James Ward-Prowse

[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.

[melmacian_saint]

Given the investment the club have made in him over the years, making him an academy ambassador and role model, the continuity he's been given in the side from various managers, the protection he had from always having other senior/experienced players around him and in the dressing room, and undisputed captaincy for so many years, I think we were all entitled to expect more from him.

As it stands, it's hard to detach his own track record from the decline the team and club have suffered. 

[Saint NL]

Bellingham looks to be going to Real Madrid, meaning Liverpool will have to look elsewhere for their new midfielder.

JWP to be MOTM in the final game of the season as he hopes to convince the scousers to buy him up 

[Saint Matty 76]

At the full-time whistle, Trippier was spotted chatting in deep conversation with Ward-Prowse, whose future on the south coast is anything but certain right now. The set-piece specialist has been linked with summer moves to Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, and Newcastle.

“I’ll be off them [the set pieces] won’t I, when he comes?” Trippier laughed after the game when asked about Ward-Prowse. “If he comes!”

https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/kieran-trippiers-newcastle-transfer-southampton-8407120

Certainly wouldn't be a surprise and probably a decent move for both parties. Hopefully means we could get around £50m for him.

 

[cloggy saint]

1 hour ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Certainly wouldn't be a surprise and probably a decent move for both parties. Hopefully means we could get around £50m for him.

 

Can't imagine why anyone would pay more than about £30m.

[East Kent Saint]

As with most of our players that move on I feel good if they do well at their new club . Of course if they leave with bad grace then it takes a few seasons to get over it ! It does piss me off when their Saints part of their career seems to be expunged from their record when they do well at their new club , Mane comes to mind on that score .

[The Kraken]

2 hours ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

At the full-time whistle, Trippier was spotted chatting in deep conversation with Ward-Prowse, whose future on the south coast is anything but certain right now. The set-piece specialist has been linked with summer moves to Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, and Newcastle.

“I’ll be off them [the set pieces] won’t I, when he comes?” Trippier laughed after the game when asked about Ward-Prowse. “If he comes!”

https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/kieran-trippiers-newcastle-transfer-southampton-8407120

Certainly wouldn't be a surprise and probably a decent move for both parties. Hopefully means we could get around £50m for him.

 

Yeah those two were having a good old chinwag on the pitch after the game. Someone else on here said deal all but done, no idea on their ITK credentials but I think we know that JWP is off and Newcastle seems like a good fit. Plus I imagine Eddie Howe is a fan of his. So no surprise if that happens. A bidding war would be useful though, I heard on the radio today that James Milner is off to Brighton on a free and is one of their highest wage earners, that’s also a possibility.

[ErwinK1961]

1 hour ago, cloggy saint said:

Can't imagine why anyone would pay more than about £30m.

They paid £45m for Anthony Gordon.

[trousers]

2 hours ago, cloggy saint said:

Can't imagine why anyone would pay more than about £30m.

£30m is too low but £50m may be a tad on the high side. Somewhere in the £40m bracket sounds about right.

[The Wanderer]

Really hope he leaves for anyone else other than Liverpool… 

[Dellman]

4 hours ago, cloggy saint said:

Can't imagine why anyone would pay more than about £30m.

That's what was said about Mane

[SaintTex]

it's probably best for him and the club if he moves on.

in this 9 match stretch where we needed to push for survival he has been MIA

• 1 goal (and that was a penalty kick)
• 0 assists

 3 total points

[Pilchards]

14 hours ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

At the full-time whistle, Trippier was spotted chatting in deep conversation with Ward-Prowse, whose future on the south coast is anything but certain right now. The set-piece specialist has been linked with summer moves to Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, and Newcastle.

“I’ll be off them [the set pieces] won’t I, when he comes?” Trippier laughed after the game when asked about Ward-Prowse. “If he comes!”

https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/kieran-trippiers-newcastle-transfer-southampton-8407120

Certainly wouldn't be a surprise and probably a decent move for both parties. Hopefully means we could get around £50m for him.

 

Bet JWP becomes a regular now for England if he went there.

Thats the bolloxs of Southgate just like when Phillips went to City.

[Chewy]

4 hours ago, SaintTex said:

it's probably best for him and the club if he moves on.

in this 9 match stretch where we needed to push for survival he has been MIA

• 1 goal (and that was a penalty kick)
• 0 assists

 3 total points

9 matches ago? Would that be about the time he arranged his transfer and put his house on the market?

[Dusic]

1 minute ago, Chewy said:

9 matches ago? Would that be about the time he arranged his transfer and put his house on the market?

Ron told me that supposedly JWP was in Newcastle last weekend sorting it. Keep it to yourself though mate.

[Dman]

1 hour ago, Pilchards said:

Bet JWP becomes a regular now for England if he went there.

Thats the bolloxs of Southgate just like when Phillips went to City.

To be fair, if he’s starting regularly and performing for a CL team then he deserves it. 

Phillips, the one who was a key figure (and player of the tournament) in euro 2020 (2021)… a whole year before he joined City?

[Wade Garrett]

5 hours ago, SaintTex said:

it's probably best for him and the club if he moves on.

in this 9 match stretch where we needed to push for survival he has been MIA

• 1 goal (and that was a penalty kick)
• 0 assists

 3 total points

How can he get any assists when Selles barely lets him out of his own half?

[Chewy]

41 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

How can he get any assists when Selles barely lets him out of his own half?

He takes every corner and free kick.

[Fabrice29]

3 hours ago, Pilchards said:

Bet JWP becomes a regular now for England if he went there.

Thats the bolloxs of Southgate just like when Phillips went to City.

Phillips was already a regular for England before he moved to City. 

I'd be a little surprised if JWP suddenly gets in the England team. He'd have to improve his all round game and performances, which is possible in a better team but it would also need Bellingham/Rice to suddenly be injured/massive drop off in form and a sudden decline in Henderson too (Who Southgate has already said is the direct competition for JWP). Possible place in the squad up for grabs though, Gallagher probably his competition. 

[LiberalCommunist]

I've very much enjoyed JWP's time with us. He's going to be up there on our stats list with some really good players for many years to come. But, if (when) he leaves, anything north of £40M the expectation of his new club will destroy him. Our highlight reel from the last six years really paints a rather misleading story when it concerns this lad. Absolutely superb in a couple area's. Fit and ever present, yep another tick. But the every weekend top player necessities that are required will drive the Toon/Villa fans around the bend. 

Lovely lad though, he can marry my daughter anytime. In law gold cup standard. 

[ally_uk]

I wish him all the best if he goes

Deserves a move to bigger club 👏 

Has given us good service over the years 👍 

 

 

[Badger]

14 minutes ago, ally_uk said:

I wish him all the best if he goes

Deserves a move to bigger club 👏 

Has given us good service over the years 👍 

 

 

Providing he doesn’t behave like Lallana in the second week of June and has a public strop about Rasmus/Semmens/Wilcox/ whoever not answering his phone call .., then I agree with you. 
 

Can’t see JWP stooping to such a level. Or ever wearing a hair band. Or advertising Nivea for that matter. 

[Chez]

19 hours ago, The Wanderer said:

Really hope he leaves for anyone else other than Liverpool… 

Not sure I care. If they pay us the most for him, then great.

I'd like to see him go to Palace and solidify his friendship with Zaha. 

I wonder if Bournemouth might be an option.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

Not sure I care. If they pay us the most for him, then great.

I'd like to see him go to Palace and solidify his friendship with Zaha. 

I wonder if Bournemouth might be an option.

If he seriously considers a move to Bournemouth then that would just be a total piss take. Might as well stay with us and see if we are in with a shot of promotion.

[Chez]

17 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

If he seriously considers a move to Bournemouth then that would just be a total piss take. Might as well stay with us and see if we are in with a shot of promotion.

You say that, but if his wages are cut by 50% on relegation, for example, that decision would cost him about £2.5m a year. That's a lot of money to turn your back on, not to mention a signing on fee from the new club, a loyalty bonus paid by Saints and of course a place at the top table of football. If Bournemouth is the only Premiership option, and I am not suggesting it is, and his wages are to be cut (again, I am not suggesting they will be) he will likely take that option.  

Edited 5 May, 2023 by Chez

[The Curse of St Mary's]

Definitely a good time for all parties to part way regardless what league we will be in next season. JWP been a terrific servant to the club. He needs to play with better players around him to elevate his game. He's struggled in #6 role this season without Romeu. The only purple patch he had really was when ironically Jones was manager where he played him further forward. 

It's a shame we attack so little that he won't get the freekick opportunities to equal or break Beckham's record whilst at saints. 

[ally_uk]

I'd like to see him at Newcastle personally 👍 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

You say that, but if his wages are cut by 50% on relegation, for example, that decision would cost him about £2.5m a year. That's a lot of money to turn your back on, not to mention a signing on fee from the new club, a loyalty bonus paid by Saints and of course a place at the top table of football. If Bournemouth is the only Premiership option, and I am not suggesting it is, and his wages are to be cut (again, I am not suggesting they will be) he will likely take that option.  

Could Bournemouth even afford the fee we would be looking at? 

[Chez]

11 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Could Bournemouth even afford the fee we would be looking at? 

I really don't know. They have similar funds to us and we haven't been able to shop in that price range ourselves. Probably not, but then again it depends what his market actually is. Villa offered just £25m for him. Obviously we turned that down, but that figure is worryingly low. I think his stock has risen since then. There's a lot of factors here, how much money we need to crawl back, what his wage would be, how much he wants to leave, who offers what etc. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

I really don't know. They have similar funds to us and we haven't been able to shop in that price range ourselves. Probably not, but then again it depends what his market actually is. Villa offered just £25m for him. Obviously we turned that down, but that figure is worryingly low. I think his stock has risen since then. There's a lot of factors here, how much money we need to crawl back, what his wage would be, how much he wants to leave, who offers what etc. 

I would imagine we would try to keep him just because its JWP, the academy poster boy. We would likely sell the others first and see where we are after that. Unless of course he pushes for a move.