Nathan Jones ‘sleeping on the sofa in his office seen as meaningless GIMMICK’ by staff, bloated squad ‘had to be SPLIT into two dressing rooms’ and ‘some young stars spent meetings on their phone’: Where it all went wrong for Southampton
- Southampton suffered Premier League relegation after losing 2-0 to Fulham
- The Saints have been through three managers, starting with Ralph Hasenhuttl
- Nathan Jones disappointed in the dugout and his Southampton reign was short
Southampton suffered Premier League relegation after Aleksandar Mitrovic returned from his eight-match ban to help Fulham secure a 2-0 win at St Mary’s.
Goals from Carlos Vinicius and Mitrovic inflicted a club-record 24th defeat of the season on the Saints to leave them eight points from safety with just two games left and a goal difference 20 goals worse than that of their nearest rivals.
The Saints have been through three managers this season, starting with Ralph Hasenhuttl before he was sacked, with Nathan Jones appointed.
Jones disappointed in the dugout and in the press, and his reign was short as he was too let go by the club.
According to The Telegraph, staff at Southampton saw Jones sleeping on the sofa inside his office as a ‘meaningless gimmick’.
Southampton suffered Premier League relegation after losing 2-0 to Fulham at St Mary’s
Staff at Southampton saw Nathan Jones sleeping on the sofa inside his office as a ‘gimmick’
Fans waited behind after the final whistle at St. Mary’s to applaud the players although there were a number of empty seats
The newspaper reported that one member of staff described Southampton’s team at the start of the season as ‘basically Prowsey, Theo and a bunch of children’.
Meanwhile, a bloated squad meant players got changed in separate dressing rooms and younger squad members spent a lot of time on their phones in meetings, The Athletic reported.
The outlet added that the young players did not realise the reality of the relegation-threatened situation, were more laid-back and even turned up late for training and meetings.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Saints fan, was among those in attendance on the south coast as the hosts’ 11-season stay in the top flight ended in tame fashion.
He witnessed a team lacking confidence, ideas and urgency produce another feeble performance of a miserable campaign featuring three managers and just two home league wins.
Captain James Ward-Prowse conceded at full-time that Saints should have performed better across a dismal campaign, an assessment echoed by manager Ruben Selles.
‘It’s a tough day for everybody, the performance on the pitch was not what we expect it to be and we were not good enough today and that’s why we are in this situation,’ said the Spaniard.
‘If we were in our standards, we would not be talking about this situation right now. We need to face it like that.
‘I don’t think there is one point where you can say that is exactly the point where it happened.
‘As a club we need to evaluate and see what the standards that James referred to are and be sure that when the club starts the next season those standards are on point.’
Southampton have been through three managers this season, starting with Ralph Hasenhuttl
James Ward-Prowse conceded that Saints should have performed better across the campaign
The club’s owners Sport Republic described the relegation as ‘hugely disappointing’.
‘We have fought tirelessly as a club throughout the season, but the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and our results were simply not good enough to stay there,’ they said in a statement.
‘While this outcome is distressing for all of us, now is the time to demonstrate unity.
‘Our work begins today to return Southampton Football Club â an inaugural member of the Premier League with a rich history â to where it belongs. Our goal is to return to the Premier League as soon as possible and ensure that we stay there.’
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