St Louis

Haha, I happen to know for a FACT that the complete opposite of this is true. I'm not happy at all with how things are going (not that I blame Jones after 3 games with a team he inherited and no transfers in or out yet), but... that doesn't mean things like the above should be said with no truth. Yes it's early days, but I know for a fact that the players have really warmed to him so far and like him a lot (he's very likeable apparently and quite different to his onscreen persona), training has been 'fun again', things being freshened up has been really welcome after a long stale period, etc. Of course this could change if results continue to be poor, but he is very well liked (so far) within the squad and wider backroom. Horses Mouth x 2 = Senior Director & Sports Scientist.

Welcome to life as a Saints fan, Rasmus

Good player, drives forward, much needed energy injection.

I couldn't agree more, with every single word of that.

Seriously!? The bloke has had 2 league games, with a squad he inherited and no transfers in or out yet. And you are crowning him already as Branfoot v2! Wow.

I think we (and in particular JWP) are missing Romeu big time. We have no bite or aggression in the team anymore, and its so vital in the middle of the park. Brighton ran straight through our midfield so many times, it was a breeze for them. Romeu's presence and positioning also allowed JWP to get forward more, where I think he is far more effective. I dont think its a coincidence that JWP doesnt look the same player this season.

The Premier League is the pinnacle for any player or manager. There are only 20 managers jobs available to the millions of managers out there. We also paid our last manager handsomely.... So, I would like to think that we have had 100's of applicants since Ralph departed. Surely we haven't already made our minds up on Jones without speaking to him or others, so I would hope we will be interviewing many of the standout applicants over the coming days.

Yes I agree, we should be able to compete with the likes of Brighton, Palace, Fulham and Brentford... and we DO compete with them. In fact we finish above them more often than not and may again this season. Leeds and Forest are bigger clubs than us and I would imagine spend a lot more than us on wages for a start (we wouldnt be able to sign Jesse Lingard in a million years). I think our (first) ambition each season is just to stay up and I personally (*controversial opinion alert*) wouldnt mind if we did go down. I fell out of love with the over sanitised Premier League and all its wealth a long time ago, especially as the gap between the Big 6 (and now Newcastle) increases every season. I have followed Saints since the mid-80's and my most enjoyable years were 09/10 to 11/12 (and maybe a few of those early seasons in the Prem). Your ambition (like mine and most others) is to try and finish mid-table and have a cup run, and I dont think we have made a bad shot at that over the last 11 years and have done both on multiple occasions. But I dont think (or expect) it to happen most seasons. I'm completely at ease with the pecking order and how the Premier League works. I hate the big clubs and their plastic fans and their media love-in. I quite enjoy us being one of the smaller pluckier clubs, looking for ways to compete. But I accept that we are one of 5-10 smaller clubs who are fighting to stay up each year, with the odd bonus season thrown in. And if we go down I wouldnt really mind at all. What I cant get my head around is how people (not saying you @Turkish) believe that we should regularly be a Top-Half team and get annoyed when we arent, because based on finances, fanbase and stature (appeal to attract players) there is no way that's sustainable without more investment. Yes we get a lot of TV money, but so do the others. Anyway... back to Jones, and I feel very underwhelmed and hope we go down a different route. But we all felt the same with Strachan & Adkins (what the hell had they achieved!?) and they both worked out OK.

Im not trying to be antagonistic, but we are one of the smallest clubs in the league, with the smallest budget, etc. Football is so different now, we were on a more level playing field in this division through the 80's/90's/00's, but not anymore, we don't have the money to compete at the higher end of the table (or even mid-table in my opinion). We may have the occasional anomaly period where we finish in the top half, but that isn't our natural position. Until we get big investment, we will always be fighting to stay in the league. We all love Saints, but from any neutral fans standpoint we are one of the smallest and most insignificant clubs in the division, and I'm absolutely OK with that. Our model for now (due only to finances and stature) is that we need to buy young rough diamonds, develop them and sell them on for a big profit. And use our owners moneyball data-led approach to try and gain an advantage and a few extra points where we can. I don't know if Jones is the answer, and I personally was hoping for a more proven name, but I do think we have to trust the new owners and their new approach for the club. They made a good choice in giving Thomas Frank the Brentford job, against the fans 'better' judgement.

I didnt think they did? I thought they applied and went into the newly formed Championship?

Last minute blind optimism.... anybody have a link?

Bigger club, bigger salary, bigger budgets, live in London, etc..... of course he would leave us to join Chelsea. As would every other manager, coach, player we have or have ever had. It's modern day football. I'm sick of it. I wish we were back in the 80's/90's, when it was all so much more competitive and even. The timing of their approach is annoying, but I don't blame our club for this.

I may be in the minority, but I think he has been one of our better players this season so far. I wish all the squad had his attitude and put in the same effort. The goals are lacking still, but he's being used much wider than last term, and I think he's been more effective, and his pace has worried the opposition. Our lack of goals is an issue with the Centre Forward..... Che makes a decent second striker (chipping in with 8-10 goals a season), lets hope we can find a goalscorer in January! I see Cody Gakpo (who we were linked with in the summer) has 9 in 9 in the league for PSV this season, so I'm guessing that ship has sailed way past us now.

Was that not inevitable for a while? After letting lots of our senior players leave and rebuilding by bringing in inexperienced kids. I expected a big step back in the first half of the season, and then the team would gel and (hopefully) start to grow. Personally, I have no idea if Ralph is the best man for that or not. I know that I would be sad to see him go, I think he's been one of our more likeable managers for a while, and I also think he genuinely cares for the club and is trying to build a philosophy and identity, and even in the good times I didnt feel that he was looking to jump up the ladder. We have had several managers who felt to me like they were happy to just use the club as a stepping stone, and never really wanted to be here and build anything (Poch, Koeman, Hoddle, Souness, etc). Even sat at the Everton game I looked at the spine of the team that Lampard could bring in this summer... Tarkowski, Coady, Onana and Maupay. I'm sure Ralph would love that opportunity with us, to be able to compete on stature and wages and bring in some proven quality. I'm still so torn... I like Ralph and (for some reason) still have some faith in his philosophies, but I appreciate results have been dire. I just wonder if an alternative would have had worse results (given the lack of budget) and taken us down by now, so maybe Ralph isnt doing too bad with the hand he has... we will never know. Should we sack Ralph, I feel like it's a huge job to get the right replacement in, get it even slightly wrong this time and I think we could be in trouble this season.

Well, we did get the furthest we've got in a tournament since 1996 when reaching the Final of Euro 2020, with Rice/Phillips partnered in midfield, and Phillips was voted England Men's Player of the Year for 20/21, so you could argue that it DOES work.

World Cup is very close, so probably not the time to bring in too many untried players to 'trial'. Tournament squads (especially overseas ones) are always based on character as much as ability, and who is good to have in the ranks for morale, leadership, etc. So based on that I can understand why some of the more senior (and known) players have been selected. The team building and togetherness needs to start now, so I guess the WC squad wont be hugely different to this (but obviously trimmed down). The one that baffles me the most is TAA, because if you ignore the media 'Liverpool love-in' and actually watch him play, he is so bad (at defending).

Isn't AMN only on loan (for now)? If so, he wont be made Vice Captain anytime soon.

No, he is a moody git, at least on the two occasions I've 'met' him 😄 I've met several players over the years at corporate events and in hospitality, etc. And he is without doubt the grumpiest I've met, and had no interest in speaking with people, having a picture with them, etc. Seemed totally pee'd off to even be there and reluctant to have pics (maybe it's because he gets stick from fans, but he couldnt seem less happy to be there). I appreciate some players dont like that environment and its forced upon them, but he did seem genuinely moody/arrogant to me. Romeu on the other hand was the complete opposite, the nicest guy you could ever wish to meet, and (unless he's a great actor) seemed genuinely happy and grateful to meet with fans.

He’s no Darius Vassell though is he 😂

Yep.....

Would be nice... but he was on £11.5m a year at PSG apparently, so we can probably forget that one.

I agree with this entirely.

Exactly how I feel. We would be left short, but he could be replaced, and I dont believe the club are as stupid as we often think they are. Maybe we need to shift him on, to have the finances to bring in who we really want? His scoring record is no better than Long's, and he isn't as good in the air or as quick, I wouldn't lose much sleep.

Probably the first season for me (in 35 years) where I don’t like any of the kits, massive disappointment. Last years 3 kits look great now against these. And I know it’s a personal thing, but I really dislike round necks on footie shirts, makes them look like training tops for me. Home: 3/10 Away: 1/10 Third: 3.5/10

It's keeping Moussa fit for consecutive games that could prove a bigger challenge.