sydney_saint

For me, it would be a good indication of Selles prospects as a manager on who he doesn't select. I really do not want to see Bednarek, Moi, Bazunu and Lyanco in that starting lineup

I love Stu, but in all honesty what has he done to deserve a start either? He hasn't had a good game for us for well over a year now. Whilst Orsic may not have done anything to deserve a start based on his time here, he's shown better form with Zagreb and Croatia this season

What would be nice, and I can't believe that this is such an unlikely scenario, to actually get all our fucking best players on the pitch at the same time. We aren't City who can think about systems with so much intricacy cos they have 20 elite players. Lets get our best players out there. I'm not too bogged down on a perfect formation as most formations are pretty fluid except for how many at the back. I would say the players with the best pedigree in our squad are McCarthy/Big willy, KWP, DCC, ABK, Perraud, JWP, Lavia, Orsic, Sulemana, Alcrarez, Big Paul/Che. Bazunu time will probably come again but it is clear if we want to stay up he isn't gonna save us. I know some would argue against Orsic but he has achieved far more in football than most of our wingers/number 10s. Haven't seen enough of Big Paul to say he's more clininal than Che, but wouldn't be hard to be so. Not too bothered how they are all arranged on the pitch, but that is the XI players I want to see walking out of the tunnel.

Poor fucker

He is what he is. An upper level Championship player, which means he can play a bit. In a bottom of the table EPL side, he looks okay. Not terrible, not spectacular either. There a probably a couple of dozen of players in the Championship that would also look okay in our side at the moment. Fine as a back up to end of the season for KWP, but if we were to stay up I would expect his minutes to be pretty limited next season. I don't think Jones has helped his cause here by making him an instant starter straight away. Especially when it meant shoving KWP over to the left to accommodate him. I think most fans didn't mind KWP playing on the left to so we could fit in a super talented player in Tino, but he shouldn't be shoved out to accommodate Bree. So if we stay up, I expect Bree to help out enough when KWP is out and then probably be phased out next season. And if we go down, he will be useful in the Championship. It's not really a terrible signing for the price. It's just okay.

Not really. But I do have a feeling he reads the messages on here, so on the off chance he does read it. This is twice in his career he has gone into a club and totally alientated the fan base. Not to mention pissing off Luton fans the first time he left them. So there is a real issue there with his relationship with the fans that he really needs to reflect. We aren't the enemies, and ultimately want to see the club succeed. A couple of things can really change this 1. Stop going on about our previous struggles. You can mention it sure. But don't keep going on about them. Your job is to fix them. We as fans know the struggles cos we fucking watch our team week in week out. We know exactly what they are, so don't keep going on about them. Fix them! We will be able to see the fixes, and get on board. None of our previous issues were even remotely fixed. It just makes you look desperate when you keep referring back to the previous management. 2. Don't refer to us and the players as 'they'. Like you would do when they say 'they've been letting in goals like this for ages' or 'they've barely won a game this year'. It's a simple language thing, but creates a division between yourself and everyone else. It immediately looks like you are deflecting responsiblity. Refer to everyone as 'we'. Show you care about the players and the club, not just yourself! 3. Meaningless phrases like 'front footed' and 'aggressive' aren't gonna get you very far in the top flight. If results are poor, you are gonna need to show some actual substance of the where you want to play. I don't think many could see a real plan on how we would score goals. Maybe there was, but we couldn't see it on the pitch, and we certainly couldn't see it in interviews because we just keep hearing the same meaningless phrases. Not every manager is going to get a new manager bounce, but at least bring a proper blueprint on the way we want to play. You need the fans to succeed, that's just simple. You can not alienate them right from the beginning. You need to come in far more humble. Even a number of our better managers over the last decade, including the likes of Ralph and Koeman, came in humble, despite the fact they have far more standing in the game than yourself. Relax, recognise not every fan is going to love you, but more humility and empathy with the fans will help them. Confidence in your ability is great, but arrogance and obsessing with pointing our your abiltiies is not. If you are confident, the results will speak for themselves

JWP gets down the line, literally no one in the box. And belatedly just one arrives

That Lemina red is one of the best things I've seen this season. I might watch it later with a nice glass of scotch

Saw this on reddit. Can see we are rock bottom of this table as well! Probably just as well given any extra throw-ins will just see us watching Salisu hauling it in a couple of yards straight to the other team.

I actually don't know what they are clinging onto apart from their ego. Results have got worse, so not that. We can't score from open play. Defence is leaking. Midfield overrun especially if there is no Lavia who he just threw under a bus. There is no reputation to cling to, or relevant experience. He's alienated the fans, and continutes to do so. He appears to be having a breakdown. And it seems he is pissing off the players although harder to validate that. What are they clinging to that this can be turned around?

Poch also managed without even speaking english to the fans! Just over 20 years, we appointed a very unpopular manager in WGS. He won over the fans quickly as well. The issue isn't the fans, it's the manager. Even look at the way he often refers to the club as 'they' rather than 'we'. He is just utterly divisive.

The weird thing is, at no stage has Jones even looked like a geekbook manager. I often imagine the spreadsheet managers to be young and 'trendy'. A bit like De Zerbi who seemed like a geekbook appointment, and he's been excellent. Yet the style of football Jones plays isn't innovative or new, it actually just seems really dated. How did the stats indicate that Jones in anyway could be a success? I think what the last few seasons in the EPL has shown is just how valuable experience is. It doesn't have to be premier league experience, but does need some real pressure situations. It's such a pressure situation that you need a bit more nous and it is not the place to be learning on the job.

I think so many Saints fans have lumped their cash on him to be sacked next that it now has to happen just for that, otherwise people are gonna be even more pissed!

I think he has to be dropped for a while for his sake. I don't feel he was at fault for the goals yesterday, but also it's clear he is struggling. Usually when a team is at the bottom, fans tend to overexaggerate the quality of the keeper as they are facing alot more shots, and therefore far more chances to make saves. Yet despite all the shots we have faced and goals conceded, I can't really remember thinking after the game "Thank fuck we had Bazunu in goal". I'd say his best performance this season was probably a 7/10, and he's had far more below 5. I don't think any of our keepers are suddenly going to be great, but at least the two older ones might be able to calm the defence more and organise them.

I'd actually say our fans are generally pretty supportive of managers even if the appointment was unpopular initially. Look at how Strachan won the fanbase round despite an unpopular appointment, or Poch, or even Adkins (although it wasn't a huge amount against, some were definitely unsure). If you take the last 20 years or so, I can think of managers like Strachan, Burley, Koeman, Poch, Adkins, Ralph, Pearson, and even the likes of Pellegrino I felt most fans wanted to do well, but was so so clear how out of his depth he was. Even if some of those reigns ended up unpleasant, there were moments when the fanbase really rallied behind each of them. In fact, I can't think of too many that people haven't rallied around at some point. So what is NJ doing differently that so many people don't like him, cos we tend to rally behind managers. For a manager to be popular I feel they either need to 1. Deliver results quickly. Obviously. So far our league form pointswise has got worse. So no good there. 2. If they don't hit the ground running, they need to show a clear blueprint of how they want to play. Poch and Ralph are probably two of the clearest examples of showing pretty much from their first game their blueprint. So far with Jones, the style of football seems very 'Championship'. Sliding into more tackles isn't going to win many more matches, and the fans know it. 3. Have a reputation. Will buy more time if they can point to similar success at the same level. Currently he has no reputation at EPL level either as a manager or a player. 4. If there is no results, and not a gameplan that resonates with the fans, at the very least the manager can buy himself more time by saying the right things. At the moment, he seems to want to pick fights with the fans. People can say he's unfortunately, but he isn't really giving us any of these things. It's little wonder there is little goodwill.

I think Emery and Lopetgui were exceptional cases. The latter's agent is a Mendes client I am pretty sure, and even then he dithered about taking the job, and I can kind see the appeal of Villa for a manager like emery as they have a decent team, historically big club with a bit of cash to spend. I'm not sure we could have realistically have got either but of course that's a guess. There's a handful of good out of work managers but whether they are interested I am not sure. Bosz, Gallardo, Benitez, Bielsa I would all have taken to replace Ralph, but whether they are keen?

The issue with just giving him the season for the sake of it are the stakes are pretty high. If we were comfortable mid-table - sure why not. But we aren't, and the cost of continuing with a manager who isn't really giving us any signs he is up to it is relegation. There's a reason why the fan haven't warmed to him. Fans can warm to a manager pretty quickly but they either have to be delivering results straight away, or showcase a clear blueprint and way of playing that they can get results. Poch walked into a firestorm with the anger around Adkins. But from game one showed a clear way of playing. I don't care too much about relegation if it was just that, but I have no real idea about how healthy the finances of the club are, and I really don't want us to plummet again like last time. I don't really trust those running the club at the moment to have the finances healthy. I actually agree with OldNick that there aren't gonna be a huge amount of quality managers that want the job. It's why I didn't really want to let go of Ralph, because I thought the chances are we would downgrade. But I do think there are better managers out there than NJ who would give us more of a chance.

wtf was Mccoist going on about having sympathy. It's not one of those unlucky ones where the player kicked it and followed through on someones ankle. Its a proper shocker.

Okay!! Let's push everything at this!

At the very least that might give Che some confidence

If I was KWP, I would be calling my agent at half time and seeing if I can get a move away. If you are going to play in this shitshow, at least be played in your best position. That right is just diabolical.

Imagine being one of the best players at the club, and then shafted out into left back to accommodate Bree.

But hey, we've given them a good few bruisings already! You can see how much that's terrifying them

kwp allows him in the inside almost as if he is a right back playing at left back....

Mate, have you ever, in your life, just said "Sorry, I got it wrong". To paraphrase somebody else "you should try being wrong sometime, you might actually learn something"