S-Clarke

Nope, you read that wrong! Just pointing out that unbelievably he is in charge of a CL side, so even someone like Parker may be seen as not-gettable.

That is insane, he should not be allowed anywhere near those players again after what he's said. Losing any faith I had in this ownership group as it stands, I fear for our future if these are the decisions they are making.

The only saving grace is that the he will stay news is coming from Crook, and we all know how inept that guy is.

I doubt we'd be able to tempt him away from Champions League Club Brugge!

This is totally different, if you read all that they've done this is on Juventus levels of corruption. Obviously all unproven yet, but there over 100 allegations spreading 10+ years. The main point is that they've paid players/managers from another company, taking that balance out of the actual club finances so they don't get caught by FFP spending.

Galardo was someone many ITK's were referring to back in October time, he was leaving Boca and were supposedly well up for getting him and had chats. But we decided Sunday league Jones was the better bet, and more expensive too, go figure.

The Man City charges are insane, there is a genuine chance Man City could be relegated here.

This is my massive concern, how can we, as a fan base, have trust in the ownership group if they ignore the obvious and plough forward here? This isn't a fickle fan base calling for a managers head after a few games, this is a club being torn apart by someone who is entirely unhinged and anyone with an ounce of sense will see that this is not sustainable, you gain nothing by giving anyone a chance here. You'd struggle to trust them with any decision going forward, and let's face it even though they've tried things, their decision making up to now has been inept.

I'm holding out some hope that the media reports we're seeing are a little delayed and they haven't caught up with events from y/day and this morning. I just don't see how anyone benefits by keeping him in charge, there is an element of care here as well - Jones is clearly on the brink of some sort of breakdown, you don't throw him to the lions on Saturday - you cannot predict how he will react to everyone if it goes sour. They have a duty of care and they should remove him before it gets to that stage. There is sadly too much momentum in one direction, it's got tot he stage where nothing can really turn this around. Anything we do now will be in spite of him. He's thrown the players, coaches and fans under the bus. He has not connected with this club in anyway, he's had 3 months - that's not going to change in a week. I will have much more respect for Rasmus if he holds his hands up and admits this catastrophic mistake, starts again and gives us someone we can get behind again. There is no reason to prolong this agony anymore, the only reason you'd prolong it is to protect an ego.

I don't think people have been slaughtering him! Ignore anyone who is, they're just trolls. What I'd say though is that Paul won't be particularly easy to watch, he will look very clumsy so don't expect a refined footballer - but, if he can create chaos and score goals when it matters then it doesn't matter.

I don't think we've competed at all this season to be honest, we look far and away the worst team in the league over the course of the season. I think SR have just tried to do way too much too soon. We haven't been perfect for many years, but surely you take a few tentative steps first and build on what's there - but they have without question ripped up the foundations and started again way too soon. I don't think we've got bad players, it's similar to Forest in a way - there's no team, just a bunch of individuals right now being led by someone who is not respected.

I know internally the club looked at that opportunity as a carbon copy of the lockdown pause, they put the same methodically into it in terms of personal training regimes and no published friendlies etc. Basically, once again, the club thought they'd cracked it due to our success after lockdown and got a bit full of themselves again

For your own sanity Nathan, I think you need to fall on your sword.

Not totally buying that really, I think there was some muffled dissent when he was appointed, certainly not in the mainstream. I think if you spoke to the majority of Southampton fans they were sceptical, but were totally behind giving him a chance and wanted to see what he could bring. The turning point for me was Forest at home, we were quite competitive away at Fulham I felt and got done in the last min by shitness - but there was a decent level there, so going into Forest I think most were expectant and hoping to see the impact Jones had been making, but christ alive it was the worst home game I've seen there for many a year. The fans voiced their dissatisfaction after that game, I think it's where we called out his football as shit (which it was in that game tbf), but what he did after that game was go after the fans and he's not stopped doing that. He's never taking accountability for his own actions or himself, he's just going after everyone else. I don't think the way he's acting is acceptable and he's made it impossible for anyone to ever warm to him, which is a shame.

No, I just called people out when they're chatting shit. I just don't think people need to make things up to justify their opinions, that's all. Case in point, which one of these scenarios was the right one?

How we shortlisted down to Jones will forever confuse me. Sport Republic have put their money where their mouth is, they've spent more than we've ever spent, we've attracted some decent players (international wise) for our position, we've attracted highly thought of coaches and recruitment people from top, top clubs. But rather than show that same level of ambition with a manager, they went the complete opposite way. It's so odd. If they wanted to get rid of Ralph then they needed to show the same level of ambition as they have in other area's of the club.

There was a post similar to this a few days ago, but I think you forget how much the likes of Romeu, Redmond, Forster and co were on. I'd say those 3 guys probably equated to near on 200k per week. We've signed Edozie, Lavia, ABK, Bazunu, Larios in the summer who combined probably don't even get to Forsters wage. I think the wage bill has been trimmed if i'm honest.

I'm trying not to be disrespectful to Luton here as I think they're a cracking club, but doesn't this just show that they're a comfortable club for those sorts of managers to thrive at? They don't have the prying eyes of the media, lots of expensive internationals or the ability to spend lots of money. They just do the basics well, and that's where the likes of Rob Edwards and Jones flourish. Basics. You can't get away with just 'basics' at clubs like ourselves, Stoke, Watford etc - you need to have a lot more about you as there will be higher profile players and bigger personalities to handle. This is why stats and stats alone mean nothing - you always have to look at the bigger picture and what has made him successful there, and then figure out if he can translate that across to a club in a different level. I genuinely don't think any due diligence was done away from checking the 'best manager in Europe' spreadsheets.

Jesse Marsh responded to the question of how he felt about Leeds fans chanting for him to leave - ‘It’s my responsibility and I understand their frustration and doubts and I accept it. Internally we have belief here, we do. The players are all in, they give everything they have,’ said Marsch. ‘I have to find a way to the good things which are happening into results or we find ourselves in a stressful situation.’ Honestly, that's all Jones needed to say. Why he felt the need to go all in like he did is beyond me.

Oh for sure, there is a clear dressing room split as well. You can see that from the way the team play! This is why I think this season is terminal however you dress it up, but we just need to add a bit of hope in the remaining weeks so we don't get relegated with an unhealthy level of toxicity.

God knows, speculation as well. Apparently Selles took the light training this PM, but that may have always been the plan.

It's all speculation, but a couple of ITK folks on here have suggested there was a training ground bust up. It's speculation in respect of who was involved and what happened, but it sounds like it got heated.

Some sort of bust up in training, apparently. Not sure what the context or scale of it is yet.

I don't see the point, it's gone beyond giving him time now. He's killed any opportunity for recovery he may have had, the bloke is an absolute nut job and keeping him in for another game is just creating more irreversible damage. In a weird way, a win against the odds against Wolves with him in charge will be a bigger loss in the long term. I think it's got to the point where we have to call it this week, let Selles take charge of Wolves to give us the best chance and then have someone new in (maybe) for Chelsea away. One of the main things you need in football is hope, having Jones in charge is not giving us any hope and a club without hope is dead.

I keep doing this, but then we lose the next winnable game, so I have a look at the fixtures again....and then we lose the next winnable game etc. The reality is that the games are running out, it's starting to shape up for me like Bournemouth and ourselves will be scrapping for 19th/20th, then you'll have Everton, Forest, Leeds, Wolves flapping around 18th. I think we're done. We don't need 'tiny improvements', we need to literally switch our form of over a year on it's head in the space of a few weeks. Without divine intervention (maybe that's why Jones is here?) I just don't see how it happens.