James Ward-Prowse

[coalman]

2 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

I thought, right at the end, our corners looked better. I remember thinking "oh, now we do it, when he'll be out the door." 🙂

I also thought JWP did look a bit better, given some license to be further forward. There, his passes could get to attackers, and create chances. He could also have efforts himself. All without it all having to go through another player first.

Hard to tell, after a while of tepid, unsuccessful build up play, what was tactics driven, limitations in receivers or JWP natural preference. I'd not mind another season to find out though.

When he was hitting first time crosses into the box he looked a real threat. At our worst he got sucked back to play among our centre backs.

I guess we never properly replaced Schneiderlin or Wanyama. A lot of our success was based on having incredible cover there.

[Convict Colony]

On 13/07/2023 at 13:36, Saint86 said:

Should be fairly easy to bank the club £100M in sales and wage savings.

Ely, theo, orsic. already gone. Assume average 60k per week for most of our more experienced players =  circa £3M each or £9M saved total. Orsic sale was £3-4M? so thats £12M.

Lavia will be £50M plus wages, lets assume £50k per week so £2.6M. Fine we have to pay city 20% of the sale, but it still passes through the club's books for FFP reasons.

£62M so far.

KWP £15M sale, and £3M wages. = £80M total

Salisu £7M sale (rumoured) and £3M wages = £90M total

Che Adams (£15M sale (rumoured) and £3M wages = £108M total

Onuachu (£10M sale?) and say £2M wages = £120M

And there will be other players leaving - Straight off the bat i reckon you can pick 2 from DCC, Lyanco, Bednarek, Stephens, ABK. Far from certain that we'll keep Macca, Djenpo, Stu. Aribo, Diallo etiher. Easily see us getting up to £150M in sales and player wage savings just from adding some exits from these players... and we'll replace them with a limited number of cheaper and younger players on lower wages / or loan signings - bearing in mind that our squad is incredibly bloated and we have some bright prospects breaking through.

So all this talk of us having to sell JWP, having to sell Tella, or Tino, or Alcaraz, or Sulemana etc that you see in the media... i remain utterly non fussed - we only need to do one big sale (looks to be lavia)... Beyond that, we have plenty of players that we activley want to sell and who will want to get out for the sake of better wages. So any of our better players we can charge a premium for - and likely use the money to strategically improve the squad.

Also as a strategic mid term plan, buying youth prospects is a good move in the champ. The parachute payments reduce per season, but those players will be on lower wages, improve, and can be sold on for a profit if required. Which is far more sustainable that signing high wage/fee players and missing promotion.

Just reminding myself to read this when I'm not so hung over

[Charlie Wayman]

6 hours ago, Chez said:

West Ham renew interest in Alvarez from Ajax according to the athletic. £35-40m quoted. Might have a bearing on JWP.

Could be a smoke screen or more likely an indication that JWP is pretty low on their list of priorities. If the latter then I can't see much of a future for the lad there. Bloody insulting really. Then again it might have been all agent talk from the start.

[Charlie Wayman]

On 14/07/2023 at 09:12, Saint86 said:

(I'm conscious this is now going away from the JWP focus of this thread so perhaps mods should move the last couple of posts)

I'm not so sure we'll see a drop in attendances. Wasn't the recent rumour that season ticket sales have increased? We'll certainly have more matches regardless and i think last year we averaged about 2000 empty seats per game (we had the highest average number of empty seats in the league under one breakdown i saw). I would imagine a successful side in champ will at least match those numbers and possibly achieve a lot of sell outs in the latter half of the season. Caveated by the fact we average 26k in the champ last time around although that was after years of poor football and strife. Sponsorship deals may see a decline agree, but only for ones renewed this year (or if we have a relegation clause in the T&C's. And who knows, SR might be able to expand the number of commercial deals the club have to mitigate this.

Will be interesting to see our books for last season when released - agree i think there needs to be an awareness that SR have put their hands in their own pocket to fund the club as a long term investment, so whilst they'll expect a return/profit ultimately on that money, we don't need to fund that money immediatley - just stick within the FFP limits. Perhaps a bigger concern is what is happens with that loan we took out over covid.

It will be the mid-weekers on a cold and blustery November evening that will sort it out. Especially if we are not setting the division alight I can see only about 15,000 hardy souls bothering to turn out.

[Saint86]

10 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

It will be the mid-weekers on a cold and blustery November evening that will sort it out. Especially if we are not setting the division alight I can see only about 15,000 hardy souls bothering to turn out.

Yeah thats fair for winter, although any different to being a sinking rock in the prem in january/February? 

[Wsaint]

16 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Could be a smoke screen or more likely an indication that JWP is pretty low on their list of priorities. If the latter then I can't see much of a future for the lad there. Bloody insulting really. Then again it might have been all agent talk from the start.

I'll scratch smokescreen off my transfer window bingo card, cheers. 

[OldNick]

On 13/07/2023 at 12:36, Saint86 said:

Should be fairly easy to bank the club £100M in sales and wage savings.

Ely, theo, orsic. already gone. Assume average 60k per week for most of our more experienced players =  circa £3M each or £9M saved total. Orsic sale was £3-4M? so thats £12M.

Lavia will be £50M plus wages, lets assume £50k per week so £2.6M. Fine we have to pay city 20% of the sale, but it still passes through the club's books for FFP reasons.

£62M so far.

KWP £15M sale, and £3M wages. = £80M total

Salisu £7M sale (rumoured) and £3M wages = £90M total

Che Adams (£15M sale (rumoured) and £3M wages = £108M total

Onuachu (£10M sale?) and say £2M wages = £120M

And there will be other players leaving - Straight off the bat i reckon you can pick 2 from DCC, Lyanco, Bednarek, Stephens, ABK. Far from certain that we'll keep Macca, Djenpo, Stu. Aribo, Diallo etiher. Easily see us getting up to £150M in sales and player wage savings just from adding some exits from these players... and we'll replace them with a limited number of cheaper and younger players on lower wages / or loan signings - bearing in mind that our squad is incredibly bloated and we have some bright prospects breaking through.

So all this talk of us having to sell JWP, having to sell Tella, or Tino, or Alcaraz, or Sulemana etc that you see in the media... i remain utterly non fussed - we only need to do one big sale (looks to be lavia)... Beyond that, we have plenty of players that we activley want to sell and who will want to get out for the sake of better wages. So any of our better players we can charge a premium for - and likely use the money to strategically improve the squad.

Also as a strategic mid term plan, buying youth prospects is a good move in the champ. The parachute payments reduce per season, but those players will be on lower wages, improve, and can be sold on for a profit if required. Which is far more sustainable that signing high wage/fee players and missing promotion.

If we only get £7m for Salisu then we have been turned over.

[Saint86]

3 hours ago, OldNick said:

If we only get £7m for Salisu then we have been turned over.

Don't disagree, but that is the rumoured fee. You'd like to think its more likely to be in the £10-15M bracket.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Don't disagree, but that is the rumoured fee. You'd like to think its more likely to be in the £10-15M bracket.

At one point I think he was on the cusp of being a £40m player. I seem to remember a performance against Man City.

[hypochondriac]

I'm not sure if he stays that jwp will be as amazing as people think in the championship. I really would like a bit of a bastard as a captain who won't allow his teammates to fail. Our team seems content with being OK and some of that attitude stems from the captain. 

[coalman]

12 hours ago, Sergei Gotsmanov said:

At one point I think he was on the cusp of being a £40m player. I seem to remember a performance against Man City.

That performance against City was epic. But, if you looked at the whole team's performances against Man City over the last few seasons a lot of our team would be on the cusp of being £40m players. That was a part of the problem - they only raised their game now and then and almost never for the supposedly winnable games.

[Sussex_saint]

so what happened with that pen? I saw that apparently the pitch was in a really bad state, or was it just a complete fail on JWP's part? Unusual for him to do anything like that.

[coalman]

4 minutes ago, Sussex_saint said:

so what happened with that pen? I saw that apparently the pitch was in a really bad state, or was it just a complete fail on JWP's part? Unusual for him to do anything like that.

He slipped as he hit it and scooped it miles in the air. A bit like Beckham did for England once

 

[Whitey Grandad]

48 minutes ago, Sussex_saint said:

so what happened with that pen? I saw that apparently the pitch was in a really bad state, or was it just a complete fail on JWP's part? Unusual for him to do anything like that.

His left foot gave way as he went to strike the ball. It carved out a huge divot.

[The Curse of St Mary's]

 

 

[Guest]

My girlfriend has made a verbal offer for me to hoover when I get home, and I won’t be. 😂

[swannymere]

13 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

My girlfriend has made a verbal offer for me to hoover when I get home, and I won’t be. 😂

We all know your girlfriend, you will be.

[Harry_SFC]

On 15/07/2023 at 21:36, hypochondriac said:

I'm not sure if he stays that jwp will be as amazing as people think in the championship. I really would like a bit of a bastard as a captain who won't allow his teammates to fail. Our team seems content with being OK and some of that attitude stems from the captain. 

I agree with this, not just on the captain front but on the playing side. I would love an 8 who drives the team forward with the ball, I've never seen that from JWP. 

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

I agree with this, not just on the captain front but on the playing side. I would love an 8 who drives the team forward with the ball, I've never seen that from JWP. 

I think he's great at what he does, I just don't really see him as a captain. Surely part of his job last year was to uphold standards and in that respect he failed. 

[Guest]

11 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

I think he's great at what he does, I just don't really see him as a captain. Surely part of his job last year was to uphold standards and in that respect he failed. 

Poster boy.

Not a captain.

[Chez]

West Ham supposedly bid £50m for Palhinha. Fulham want £80m. No idea if any of that is true, but bloody hell.

[HarvSFC]

2 minutes ago, Chez said:

West Ham supposedly bid £50m for Palhinha. Fulham want £80m. No idea if any of that is true, but bloody hell.

Went off injured in Fulham’s pre season match tonight with a shoulder injury.

[waylander]

Fulham don't want to sell him hence the sky high price

Edited 24 July, 2023 by waylander

[skintsaint]

42 minutes ago, Chez said:

West Ham supposedly bid £50m for Palhinha. Fulham want £80m. No idea if any of that is true, but bloody hell.

Touch younger than JWP, who isn't worth much as not got much left in him or something.

[sydney_saint]

Gutting. I don't think I've felt properly sad about a playing leaving since that lallana-ignited summer exodus. But I am sad about this one. I know there is a small minority that were never convinced, but I do think history will show what a vital player JWP has been for us over the years. I feel that our last few seasons in the prem saw a very small handful of players constantly getting our incredibly poor squad out of trouble which were JWP, Romeu, KWP, and also Ings though of course he left earlier. I don't think it is coincidence that those first 3 all lost form, and as soon as they did, we absolutely plummeted. There was very little quality in the squad, and they could no longer be expected to keep bailing us out. They burnt out.

I felt JWP was at his best when Ralph's 4-2-2-2 was operating at its finest in those first couple of seasons. JWP was so instrumental in that press, winning the ball back and pushing us forward. It was when his game transformed and played alot more forward passes, helped that we at least had a bit of quality for once up there with Ings. 

Not a natural captain, but felt he did his best to lead. The fact that none of us could barely suggest an alternative who had clear leadership skills and likely to start. It wasn't JWP that we lost so many leaders, that is the fault of the hierarchy. And besides, you could still the greatest of captains in last seasons side and they are still getting relegated, that's how shit we were. 

Gonna be gutting watching him break the freekick record elsewhere. Especially fucking West Ham. But he is one of the very few players I sincerely hope does well. Usually I just forget about a player and don't really care if they do good/bad (though some is amusing when they fail elsewhere) but JWP has earned the right to give himself one last opportunity to get into an England tournament side, and he can't do it in the Championship

Edited 9 August, 2023 by sydney_saint

[LiberalCommunist]

£30m + Rice tax = £40M

Reject reject reject......they will pay more!

[Lee On Solent Saint]

3 minutes ago, sydney_saint said:

Gutting. I don't think I've felt properly sad about a playing leaving since that lallana-ignited summer exodus. But I am sad about this one. I know there is a small minority that were never convinced, but I do think history will show what a vital player JWP has been for us over the years. I feel that our last few seasons in the prem saw a very small handful of players constantly getting our incredibly poor squad out of trouble which were JWP, Romeu, KWP, and also Ings though of course he left earlier. I don't think it is coincidence that those first 3 all lost form, and as soon as they did, we absolutely plummeted. There was very little quality in the squad, and they could no longer be expected to keep bailing us out. They burnt out.

I felt JWP was at his best when Ralph's 4-2-2-2 was operating at its finest in those first couple of seasons. JWP was so instrumental in that press, winning the ball back and pushing us forward. It was when his game transformed and played alot more forward passes, helped that we at least had a bit of quality for once up there with Ings. 

Not a natural captain, but felt he did his best to lead. The fact that none of us could barely suggest an alternative who had clear leadership skills and likely to start. It wasn't JWP that we lost so many leaders, that is the fault of the hierarchy. And besides, you could still the greatest of captains in last seasons side and they are still getting relegated, that's how shit we were. 

Gonna be gutting watching him break the freekick record elsewhere. Especially fucking West Ham. But he is one of the very few players I sincerely hope does well. Usually I just forget about a player and don't really care if they do good/bad (though some is amusing when they fail elsewhere) but JWP has earned the right to give himself one last opportunity to get into an England tournament side, and he can't do it in the Championship

Agreed. Think we will miss him a lot more than we realise. Probably the only player I was really bothered about losing along with KWP. I thought he would have given us until January to see what the season was panning out like. Fee for me is 10m to light. Should have stuck out for 40m and not bothered about the add ons. 

[LiberalCommunist]

Liverpool will be offering £38M for Lavia later on today, as we decided to buckle. Grr

[Saint Fan CaM]

I’ll admit that in the Prem I was not convinced he had enough about him…didn’t like his version of ‘crab football’. But he is a much better prospect in Martins system and the task to get promoted, so if he leaves I feel certain the overall squad quality will take a marked dip once again and with that our chances of promotion this year will be diminished. There’s not another player in the squad currently to replace what JWP brings and I’m not sure Saints have a replacement lined up of equal or better quality. Sad to see him go.

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

6 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

I’ll admit that in the Prem I was not convinced he had enough about him…didn’t like his version of ‘crab football’. But he is a much better prospect in Martins system and the task to get promoted, so if he leaves I feel certain the overall squad quality will take a marked dip once again and with that our chances of promotion this year will be diminished. There’s not another player in the squad currently to replace what JWP brings and I’m not sure Saints have a replacement lined up of equal or better quality. Sad to see him go.

9 goals and almost having broken Beckham's free kick record at just 28 years of age I would suggest is 'enough about him' for the premier league. We are going to really see how good he was when he is not with us.

[Fan The Flames]

It's sad when a decent footballer, decent chap and decent servant to the club leaves. Good luck to him, I wish him all the best.

[miserableoldgit]

Just out of interest, how do we know that JWP wants to go? It may just be a business decision. I have not seen anywhere that he is unsettled or looking for a move....only from posters on here.

[VectisSaint]

31 minutes ago, Fan The Flames said:

It's sad when a decent footballer, decent chap and decent servant to the club leaves. Good luck to him, I wish him all the best.

It is sad when they leave, but I really feel he is making a huge mistake going to West Ham, it feels to me that they are going to be a shambles this season, he could do so much better even without joining a big 6/7 team. To me the obvious fit was Brighton, I think he may well live to regret going there.

[Whitey Grandad]

6 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

It is sad when they leave, but I really feel he is making a huge mistake going to West Ham, it feels to me that they are going to be a shambles this season, he could do so much better even without joining a big 6/7 team. To me the obvious fit was Brighton, I think he may well live to regret going there.

Or regret going to live there.

I know that part of East London and West Essex very well.

[warsash saint]

I can understand the lure of playing in the Champions League but why would anyone want leave to have the opportunity to play on a Thursday night in Uzbekistan in some tin pot competition??  

[Fan The Flames]

1 minute ago, warsash saint said:

I can understand the lure of playing in the Champions League but why would anyone want leave to have the opportunity to play on a Thursday night in Uzbekistan in some tin pot competition??  

It's not a tin pot competition, I would love Saints to be in it.

[Saint86]

25 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

Just out of interest, how do we know that JWP wants to go? It may just be a business decision. I have not seen anywhere that he is unsettled or looking for a move....only from posters on here.

I have wondered about this. A few things were said in one of Martin's press conferences/interviews that implied some players would be encouraged to move. 

Edited 9 August, 2023 by Saint86

[aintforever]

9 minutes ago, warsash saint said:

I can understand the lure of playing in the Champions League but why would anyone want leave to have the opportunity to play on a Thursday night in Uzbekistan in some tin pot competition??  

More money, playing in a better team and league, plus the chance to beat Beckham's free-kick record?

[team-saint]

Whatever you think of his all around game and leadership, the fact is we are losing one of the best players in the division, who would probably have scored 15 goals this season. Finding someone who can replace those goals is going to be incredibly difficult

[Lee On Solent Saint]

12 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

I have wondered about this. A few things were said in one of Martin's press conferences/interviews that implied some players would be encouraged to move. 

Was hoping the ones that were being encouraged to move were the shit ones

[Holmes_and_Watson]

22 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Was hoping the ones that were being encouraged to move were the shit ones

Martin had mentioned that they have such a large group, that there are two sessions.

Yet, there are players who will have to be replaced if they leave. Shows the reall lack of quality and real depth we may have.

Charles may have been a Lavia replacement. But we still need cover there, and have done since Romeu left. If JWP leaves, then Grimes may cover both.

If KWP leaves, we'll need someone there.

We already need more potency up front, and seemingly have to wait to shift people out for a suitable fee. It wouldn't be horrible to bring someone in anyway. The goal is promotion, so giving Martin the tools for that, as early as possible wouldn't hurt. And give others a push to move on.

So lots to shift, but we could still need some key additions.

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

58 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Or regret going to live there.

I know that part of East London and West Essex very well.

I doubt he'd have to live in the slums and get the tube to work like normal people.

[bpsaint]

Not surprised, we knew it was coming, just a shame it’s to a shit team like West Ham. Guess that’s what happens though when you’re not as good as people make out and nobody else comes in for you. If Hammers fans are expecting him to fill the shoes of Rice they’re going to be disappointed.

I’d laugh my bollocks off if they got relegated this season and we went up.

[Hodgey]

Massive shame as he would have absolutely thrived under Martin. Think he’ll do well at West Ham though - great signing for them at a good price.

We’re going to need a lot more than Smallbone and Charles in midfield - that’s if Smallbone stays. Also everyone knows we have cash so expect massively inflated prices. 

Stephens captain - let’s see if there is a marked improvement for on field captaincy given most on here felt JWP couldn’t do that job.

[st alex]

1 hour ago, Fan The Flames said:

It's not a tin pot competition, I would love Saints to be in it.

Why?

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Or regret going to live there.

I know that part of East London and West Essex very well.

Doubt he will move to the area, don't think that is an issue (it is one of my ancestral homes on my Dad's side, I know it pretty well). I thought also his wife had said they weren't moving. Pretty sure JWP is not pushing for a move but think a better option will come along, especially now he knows he will be playing in front of Maguire, a real step down on Stephens 😉

[Fan The Flames]

20 minutes ago, st alex said:

Why?

So is finishing 6th/7th in the prem and playing to Europe not good enough.

Why would the second tier European competition be beneath Southampton.

Edited 9 August, 2023 by Fan The Flames

[Saint_clark]

What a crap transfer. 

Could have been a true legend, now (in my eyes) he'll never quite be remembered at that level. 

Hope they get relegated next season anyway and we go past them in the opposite direction. 

 

Pisses me off that we'll have to watch him break the free kick record in another teams shirt though. 

[Saint_clark]

2 hours ago, miserableoldgit said:

Just out of interest, how do we know that JWP wants to go? It may just be a business decision. I have not seen anywhere that he is unsettled or looking for a move....only from posters on here.

If we're forcing him out the door for £30million then that's a terrible business decision. 

Think it's a terrible decision anyway. 

[badgerx16]

If JWP had joined any other Prem club I would have taken a passing interest in his performances, but not with that shower.