before we return to the top flight. We need a massive injection of cash to bring the team up to premier league standard but that's just not going to happen.

4.) 30 Apr 2021
30 Apr 2021 18:31:01
A couple of very good posts today.
So, looking at the common threads running through posts in recent weeks, either Ralph is right and all of us are wrong, or.
The sad thing is, things on the pitch are so dire I’m finding more enjoyment on this forum listening to the views of like minded Saints fans (in the main) than I am watching the team I have followed for all my life. How sad is that?!
Worse still, and this is the first time I’ve ever said this - I don’t particularly care what we do tonight. Our ship has sailed this season - we had our big chance to make this a year to remember against Leicester in the semi-final. If we beat them tonight it would probably make that defeat all the more galling.