| INEPT MANAGER 19:15 - Oct 23 with 6308 views | Mrangry25 |
What is it with RH that he really cannot see what is going on on the pitch. His constant use of that useless pile of body parts Redmond and Walcott is beyond the comprehension of the 29,000 saints fans in the stadium.
What is it with him that he cant play KWP at right back and play Tino as the marauder in front of him, he was bloody awesome today but we cannot expect him to keep bombing down the wing and defend as well.
Perroud needs some more game time and a lesson on how to cross the bloody ball, as do the rest of the team.
When RH joined us we played high pressing football, we have reverted back to slow ponderous, dare i say it Puel football and it is costing us. His substitutions are bizarre wtf was he doing leaving Redmond on the pitch for so long to then substitute him for our goal machine Che Adams with 2 minutes left!!!!.
I think the bloke has not got a clue and is tactically inept. |  |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 13:53 - Oct 24 with 1426 views | I_would |
His results since he's been here prove he's utter rubbish and will doom us because he's a big-head and does the opposite of what EVERYONE wants. |  |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 16:42 - Oct 24 with 1371 views | Sadoldgit |
| INEPT MANAGER on 13:53 - Oct 24 by I_would |
His results since he's been here prove he's utter rubbish and will doom us because he's a big-head and does the opposite of what EVERYONE wants. |
Like playing Broja. |  | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 17:07 - Oct 24 with 1360 views | I_would |
| INEPT MANAGER on 16:42 - Oct 24 by Sadoldgit |
Like playing Broja. |
He only started Broja because Che was injured. He probably still favours Che over Broja. Played McCarthy through drop in form even though Forster was in good form. Still doesn't rate KWP enough to play him even though he was our best player last season. Prefers Walcott over Djenepo (or anyone on the bench who's better inc Tea Lady). Refuses, pig-headedly, to play Tino in front of KWP. Will immediately drop Diallo and put WP in from Watford on and will lose game after game and not change anything. The guy is bereft of tactical nous and comical with team selections, subs and man management. Otherwise he's ok. | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 17:33 - Oct 24 with 1338 views | Sadoldgit |
| INEPT MANAGER on 17:07 - Oct 24 by I_would |
He only started Broja because Che was injured. He probably still favours Che over Broja. Played McCarthy through drop in form even though Forster was in good form. Still doesn't rate KWP enough to play him even though he was our best player last season. Prefers Walcott over Djenepo (or anyone on the bench who's better inc Tea Lady). Refuses, pig-headedly, to play Tino in front of KWP. Will immediately drop Diallo and put WP in from Watford on and will lose game after game and not change anything. The guy is bereft of tactical nous and comical with team selections, subs and man management. Otherwise he's ok. |
How do you know that?
Anyway you don’t need to look further than OGS if you want an inept manager. Liverpool are 4-0 up at half time and making United look silly. | | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 17:50 - Oct 24 with 1332 views | I_would |
| INEPT MANAGER on 17:33 - Oct 24 by Sadoldgit |
How do you know that?
Anyway you don’t need to look further than OGS if you want an inept manager. Liverpool are 4-0 up at half time and making United look silly. |
I don't have to know it it's fact.
Who would have wanted that Molde d***head down here then? Certainly not me. Anyway what happens with the top six is irellevant to Saints. We shouldn't be even trying to get a point against them. We just need to avoid relegation. | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 18:27 - Oct 24 with 1314 views | Messysaints |
| INEPT MANAGER on 17:07 - Oct 24 by I_would |
He only started Broja because Che was injured. He probably still favours Che over Broja. Played McCarthy through drop in form even though Forster was in good form. Still doesn't rate KWP enough to play him even though he was our best player last season. Prefers Walcott over Djenepo (or anyone on the bench who's better inc Tea Lady). Refuses, pig-headedly, to play Tino in front of KWP. Will immediately drop Diallo and put WP in from Watford on and will lose game after game and not change anything. The guy is bereft of tactical nous and comical with team selections, subs and man management. Otherwise he's ok. |
1 - Che played, Broja also got injured which was why he was taken off.
2- Forster big wages bad keeper, McCarthy just as bad, does it matter?
3- KWP is not as gd as liv and looks out of place at LB.
4- If aat cant step up part time for Livrpool or England as one of the best and most creative RB's in the world, why do you think a young Liv is going too?
5- both Walcott and Djenepo ( has potential ) are not that good, although i would rather Tella till AA is fully fit.
6 - Diallo hasnt done any thing special - passes backwards more than OR and twice as much as JWP ( Which is your problem with JWP right? ), has an average posistion behind OR too and lacks concetration and doesnt cover Liv half as much as JWP.
I like ralph n hope he stays | | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 18:38 - Oct 24 with 1290 views | Sadoldgit |
| INEPT MANAGER on 17:50 - Oct 24 by I_would |
I don't have to know it it's fact.
Who would have wanted that Molde d***head down here then? Certainly not me. Anyway what happens with the top six is irellevant to Saints. We shouldn't be even trying to get a point against them. We just need to avoid relegation. |
If I were you I would sue the charm school. | | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 18:49 - Oct 24 with 1282 views | ElijahK |
| INEPT MANAGER on 19:40 - Oct 23 by kingolaf |
He is a poor manager and I fail to see how sacking him would make things any worse. |
What because we’ve had only 1 abysmal result (Wolves) over the whole of this season!?
That’s just pathetic and plastic, as yeah we’ve had a few annoying results, like yesterday, Newcastle and… well that’s simply it! As any realistic saints fan who actually knows a thing or two about football, and can understand of why you can’t get top of the league without investment and funding, would realise that Ralph has done exactly what most people expected off of him, and to sack him over that is just pathetic | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 18:52 - Oct 24 with 1279 views | ElijahK |
| INEPT MANAGER on 20:44 - Oct 23 by Saintsforeverj |
The bigger picture really is that last week was great, we won, this week we got a draw. 4 points from two games. We have the lowest net spend in the league, and we just can't expect to be flying at the top of the league having lost our best striker and not even spent it all. It is what it is and I worry that we could get a lot worse. I've watched Pellegrino's team, Hughes' team, Puel's team. This side under the circumstances is doing ok and Ralph is arguably holding things together at a club which has no Money, a poor owner and lots of challenges that the richer clubs don't have. [Post edited 23 Oct 2021 20:47]
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Exactly! As Ralph isn’t like Oli, as he’s got BILLIONS to spend, and him going on the poor streak Man U are on, as well as now loosing 5-0 to Liverpool certainly isn’t good enough, but when you’ve got the lowest net spend in the league, then avoiding relegation full stop, is an achievement in itself! And if it wasn’t for him we could’ve gone down on probably any of the seasons he’s been around for | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 18:54 - Oct 24 with 1278 views | ElijahK |
| INEPT MANAGER on 20:53 - Oct 23 by kingslandstand1 |
But look at the other posts on here regarding what RH actually has at his disposal and is he actually making the most of them. Armstong (S) and KWP not starting beggars belief some times! |
Well Armstrong isn’t fully fit yet, so was never gonna start, but yeah should start against Watford onwards, and with KWP, well we’ve seen that him on the left isn’t better than Parraud, and we all agree that Livermento is better than him, so he’s in a bit of a tricky situation there. | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 18:58 - Oct 24 with 1276 views | ElijahK |
| INEPT MANAGER on 13:53 - Oct 24 by I_would |
His results since he's been here prove he's utter rubbish and will doom us because he's a big-head and does the opposite of what EVERYONE wants. |
Yeah that’s why we’re bottom and look certain to go down, which is even worse when you look at the ridiculous amounts he’s had to spend on players…. | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 19:07 - Oct 24 with 1268 views | Saintsforeverj |
| INEPT MANAGER on 18:52 - Oct 24 by ElijahK |
Exactly! As Ralph isn’t like Oli, as he’s got BILLIONS to spend, and him going on the poor streak Man U are on, as well as now loosing 5-0 to Liverpool certainly isn’t good enough, but when you’ve got the lowest net spend in the league, then avoiding relegation full stop, is an achievement in itself! And if it wasn’t for him we could’ve gone down on probably any of the seasons he’s been around for |
I have been going to the games for years and have a season ticket. I have seen some very poor Saints teams and some Saints teams, where the players have downed tools and arn't playing for the manager. This team is playing for Ralph. Man U players were pathetic today. Our players are playing well but just don't have the quality. We have an under invested team it's as simple as that. It won't change under anyone else in my opinion. We will always struggle all the while we don't invest in the team. [Post edited 24 Oct 2021 19:13]
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| INEPT MANAGER on 11:22 - Oct 25 with 1166 views | ElijahK |
| INEPT MANAGER on 19:07 - Oct 24 by Saintsforeverj |
I have been going to the games for years and have a season ticket. I have seen some very poor Saints teams and some Saints teams, where the players have downed tools and arn't playing for the manager. This team is playing for Ralph. Man U players were pathetic today. Our players are playing well but just don't have the quality. We have an under invested team it's as simple as that. It won't change under anyone else in my opinion. We will always struggle all the while we don't invest in the team. [Post edited 24 Oct 2021 19:13]
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Well at least it’s good to see that there are some realistic saints fans out there, who actually imagine what it’s like to be in Ralph’s shoes with all the resources he doesn’t have | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 12:11 - Oct 25 with 1130 views | Butty101 |
| INEPT MANAGER on 11:22 - Oct 25 by ElijahK |
Well at least it’s good to see that there are some realistic saints fans out there, who actually imagine what it’s like to be in Ralph’s shoes with all the resources he doesn’t have |
I see the clubs PR is out in force today! |  |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 12:13 - Oct 25 with 1134 views | 1885_SFC |
| INEPT MANAGER on 11:22 - Oct 25 by ElijahK |
Well at least it’s good to see that there are some realistic saints fans out there, who actually imagine what it’s like to be in Ralph’s shoes with all the resources he doesn’t have |
Thank you Mr Semmens. Appreciate all your hard work. |  |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 12:58 - Oct 25 with 1119 views | saint68 |
| INEPT MANAGER on 11:22 - Oct 25 by ElijahK |
Well at least it’s good to see that there are some realistic saints fans out there, who actually imagine what it’s like to be in Ralph’s shoes with all the resources he doesn’t have |
There's one thing he's definitely missing..and its...a fukin clue...Walcott to start..never in a million years..he's atrocious..and Ralph picks him..
Ralph's had his chances...enough is enough...oh for Cortese who'd shoot the under achieving helmet back to the Alps in a heartbeat | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 13:30 - Oct 25 with 1107 views | saint901 |
I will say at the start that whilst I'm not an RH fan, he is doing the best he can with the squad he has.
A lack of investment and the club having a policy of cashing in on players means that this squad is going to struggle to achieve mid table mediocrity. That is not entirely RH's fault.
My view is also that he picks experience over youth when he can because he feels that they are less likely to make errors and that a settled team is better than one which sees new faces each week and therefore plays slightly differently.
He could have played Tella or perhaps even Armstrong A in place of Walcott against Burnley but they are both inexperienced at this level and would have been kicked to ribbons by Burnley. He could have played Armstrong S from the beginning in place of Redmond, but he's not match fit. He could have player Adams alongside Broja perhaps but that is untested. He could have played Livremento on the right side of midfield in place of Diallo but he was worried about the long ball and physical presence in Burnley's midfield (designed to stop other teams playing). Livramento is very young and probably never played in midfield at this level.
I think RH is doing what he has to, with the resources he has.
We'd all like to see us play expansive and attacking football with flair players pouring forward. In this league - esp at the moment - that could be a heavy defeat as easily as a much needed win.
So he is going for tried and trusted and reliable even where that is at the expense of potential match winning talent. | | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 14:22 - Oct 25 with 1072 views | Sadoldgit |
| INEPT MANAGER on 13:30 - Oct 25 by saint901 |
I will say at the start that whilst I'm not an RH fan, he is doing the best he can with the squad he has.
A lack of investment and the club having a policy of cashing in on players means that this squad is going to struggle to achieve mid table mediocrity. That is not entirely RH's fault.
My view is also that he picks experience over youth when he can because he feels that they are less likely to make errors and that a settled team is better than one which sees new faces each week and therefore plays slightly differently.
He could have played Tella or perhaps even Armstrong A in place of Walcott against Burnley but they are both inexperienced at this level and would have been kicked to ribbons by Burnley. He could have played Armstrong S from the beginning in place of Redmond, but he's not match fit. He could have player Adams alongside Broja perhaps but that is untested. He could have played Livremento on the right side of midfield in place of Diallo but he was worried about the long ball and physical presence in Burnley's midfield (designed to stop other teams playing). Livramento is very young and probably never played in midfield at this level.
I think RH is doing what he has to, with the resources he has.
We'd all like to see us play expansive and attacking football with flair players pouring forward. In this league - esp at the moment - that could be a heavy defeat as easily as a much needed win.
So he is going for tried and trusted and reliable even where that is at the expense of potential match winning talent. |
Nail on head. No matter what you think of Ralph as a manager I think he is doing the best that he can with the resources available. Walcott and Redmond are both very experience footballers at the highest level in this country. Is it his fault if they put golden chances wide? 99 times out of 100 they probably put those away in training. It is becoming harder and harder to compete at this level without a lot of investment. Semmens and Crocker have done amazingly well to pull some quality rabbits out of the hat this summer but it would cost a fortunate to replace Tedmond, Walcott, Djenepo and Ely to the type of quality that would have us fighting for a place in Europe. He has been here for 3 years and will not be here forever, but when he goes the new manager will face exactly the same set of problems and will have people calling for his head when he gets the same results. It is highly unlikely that anything will change significantly until we either get a new owner or find some major investment. | | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 15:19 - Oct 25 with 1061 views | Berber |
| INEPT MANAGER on 13:30 - Oct 25 by saint901 |
I will say at the start that whilst I'm not an RH fan, he is doing the best he can with the squad he has.
A lack of investment and the club having a policy of cashing in on players means that this squad is going to struggle to achieve mid table mediocrity. That is not entirely RH's fault.
My view is also that he picks experience over youth when he can because he feels that they are less likely to make errors and that a settled team is better than one which sees new faces each week and therefore plays slightly differently.
He could have played Tella or perhaps even Armstrong A in place of Walcott against Burnley but they are both inexperienced at this level and would have been kicked to ribbons by Burnley. He could have played Armstrong S from the beginning in place of Redmond, but he's not match fit. He could have player Adams alongside Broja perhaps but that is untested. He could have played Livremento on the right side of midfield in place of Diallo but he was worried about the long ball and physical presence in Burnley's midfield (designed to stop other teams playing). Livramento is very young and probably never played in midfield at this level.
I think RH is doing what he has to, with the resources he has.
We'd all like to see us play expansive and attacking football with flair players pouring forward. In this league - esp at the moment - that could be a heavy defeat as easily as a much needed win.
So he is going for tried and trusted and reliable even where that is at the expense of potential match winning talent. |
A good all round post. I would just add that picking Walcot has proven 9 times out of 10 to be erroneous, and this is beginning to make me angry. He would have been better off picking Tella, who, despite his inexperience could hardly have brought less to the game than Walcot did, and most likely would have brought more. |  |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 16:20 - Oct 25 with 1035 views | saint901 |
Walcott is not the player he was first time around at Saints (yes I was there) and his time elsewhere has taught him some good things and unfortunately some not so good.
Against Burnley, especially in the first half he made some good runs from wide(ish) right towards the centre and when he did it opened up space for Livramento who needed no second invitation. In the second half Burnley changed their formation a little which meant that these runs didn't do that.
Walcott is experienced enough to know when something has stopped working and he tried to stay a little deeper to allow Livramento forward but it was not as effective.
Personally I would have liked to have seen a more radical change with him and Ely swapping for say 15 minutes. I suspect they did not because of team orders.
In his early days Walcott would have held the wider position and run at the full back. He has always though thought of himself as a central striker and his days at Arsenal and Everton tried that without any consistent success. He is though always drawn inside and with overlapping full backs it works.
So he had a quiet game (glaring miss aside) but did some good things, esp first half. Is that enough to justify his starting place? It is for RH and frankly that's the only opinion that really matters. | | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 21:41 - Oct 25 with 964 views | DorsetIan |
| INEPT MANAGER on 16:20 - Oct 25 by saint901 |
Walcott is not the player he was first time around at Saints (yes I was there) and his time elsewhere has taught him some good things and unfortunately some not so good.
Against Burnley, especially in the first half he made some good runs from wide(ish) right towards the centre and when he did it opened up space for Livramento who needed no second invitation. In the second half Burnley changed their formation a little which meant that these runs didn't do that.
Walcott is experienced enough to know when something has stopped working and he tried to stay a little deeper to allow Livramento forward but it was not as effective.
Personally I would have liked to have seen a more radical change with him and Ely swapping for say 15 minutes. I suspect they did not because of team orders.
In his early days Walcott would have held the wider position and run at the full back. He has always though thought of himself as a central striker and his days at Arsenal and Everton tried that without any consistent success. He is though always drawn inside and with overlapping full backs it works.
So he had a quiet game (glaring miss aside) but did some good things, esp first half. Is that enough to justify his starting place? It is for RH and frankly that's the only opinion that really matters. |
I appreciate your knowledgable posts.
One of my thoughts about Ralph is that he gets out thought by other managers. You mentioned that Burnley changed their formation which cancelled out Walcott’s inside runs. Could/should Ralph have countered with his own change? | |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 09:30 - Oct 26 with 875 views | saint901 |
One of RH's failings (in my view) is that he is slow to recognise the opposition changing tactics and stifling his plan.
He no doubt works up a plan during the week after watching the opposition on video and picks a team that he thinks gives him a chance of a win/draw. Once he has that set in his mind, he stays with it.
He and his back room staff may well consider what happens if X replaces Y for the opposition, but given how teams at our end of the league play (first rule is do not lose) it's unlikely that a single change of personnel has much impact on how they play. So he sticks with the plan that has taken all week to develop and practice.
For me this is why we often have a decent first half/hour and then struggle until the inevitable last five frantic minutes when we are chasing a win or trying to salvage a draw. That period is not so controlled but is what the fans want.
On Saturday Burnley came out for the second half with Cork playing about 5/10 metres deeper. When Walcott (and Redmond) went inside to leave the space, it was Cork who tracked them and not the full back. The space that was there in the first half for Livra disappeared. So it was a change in average position for the Burnley midfield, not personnel.
Burnley could do that because they were having success with the long ball, bypassing midfield.
In my opinion (and we all have one here) RH could have told Ely and Walcott to swap and importantly to play wider, pulling the Burnley defence into a longer line. That would have pushed the holding mids back even further and Livra in particular would have prospered from the space - inside this time - that would have opened up. The downside of that is to make covering the right back space but Romeo and Diallo were sitting deep all match anyway.
If that did not work, then perhaps (with Broja clearly struggling with an ankle injury) a more radical plan. Remove Broja (it's a long season and we need to protect him), ask Walcott to go central and put Armstrong (S) on. Armstrong to play in the space in front of the Burnley back 4/6 and try to find the runs of Walcott, Redmond, ELy and the full backs.
From here, three days post match, the above makes sense (to me) but RH is a manager and perhaps has to think this way in real time. He appears not to, preferring to stick with plan A long after it has been shown not to work.
He is limited in players of sufficient quality but I'd like to see him work on say two tactical plans in the week and be able to move from one to another - in real time. It may be that he needs an assistant he trusts to be in his ear during the match. We see him patrolling the touchline all match - on his own. This is however a team game and that includes the coaches as well as the players. | | | |
| INEPT MANAGER on 10:15 - Oct 26 with 859 views | MytchettSaint |
| INEPT MANAGER on 09:30 - Oct 26 by saint901 |
One of RH's failings (in my view) is that he is slow to recognise the opposition changing tactics and stifling his plan.
He no doubt works up a plan during the week after watching the opposition on video and picks a team that he thinks gives him a chance of a win/draw. Once he has that set in his mind, he stays with it.
He and his back room staff may well consider what happens if X replaces Y for the opposition, but given how teams at our end of the league play (first rule is do not lose) it's unlikely that a single change of personnel has much impact on how they play. So he sticks with the plan that has taken all week to develop and practice.
For me this is why we often have a decent first half/hour and then struggle until the inevitable last five frantic minutes when we are chasing a win or trying to salvage a draw. That period is not so controlled but is what the fans want.
On Saturday Burnley came out for the second half with Cork playing about 5/10 metres deeper. When Walcott (and Redmond) went inside to leave the space, it was Cork who tracked them and not the full back. The space that was there in the first half for Livra disappeared. So it was a change in average position for the Burnley midfield, not personnel.
Burnley could do that because they were having success with the long ball, bypassing midfield.
In my opinion (and we all have one here) RH could have told Ely and Walcott to swap and importantly to play wider, pulling the Burnley defence into a longer line. That would have pushed the holding mids back even further and Livra in particular would have prospered from the space - inside this time - that would have opened up. The downside of that is to make covering the right back space but Romeo and Diallo were sitting deep all match anyway.
If that did not work, then perhaps (with Broja clearly struggling with an ankle injury) a more radical plan. Remove Broja (it's a long season and we need to protect him), ask Walcott to go central and put Armstrong (S) on. Armstrong to play in the space in front of the Burnley back 4/6 and try to find the runs of Walcott, Redmond, ELy and the full backs.
From here, three days post match, the above makes sense (to me) but RH is a manager and perhaps has to think this way in real time. He appears not to, preferring to stick with plan A long after it has been shown not to work.
He is limited in players of sufficient quality but I'd like to see him work on say two tactical plans in the week and be able to move from one to another - in real time. It may be that he needs an assistant he trusts to be in his ear during the match. We see him patrolling the touchline all match - on his own. This is however a team game and that includes the coaches as well as the players. |
That’s the thing, teams are going to work out very quickly what our game plan is and set up to nullify it from the start. What then? Ralph just blindly plays on for the next 89 minutes hoping something will change? Refusing to make subs until the cursory 75th minute? You’re exactly right, this is his big failing.
That’s precisely what happened last season, teams sat back and waited for us to tire then went for the jugular. Hence we dropped more points than anyone from winning positions.
It’s his job to also have a plan b, c, d and e if needed. Swapping between formations and tactics to at least try and put momentum back our way.
As Mike Tyson once said, everybody’s got a plan until they get punched on the nose.
This is the blokes big handicap and something that is frustrating most people as he seems blind to it. |  |
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| INEPT MANAGER on 10:17 - Oct 26 with 855 views | grumpy |
Good teams have a competent Manager with an Assistant.
Unless you have an exceptional Manager, that's how it usually works.
I cant name too many Assistants now as most are foreign and I am no good at remembering their names but I do remember one of the best Mangers this country ever had, Brian Clough and he had a fantastic assistant in Peter Taylor .
Generally Saints fans love Ralph for his passion and loyalty etc but he seems to me like he has too much work load on his shoulders and needs help. [Post edited 26 Oct 2021 10:19]
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| INEPT MANAGER on 11:45 - Oct 26 with 828 views | saint901 |
We also have to bear in mind that even well drilled teams will struggle to consistently play to a tactical plan.
At the level I used to play at (very amateur) our coaches would set us up but then accept that after 15/20 minutes we were all pretty much playing our natural game.
I'd expect professionals to last a bit longer bit even then they see some space and move into it, they chase a ball into an area they are meant to avoid, they challenge for a ball they should leave to another. They are professionals and have a talent and an instinct for the game and they have to be allowed to express it.
Clearly you can't have a disorganised rabble which is why RH imposes a tactical plan but even then he has to appreciate that Walcott and Redmond has a flair for being a wide or a central attacker, Livra likes to get forward, Ely also likes to go forward.
RH's job (partly) is to balance whether those natural games are an advantage in his tactical plan or a hindrance and to pick a team accordingly. I think he struggles with that a little, preferring to force round pegs into square holes.
To a degree his hand is forced by resources but he needs to be a little braver. | | | |
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