Charlton vs Saints - Saturday 12:30pm

[hypochondriac]

27 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

We are going to need to be several levels better than we were against QPR or Wednesday.

We got very, very, very fortunate against QPR. Charlton have a decent home record and seem to be consolidating themselves, they'll be up for it and if we play like we did at QPR we will be trounced. 

I don't want it to happen but the knives will be out for Sports Republic if we lose this something like 3-1. They will probably be forced to give Tonda the next two after this as well and it could get very ugly. 

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, Osvaldorama said:

God, he’s gonna fucking beat us isn’t he 

 

Worst part is, when he celebrates like a twat, I can’t even really knock it. He’s done a great job at Charlton. 
Very good football league manager who got found out in the PL - no real shame there.
But it was a case of poor timing. Especially as in a way he was thrown to the wolves by our clown owners and spineless team. 
At a lower club, if everyone buys into him, he’s clearly a good manager. Funnily enough, exactly the type we could do with now.

 

Still, will be very fucking infuriating. The script is already written. 

No point in hating Nathan Jones, he was with us for such a short period , at the time I blamed Sports Republic for the appointment , Jones was recruited by them and poached from Luton and the failure is all on them (Ankerson) 

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

56 minutes ago, Football Special said:

No point in hating Nathan Jones,

The irony wasn't lost that Mad Nate was at The Hatters...though SR missed the clue. 

Let's not over-estimate the strengths of teams like Charlton. Yes, Jones has got them organised but we've got players who if played in their right positions, can run circles around them.  

[Hawkswood]

11 minutes ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

The irony wasn't lost that Mad Nate was at The Hatters...though SR missed the clue. 

Let's not over-estimate the strengths of teams like Charlton. Yes, Jones has got them organised but we've got players who if played in their right positions, can run circles around them.  

Yeah agreed they're not that good but he's made them difficult to play against - I was at the play off final and happened to notice that. Its ugly but effective lower league football so we'll struggle to score against them - I know, not exactly rocket science considering our problems in front of goal. I think theyll score and we'll huff and puff and not score. 1 - 0 for me but hoping Im wrong.

[Midfield_General]

2 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

He is a good lower league manager. He's also a proper bellend who it is almost impossible to like. 

Absolutely this.

Can’t deny he’s done well since he left us, and genuinely fair play to him for that.

When he was with us though, his football was rubbish and we looked every bit as clueless as we have done recently. But rather than just buckling down and getting on with trying to sort it out, instead he made an utter twat of himself and by extension the club every single time he opened his mouth.

The way he compounded his poor results and performances with making himself and us a laughing stock with the stuff he came out with made it a very easy decision by the club to sack him. I honestly think he may have been given more time by fans and owners to try and sort it out if he’d just talked less. 

You can’t deny he’s entertaining in a pantomime villain type way though, and I’m actually weirdly looking forward to seeing how he behaves this weekend, just because whatever the result, you can guarantee he’ll find a way to demonstrate once again that he’s an absolute, solid gold throbber. 

Edited Tuesday at 16:43 by Midfield_General

[franniesTache]

We are obviously going to lose because it's saints, because we're a mess behind the scenes, because a load of our fans have built it up in their heads, and because Nathan Jones.

I think i'm probably out on a limb here but i actually quite liked Jones' manner when he managed us. He took no shit and a lot of what he said was true, especially the parts where he called out some of our more entitled support who actually deserved to be told a few home truths.

Also yeah his football was shit but it wasn't anymore shit than most of the other managers we've had since, so i'm not sure why the hatred for him is so much higher

[Midfield_General]

1 minute ago, franniesTache said:

We are obviously going to lose because it's saints, because we're a mess behind the scenes, because a load of our fans have built it up in their heads, and because Nathan Jones.

I think i'm probably out on a limb here but i actually quite liked Jones' manner when he managed us. He took no shit and a lot of what he said was true, especially the parts where he called out some of our more entitled support who actually deserved to be told a few home truths.

Also yeah his football was shit but it wasn't anymore shit than most of the other managers we've had since, so i'm not sure why the hatred for him is so much higher

The endless self-aggrandising about what a great manager he was grated a bit when we were playing poor football and getting beaten every week. The training video where he sounded like a supply PE teacher. The endless wanging on about the double hard mining town he came from, as if it was in some way impressive. The sub-Brent turns of phrase. 

As I say, I think the impression most people were left with was less about the football he produced and more about how he came across as someone it was very difficult to like, let alone respect. He was like the knob who corners you in a pub who you can’t wait to get away from. That on top of the fact that most people didn’t want him in the first place meant it was doomed as soon as he didn’t hit the ground running. 

[Oh no Mick Mills]

40 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

We are obviously going to lose because it's saints, because we're a mess behind the scenes, because a load of our fans have built it up in their heads, and because Nathan Jones.

I think i'm probably out on a limb here but i actually quite liked Jones' manner when he managed us. He took no shit and a lot of what he said was true, especially the parts where he called out some of our more entitled support who actually deserved to be told a few home truths.

Also yeah his football was shit but it wasn't anymore shit than most of the other managers we've had since, so i'm not sure why the hatred for him is so much higher

Agreed. 

We would have been terrible with or without him imo.

He might talk some bollocks but I find him entertaining and he has a bit of steel and character about him .

A properly good Championship manager at smaller clubs...fact.

[Football Special]

26 minutes ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Agreed. 

We would have been terrible with or without him imo.

He might talk some bollocks but I find him entertaining and he has a bit of steel and character about him .

A properly good Championship manager at smaller clubs...fact.

He also took us to a cup semi final 

Am I right in thinking he was married into a Saints supporting family? 

[macca155]

I didn't actually have too much of an issue with Jones as a football manager. Clearly wasn't ready for the PL but decent enough in the Championship.

Problem was he came across  as more than a tad unhinged at times. Imagine being in the dressing room when he loses it.

[NewYorkSaint]

It's a wonderful chance to catch up on my favorite song.... 

You packed your bags as I recall
And you walked slowly down the hall
You said you had to get away to ease your mind
And all you needed was a just little of time
Oh winter's passed, spring and fall
You never wrote me, you never called
Nathan Jones you've been gone too long
Gone too long...
 

[HnycS]

5 hours ago, NewYorkSaint said:

It's a wonderful chance to catch up on my favorite song.... 

You packed your bags as I recall
And you walked slowly down the hall
You said you had to get away to ease your mind
And all you needed was a just little of time
Oh winter's passed, spring and fall
You never wrote me, you never called
Nathan Jones you've been gone too long
Gone too long...
 

This is so far off topic, but anyways I have to ask is that song actually about this guy? https://share.google/9JEfZq4n9QPx5CHI0

If any Bananarama members read Saintsweb please confirm or deny. If they confirm they were so far ahead of their time. If not it's a great movie which explains a lot about the shit Ukraine is now in and it's relationship with the USSR.

+ Who knew Wales had a real Spy!

 

[HnycS]

6 minutes ago, HnycS said:

This is so far off topic, but anyways I have to ask is that song actually about this guy? https://share.google/9JEfZq4n9QPx5CHI0

If any Bananarama members read Saintsweb please confirm or deny. If they confirm they were so far ahead of their time. If not it's a great movie which explains a lot about the shit Ukraine is now in and it's relationship with the former USSR.

+ Who knew Wales had a real Spy!

 

 

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

5 minutes ago, HnycS said:

Who knew Wales had a real Spy!

The Rhondda-James Bonda

[Football Special]

15 hours ago, Oh no Mick Mills said:

Agreed. 

We would have been terrible with or without him imo.

He might talk some bollocks but I find him entertaining and he has a bit of steel and character about him .

A properly good Championship manager at smaller clubs...fact.

When you listen back to his interview now I see it slightly differently than I did at the time

 

[capitalsaint]

At the time I thought Jones was miles out of his depth and was happy to see him go.

If we had recruited a decent manager after him then I’d probably still hold that view. However, given that every appointment and decision the club has made, bar our promotion season, has made us worse, I don’t hold him anywhere near as responsible as I did at the time.

What shocking stewardship we have had.

[Rebel]

I think we all knew Nathan Jones was the wrong manager when he said 'them' and 'me' in his first interview instead of 'we' or 'us'.  He didn't really seem to want be want to here of even like the club.

And then he seemed to completely waste the extended  (was it 6 weeks) winter break to impose any structure, tactics or way of playing on the team.

He seemed to relish in alienating the players and the fans.

Sports Republic should have replaced Ralph in the summer or stuck with him in January and backed him in the transfer window. I am pretty confident that if he'd been give the extended winter break he would have turned things around. 

Edited 4 hours ago by Rebel

[Saint Fan CaM]

Everything Jones said in that interview was extremely revealing in terms of how much the squad was so broken and disfunctional.  I think he did TRY to get the players playing in manner that he wanted - high press and fast flowing etc., but they either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Yes, I don’t doubt his ‘victim type’ personality didn’t help in asserting himself around certain influential players and yes, he lacked Premiership level experience, but it was SR who selected him and handed him a poisoned chalice. He was told that they wanted him for his past experience, but the 1st team had other ideas and my guess is those influences are still, at least in part, still holding court with SR.

[RedArmy]

Ah Nathan Jones, another cunt that kept experimenting with 3CB’s to no avail. 
 

Strange how we always manage to find those managers isn’t it? 
 

[Saint Garrett]

Trains are fucked and it's an early kick off, how irritating.

Might have to be a quick one in the ground and then a few beers afterwards somewhere at this rate!

[tdmickey3]

1 hour ago, RedArmy said:

Ah Nathan Jones, another cunt that kept experimenting with 3CB’s to no avail. 
 

Strange how we always manage to find those managers isn’t it? 
 

No, with these clowns its standard

[Draino76]

This need for 3 centre backs bullshit is eliminated if Romeu is on the pitch. 

[saintant]

10 minutes ago, Draino76 said:

This need for 3 centre backs bullshit is eliminated if Romeu is on the pitch. 

He wont be. Bench at a guess.

[Football Special]

3 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Trains are fucked and it's an early kick off, how irritating.

Might have to be a quick one in the ground and then a few beers afterwards somewhere at this rate!

Depending where you are travelling from look at cross country via Reading to Paddington, doesn't take much longer than normal 

[SaintNewForest]

5 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Everything Jones said in that interview was extremely revealing in terms of how much the squad was so broken and disfunctional.  I think he did TRY to get the players playing in manner that he wanted - high press and fast flowing etc., but they either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Yes, I don’t doubt his ‘victim type’ personality didn’t help in asserting himself around certain influential players and yes, he lacked Premiership level experience, but it was SR who selected him and handed him a poisoned chalice. He was told that they wanted him for his past experience, but the 1st team had other ideas and my guess is those influences are still, at least in part, still holding court with SR.

Hm, I'm not so sure on that point; the only players still here from the NJ era are Gavin Bazunu, Joe Aribo, Alex McCarthy & Adam Armstrong. Stephens wasn't here at the time, as he was out on loan at Bournemouth. The rest of our squad have since joined afterwards. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

12 minutes ago, SaintNewForest said:

Hm, I'm not so sure on that point; the only players still here from the NJ era are Gavin Bazunu, Joe Aribo, Alex McCarthy & Adam Armstrong. Stephens wasn't here at the time, as he was out on loan at Bournemouth. The rest of our squad have since joined afterwards. 

Do you really think players don’t use their phones to keep in touch?!? Get real - Stephens could have wielded influence if he so wanted.

[whelk]

Going to this one and nice early start. Always more of a buzz and anticipation after international breaks. 0-2

[SaintNewForest]

43 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Do you really think players don’t use their phones to keep in touch?!? Get real - Stephens could have wielded influence if he so wanted.

You think Stephens had a say in the squad going up against NJ? My god, we're now making stuff up to get in a dig against a player who wasnt even here 🤣 

Christ, get real mate.

[trousers]

15 minutes ago, SaintNewForest said:

You think Stephens had a say in the squad going up against NJ? My god, we're now making stuff up to get in a dig against a player who wasnt even here 🤣 

Christ, get real mate.

Whilst it sounds "unlikely", on the surface, are you saying you can 100% rule it out...?

[AlexLaw76]

Anyone else really excited for yet another 3 at the back masterclass?

Cant wait to see Azaz stuck out wide, with balls pumped up to Arma and being wide open in the middle of the park.

Someone make it make sense.

[coalman]

9 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Anyone else really excited for yet another 3 at the back masterclass?

Cant wait to see Azaz stuck out wide, with balls pumped up to Arma and being wide open in the middle of the park.

Someone make it make sense.

Tonda's had two weeks to work with them now. Gone are the chaotic tactics of QPR and Sheff Wed and instead we'll see the slick, high intensity football that is the hallmark of a Sport Republic club.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

8 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Everything Jones said in that interview was extremely revealing in terms of how much the squad was so broken and disfunctional.  I think he did TRY to get the players playing in manner that he wanted - high press and fast flowing etc., but they either couldn’t or wouldn’t. Yes, I don’t doubt his ‘victim type’ personality didn’t help in asserting himself around certain influential players and yes, he lacked Premiership level experience, but it was SR who selected him and handed him a poisoned chalice. He was told that they wanted him for his past experience, but the 1st team had other ideas and my guess is those influences are still, at least in part, still holding court with SR.

Don't remember NJ's football being fast flowing. It was just chaotic. I was annoyed SR replaced Ralph and to replace him by this clown was a sign of what was to follow.

Actually quite pleased for him that he is doing well at Charlton. Football needs characters/knobs like Jones but I would be laying it thick with our team that they dare lose to his team. And we won't.

 

[saintant]

2 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Anyone else really excited for yet another 3 at the back masterclass?

Cant wait to see Azaz stuck out wide, with balls pumped up to Arma and being wide open in the middle of the park.

Someone make it make sense.

Agree.

[Saint Fan CaM]

4 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

Don't remember NJ's football being fast flowing. It was just chaotic. I was annoyed SR replaced Ralph and to replace him by this clown was a sign of what was to follow.

Actually quite pleased for him that he is doing well at Charlton. Football needs characters/knobs like Jones but I would be laying it thick with our team that they dare lose to his team. And we won't.

 

To be fair that’s not what I said. He wanted high press, fast flowing football, but the players couldn’t or wouldn’t give it to him. In fact is it just coincidence they’ve seemingly gone up against a number of managers and under-performed?

[Saint Fan CaM]

6 hours ago, SaintNewForest said:

You think Stephens had a say in the squad going up against NJ? My god, we're now making stuff up to get in a dig against a player who wasnt even here 🤣 

Christ, get real mate.

So you don’t believe players collectively have the ability to disrupt a dressing room? Or that they don’t keep in touch with other players that they’ve connected with at the various clubs they’re employed at? I think you need to drag yourself into the 21st century and try to be less naive.

Edited 13 hours ago by Saint Fan CaM

[sledger]

i never thought jones was that bad,his problem was he was saddled with a bunch of work shy prima donnas,something thats still been lingering like a bad smell.

[benjii]

9 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Anyone else really excited for yet another 3 at the back masterclass?

Cant wait to see Azaz stuck out wide, with balls pumped up to Arma and being wide open in the middle of the park.

Someone make it make sense.

In fairness, that isn't how we played against Sheff Wed, it was much better than that.

However, they are gash and Charlton are obviously a tougher proposition.

[Andy Hill]

Predictable loss incoming. May score first but then the usual will happen.

[LiberalCommunist]

Woah woah woah, we are still very much in the honeymoon period, where the players are pretending to give a shit. I'm fully expecting a smash and grab 2-1 raid where we are second best for long periods but some how come away with the points.

Its when he's given the job the trouble starts. 

[Lighthouse]

5 hours ago, sledger said:

i never thought jones was that bad, his problem was he was saddled with a bunch of work shy prima donnas, something thats still been lingering like a bad smell.

No, his problem was being hopelessly out of his depth, trying to manage at PL level. The players we had weren’t what I’d call work shy, ABK aside, they were just out of their depth too. Ralph got the most out of them, which is to say that we were in a relegation fight. Jones came in and got us out of the relegation fight but in completely the wrong direction.

[Hussar Saint]

Losing to Nathan Jones having failed to get a new manager in is going to be a whole new low....🤦🏻‍♂️

Edited 5 hours ago by Hussar Saint

[DT]

Comes to something when you wish we had their manager (again) rather than ours. At least he has passion and motivational skills.

Might Oriel be involved in this one, even for 15 minutes? Hope so. Hi leadership will be useful in papering over a few cracks. Hope he squashes Flynn Downes too, the little rat

[Rebel]

I think the players are part of the problem - along with the succession of bad managers we have had.  

I think its pretty obvious managers like Jones and Will Still didn't have the gravitas, track record, experience or playing careers to impress our bunch of useless players. 

There were also rumours that Ralph had 'lost the changing room' before we was sacked and was accused of being arrogant.  I don't think he was helped by not having a proper coaching staff around him.  

But I think there is a problem with our players - a rotten team culture  - which started to go wrong under Ralph after the two 9-0 losses.  And I think its still there - they give up too easily, heads go down at the first set back, they don't give 100% and there is no leadership in the team. 

A succession of bad management appointment's hasn't helped - Jones, Selles, Still particularly.   Martin was probably too matey with them.  Juric too distant and hard.

As for Jones he talked a lot about high pressing and front foot football - but his idea seemed to be the long ball forwards and then try and win the second ball.  Old fashioned lower league football. There weren't any patterns of play - and no idea what to do with the ball other than boot it forward.

A massive drop from Ralph's sophisticated high press.  

Right now we need an experienced manager - someone who has real credibility and a track record to impress the players.  Or someone like Pochettino with gravitas and charisma who can turn the team culture around.

But we also need to give him a coaching team - his own men - around him to support him. And back him in the January transfer window with a physical centre forward and a decent goalkeeper.

[Baird of the land]

23 hours ago, Rebel said:

I think we all knew Nathan Jones was the wrong manager when he said 'them' and 'me' in his first interview instead of 'we' or 'us'.  He didn't really seem to want be want to here of even like the club.

And then he seemed to completely waste the extended  (was it 6 weeks) winter break to impose any structure, tactics or way of playing on the team.

He seemed to relish in alienating the players and the fans.

Sports Republic should have replaced Ralph in the summer or stuck with him in January and backed him in the transfer window. I am pretty confident that if he'd been give the extended winter break he would have turned things around. 

Honestly i think at the start he tried too hard not to alienate the players. Think he would have been better served from moment 1 just being this is how we're playing, get on board or you won't play. 

[saintant]

3 hours ago, Rebel said:

I think the players are part of the problem - along with the succession of bad managers we have had.  

I think its pretty obvious managers like Jones and Will Still didn't have the gravitas, track record, experience or playing careers to impress our bunch of useless players. 

There were also rumours that Ralph had 'lost the changing room' before we was sacked and was accused of being arrogant.  I don't think he was helped by not having a proper coaching staff around him.  

But I think there is a problem with our players - a rotten team culture  - which started to go wrong under Ralph after the two 9-0 losses.  And I think its still there - they give up too easily, heads go down at the first set back, they don't give 100% and there is no leadership in the team. 

A succession of bad management appointment's hasn't helped - Jones, Selles, Still particularly.   Martin was probably too matey with them.  Juric too distant and hard.

As for Jones he talked a lot about high pressing and front foot football - but his idea seemed to be the long ball forwards and then try and win the second ball.  Old fashioned lower league football. There weren't any patterns of play - and no idea what to do with the ball other than boot it forward.

A massive drop from Ralph's sophisticated high press.  

Right now we need an experienced manager - someone who has real credibility and a track record to impress the players.  Or someone like Pochettino with gravitas and charisma who can turn the team culture around.

But we also need to give him a coaching team - his own men - around him to support him. And back him in the January transfer window with a physical centre forward and a decent goalkeeper.

Lots of good points regarding our problems but you overlooked the main fly in the ointment - our owners SR are totally clueless.