Saint Fan CaM

Yeah, but what do you really think? 🤔🤣

And there it is…no DCC and AMN on the bench. Bednarek and Bree. But at least Perraud starts as do our most attacking threats plus big Paul. Does that give us any indication of who Nate’s mates are? Probably. I’m going to reserve any judgement until we go two behind. OK I’ll probably lose it when it’s clear Jones has not done his homework. But who knows, he may provide a masterclass befitting of the best in Europe…let’s see.

I can feel the tension building here, alongside a resigned comedy to relieve it. Keep it up people - a lighthearted afternoon may help dull the inevitable pain.

Incredible…you might be onto something here…perhaps we really should try this.

Looks like West Ham are going to give Chelsea a run for their money. 1-1. Looking tough to beat…plenty of aggression. That’s why we’re not going to catch and overtake three other teams.

Ah I thought he was alluding to the present and how Jones is using his own experience with Saints players. My bad.

West Ham 0-1 down vs Chelsea, so that one’s going our way….so far.

Half of ‘em will be skates? 😝🤢🤮

What? Surely that’s a managers job?

Maybe, maybe not. He has clearly indicated that he’s going to do things his way and if the story about his bust up with Selles is correct (Selles being Rasmus’ poodle) then I suspect he’s ruffled some feathers or worse. As an example, if Jones decided to drop JWP in favour of one the new guys and as the Manager he has the right to do that, I can imagine JWP, Selles and to a certain extent Rasmus not being best pleased. The exact circumstances of what happened and why, will sit with the loyalties of players to Selles or Jones. Determining DCC’s loyalty is not straightforward, but it will become apparent perhaps when he’s either picked to start or not. But Rasmus has effectively nailed his colours to the mast now by backing Jones and Jones has accepted publicly that he is fully responsible for HIS team selections, tactics and results. I think we could see some ‘interesting’ team choices today and watch for the body language and comms between Jones and Selles - it could be very revealing.

To be honest I didn’t see too much wrong with that presser. Yes sure he’s no Klopp and there’s very little humour in his responses, but then he has to be very careful about every last breath he takes for fear of everything being taken out of context. Thing for me is that he can’t help being Nathan Jones and if being the best version of himself meant we were winning games, attitudes towards him would be more forgiving. If he’s not capable of managing a Prem club then there’s little he can do about that…I don’t doubt he cares or wants not to succeed. Same as some players…they all truly want to succeed at whatever level they’ve reached, but sometimes that level is too much much for them whether that be physically, mentally or in skill. With that in mind it’s difficult not to feel sorry for NJ…he knows it’s not working despite working hard to turn it around…his management at Saints is failing. It’s for the Board to determine whether that position continues or not. Vitriol towards NJ is perhaps not warranted for that reason…it should be aimed entirely at the person(s) employing him.

This one holds an extra level of expectation in that we’re all on the edge of our seats waiting for the revelation that is Total Jonesball. He has promised it and given that his footballing knowledge far outstrips mine, I’m expecting to see a transformed team and an immediate impact resulting in three home points. In the real World, I’m expecting a calamitous affair as the players either don’t understand what’s required or have stopped listening to NJ’s babble or both. I’m expecting a defeat as Wolves are just the type of team that bully our lads into submission…they provide no thinking time for our players on the ball as our slow build up play will suit them completely. It will turn ugly by half-time I reckon. Saints 1 - Wolves 3 Cant wait. COYS!

Me too. A friend is a Wednesday ST holder and has promised me a seat whenever I’m up there as it’s an historic ground I’ve never been to and would like to experience. Not sure he was thinking it would be a Wednesday vs Saints match, but it would make it more ‘interesting’!

Interesting timing of the announcement today of a new push to create a new league. Some might think City are driving the agenda here.

So for me it’s not just about the available points, it’s about the likelihood of taking those points. Based largely on the Manager knowing how to coach and tactically outshine his counterparts, we’ve got little chance of the consistent improvement necessary. He might get it right by some fluke 50% of the time, but there’s little margin for error and we need a near perfect run of results from here until season end. To say we’re not cut adrift is wrong in my estimation - we need to catch the teams above us who will also be picking up points so it’s a moving target. Nope, as much as I would love to think otherwise, our goose is cooked and relegation is pretty much nailed on.

No, but Grimsby might! 🤣

I watched the video from start to end and I thought it very open and transparent as best as they could allow. Questions were largely good - a couple or so which frankly were pointless. The one thing I was amazed not to hear was a question around why nothing has changed in terms of style and performance, despite several months and a World Cup break.

I would have thought the answer to that was an eminently obvious "yes"! More experienced competent backline - tough midfield with players able to move into the attacking third (and score + Morgan on the bench!) - Mane and Pelle (with Tadic on the bench!).

Great quote - where did that come from?

Stoke and Swansea fans are arguably crying more! Think it's worth also remembering who the manager was and the team that got us to these giddy heights - was it THAT much better than the squad now and is there anyone from the squad 8 years ago still in the side? Quite revealing really.

Oh there is. Nathan Jones clearly does. I suspect Bree and Bednarek do too - possibly others like JWP. Then there’s his family. There’s probably a few thousand softies in the fan base that are still thinking “better the devil you know” or have just given up caring or actually fancy some time in the lower leagues again. I actually do believe NJ came in with the instruction to play just like Ralph did and others before him. The Southampton Way if you like. More fool him I say, because anyone with half a brain cell could see that was not working. When I saw the first couple of games I knew he’d fail, because it was clear nothing had changed…we still played the same turgid, slow paced, backwards/sideways passing football with no attacking threat. But worse as we’d lost any form of identity. Perhaps Nathan can make things better by doing it his way. Personally I don’t think that’s going to work with a squad of players not built in his mould…they’ve already started revolting if rumours are true. From the moment he admitted defeat and effectively exposed the club/players/fans he was figuratively speaking a dead man walking. He will continue to fail on Saturday and Wolves must be licking their lips given he’s largely given away his game plan. It could be ugly indeed.

I’m not so sure this time. Not really been following the story in detail, but following the UEFA investigation there’s much higher level of scrutiny over the FA’s ability to self regulate and the thought is that given the huge significance of the allegations, the FA will need to be seen to throw the book at them. We shall see, but it’s almost as intriguing as a NJ training session. 🤪

Well I didn’t label them cretins, but I agree with your point.

Hiring him in the first place? I think the big test will be in who they install instead, IF indeed they decide to fire him. Talksport we’re reporting that he had a stay of execution so it’s not a done deal just yet.

Tomorrow being Tuesday. Righto.