Fans Forum 7th Feb - minus Nathan Jones

Sunderland don't have any fit strikers, do they? Having a 15 year old on the bench isn't boldness, it's desperation.

 

Watched the first half of the forum yesterday and the rest today.

What I liked:

• The board actually putting on these forums. I could be wrong but can't imagine many other PL clubs do this? The host said similar.
• The academy is important and they won't be getting rid of it.
• They stayed on after and chatted to fans in small groups.
• For avoidance of doubt, they definitely know what fans think of Jones and our situation, if they didn't already.

What I disliked:

• I would like to have known what the board had said to Jones after his Brentford outburst, and what they're expectations are for how the manager represents the club. No one really asked this.
• Fans expecting the manager to be sacked just because that's what they want. While I want Jones gone, some of the questions were essentially "we want him gone, why's he still here?"
• Fans who took two minutes to ask a question, rather than just getting to the point. Wasted precious time, and some of the questions were just repeats of previous ones, particularly about the club valuing fans.
• Why do they always invite a fan who can't pronounce the players names.

 

“Deallio”!

 

That last paragraph when that man spoke was just cringy.. Having a go at the board and didn't even know any of the players names.

 

Not sure about anyone else but the old boy going on a rant about the squad selection and then moaning about "that Norwegian fella" not being good enough was the highlight of the entire thing. Football in a nutshell!

 

He was a idiot tbh, Talking total bollocks. Why waste a comment only a manager can answer, granted he wasn't there..but at least get the players names correct.

 

That's the beauty of it! Like it or not, he represents so many Saints fans and is exactly why owners/managers can never please everyone. How can you have a reasonable discussion when the bloke doesn't even know the players name let alone whether they merit a starting spot?

I found it hilarious as I can recall very similar conversations with fans in pubs when you just nod to yourself and think "this guy hasn't got a clue". That's football for you.

 

That's a fair point, Majority of fans really are muppets... Its why I hardly ever talk about footie in life outside of forums because folk are more likely delusional.

 

For years we had one of those fans within our group. In the end we had to just stop going to the pub, because spending any more time with him than was necessary was just painful. Thankfully he decided against renewing his ST after the Puel season, so we've happily returned to our pre-match pint again!

(The most annoying thing is that we weren't even friends with him. He was a friend of another person in the group. Who then proceeded to leave and dump him on us!)

 

I listened to about 15 minutes of the forum but had to give up with it in the end as it was so predictable. What I would say was that the board members are due some respect for meeting the fans yet I still have very deep reservations and would be inclined to echo LLT's comments which are spot on.

I think the fans have ben patient and if it was felt that there was frutration amongst certain members of the board with the fans, it must be pretty insignificant with the frustration we supporters have with them! In fact, I think that SR have been cut too much slack and it is no coincidence that the reversal of our fortunes stem from the point they took over 12 months ago. You could go even further and argue that in 2021 Ralph was doing a good job of running Saints and would be asking what did SR do exactly to ensure a year of decline? Let's not forget this issue is not just about Jones but parallels SR's involvement in the running of the club.

The really big disappointing thing for me was the sense amongst the board that they were ultimatel doing the right thing and that they had a plan. A lot has been made of their use of statistical models yet if you are using the incorrect data or not properly understanding the data you have available, this clearly undermines a statistical approach to running a football club. To me, SR seem to have adopted the rather out-dated application of data that stemmed from the influence of the "money ball" phenomena and whatever data sets they are engaging with, it is not working. On top of this, let's not forget that it is not just the fans who have been critical over the last few months as he have journalists, ex-pros, former managers and people with an educated knowledge of the game all making the same, identical comments and evaluations. I am staggered that no one within the club has woken up to the fact that everyone else involved in the game has a view which is 180 degrees different from their own. and maybe questioned the direction the club is going in. Why should those people within SR be correct and everyone else at fault?

The other point that really stuck in my claw was the comment about letting have the chance to manage the team that has been assembled. This would, on the face of it, not be unreasonable. However, I think that the dreadful results and the fact that some of these new signings have already fallen out with him is indicative that Jones cannot be allowed to continue in his role. I see that Tony Pulis has made a statement about Jones requiring help this morning. His name can be added to a list which includes Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton who have questioned Jones' ability. It is clear that this was an appointment that should not have been made and also is incompetent when a number of candidates who had PRemier League experience werte available. However the board managed to come to the conclusion that Jones would have made a good appointment would have been exposed as obviously being incorrect had they bothered to realise the truth as to why he was such a disaster at Stoke. On top of this, the suggestion that there is "Southampton way" has been spat back in the supporter's face. In no way does Nathan Jones project the kind of values alleged to underpin the club.

The fact that football is truly results based should make it obvious that it is negligent to leave Nathan Jones in charge of a club where it is patently obvious he is out of his depth, does not have the requisite management skills and is highly unlikely to get the wins we require. I am resigned to relegation but the whole performance within the club has been so woeful within the last twelve months that I feel Jones is only part of the problem and that it would be better for SR to sell the club to someone who has a better idea of how to rectify these catastrophic problems. To paraphrase a comment a former boss of mine who I respected enormously used to say, Sports Repblic do not know what "good" looks like. I am sorry but I feel they need to go and take Jones with them. They have ruined this club within the space of 12 months.

 

Yeah Arkensens reaction at one point was funny: “I’m sorry, was there a question?”

They must think we’re such rednecks.

 

I thought the forum was ok overall. There is no way they left that without knowing the strength of feeling. Ankerson tried his best to say his ego won’t get in the way. We’ll see. There were some answers that could be interpreted in various ways, and I think there is the chance he goes if he bombs the next game or two. If we drop, we’ll probably be ok, not sure where Ian gets the idea they will leave us in the ****.

On reflection, the whole witch hunt isn’t pleasant (I recognise my part too) and it gives me no real pleasure to see a man clearly out of his comfort zone and all over the place emotionally. I think SR have got it wrong, but if NJ somehow plucks it out the bag last knockings then credit to him.