It had the potential to be explosive, but in the end the Saints fans forum was calm and collected, but a little repetitive as supporters were mostly concerned about getting their point across about Nathan Jones.

What would usually be a fairly quiet fans forum at this time of year suddenly took on more meaning after a run of games and Nathan Jones car crash interview after the Brentford game.

Southampton FC were obviously concerned and announced that due to logistical reasons the forum would not be broadcast live, but would be but on line the following morning.

This led some fans to claim that the club would be vetting fans and questions and would only broadcast those that they felt were sympathetic to the club and manager.

Host Paul Belverstone explained before the meeting that this was not the case and the forum was not being broadcast live as most of the Saints video team were filming the FA Youth cup tie taking place against Fulham.

I'm not sure that this was 100% the case give the current situation, but I would say that from the club's point of view, it served no purpose to risk showing it live and potentially see it descend into a free for all or worse.

Showing that to the nation and perhaps having to shut down the live feed would not have shown the club in a bad light, this is not the club's official reason, purely my take on things.

In the end the club put the footage out a little later that evening, showing that perhaps the media staff were not so hard pushed and how little editing was needed.

The truth is that although the hour long meeting enabled supporters to get things off their chest, it struggled to stay on agenda as fan after fan basically asked the same question about the manager.

Whilst it certainly got the feelings of the majority of the fanbase about Nathan Jones over, it did not make for great watching.

This article is not going to cover the nuts & bolts of what was asked and replied to the panel consisting of Rasmus Ankersen & Henrik Andersen from Sport Republic along with Martin Semmens & Toby Steele from the club.

On the subject of Jones, Andersen covered that with virtually the first question, and said that while he understands the feeling among fans given the club's position at the foot of the table, he says there are reasons to still back the manager.

"With any Premier League manager, it is a high pressure environment. It is no secret that if you keep losing games, you can't do that forever, at some point you hit the point where it is enough.

"I appreciate you are looking at it from the outside and you have certain reference points with the games and what is said after the games. When we are on the inside, we have a lot more reference points.

"We see what goes on every day and we see the quality of the work that is being carried out, the relationships with the players and all these things. Do they look right? Are we comfortable that all of these things will lead to better results? We are not happy with the results. You are not happy with the results.

"But our job is to try and improve it. And as long as we think that the work that is being carried out by Nathan and the team, and the players at the training ground every day is high quality, then we have something to believe in, that this is going to get better and we can turn it around."

This became the central theme of the evening and there then followed virtually each supporter asking when Jones was going to be sacked and what was the point of no return for the manager.

Again I understand why Rasmus Ankersen would feel that he has answered the question, the real answer has to remain private within the club, this is why I don't attend forums very much, what the club can reveal are always limited.

Ankersen & Sport Republic may well be on the verge of sacking Jones as they answer the questions, but they cannot say that publicly, not until they have contacted the manager and told him personally, that is the right thing to do whether you are an employee of a company outside football or a Premier League football manager.

Although he had answered the question and MC Belverstone tried to keep things moving in other areas, the questions mostly seemed to always come back to the same things, how is Jones still in the job and when will he be sacked.

As I said although it certainly got the points over, it did not make for interesting television.

One thing that the club did manage to get some dialogue going aside from the manager, was the question of stewarding, away fans in home areas and Block 1 in the Itchen Stand.

On another day this would have been the constant topic of the night, but was merely an aside on this one.

In short the club are aware that there is a stewarding issue, it stems from the Covid break were a number of stewards did not wish to return to the job afterwards and therefore the club has basically had to recruit in two areas, firstly their own in house stewards and secondly agency staff.

This is not a problem that is just a Southampton FC thing, most other clubs in the Premier League & some below are suffering the same issues, the new in house stewards take time to recruit and train up properly and the agency staff although fully qualified are not used to a football match environment.

Truthfully there could have been a lot more time spent on this subject as it has many issues, firstly the away fans in home areas issue and secondly safety issues, I see a lot of things on match days at St Mary's that although may seem trivial, actually could lead to far greater consequences, a lack of organisation in queueing to get in for instance and also if the stadium should need to be evacuated.

I do not see much that fills me with confidence, although the long term stewards the club has are in the main excellent, there are far too many with neither the training or empathy needed to safely steward football fans.

The good news though was that the club are applying to the ground Safety group to reopen block 1, it is early days yet and a lot of things need to be agreed, but in short the target is the Tottenham Hotspur fixture in March.

So in short this was a fans forum that certainly got the point across and I think that although repetitive, it served it's purpose, whatever your view on those on the panel, you now cannot accuse them of not knowing what the fans are thinking.

They will say that it is the long term view that counts, they explained that in a little detail and both Kraft and Ankersen were at pains to state that Sport Republic are in it for the long term and that although relegation would be a blow it would only be a setback to their plans.

Personally I am not too sure of what it takes for them to sack Jones, what they see on the training ground etc is of course a part of it, but ultimately it is what is seen on the outside on which they are judged, you don't get an extra point in the Premier League for a good training session on a Thursday.

What the fans see is a manager who is not calm and collected in running his squad and a team that is constantly changed with players who don't know what their role is from week to week, plus of course the poor results.

Leaders in football clubs whether they are the team coach/manager or those running the club need to be decisive, the manager is nowhere near decisive, the board now need to be.

Ralph Hasenhuttl was given the chance to turn things around and by the end the atmosphere was turning toxic, I truly fear for the club on Saturday when we play Wolves in what will be a game that could see us cast adrift.

The players and fans need something to give them a boost before Saturday, it is hard to see it coming unless something changes.

Photo: Action Images

kingolaf added 10:08 - Feb 8 I can understand Rasmus wanting to give the manager a chance with his new players. Although 2 of his new players didn’t start v Brentford, with 1 playing for the reserves this on Friday. I do not agree though. It is clear that the manager is out of his depth, and has neither the intelligence, tactical acumen or personality to be a success here. In the event of losing on Saturday, he has to go. Appoint a new manager on the understanding that relegation is likely and give him the chance to work on an identity for the team that Jones should have done during the 6 week break. I was encouraged by Rasmus saying SR are on it for the long term. We will need them to be strong in the Summer in retaining players the manager wants to keep.

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Block8 added 10:28 - Feb 8 It's not worth me commenting on the NJ situation as there is little more that needs saying. However a couple of interesting points for me from the forum. Trying to give the new boys time to get up to speed, we may not like that but it is a valid point. The youth team is an extremely important part of our future, although most are still too young for the PL (Rasmus) but there is a gap which is why we purchased the very good young players in the two windows. Not sure what that means for our B team and loan players that are older than 18? The hindsight answer intrigued me with Rasmus admitting that we should have tried to hold on to Oriol but because he wasn't playing he wanted to leave. No one can argue that NJ pushing JWP forward wasn't a good move, and Oriol & Romeo would make a great defensive midfield pairing.

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highfield49 added 10:40 - Feb 8 The bottom line is that the team have to start winning games and not dropping points. At present it's not of much importance whether NJ is good on the training ground, rubbish at player management, inept when dealing with the media, loves his mum or whatever. Results please, or quickly find someone who can pick the best team and inspire the players to win matches.
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wessexman added 10:50 - Feb 8 Rasmus stressed egos would not come into the Nathan conundrum. So far....I see it as a battle of ego over grim reality.
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Rossm2006 added 11:08 - Feb 8 Love him or hate him, I don't think you cant argue he is trying his best and the pressure only shows if you take it personally and hate losing. Hope we focus on getting behind the team on Saturday and making some positive noise.
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MSB added 11:31 - Feb 8 Have been a Saints supporter since Lawrie's days but, was raised in Grimsby. Guess where my fiver to win will go.
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IanRC added 11:36 - Feb 8 Shame it’s the diving cheats Wolves we are playing, still a win would push them into more trouble. I am sure we have the players to do it if they are picked.
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SaintNick added 11:43 - Feb 8 The getting players up to speed bit is interesting, this is a relatively new thing, of course if you are signing a youngster with little experience then there is that factor, but if you are signing players with plenty of games to their name in various top leagues across the World then you should not be needing to get them up to speed they should be ready and raring to go. Mislav Orsic apparently needs to be brought up to speed, a player with plenty of experience and only just back from the World cup, he is in the B team alongside Caleta Car who apparently also needed minutes, despite only missing 2 games, one through suspension and the other through Jones deciding to play James Bree who apparently doesn't need to be brought up to speed. Jones in my opinion overthinks things and puts too much onus on statistics etc than what is going on on the pitch in front of him

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WestSussexSaint added 13:05 - Feb 8 I thought Ankersen's response about the various metrics that go into assessing whether a manager is doing a good job, but most of which we do not see, was evasive. At this time the only metrics that count are the performances on the pitch and results that generates. NJ could be the best coach on the training ground in the world (I think he suggested that he was in the interview at the weekend) but that will count for nothing if that doesnt translate at match day. I think it is safe to assume that NJ will be picking the team against Wolves but after that? It's one thing the board getting calm feedback from 100 or so supporters last night but lets see what they feel if it's 30000+ less than calm feedback at 4.50pm on Saturday if the match goes the same way as the Brenford game.

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SaintPaulVW added 13:38 - Feb 8 Barring a miracle from our new signings, I really think that we are in the Championship next season. It's clear Jones is staying for now and by the time that the almost inevitable decision to part company is made it will be too late to stay up. The atmosphere at St Mary's is going to be toxic unless he alters his approach rapidly. Brentford took forever to come up but now look a good Premiership side. So it isn't the end of the world. In my mind it wil be putting the whole playing staff on loan for a season to build back up their confidence.With the right manager, I think we can bounce back quickly. The good thing is that Sports Republic appear to be in for the long run. They appear more active owners so the long term gain may have to come from short term pain. COYR

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Bridders2 added 13:49 - Feb 8 I would loved the fans to have pointed out the drastic change in defence. For me the biggest mistake NJ has made was changing the defence, Caleta-Car was calm and in control, with Salusu next to him, and Lyanco made some great surging runs and passes...suddenly all this changed and is replaced by Bedenerick and Bree. He has to change back in the Wolves game and get those new signings in attack on. If he fails to do this and we lose, then the board must see that he needs to go.

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pintsizedsaint added 16:51 - Feb 8 This forum told us nothing, which was entirely understandable. It is probable the club are seeking to buy time to line up another manager. Ominous signs today that it is being reported the players have lost confidence in NJ. That is the biggest fear and now it’s being leaked. Personally I would put Ruben in charge now. We stand a better chance of getting something out of the Wolves game - and possibly the remainder of the season- regardless of whether a not they can find someone quick. I really fear there is an inevitability to the weekends game, and we’re more points away from safety.

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IanRC added 17:19 - Feb 8 Hope Gallardo is being talked to before Leeds nab him.
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wibbersda added 18:41 - Feb 8 I fancy us for a 3-0 win
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