Here we go again in the Premier League and we head to Anfield for our first League game without Ralph Hasenhuttl in nearly 4 years, so we will find out whether Ralph was part of the problem or part of the solution.

Ralph Hasenhuttl was the 26th permanent manager I had watched Saints play under, you can add another 5 caretaker managers with Ruben Selles, so with Ralph's replacement Nathan Jones it will be the 27th manager for me and i would suspect that few other Saints supporters can boast of more given that Ted Bates, who was in charge when I started watching took over in 1955.

Of those 26 it was 19 years before I saw my 4th Saints manager, so our new man will make it 24 Saints permanent Saints managers since Chris Nicholl left in 1991, the average lifespan in the Saints dugout is barely over a year.

So at Anfield we might not yet have started the new era at St Mary's, that will truly come after the World Cup Break, but we will see whether Ralph Hasenhuttl was truly the issue with the squad, willNathan jones change both team and tactics significantly for this game.

In truth it is not ideal, on one hand yes a fresh man in charge, even if it is for just one League game, might give us a boost, but it could also backfire.

That we will find out at a ground that in recent years has been a graveyard in which Liverpool have usually buried us.

Since a 0-0 draw in May 2017, we have played up there 5 times, we have yet to score a goalbut have conceded 16, our performances there have been dire.

Indeed the last Saints man to score in the League there was Sadio Mane in October 2015, when he smashed a Gaston Ramirez header that was about to cross the line home to make sure.

So it could be said that we are due a result at Anfield or even a goal.

For their part Liverpool's form is patchy, they don't seem to be able to get any consistency in the League and have saved their best performances for Europe, a good win in the League has invariably been followed by a poor performance in the next game and that is what we have to hope is the case this weekend.

Indeed the best hope I can see in this one is that Liverpool will have potentially 10 players going to the World Cup in the following days, will they be focused on what they will see as an easy game against Southampton, or will their minds already be thinking of the World Cup.

Will they put the 100% effort in or will they be worried about pulling something or an injury that could end their World Cup dreams.

We on the other hand will most likely only have Salisu going with Ghana, James Ward Prowse might make it if Gareth Southgate has any sense and Armel Bella-Kotchap could be the surprise package with Germany as could Romeo Lavia rumoured to be a wild card with Belgium.

But apart from that our World Cup interest will be slim, however we will have those players out there hoping to put in a performance that tips the balance and that could be an advantage.

This we will find out on Saturday.

So what will the Saints line up be, it is anybody's guess, was Ruben Selles at odds with Hasenhuttl about tactics and selections, or was he in tune with him, he will be the man who advises Nathan Jones in his early days, were the players happy with Ralph, perhaps on Saturday we won't find out too many answers on this, but we certainly will after the World Cup when a new man is in charge.

Was Ralph always part of the solution or was he part of the problem.

I don't think there will be too many surprises on Saturday, I think we will put up a side that sets out to defend first and then go on the break, looks to try and get something out of the game, even a point that could get us out of the bottom three.

From this perspective Bournemouth sit one point above us on 13 points, a win for Everton at the Vitality Stadium alongside a draw for us at Anfield would pull us out of the bottom three for the World Cup break. A win would guarantee we would be out.

That would be a phycological boost, although to be honest I am not worried whether we sit there or not, it is not about where you are in December but after the 38th game in May, I actually think that with all our injury issues, we have done fairly well to stay where we are, a few weeks ago we were playing without 4 of our 5 best players and with youngsters learning with every game.

After the World Cup we will hopefully have everyone fit, if we sign a striker then we will be a different team.

So a tough task ahead of us, but it is a free hit, the new era starts after the World Cup, it would be nice to have a boost before we start it but not essential.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 08:25 - Nov 11 Just as along as we don't get a plethora of " so-called fans " calling for Nathan Jones' head if we get yet another bad result, at a time when he's still learning everyone's name. Thankfully he has 6 weeks to - do whatever it is we need to do - to start scoring goals. Several times in the recent past we've played 45 minutes of good football at Anfield only to end up on the wrong end of a defeat. If there is any hope of even one point, it maybe in the fact that Liverpool are - by their standards - having a bad season, something that the current owners have seen and have already put the club up for sale. Jurgen Klopp has had a fantastic spell as a manager, but his luck may be on the turn as Liverpool are already out of the running for the Prem. title. His all-conquering squad is slowly disappearing, and I think they are missing Sadio Mane far more than they admit. Henderson is on his last legs and Milner is running on empty. Even VvD is now past 30 and the Anfield scouts may once again start paying candid visits to SMS to look at our group of CB 's - in search of a replacement. As for the game on Saturday.. we get a win there once every generation and it's hard to see that we might get even one goal, let alone one point with our current "shot-shy" strike force, but this is football - and who knows? A win would boost Nathan's start and leave a lot of " so-called " media experts with red faces.

3

smartjoe added 09:07 - Nov 11 Nick, For goodness sake try to keep your Ralph out of your editorials from now on. You are becoming extremely boring. You are swimming against the flow of reality. Ralph is water under the bridge.....thank goodness.
6

SanMarco added 09:32 - Nov 11 So - my reading of that is if we get a bad result (highly likely I fear) then Ralph is vindicated and all those who felt it was time he left are idiots. Big 90 minutes then. Luckily the "it is not about where you are in December" comment at the end shows a bit more longer-term common sense. We do need to get over the whole Ralph thing. He has gone - lets hope Jones can do better.

5

DorsetIan added 10:06 - Nov 11 Smartjoe hits the nail on the head. We already know that Ralph wasn't part of the solution to anything. The Gao-Ralph combo kept us, at best, standing still for four years.
0

felly1 added 11:28 - Nov 11 We should attack them and be as physical as hell. Be nasty and get at them. Most of their squad will be going to the world Cup and they'll be half focused on avoiding injury. And yeah Ralph's gone now, let's not get all salty about it. Life moves on.
10

DellBoyWally added 12:12 - Nov 11 Heavy defeat Saturday. BUT........we have the perfect manager and squad to challenge for automatic promotion from The Championship next season. Even our strikers can score down there! BUT BUT......if we get a PL-capable stiker in January we may stay up. The type of striker everyone but the Owners and Board knew we needed waaaaaaaay back. No wonder RH lost interest; let down by the aforementioned Os and B

-4

SaintPaulVW added 12:28 - Nov 11 New manager bounce. Fingers crossed. COYR
4

nebrakada added 13:20 - Nov 11 Good luck to our new manager; whatever the result it won't be a marker for things to come. Supporting the team and the new boss is what fans need to do in these times
12

Peterx added 17:10 - Nov 11 Just watched his press interview, yes just words, but I am feeling positive about his attitude, seeming hard work ethic as well as the way he fielded the questions from the press, which means to me he is highly likely to handle the players effectively as well. He also strikes me as someone who is also going to have highly pragmatic team selections and subs all geared around getting points, and points are what we need right now.

4

WestSussexSaint added 19:48 - Nov 11 Your gushing support for Ralph in this review was in equal measure as your apparent luke warm reception for Nathan Jones. There is no way we can judge your Ralph solution or problem hypothesis on Saturdays match. One thing is for certain though is that Ralph won’t be part of the solution going forwards so please redirect some of that Ralph support towards Nathan in future.

3

Gadge60 added 00:20 - Nov 12 I got stroppy when pochi was appointed. I thought that Adkins was knifed in the back. However it proved to be a genius selection. Lets give him a chance ffs. If he fails to make a difference by feb then I will be the first to suggest he should be thrown under the preverbial prem manager bus...
1

saintpete01 added 11:09 - Nov 12 Nick Get a grip for pity’s sake and move on No more all our yesterday’s
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Bury Polls