Jon Ralph is a tool.

[magnifisaint]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/not-in ... aeb81807c2
“Ross absolutely buggered it up – not by his own doing, he massively overachieved last year,”
WTF?

[bobmurray]

Ralph Mouth, spin doctor.

[WellardSaint]

Journos need to be divisive to get paid.

They put out all sorts of rubbish just to cause a pile-on.

Some actress in Hollywood, decades ago, said
'The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about'

[St Dave]

All he is saying is that our good performance last year (which surprised everyone, noting the year of experimentation and the injuries we had particularly early) resulted in the bar being set too high for this year. He is under the pump because he isn't living up to last year when in reality with our youth we are probably performing about as well as we could expect.

[Scollop]

I think we were in advanced talks with Tom De Koning weren't we? Easy decision for him in the end. Why would you leave a club on the rise and go to a club in rebuild?

It's going to take a lot of convincing...or a truck load of money (Weitering offer) to get a young star to come to us. I'm sure plenty of 30 year olds will put their hands up for a nice retirement nest egg.

With McCluggage and other FA's rejecting coming to St Kilda, I fear we also could see a risk emerging of damage to our already frail list.

If we don't start playing a better brand it opens the possibility of an exodus of our best players.

[spert]

All he is saying is that our good performance last year (which surprised everyone, noting the year of experimentation and the injuries we had particularly early) resulted in the bar being set too high for this year. He is under the pump because he isn't living up to last year when in reality with our youth we are probably performing about as well as we could expect.

Last year's Saints were still playing a semi-Ratts style of game, now they have been strangled under Lyon and are headless chickens

[older saint]

in other news waters wet, sky blue. Dont need to read an article to know the headline here

[kell]

Perhaps we are still suffering the effects of the hangover from our over achievement last year. All these stories run along the same lines. ....the Saints have got heaps of problems and we don't have any idea how they are going to fix them .....the Saints need midfielders but no one wants to come to the Saints

If this is the case then we destined to make the same Hannebery type mistakes over and over again.

[Sanctorum]

I didn't find much wrong with that comment tbh, it is a reasonable proposition because St Kilda did over-achieve last year and got many us super excited about the prospects for this year, I tipped them to achieve top 6.

In retrospect if we had examined the quality of the list thoroughly and dispassionately we should have been far more conservative in our expectations.

It's notable that neither Ross Lyon, nor the club, ever stated that the team would contend for finals in the first few years of Lyon's contract.

I thought Leigh Montagna's analysis on FoxFooty last night of where things break down in the game plan was spot on.

In a segment called "Back to front Saints" he noted a number of important stats about the games this year.

Ball movement within and from the back half has been really good with the team ranking in the competition as follows:

A - Defensive 50 to score % - # 8
B - Halfback to score % - # 2
C - Mark and play on - # 2
D - Handball receives - # 6

Where this good work breaks down is in the forward half, with the following rankings:

A - Points scored from forward half clearances - # 18
B - Points scored from forward half intercepts - # 18
C - Forward half kicking efficiency - # 18
D - Score for inside 50 entries % - # 15
E - Shot at goal efficiency - #15

He noted several reasons for these stats.

Whereas in the defensive half St Kilda has a majority of experienced players, the midfield and forward half included a lot of inexperienced youngsters who lacked the ability and skills to capitalise on the work of the defence.

He streamed clips of centre clearances where Marshall's good work was negated by sloppy ball handling that resulted in turnovers.

The team has really missed Dan Butler and Jack Higgins this year - this combination had provided St Kilda with the majority of goals in the last two seasons.

He concluded by saying it was simply a case of St Kilda badly lacking quality players in the mnidfield and across half forward.

There have been many on this forum who blame the coach and lack of or poor game plan for the current slump in performance, but I firmly believe that the facts outlined by Leigh Montagna provide a much more valid set of reasons.

[Life Long Saint]

He concluded by saying it was simply a case of St Kilda badly lacking quality players in the mnidfield and across half forward.

There have been many on this forum who blame the coach and lack of or poor game plan for the current slump in performance, but I firmly believe that the facts outlined by Leigh Montagna provide a much more valid set of reasons.

No game plan can survive our skill level.

[magnifisaint]

How the hell do you over achieve?

Maybe the cards fell their way but then they had lots of injuries. The dick would have been more correct by saying based on last year's results, this year, The Saints have under achieved. But Ralph isn't smart enough for that!

[WellardSaint]

Imagine if the fool (Jon Ralph) visits here as one of the hundreds of guests.
Or maybe he's Curly or BM or Vortex.

He's gonna get excited that he's atarted us arguing.
And he'll show his bosses

[magnifisaint]

Imagine if the fool (Jon Ralph) visits here as one of the hundreds of guests.
Or maybe he's Curly or BM or Vortex.

He's gonna get excited that he's atarted us arguing.
And he'll show his bosses

I'm sure he does.

G'day Jon you are a d**khead!

[bigcarl]

From what I’ve seen of Jon Ralph, he is a pretty fair-minded guy. What has he said that can’t be backed up do you think?

I guess it’s like, we’re allowed to criticise our own, but look out anyone else who does.

These guys are paid to report news and to have opinions. They’ve got to find something to write about.

[mr six o'clock]

What I love is that at the start of the year most journos when doing their ladder predictions had us finishing in the 8 to 14 range .
Now that this looks a certainty , then shock
Suddenly they'll all surprised. " what's going on at the Saints " etc.......
Joey did a good assessment on some show he's on . The backhalf is good .
Our problem is what we all know. Going forward of centre our mids butcher the ball to our forwards and when they do get it we are 50 / 50 kicking goals and behinds.

[bobmurray]

What I love is that at the start of the year most journos when doing their ladder predictions had us finishing in the 8 to 14 range .
Now that this looks a certainty , then shock
Suddenly they'll all surprised. " what's going on at the Saints " etc.......
Joey did a good assessment on some show he's on . The backhalf is good .
Our problem is what we all know. Going forward of centre our mids butcher the ball to our forwards and when they do get it we are 50 / 50 kicking goals and behinds.

It was on AFL 360, the King and Joey segment.

[The_Dud]

Why is everyone so sensitive?

We’re prob the 3rd worst team at the moment, we deserve to get criticised!

[SydneySainter]

Yes, he’s a tool.

But, we’ve been here before and this exactly what happens.

Remember when we last had a war chest, two picks in the top 10, Finnis declaring us as a “destination club,” and we were playing better footy than we are now - apparently good enough to extend Richo’s contract.

We were in to every star FA on the market and the best we lured was a busted Hannebury.

[whiskers3614]

Why is everyone so sensitive?

We’re prob the 3rd worst team at the moment, we deserve to get criticised!

because you can't say "the emperor/s got no clothes"
much easier to blame umps and AFL than looking in the mirror

[SaintWiki]

All he is saying is that our good performance last year (which surprised everyone, noting the year of experimentation and the injuries we had particularly early) resulted in the bar being set too high for this year. He is under the pump because he isn't living up to last year when in reality with our youth we are probably performing about as well as we could expect.

Exactly. It's very disappointing and he hasn't really proven himself yet but I can't complain that he hasn't followed his long term plan, indeed giving the youngen's a lot more more fast tracking than I expected. I personally spat the dummy after last week's effort but in the cold hard light of day I have settled down a bit, however, each week like that really tests us supporters.

[darylcowie]

Journos need to be divisive to get paid.

They put out all sorts of rubbish just to cause a pile-on.

Some actress in Hollywood, decades ago, said
'The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about'

You're paraphrasing Oscar Wilde, that great author from the 19th Century.

[saynta]

Journos need to be divisive to get paid.

They put out all sorts of rubbish just to cause a pile-on.

Some actress in Hollywood, decades ago, said
'The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about'

I rate journos as the lowest on the pole.. scum.