James Ward-Prowse

[Hodgey]

I don’t buy the illness line either - I mean he doesn’t risk a clearly fit striker. Also that note incident didn’t even go to him.

As for those looking fwd to him leaving - be careful what you wish for - he performs a very decisive roll which is under appreciated, which you’ll see next year.

[Pamplemousse]

There are 19 other teams without him who are better than us. We'll cope fine without him. Actually, it might be better, same with Tottenham who are overly reliant on Kane. We should never be so reliant on one person to dig us out of a hole.

[SotonianWill]

3 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

Also that note inciden

what’s the note incident?

[OldNick]

2 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

I don’t buy the illness line either - I mean he doesn’t risk a clearly fit striker. Also that note incident didn’t even go to him.

As for those looking fwd to him leaving - be careful what you wish for - he performs a very decisive roll which is under appreciated, which you’ll see next year.

Finding someone who runs a lot and sideways and backwards will be hard to replace. He is a good player and his free kicks are superb, it may not be his falut that he is playing a deep position. Only at our clu do we find a perfect spot in the team for him, he scores and creates havoc for us to win, and then we put him back deep. 

[DT]

He's such a powder-puff, chicken, lily-livered, sideways crab of a player, but one who can hit a dead ball very well. I think choosing him as captain has filtered all those attributes throughout the side, so we have no back-bone, and very little progressive, attacking threat. Personally think he'll go to Spurs to be with his fwend Fraser and come off the bench occasionally to take free kicks. We will need someone with a bit more gravitas and heft as a captain as we try and get better than mid-table in the Championship, and not someone whose best performances are when someone like Romeu can make up for JWP's inadequacies. I hate the way he has given up over the last months, and offered little or no rallying cry to pep up the losers around him. Hope we get good cash for him and someone buys his hype.

[Dman]

Hopefully someone asked the thick cunt why he kept taking a short corner. 

[lambtiss]

13 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

I don’t buy the illness line either - I mean he doesn’t risk a clearly fit striker. Also that note incident didn’t even go to him.

As for those looking fwd to him leaving - be careful what you wish for - he performs a very decisive roll which is under appreciated, which you’ll see next year.

Possibly. This was certainly the case with Matthew Oakley back in the day.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

16 minutes ago, DT said:

He's such a powder-puff, chicken, lily-livered, sideways crab of a player, but one who can hit a dead ball very well. I think choosing him as captain has filtered all those attributes throughout the side, so we have no back-bone, and very little progressive, attacking threat. Personally think he'll go to Spurs to be with his fwend Fraser and come off the bench occasionally to take free kicks. We will need someone with a bit more gravitas and heft as a captain as we try and get better than mid-table in the Championship, and not someone whose best performances are when someone like Romeu can make up for JWP's inadequacies. I hate the way he has given up over the last months, and offered little or no rallying cry to pep up the losers around him. Hope we get good cash for him and someone buys his hype.

He isn't going to a top six side. No chance. 

[Victor]

28 minutes ago, SotonianWill said:

he got called a pedo by bournemouth fans and couldn’t take it had to get out. 

A positive, if illiterate, suggestion.

[Victor]

10 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

Doubt we'll actually score or our thick cunt players figure out that if they attack the other team they can tempt a foul in JWP territory and let him have a pop.

You have called them 'useless thick cunts' all season.  OK, we get it. Most of us are of a similar opinion but you became tiresome a while back.

Until you you can express a more intelligent and reasoned opinion please keep your foul mouth shut.

[SotonianWill]

37 minutes ago, Dman said:

Hopefully someone asked the thick cunt why he kept taking a short corner. 

excellent tactic. they always concede from corners so we take it short.

[SotonianWill]

31 minutes ago, Victor said:

if illiterate

I am running on no sleep sadly. Should’ve stayed at home last night. 

[Sergei Gotsmanov]

1 hour ago, DT said:

He's such a powder-puff, chicken, lily-livered, sideways crab of a player, but one who can hit a dead ball very well. I think choosing him as captain has filtered all those attributes throughout the side, so we have no back-bone, and very little progressive, attacking threat. Personally think he'll go to Spurs to be with his fwend Fraser and come off the bench occasionally to take free kicks. We will need someone with a bit more gravitas and heft as a captain as we try and get better than mid-table in the Championship, and not someone whose best performances are when someone like Romeu can make up for JWP's inadequacies. I hate the way he has given up over the last months, and offered little or no rallying cry to pep up the losers around him. Hope we get good cash for him and someone buys his hype.

It is players like JWP that make me want to support the club and fans like you that make me want to stop following the club. 

[FarehamSaintJames]

If JWP left he’ll either bench warm a top six side or play regularly for a Villa or West Ham type side.

The Athletic isn’t a realisable source as such, more a rehash of a story that states the bleedin’ obvious. 

Last nights defeat isn’t on him.

Kind of feel for the shit he’s had to play with and endure for sometime.

I don’t see him as a captain, more a poster boy.

I’m not going to buy into the rumour that JWP and RS had a halftime bust up either. 🤣

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

Hopefully someone asked the thick cunt why he kept taking a short corner. 

Because he was instructed to to so? Maybe that was part of the story.

[OttawaSaint]

1 hour ago, Victor said:

You have called them 'useless thick cunts' all season.  OK, we get it. Most of us are of a similar opinion but you became tiresome a while back.

Until you you can express a more intelligent and reasoned opinion please keep your foul mouth shut.

And yet here you are now boring me. 

Get stuffed!

[S-Clarke]

No denying that he's part of our decline over the last few years, but he's one of our better options - although certain aspects of his make up do highlight our problems in my opinion (the crab like football, the lack of leadership on the pitch, not brave enough on the ball).

[Osvaldorama]

People on here are idiots. 
 

Of all the issues with the club, of which there are hundreds, you pick on the one player that actually cares and makes a huge difference? 
 

Mental. He has carried this club for years. Some of you should be ashamed. 
 

Even Pirlo in his prime would look awful if he had to play with Ely, Adam Armstrong etc. 

[Nemi]

54 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

People on here are idiots. 
 

Of all the issues with the club, of which there are hundreds, you pick on the one player that actually cares and makes a huge difference? 
 

Mental. He has carried this club for years. Some of you should be ashamed. 
 

Even Pirlo in his prime would look awful if he had to play with Ely, Adam Armstrong etc. 

Sorry, when people praise him they always use general terms like he makes a difference but can never say how?

He gets picked out because he has all the attributes of an excellent player, yet he he constantly plays within a comfort zone that hurts us. And his overly safe football sets the tone and is a big problem for a team who just knock it about sideways for the last 10 mins while chasing a goal.

 No one is saying he’s a completely useless football, he’s ok. But he’s nowhere near this game changer people make him out to be and his style of play is turgid, slow and boring. Yes, he great at free-kicks, he’ll (very occasionally) grab a goal in open play, but he slows down our general play and that cancels out what he brings us in set-pieces.

Even Bournemouth has a midfield that moves the ball forward quickly, we need someone in midfield who can do that and Ward-Prowse just can’t. Maybe play him in a different role but we’ll need a better DM next year when Lavia leaves. 

[East Kent Saint]

We don’t know if he is just following orders , if he did want to move the ball forward quickly there is often no one available . The front players have long since given up making runs or even being in the final third . I think most players would give up , see Man U before Ten Hag and even after he started.

[Victor]

22 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

And yet here you are now boring me. 

Get stuffed!

Almost the intelligent and reasoned response, although a little more 'school-boyish' than the foul-mouthed one, that I was expecting.

[Sussex_saint]

I'm quite surprised at the negativity JWP gets on this forum - he was great against Arsenal, and has scored some big goals this year. Although I doubt we will keep him, I think it's fair to say he has enjoyed a fantastic career at this club and I for one will wish him well whatever he ends up next year. 

[Convict Colony]

2 hours ago, Sussex_saint said:

I'm quite surprised at the negativity JWP gets on this forum - he was great against Arsenal, and has scored some big goals this year. Although I doubt we will keep him, I think it's fair to say he has enjoyed a fantastic career at this club and I for one will wish him well whatever he ends up next year. 

My take is this.

We give and have given JWP stick here cos he is our main hope of winning games and when we don't we all complain our centre mid captain hasn't won it for us cos he's had a normal game.

Form goes up and down for the best players but if you look at our forwards and our non attacking forwards they are permanently shit so JWP is the Messiah which is unfair, but hey fuck it I bet he's the most pissed off of all of us with this shit.

He's had a couple of feel good seasons when our team was good but since then we've been average to crap and he's been pulling us out of the shit every season while most of the team around him under performs.

[derry]

JWP would be a better, more effective midfielder if he was told to cut out the routine sideway and backwards with the centrebacks and play the ball out to wingers or even forward. He annoys me intensely when he plays passes either behind or straight to a player rather than in front of them to run onto. He would be more effective if he just took the direct free kick opportunities and passed over most corners and non direct free kicks to other players instead of just inswingers from the left and outswingers from the right.

JWP suffers from players like Elyounoussi and Adam Armstrong offering nothing. Adams is poor positionally and moves around but rarely makes diagonal runs. Using wingers would help us to be better attackers and easier for JWP to play more positively resulting in feeding wingers who in turn can play in whoever we play as strikers with crosses from wide into the penalty area. The lad is talented but is not an obvious leader. Captains should be seen to be leaders not the old cliche, leads by example.

[Osvaldorama]

On 28/04/2023 at 14:29, Nemi said:

Sorry, when people praise him they always use general terms like he makes a difference but can never say how?

He gets picked out because he has all the attributes of an excellent player, yet he he constantly plays within a comfort zone that hurts us. And his overly safe football sets the tone and is a big problem for a team who just knock it about sideways for the last 10 mins while chasing a goal.

 No one is saying he’s a completely useless football, he’s ok. But he’s nowhere near this game changer people make him out to be and his style of play is turgid, slow and boring. Yes, he great at free-kicks, he’ll (very occasionally) grab a goal in open play, but he slows down our general play and that cancels out what he brings us in set-pieces.

Even Bournemouth has a midfield that moves the ball forward quickly, we need someone in midfield who can do that and Ward-Prowse just can’t. Maybe play him in a different role but we’ll need a better DM next year when Lavia leaves. 

Mate he’s been played as a defensive midfielder, being asked to do a very simple job of breaking up play and recycling the ball which he does very well. 
 

Despite the fact he plays so far back he is still number 2 for goals, number 1 for assists, chances created, distance covered, tackles etc etc

He is surrounded by absolute dross. People don’t understand football if they are singling him out.

Every time he passes the ball to anyone except Lavia they give it away and it comes straight back at him. He deserves to play in a much better side than us, and I wish him well. I am really interested to see where he ends up and how he gets on. 

[gordonToo]

Too robotic and slow at this level to be truly effective. Southgate picked up on this early on which is why he's only been a fringe player for the national team.

[washsaint]

Good god, how did we ever get to this?  Those slating JWP are insane: this guy has been a primary reason we have not been relegated until this season.  He has to carry the whole team.

Lets see what you haters think when he is gone next season, looking good for his new team surrounded by better players and we have not replaced him effectively.

Unbelievable.

 

[The Cat]

4 hours ago, Sussex_saint said:

I'm quite surprised at the negativity JWP gets on this forum - he was great against Arsenal, and has scored some big goals this year. Although I doubt we will keep him, I think it's fair to say he has enjoyed a fantastic career at this club and I for one will wish him well whatever he ends up next year. 

You have to consider that a reasonable number of the population are thick as shit. Some of them like football, and some of them support Saints.

He's a decent player who has consistently performed well each season throughout his career at Saints and been a mainstay of the team since we returned to the Premier League. Unfortunately he has inevitably been dragged down by the clusterfuck of incompetence around him this season.

It will be a bit weird next season watching us play without him. 

[Wade Garrett]

JWP under a more forward thinking manager would be a massive improvement than the role he currently plays.

Watch him be more of an influence with his new club next season 

[AlexLaw76]

59 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

JWP under a more forward thinking manager would be a massive improvement than the role he currently plays.

Watch him be more of an influence with his new club next season 

Some would say, a front footed manager, with stats that put him top in Europe?

[madge]

He’s off to Newcastle and deal all but completed . 

[teamsaint]

4 hours ago, gordonToo said:

Too robotic and slow at this level to be truly effective. Southgate picked up on this early on which is why he's only been a fringe player for the national team.

His natural game is attacking. That is where his best attributes lie. On the right of a 3 in a 4-2-3-1  in a decent side he would be superb.

We are really going to miss seeing players of his quality next season, not to mention his commitment.
 

 

[Streaky]

If jwp was so good a top 6 side would have taken a chance on him long ago. The fact he's the first name on the team sheet shows how far we've fallen.

He's a bang average premier league player playing in a championship level team.

[Weston Super Saint]

31 minutes ago, madge said:

He’s off to Newcastle and deal all but completed . 

They're all off to Newcastle aren't they? If not, they could be late....

[Master Bates]

Not playing tomorrow????

[saint michael]

You can’t fault the guy for effort and clearly his love for the club. I’m sure he is hating being part of taking us down. 
 

I think he has clear limitations which we know about. Hasn’t got exceptional technique (apart from free kicks) or speed to get away from situations so ends up passing sideways and backwards. I watched him play for England and it was same there. I was willing him to play it forward and be different in a better side. I think he truly is one of our own and shouldn’t carry this shit season on his own. 

[Noodles34]

Rumours of a half time bust up with Sallee. 

[Turkish]

21 minutes ago, Noodles34 said:

Rumours of a half time bust up with Sallee. 

it does seem a bit odd that he was well enough to start but had to be taken off ill. Id be concerned if the leading players aren’t falling out with the manager at the moment. 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

1 hour ago, saint michael said:

You can’t fault the guy for effort and clearly his love for the club. I’m sure he is hating being part of taking us down. 
 

I think he has clear limitations which we know about. Hasn’t got exceptional technique (apart from free kicks) or speed to get away from situations so ends up passing sideways and backwards. I watched him play for England and it was same there. I was willing him to play it forward and be different in a better side. I think he truly is one of our own and shouldn’t carry this shit season on his own. 

Agree with this. MLT carried us season after season, JWP hasn't. Yes, he tries hard and is a set piece specialist but he is limited and not forward thinking. Seven/Eight years ago, he came up and pre-match gave my son his training vest and you remember stuff like that but he's not a natural captain and if he leaves, I'll wish him good luck but won't feel that's a massive dent in our prospects. 

[Hodgey]

Some baffling comments here. Why is top 6 the barometer ? That would make sense if our ambitions are to be a top 6 club - they’re not. 
he’s a proven Prem league player who will go to a top 10 team, he’ll go to a top 10 team as he is a top 10 player. Being a top 10 player in the Prem makes you a top 30 player in your position in the world.

But for some mad reason, a large proportion of saints fans see him as not good enough and can’t wait to get rid.

[Streaky]

On 28/04/2023 at 13:23, Osvaldorama said:

People on here are idiots. 
 

Of all the issues with the club, of which there are hundreds, you pick on the one player that actually cares and makes a huge difference? 
 

Mental. He has carried this club for years. Some of you should be ashamed. 
 

Even Pirlo in his prime would look awful if he had to play with Ely, Adam Armstrong etc. 

What huge difference has he made this season. Gone missing in countless games. Hogs all set pieces, his corners are terrible and can't seem to play a forward pass if his life depends on it. 

He's not been the worst player this season but I won't be bothered by any player that gets sold this summer. They've let us all down. 

Forest and Bournemouth at home were disgraceful performances.

[Mosin]

10 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Agree with this. MLT carried us season after season, JWP hasn't. Yes, he tries hard and is a set piece specialist but he is limited and not forward thinking. Seven/Eight years ago, he came up and pre-match gave my son his training vest and you remember stuff like that but he's not a natural captain and if he leaves, I'll wish him good luck but won't feel that's a massive dent in our prospects. 

Bit harsh, he single handedly won us the game at everton, got us 2 wins againts chelsea, earned us a draw at spurs, thats 10 of our 24 point tally currently.

That doesnt include his last ditch tackles and blocks that has saved us a good handfull of goals and kept us in games we other wise would have lost without those actions.

[Sussex_saint]

One thing I did like about the Jones fiasco was that we seemed to draw more fouls in the attacking 3rd - I vividly remember Edozie winning numerous fouls right on the edge of the box, and a number of these ended with JWP netting a free kick. The free kick goals he has scored this year have been important, and with Selles pretending Edozie doesn't exist I'm surprised he hasn't given Sulemana instructions to win fouls in free kick range - surely with the best set piece taker in the league that may give us a few easy goals, especially considering we seem allergic to scoring from open play (unless Alcaraz is on the pitch)!

[Pamplemousse]

14 hours ago, Streaky said:

If jwp was so good a top 6 side would have taken a chance on him long ago. The fact he's the first name on the team sheet shows how far we've fallen.

He's a bang average premier league player playing in a championship level team.

Utter rubbish. I think the fact we're so reliant on someone head and shoulders above the rest is part of the problem.

[Pamplemousse]

31 minutes ago, Sussex_saint said:

One thing I did like about the Jones fiasco was that we seemed to draw more fouls in the attacking 3rd - I vividly remember Edozie winning numerous fouls right on the edge of the box, and a number of these ended with JWP netting a free kick. The free kick goals he has scored this year have been important, and with Selles pretending Edozie doesn't exist I'm surprised he hasn't given Sulemana instructions to win fouls in free kick range - surely with the best set piece taker in the league that may give us a few easy goals, especially considering we seem allergic to scoring from open play (unless Alcaraz is on the pitch)!

Exactly this. One thing we were so good at under Ralph were the wide players cutting inside, running towards the penalty area and winning a foul that way. Under Selles we just try and pass it around the box until we give it away

[Nemi]

19 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

Mate he’s been played as a defensive midfielder, being asked to do a very simple job of breaking up play and recycling the ball which he does very well. 
 

Despite the fact he plays so far back he is still number 2 for goals, number 1 for assists, chances created, distance covered, tackles etc etc

He is surrounded by absolute dross. People don’t understand football if they are singling him out.

Every time he passes the ball to anyone except Lavia they give it away and it comes straight back at him. He deserves to play in a much better side than us, and I wish him well. I am really interested to see where he ends up and how he gets on. 

Yet that doesn't address any of the concerns people have with him.

You try and belittle people people's football knowledge yet you can't acknowledge his deficiencies in the other half of the game: he doesn't position himself properly as a CM, he can't control the pace of a game and he plays it too safe. In the last two seasons or so - and even longer really - can anyone honestly say, even when we've won a game, we've controlled it from start-to-finish? No. And the midfield need to take responsibility for that. Fine, he's fantastic technically as people keep pointing out and that does help us, but what people seem to not be able to see is he just doesn't have the intelligence, on the ball especially, that's needed in the Premier League.

Even Bournemouth, after five minutes on Thursday, had sliced through our midfield with one-touch play at least two times: when is the last time Saint's have ever done that? Even against lower-league opposition it's the slow, sideways, risk-free play we've been getting for too long now. Yes that is also thanks to other players, but when he constantly stands in a line with the defenders when receiving the ball, of course we're going to play it sideways - because that's where he is stood! Sometimes he needs to make himself available in tighter positions, but he always goes looking for it in safe areas. When he does get the ball how often does he break the lines - not often. And he almost always plays at the same speed - our play is so predictable and one-paced and it's the midfield's job to be dictating that tempo! Midfielders need to know the times to play it quickly, the times it needs slowing down, but that isn't something Ward-Prowse is capable of - it's always the same pace, it's always the same amount of (low) risk.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing that he isn't surrounded by dross - sure that doesn't help. But I also don't think he helps the other players either. Football's a team game and when the team is playing shit, everyone has to take responsibility equally - you can't just lay the blame on the other 10 players shoulder and let him get away with it. No one is singling him out, but as the mainstay in a team who have been playing consistently terrible football for the last three years or so, he also needs to take a level of responsibility. Especially if he's the captain of this team - it's literally his role to take on the extra responsibility!

There's a reason why only Aston Villa were only interested in him and that's because despite managers acknowledging he has a world-class attribute, they also know he's lacking in other areas. Maybe he'll get picked-up if he's available for a fair price, but I don't see anywhere when he isn't a squad-rotation player. I think he gets away with it from fans because yes: every now and then he'll get a goal or score a free-kick - I accept he is very good in these one per cent of the game moments - the ones which are on the highlight reels. But we, as a team, him included, are appalling the other 99 per cent of the game. Personally, and this is I'm sure where opinion will differ, I would trade his one per cent moments of excellence for someone who is better in the other 99 per cent of the game. He's basically the opposite of Steven Davis but I know who I would rather have.

People really aren't asking for much, they just want a captain who can get a grip of a game - it's really not too much to ask for a game we control once in a while, not once every few years. Again he's the captain! He's the one other players need to look up to, and when they see someone who is so risk-adverse, someone who panics under pressure, it's no surprise they also do the same. Ironically our best performance this year - and his - at Everton, he was played further up where he wasn't as involved in the build-up.

Edited 30 April, 2023 by Nemi

[S-Clarke]

33 minutes ago, Sussex_saint said:

One thing I did like about the Jones fiasco was that we seemed to draw more fouls in the attacking 3rd - I vividly remember Edozie winning numerous fouls right on the edge of the box, and a number of these ended with JWP netting a free kick. The free kick goals he has scored this year have been important, and with Selles pretending Edozie doesn't exist I'm surprised he hasn't given Sulemana instructions to win fouls in free kick range - surely with the best set piece taker in the league that may give us a few easy goals, especially considering we seem allergic to scoring from open play (unless Alcaraz is on the pitch)!

The other element was promoting JWP further advanced, which I do think suits him. He gets a little over run as a two, have always thought that. (Lavia covers a lot of ground for him, as did Romeu).

The problem we had is that we had no competent midfield options to make that work, so we had Lavia going alone with Diallo being Diallo.

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

The other element was promoting JWP further advanced, which I do think suits him. He gets a little over run as a two, have always thought that. (Lavia covers a lot of ground for him, as did Romeu).

The problem we had is that we had no competent midfield options to make that work, so we had Lavia going alone with Diallo being Diallo.

I agree. 
 

He was far better playing further forward. He’s too one paced and negative  to play in a 2, but the alternative options are even worse. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

Typically Prowse performance today. If he’s skipper material then my cocks a carrot 🥕. The fact he’s captain sums the club up…

[Harry_SFC]

He was really poor today.