Saint Keef

A proud Welshman, who rose from humble beginnings in a small village, to be an internationally acclaimed superstar, not only in Europe, but worldwide, winning countless awards along the way. To listen to him, his voice resonates pure class and has only matured with age. He is without doubt one of the greatest of all t.......sorry, I thought you said Sir Tom Jones. Nathan Jones you say? Nah, he was just a clusterfuck of a football manager.

I agree Sue, he hasn't been the same since he had Covid. A real pity because prior to that he was probably our best player. Someone I know has what they call "Long Covid" and it's really debilitating. I really hope he gets back to how he was.

Okay - here's a complete curve ball. You've asked for suggestions - so here's mine. It seems to me that every manager in the reckoning - Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Marsch etc has at some stage or another in their managerial career, failed to differing degrees. I have to say, of all of them, I thought Marsch might be the best option, but that looks like it's not going to happen. So why not give it to a complete newbie? Someone who has never managed (It's working for Vincent Kompany at Burnley). Hence someone who has never previously failed. Someone who the players already know and respect. Someone who the players will fight for on the pitch. Someone who knows Southampton through and through and knows the squad better than anyone. Someone who will take no blame if we go down, but who will stay with us in The Championship and turn it into a project to get us back up. Possibly the youngest Premiership manager of all time, but one who the fan base will support because of his dedication to this club. And someone who will work alongside more experienced coaches (Selles etc). Someone who is a young player-manager. Someone who knows to the Premier League. Someone who is comfortable in front of the cameras. Someone who has a clean image and is respected at all levels within the club. Someone who, if he managed to save us would only increase his legendary status. This is Southampton. We do things our way! If you haven't guessed already, I am talking about JWP as player manager, working alongside the coaches. Some will say he is too quiet on the pitch as captain. In the past I would have agreed, but to me, of late he seems to be more vocal. You then appoint a new Captain to support him.....just thoughts. As I said - it's a complete curve-ball but I would rather try that than have "Frankie Lampard's Southampton" (or whoever on the list) mentioned every 5 minutes. I think this is my last post of the day so won't be able to reply. I will just sit back, and duck the comments coming back my way.

And this, Ladies & Gentlemen, is where it all went wrong (JM - American accent) "Hi Babe, this place looks totally awesome, do you have a vacancy?" (Receptionist - English accent) "Yes Sir. You can have nice Mr Jones's room. He checked out suddenly yesterday. A nice gentleman. He was from a Welsh mining village you know" (JM) "Right, I'll take it. How long is my contract for on this room?" (Receptionist) "One night Sir" (JM) "WHAT? One goddamn freakin' cotton-pickin' night. I want it for three and a half goddamn years" (Receptionist) "That's not possible sir. We can only give it to you for one night, and you need to check out by 11am" (JM) "BULLSHIT Ma'am. I am from the U.S. of A I'll have you know. We bought your London Bridge and saved you in the War." (Receptionist) "That's as may be Sir, but one night it is or not at all. And I would ask that you don't speak to me in that tone". (JM) "Well okay. How about I give you a nice pair of nylons. I'm sure we could then arrange for me to have that little ol' room for three and a half years". (Receptionist) "It's not possible I'm afraid" (JM) "Well can you organize a burger and fries sent up to my room". (Receptionist) "Not at this hour Sir, the chef has gone home" (JM) "Wow! This place is a Goddamn piece of shit. I ain't staying. You can shove your cotton-pickin' room up yer ass lady. I'm going back to Leeds City". JM storms out never to be seen again.

I think that's quite a possibility. I think somewhere in Jones' flawed and warped mind, he realised very early on that he was never going to cut it here. He had upset too many people by then (fans, players, pundits etc etc) that he would never win them back and thought a substantial pay-off would be his best option. Some responsibility obviously lays with those who chose him, but to me, the guy was a complete fraud from day one. As regards Marsch. I admit I was underwhelmed when he was first mentioned, but the more I have heard about him from others who know more about him than I, I have a sneaky feeling he might just be the right fit, particularly for our "young" squad. I like his positive "can do" attitude. I was a supporter of Ralph long after many on here said he should go, but the turning point from me was when Ralph lost his positiveness. His interviews and body language on the touchline changed completely - like he was a beaten man. For me, that was time time for him to go. In Marsch, I see someone who still has that positiveness. Yes he has flaws - who hasn't - but from the list of other "realistic" managers available, I happen to think he might be the best. I actually think Leeds played some really nice football under him but concede the results in recent weeks had been poor. The first game is Chelsea, who are in a bit of a mess themselves. We have already beaten them this season and Marsch's Leeds have beaten them too. Then come Leeds and if ever a manager wanted to prove himself against his former club, this has to be it. If.....and it is a big if I know, we were to win those first two games, or even a draw and a win, the world will seem like a better place and the "impossible" may just become possible. So, I'm prepared to get behind him and let's face it, it has to be a massive improvement on "Jones The Bonkers".

It doesn't matter if we have a manager in by then or not. Just having Jones leave the club is the "bounce" we needed. It's like a manager's bounce in reverse. We get the bounce when he leaves.

To Whom It May Concern (at Leeds United). I understand you may have spoken to a Welsh chappy by the name of Nathan Jones, in connection with your current vacancy for manager. I would like to offer this reference for him. Nathan was a breath of fresh air when he came into Southampton. He immediately unified the players (or village if you prefer). Being the fittest man in the world. the best coach in Europe and able to swim faster than a shark, he immediately set about improving Southampton's recent results with his front footed and aggressive style of play. He is open to compromise and manipulation yet takes full responsibility and lives or dies by his results. He immediately unified the supporters. In fact we've never known the fan base to be so unified. Under his stewardship we were soon demolishing teams like the mighty Blackpool and Lincoln. We were (apparently) brilliant against Nottingham Forest. We were extremely unlucky against Wolves who blatantly cheated by only having 10 players on the pitch. The league points he gained at St. Mary's were countless.....literally. Unfortunately after only three months he decided to move on as our players were not up to his high standards. His family, who used to support Southampton, incredibly now support Leeds United. In fact he was so brilliant, after only one week at Southampton, he even managed to get the team into Europe, during the World Cup break. So, look, with all due respect, I feel he would be an ideal appointment at your club and our loss will be your gain. If you are still in any doubt, similar references may be obtained......mainly from Stoke City. In the meantime, you would be well advised to sign as many Croations as possible. In fact we have one you can have, from quite near Croatia, his name is Janic (Janny to his mates) Bednaric.

Let's face it, whoever is appointed, there will be a massive split in opinion on this site. The one thing I will say about the last bloke is, we were, with very few exceptions, all in agreement here. We sang in harmony, like a Welsh choir (sorry!) If only there was a manager out there who we'd all love. Whoever comes in there will be those who don't like it for one reason or another, but I can almost guarantee (though nothing is certain) he'll be better than the last one.....what was his name again?

Isn't it the case with pay-offs that if you you get re-employed elsewhere you lose that pay-off? I don't know, but maybe someone here can explain. If that is the case, why would Potter come straight to us and lose what I would imagine, will be be a very substantial pay-off from Chelsea. I agree with those who think Potter would be an ideal fit here, but for reasons said I just don't see it happening......and does he really need to pressures of a nasty relegation scrap....one that probably won't end well.

NATHAN JONES. I am as angry as everyone else, but will try to put this in civil terms. I have genuine sympathy for your family who are apparently Southampton supporters. You are clearly failing badly as our manager, but don't seem to be able to admit it. It must be tearing your family apart, not only having to watch the football you serve up, but also your disturbing behaviour off the pitch and the fact that you are becoming the laughing stock of just about every football fan in this country. I fear for your own mental health. No one denies that managing a premier league club is a tough gig, with the scrutiny you are under. It is made even worse when one is clearly out of their depth. Please do yourself a favour and please do your family a favour and step away. Take your pay-off, go and sit in the sun and reflect on where it all went wrong.

Anyone else see the nice free kick in the Birmingham v West Brom game last night? Really clever. Happens at about 0.35 in this clip.

I think I'm a reasonably intelligent person. I am generally mild mannered and some would even say I'm an "ageing peace loving hippy". I wouldn't argue with them. So can someone on here please explain to me why, whenever I hear Jones speak, I get the urge to punch him (or anything nearby). Right, gotta go, I'm currently sticking pins in my Voodoo Doll.

"Thou shalt not steal"....Take note Nathan, because as far as I can see you are stealing a fucking living at MY football club. I was here a long time before you and hopefully I'll be here a long time after you've gone. So do us all a favour (and judging from your peculiar behaviour - do yourself a favour) and fuck off now. It's ironic that a man purportedly so religious can wind up and anger so many SAINTS!!!! Think about it and do the decent thing.

Corporal Jones! Don't Panic!

When the inevitable happens..... Someone will of course need to be on "airport watch duty" for incoming flights to Southampton, to be on the look out for the likes of...Poch, Bielsa, Lage etc etc etc And someone will need to be on "Bus Stop watch duties" to make sure Jones is leaving.

No need for him to attend the Fans Forum (not that he was attending anyway), because hopefully he won't be our manager by then.

Maybe......just maybe, he won't be around by then???? A shocking performance/result at Brentford and who knows? In saying that, nothing would give me greater pleasure than a Saints win there.

SR have spent heavily (by Saints standards) in this window which is a big gamble by them, on us staying up. And credit to them for that. Makes it even more baffling how/why they appointed Jones. This is only my thought, but personally I reckon he's got 3 games. If we are still in the bottom 3 with no wins after that, then I reckon he's gone. They will thank him for his hard work and he'll be on his way, no doubt blaming the players and the fans as he goes. For me, it's not just his selections and tactics, but the self-righteous, holier than thou, arrogant vibe that I get from him whenever he's interviewed, made worse by the fact that he's actually achieved bugger all. Who they would replace him with at this stage though, I have no idea, but my guess is, they are already looking.....they surely need to protect that investment.

So Everton didn't bring in a single player in the window. Yet they sold Gordon for £45m. No doubt Sean Dyche will have been briefed as to what he should say when asked about the lack of transfers in, but I really wonder if he was told that nobody would be coming in when he took the job. Time will tell of course, but as windows go, I feel it was one of the better ones for SAINTS. Not so long ago we would have had to sell JWP (or half a dozen of the others) just to bring in those two players today.

McCoys bacon crisps are the worst for repeating on me. McCoys bacon crisps are the worst for repeating on me. McCoys bacon crisps are the worst for repeating on me.

I want his name on my replica shirt.

It looks as though the new signings will certainly line-up next to each other........along the bench.

If you take out Saturdays, Friday nights, Sundays, and midweek games, we don't concede any goals.

I'm no expert here, but one thing I will say in SR's favour is, it is not so long ago that we were having to wait to sell a player before we could buy anyone. Now we seem to have some money to buy players - not in the Saudi type proportions, but enough to get us out of trouble if we get the right players in. Under Gao's regime, I feel we would have been doomed by now and having to sell JWP, KWP, Lavia or whoever to get new blood in.

Depending on other results, 3 points could well move us out of the bottom three. Incentive enough one would think......hope. West Ham v Everton. Man City v Wolves. Leeds v Brentford. Bournemouth v Forest. Leicester v Brighton. Palace v Newcastle. Some difficult ties there for our nearest rivals.