It's easy to say that in hindsight. Other than Ralls, our midfield options at that time were Leandro Bacuna, Marlon Pack, Will Vaulks, and Sam Bowen.
While we were getting spanked every week, we had a guy nobody had yet seen play getting rave reviews at a direct rival - of course people wanted him back.
I don't rate him myself (I think after watching the above mentioned players every week, anyone with the ability not to hoof it first time into the stands would have initially stood out). He'd probably do a decent job in League 1 though, and I think that's where his next move will be (whether it's with us or someone else).