Nathan Jones

[egg]

Just now, Turkish said:

People from welsh mining villages aren’t fragile!

Ha! This blokes got the thinnest anthracite skin I've ever known of. 

[Lord Duckhunter]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

Ha! This blokes got the thinnest anthracite skin I've ever known of. 

Must have some Scottish blood mixed in. 

[Miltonaggro]

23 minutes ago, Turkish said:

80% win percentage in the cup though. We’ve become a brilliant cup side under him. 

If he gets it to 100% this season he will have completely won me over. In fact I’d gladly take that, administration and a takeover by Matt Hancock 🙂

[Turkish]

8 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

If he gets it to 100% this season he will have completely won me over. In fact I’d gladly take that, administration and a takeover by Matt Hancock 🙂

Sadly that’s going to be impossible now. The best he can do is 90.9%. Still I’d take that. 

[InvictaSaint]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

I don't think you can really throw a comparison together like that when we're looking at totally different samples, less than half the amount of games Ralph had. 

I think people are going to exhaust themselves with this 'Jones' out stuff after every game, yeah he seems a bit of a nutter and he's on a collision course with some of his comments...but he's not going anywhere tomorrow, next week, next month - so there's no real point shouting and screaming after every match.

Any chance this thread can have the OUT dropped off it it? Just seems small fry.

Hi S-Clarke. Yes, I see where you're coming from....but at the same time, I suppose you could ask at what point does it become a similar sample? By definition the samples will never be exactly the same because they are different games played at different times under different managers, in different conditions with different players available. If you are doing it on a purely numerical basis, take the first 5 league games of the season for Ralph and compare with NJ's first 5. On this basis, Ralph still comes out better. That is not to say - to be absolutely clear! - that I believed Ralph didn't need to go; he most certainly did. However, even if you ignore the absence of the new manager 'bounce' that almost every other club seems to benefit from (!), NJ is hardly pulling up trees. Far, far from it. 

I get what you say about he's not going anywhere - at least not imminently - but if he continues as he's started, then it would be grossly negligent for SR not to look at his results and question whether or not they've made the right appointment. St. Louis (I think) referenced a few weeks ago that SR were actively discussing whether they had made a mistake in appointing NJ and while they will never openly admit as much, it must still be on their radar. If NJ gets us relegated on half a season's results, then that will be squarely on him....and by implication SR.

[Fabrice29]

With the greatest of respect this is a 50 page thread solely aimed at ridiculing and destroying one man. It's just a minor part of a narrative that consistently undermines and aims to remove him from his job that includes but is not limited to booing and chanting directly at the man. It was started just after the guys first proper game in charge.

I think I can understand why the man in question is a bit chippy and thinks fans might be against him a little bit. 

[Morse]

As someone once said, 'if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks, it's usually a duck'. 

We have largely championship quality players, and a championship quality manager so no surprise where we'll be playing next season, the championship.

Blame should be aimed solely at Sport Republic and Semmons for this mess. 

 

[Miltonaggro]

14 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Sadly that’s going to be impossible now. The best he can do is 90.9%. Still I’d take that. 

Fuck me Turkish it’s only ‘half time’ in the League Cup, I hope you weren’t one of the daftees who upset Nat! 

[Morse]

7 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

With the greatest of respect this is a 50 page thread solely aimed at ridiculing and destroying one man. It's just a minor part of a narrative that consistently undermines and aims to remove him from his job that includes but is not limited to booing and chanting directly at the man. It was started just after the guys first proper game in charge.

I think I can understand why the man in question is a bit chippy and thinks fans might be against him a little bit. 

With respect, no amount of support or encouragement is going to change anything at SMS, so 'the fans 'might as well let rip on a mong board, after all that's what they are there for.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, egg said:

Correct, he's a football manager. He's not a PR man or a public speaker. I don't think he should have spoken out, but he's not wrong.

It's obvious that he was having a dig at the minitory of dinlos, and I am struggling to understand why anyone who isn't in that minority is getting upset on other people's behalf. If anyone is in that minority and are upset by it, good, and hopefully they'll learn from it. 

Personally, I like that he's chippy. He ain't nice, and we don't play nice anymore. Thank fuck for that frankly.  

He shouldn’t be having a dig at anybody. A dignified response is what is required. That or better still a dignified silence.

[Turkish]

Just now, Miltonaggro said:

Fuck me Turkish it’s only ‘half time’ in the League Cup, I hope you weren’t one of the daftees who upset Nat! 

Okay if we’re only saying it’s half time then it’s still on. 🏆🏆🏆🏆

[LGTL]

1 hour ago, Fabrice29 said:

With the greatest of respect this is a 50 page thread solely aimed at ridiculing and destroying one man. It's just a minor part of a narrative that consistently undermines and aims to remove him from his job that includes but is not limited to booing and chanting directly at the man. It was started just after the guys first proper game in charge.

I think I can understand why the man in question is a bit chippy and thinks fans might be against him a little bit. 

Fans are against him because he keeps losing important football matches. He’s actually an expert at that so far, so his chippy attitude just comes across as excessive small man syndrome. 

[Yorkshire Saint]

Fair play to Mccarthy 

 

[Turkish]

 

[Mr X]

Funny how Jones record in the cup is vastly different from the premier league

Premier league = 1 win in 7 = 14% win rate 

Cups = something over 80% win rate 

[Dark Munster]

6 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

With the greatest of respect this is a 50 page thread solely aimed at ridiculing and destroying one man. It's just a minor part of a narrative that consistently undermines and aims to remove him from his job that includes but is not limited to booing and chanting directly at the man. It was started just after the guys first proper game in charge.

I think I can understand why the man in question is a bit chippy and thinks fans might be against him a little bit. 

1 win and 6 losses in the PL. The shortest PL tenure was Frank de Boer who was sacked after 1 win and 4 losses.

I think we have every right to slate him, and also definitely the jokers who hired him.

And we're not "destroying" him. After he's sacked he'll be laughing (maybe even crying a bit) all the way to the bank.

[West end Saints]

I think there is a decent chance he will win fans over. 

I was fortunate to miss the forest and Brighton games but understand these were grim. 

However, the team is playing more positively, we pass more quickly and more attacking. He reacts better during the game than we had been for last few months. 

Defence looks a little tighter and fights harder. 

Midfield is a lot better. 

Unfortunately still awful upfront. 

I can understand the lack of a glamour name frustrating some (personally not that fussed as so many big names fail and vice versa). 

I get the disappointment with results. 

But the personal abuse, and failure to accept any positives is immature and embarrassing. 

[Saint Garrett]

Just now, West end Saints said:

I think there is a decent chance he will win fans over. 

I was fortunate to miss the forest and Brighton games but understand these were grim. 

However, the team is playing more positively, we pass more quickly and more attacking. He reacts better during the game than we had been for last few months. 

Defence looks a little tighter and fights harder. 

Midfield is a lot better. 

Unfortunately still awful upfront. 

I can understand the lack of a glamour name frustrating some (personally not that fussed as so many big names fail and vice versa). 

I get the disappointment with results. 

But the personal abuse, and failure to accept any positives is immature and embarrassing. 

Do you actually believe this?! The style football is worse, and i don’t know the stats but it feels like we are creating less chances. Football is more sluggish and feels like we don’t really have a plan going forward.

Defence still cannot buy a clean sheet, and Jones has played against Lincoln and Blackpool at home.

Midfield looks better than the last few games under Ralph because Lavia is fit again. That’s pretty much it. 

For me, we’d have got more points in the league games under Ralph than Jones, but obviously you’ll never know.

For me, to justify sacking Ralph we had to find someone to do his job better, and personally, I feel like we have failed with that so far.  Especially when he was basically given a pre season over the WC months. 

[Weston Super Saint]

3 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

I get the disappointment with results. 

But the personal abuse, and failure to accept any positives is immature and embarrassing. 

I'm not convinced you do "get" the disappointment with the results.

The table doesn't lie. 3 points from 18 doesn't really lend itself to positives...

[Ex Lion Tamer]

32 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

I'm not convinced you do "get" the disappointment with the results.

The table doesn't lie. 3 points from 18 doesn't really lend itself to positives...

Does he deserve to be pilloried for the fact that we haven't signed a clinical striker?

[Suhari]

44 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Do you actually believe this?! The style football is worse, and i don’t know the stats but it feels like we are creating less chances. Football is more sluggish and feels like we don’t really have a plan going forward.

Defence still cannot buy a clean sheet, and Jones has played against Lincoln and Blackpool at home.

Midfield looks better than the last few games under Ralph because Lavia is fit again. That’s pretty much it. 

For me, we’d have got more points in the league games under Ralph than Jones, but obviously you’ll never know.

For me, to justify sacking Ralph we had to find someone to do his job better, and personally, I feel like we have failed with that so far.  Especially when he was basically given a pre season over the WC months. 

Good post, this.

[sydenhamssocks]

53 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Do you actually believe this?! The style football is worse, and i don’t know the stats but it feels like we are creating less chances. Football is more sluggish and feels like we don’t really have a plan going forward.

Defence still cannot buy a clean sheet, and Jones has played against Lincoln and Blackpool at home.

Midfield looks better than the last few games under Ralph because Lavia is fit again. That’s pretty much it. 

For me, we’d have got more points in the league games under Ralph than Jones, but obviously you’ll never know.

For me, to justify sacking Ralph we had to find someone to do his job better, and personally, I feel like we have failed with that so far.  Especially when he was basically given a pre season over the WC months. 

Absolutely this ! 

[Saintscummer]

8 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

With the greatest of respect this is a 50 page thread solely aimed at ridiculing and destroying one man. It's just a minor part of a narrative that consistently undermines and aims to remove him from his job that includes but is not limited to booing and chanting directly at the man. It was started just after the guys first proper game in charge.

I think I can understand why the man in question is a bit chippy and thinks fans might be against him a little bit. 

Well said. I admire the bloke for having the backbone to bight back and not fold. He may be the wrong guy for the job but the way we haven’t got behind him has really shocked me. I’m nearly 50 and been a ST holder for 30 years and in my opinion this hasn’t been our finest hour as a set of fans. He is just trying to do a job and the personal staff is pretty rank on our behalf. 
 

when he defends or retaliates people say he is stepping out of line. Wtf do they expect him to do. I would propose that those who don’t want to give him a chance don’t go to games and those that do…… do. I reckon the atmosphere would change and yes, the players would do better. 

[West end Saints]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

Do you actually believe this?! The style football is worse, and i don’t know the stats but it feels like we are creating less chances. Football is more sluggish and feels like we don’t really have a plan going forward.

Defence still cannot buy a clean sheet, and Jones has played against Lincoln and Blackpool at home.

Midfield looks better than the last few games under Ralph because Lavia is fit again. That’s pretty much it. 

For me, we’d have got more points in the league games under Ralph than Jones, but obviously you’ll never know.

For me, to justify sacking Ralph we had to find someone to do his job better, and personally, I feel like we have failed with that so far.  Especially when he was basically given a pre season over the WC months. 

I do. Not saying is good, or was a high bar, but our midfield in latter days of Ralph was totally static and ponderous. No-where do I say it is great now, or anything close but I recognise an improvement. 

Under Ralph JWP was sat between the CBs playing possession football in our half. The use of JWP and change of tactic is obvious, the new lad from Argentina looks like he will play that way too.

I disagree that it is more sluggish, I would say less (remember I didn't see Nottingham game and understand that was awful and totally lacking). 

I agree there clearly hasn't been an improvement in league form, goes without saying. 

I liked Ralph but it had reached the time for a change, he had lost his fight. 

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

I'm not convinced you do "get" the disappointment with the results.

The table doesn't lie. 3 points from 18 doesn't really lend itself to positives...

I am not positive, far from it. We are looking towards relegation. 

However, I don't think that needs to lead to pathetic personal criticisms, failure to recognise the position we were in and any slight improvements. 

 

[polegategavin]

2 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Do you actually believe this?! The style football is worse, and i don’t know the stats but it feels like we are creating less chances. Football is more sluggish and feels like we don’t really have a plan going forward.

Defence still cannot buy a clean sheet, and Jones has played against Lincoln and Blackpool at home.

Midfield looks better than the last few games under Ralph because Lavia is fit again. That’s pretty much it. 

For me, we’d have got more points in the league games under Ralph than Jones, but obviously you’ll never know.

For me, to justify sacking Ralph we had to find someone to do his job better, and personally, I feel like we have failed with that so far.  Especially when he was basically given a pre season over the WC months. 

Except the “pre-season” was 1 match and 5 weeks of training, not the same as a full pre-season. The criticism of Jones is harsh, especially given the time he has actually managed the team. You can’t count the Liverpool game he simply sat and watched it as he had arrived hours before.

I feel everyone is frustrated by the lack of new manager bounce, especially given our position in the league, but these things are never guaranteed.
 

I see some positives, and feel we need to allow Jones another month or so to see if the performances improve, as the team selection becomes settled and the players learn the new style. Seems ironic that people are complaining about the style and then saying they’d rather we had appointed Dyche.

[The Kraken]

1 minute ago, polegategavin said:

Except the “pre-season” was 1 match and 5 weeks of training, not the same as a full pre-season.

Why isn’t it the same? Saints had the opportunity to play as many games as they liked through the World Cup break. They had almost all of their players available. And they chose not to play a clutch of games.  Here’s a link that shows what other clubs did. Hint: lots of them played games.

https://www.premierleague.com/news/2889537

[polegategavin]

2 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Why isn’t it the same? Saints had the opportunity to play as many games as they liked through the World Cup break. They had almost all of their players available. And they chose not to play a clutch of games.  Here’s a link that shows what other clubs did. Hint: lots of them played games.

https://www.premierleague.com/news/2889537

And this was solely (if at all) the fault of Nathan Jones?

[Turkish]

12 minutes ago, polegategavin said:

Except the “pre-season” was 1 match and 5 weeks of training, not the same as a full pre-season. The criticism of Jones is harsh, especially given the time he has actually managed the team. You can’t count the Liverpool game he simply sat and watched it as he had arrived hours before.

I feel everyone is frustrated by the lack of new manager bounce, especially given our position in the league, but these things are never guaranteed.
 

I see some positives, and feel we need to allow Jones another month or so to see if the performances improve, as the team selection becomes settled and the players learn the new style. Seems ironic that people are complaining about the style and then saying they’d rather we had appointed Dyche.

Why is it harsh to criticise him? He’s job is to win football matches. He isn’t winning them. It’s as simple as that.

[The Kraken]

Just now, polegategavin said:

And this was solely (if at all) the fault of Nathan Jones?

At least some of it, yes. Unless you want to tell me that he wanted to play games with his new side but somehow wasn’t allowed? It was his choice to give the players a week off when he took the job. His choice to take them away to Spain for a training camp. So I fail to understand why you say he was handicapped by not having his own ‘pre season’ when he obviously had the opportunity to do just that. 

[verlaine1979]

32 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

I do. Not saying is good, or was a high bar, but our midfield in latter days of Ralph was totally static and ponderous. No-where do I say it is great now, or anything close but I recognise an improvement. 

Under Ralph JWP was sat between the CBs playing possession football in our half. The use of JWP and change of tactic is obvious, the new lad from Argentina looks like he will play that way too.

I disagree that it is more sluggish, I would say less (remember I didn't see Nottingham game and understand that was awful and totally lacking). 

I agree there clearly hasn't been an improvement in league form, goes without saying. 

I liked Ralph but it had reached the time for a change, he had lost his fight. 

I am not positive, far from it. We are looking towards relegation. 

However, I don't think that needs to lead to pathetic personal criticisms, failure to recognise the position we were in and any slight improvements. 

 

The answer is Lavia. It's nothing to do with Jones. When Lavia is in the side, our midfield looks okay. When he isn't. it looks dire. JWP playing further forward worked for a grand total of one game.

[West end Saints]

6 minutes ago, verlaine1979 said:

The answer is Lavia. It's nothing to do with Jones. When Lavia is in the side, our midfield looks okay. When he isn't. it looks dire. JWP playing further forward worked for a grand total of one game.

Which one game? Man City? Everton? 

Accept it, it was a positive from Jones!

Lavia a huge plus, but shape and type of passing improved changed

 

...along with a lot of remaining negatives 

[S-Clarke]

Just now, West end Saints said:

Which one game? Man City? Everton? 

Accept it, it was a positive from Jones!

Lavia a huge plus, but shape and type of passing improved changed

 

...along with a lot of remaining negatives 

The return of Lavia has allowed for the change of shape, which has enabled us to push JWP further forward. I think we all had the same view after the Chelsea home game, he is critical to our season and his spell out coincided with our midfield being the most weak and disjointed it's ever been, but now it has some structure again because of this prodigious 18 year old kid. 

[verlaine1979]

8 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

Which one game? Man City? Everton? 

Accept it, it was a positive from Jones!

Lavia a huge plus, but shape and type of passing improved changed

 

...along with a lot of remaining negatives 

We didn't play any better against City (and particularly not against Everton) than we did against Chelsea before Lavia got injured. 

Jones has added nothing to the passing style of the team. Nothing at all. Our ball retention is generally terrible and our possession stats have nosedived. I'll listen to claims that we're nastier, or more compact, or more aggressive or whatever (even though I think those are mostly junk or irrelevant). But there is literally no argument to be made that we're a better footballing side. We have no idea of how to move the ball, no distinct patterns of play, no discernible combination play on the wings, no movement through the middle. We're garbage to watch.

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, Saintscummer said:

Well said. I admire the bloke for having the backbone to bight back and not fold. He may be the wrong guy for the job but the way we haven’t got behind him has really shocked me. I’m nearly 50 and been a ST holder for 30 years and in my opinion this hasn’t been our finest hour as a set of fans. He is just trying to do a job and the personal staff is pretty rank on our behalf. 
 

when he defends or retaliates people say he is stepping out of line. Wtf do they expect him to do. I would propose that those who don’t want to give him a chance don’t go to games and those that do…… do. I reckon the atmosphere would change and yes, the players would do better. 

I expect him to keep his cool and maintain his dignity.

[pimpin4rizeal]

2 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Do you actually believe this?! The style football is worse, and i don’t know the stats but it feels like we are creating less chances. Football is more sluggish and feels like we don’t really have a plan going forward.

Defence still cannot buy a clean sheet, and Jones has played against Lincoln and Blackpool at home.

Midfield looks better than the last few games under Ralph because Lavia is fit again. That’s pretty much it. 

For me, we’d have got more points in the league games under Ralph than Jones, but obviously you’ll never know.

For me, to justify sacking Ralph we had to find someone to do his job better, and personally, I feel like we have failed with that so far.  Especially when he was basically given a pre season over the WC months. 

Actually midfield looks better because he’s decided to go with a three man midfield which was something Ralph seemed allergic to trying.. also his decision to play jwp in the more attacking role has also been a good one..  he deserves credit for these decisions 

[The Kraken]

17 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Actually midfield looks better because he’s decided to go with a three man midfield which was something Ralph seemed allergic to trying.. also his decision to play jwp in the more attacking role has also been a good one..  he deserves credit for these decisions 

Yep, agree with this. Ralph was hamstrung by Lavia often not being available and losing Romeu, but he was also fairly dogmatic in playing a central 2 throughout his time with us.  Not everything Jones has done has been bad, it’s unfair to say otherwise. Solidifying the central midfield has IMO under Jones been something we have improved on. I’m not yet sure if JWP playing as a 10 is really his best position, I personally think he’s at his best at the number on his back, an 8 within a solid midfield where he can burst forward. 

[austsaint]

1 hour ago, verlaine1979 said:

The answer is Lavia. It's nothing to do with Jones. When Lavia is in the side, our midfield looks okay. When he isn't. it looks dire. JWP playing further forward worked for a grand total of one game.

Yes, any further improvement we see in midfield will be down to the addition of Alcaraz - a very good player in the making.      Agree too that JWP playing further forward isn't the long term answer - it worked once, but he's better working around Lavia and leaving the attacking midfield role to Alcaraz.    Our defence is doing ok because the likes of Bella-Kotchup, Caleta-Car, Salisu, KWP are class players - nothing much to do with Jones, who if anything has tinkered  with the balance by too much reliance on Lyanco and Salisu to fill FB roles at the expense of a specialist LB and the attacking flow we get with KWP at RB.           Ralph had run his race but Jones isn't the right replacement.   If we stay up it will be because there are 7 or 8 very good players at Jones disposal.

[Weston Super Saint]

9 hours ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Does he deserve to be pilloried for the fact that we haven't signed a clinical striker?

Did Ralph?

[Saintscummer]

7 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I expect him to keep his cool and maintain his dignity.

Why ? And like we do ?? 

[Weston Super Saint]

2 minutes ago, Saintscummer said:

Why ? And like we do ?? 

Enormous salary?

[egg]

8 hours ago, Whitey Grandad said:

I expect him to keep his cool and maintain his dignity.

He didn't lose his cool. What he did was tell a small section of our fanbase what they didn't want to hear. Yep, he should have kept quiet, but some of the stuff written about him has been a disgrace, and I can't blame for having a little pop back. That all said, I don't get why some people are getting chippy about him getting chippy about other people. 

[Weston Super Saint]

14 minutes ago, egg said:

He didn't lose his cool. What he did was tell a small section of our fanbase what they didn't want to hear. Yep, he should have kept quiet, but some of the stuff written about him has been a disgrace, and I can't blame for having a little pop back. That all said, I don't get why some people are getting chippy about him getting chippy about other people. 

Because he's Welsh.  If he was Irish it would be fine, probably even encouraged.

[Fan The Flames]

11 minutes ago, egg said:

He didn't lose his cool. What he did was tell a small section of our fanbase what they didn't want to hear. Yep, he should have kept quiet, but some of the stuff written about him has been a disgrace, and I can't blame for having a little pop back. That all said, I don't get why some people are getting chippy about him getting chippy about other people. 

But this isn't about him, this is about SFC. He is paid millions to park his ego and get on with his job of keeping SFC in the Premier League. 

If people claim that the voices of discontent don't help the team then why in earth is NJ bothering with it. 

There is an element of NJ self-promotion instead of just getting on with the job. He was apparently the same at Stoke and not learning from previous mistakes isn't a good sign.

[egg]

2 minutes ago, Fan The Flames said:

But this isn't about him, this is about SFC. He is paid millions to park his ego and get on with his job of keeping SFC in the Premier League. 

If people claim that the voices of discontent don't help the team then why in earth is NJ bothering with it. 

There is an element of NJ self-promotion instead of just getting on with the job. He was apparently the same at Stoke and not learning from previous mistakes isn't a good sign.

That's a massive over analysis imo. I think it's as simple as he's a passionate bloke who calls a shovel a shovel. What I find a bit sad is the shovels whinging about being called out, and other people getting offended on behalf of the shovels.

He's a new man trying to prove himself in the PL. He's had idiots on here saying he looks like a pissed up/coked up bloke looking for a fight, all the Welsh xenophobia, and all sorts. His giving a bit back says something positive about the man imo.

Sure he needs to learn to keep quiet, but there's quite a few on here that need an injection of decency and class. 

[Weston Super Saint]

4 minutes ago, egg said:

That's a massive over analysis imo. I think it's as simple as he's a passionate bloke who calls a shovel a shovel. What I find a bit sad is the shovels whinging about being called out, and other people getting offended on behalf of the shovels.

He's a new man trying to prove himself in the PL. He's had idiots on here saying he looks like a pissed up/coked up bloke looking for a fight, all the Welsh xenophobia, and all sorts. His giving a bit back says something positive about the man imo.

Sure he needs to learn to keep quiet, but there's quite a few on here that need an injection of decency and class. 

I'd be over the moon with his chippiness if he could back it up with results.  So far, it's just been noise. #3from18

[egg]

Just now, Weston Super Saint said:

I'd be over the moon with his chippiness if he could back it up with results.  So far, it's just been noise. #3from18

He's just overseen the smashing of Blackpool 2-1, at home, and you want more!? On a serious note, if we gave the bloke a striker who can finish, a bit of height at LB and/or RB, and a left winger he has faith in, I reckon he'll do well. 

[Fabrice29]

9 hours ago, verlaine1979 said:

The answer is Lavia. It's nothing to do with Jones. When Lavia is in the side, our midfield looks okay. When he isn't. it looks dire. JWP playing further forward worked for a grand total of one game.

Lavia was a big part of the midfield performance Saturday for which Jones has received more flak for. He was at fault for their goal and also at fault for a sending off on Tuesday. I’m all for raving about this kid but let’s not pretend he’s the only thing keeping this team together. 

[egg]

8 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Lavia was a big part of the midfield performance Saturday for which Jones has received more flak for. He was at fault for their goal and also at fault for a sending off on Tuesday. I’m all for raving about this kid but let’s not pretend he’s the only thing keeping this team together. 

That's a bit harsh imo. On the whole he was good an Saturday. Cool as a cornetto on the ball, and mostly used it well. There goal was a mess and although he got beaten far too easily, others were more at fault imo. 

[Fan The Flames]

22 minutes ago, egg said:

That's a massive over analysis imo. I think it's as simple as he's a passionate bloke who calls a shovel a shovel. What I find a bit sad is the shovels whinging about being called out, and other people getting offended on behalf of the shovels.

He's a new man trying to prove himself in the PL. He's had idiots on here saying he looks like a pissed up/coked up bloke looking for a fight, all the Welsh xenophobia, and all sorts. His giving a bit back says something positive about the man imo.

Sure he needs to learn to keep quiet, but there's quite a few on here that need an injection of decency and class. 

It not an over analysis to want a very highly paid manager to concentrate on his job rather than unhelpfully adding to the noise.

There is no one getting offended on behalf of others, that's just in your head.  And there is no equivalence between the manager's and fan's behaviour, the bar is set at completely different heights for both of them and everyone knows that.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Did Ralph?

Well not really. But we needed to roll the dice and see if someone else could bring new ideas and get a tune out of the squad. We shouldn't be surprised that they haven't