James Ward Prowse has had a rather muted season by his own standards, however much of that has been dictated by the role he has had to play due to injuries to other players in his the squad, will that all change now with a new manager with a full squad to pick from.

James Ward Prowse has not been his usual self this season, but the truth of the matter is that he has had to play most of his games in a far deeper role and more to the point in a different role.

In the past Saints have had the likes of Steven Davis, Oriol Romeu and Pierre Emile Hojbjerg to play a deep holding role, that was set to continue with the signing of Romeo Lavia who was a revelation at the start of the season, so much so that Chelsea were said to have put in a £50 million bid for his services on the eve of the transfer window closing.

There has been talk on message boards about the club making a big mistake in letting Oriol Romeu leave, but there would have been none of that talk had Lavia not picked up a hamstring injury that kept him out for two months, as much as i liked Romeu, letting him leave was the right decision, Lavia's injury was an unfortunate coincidence.

However during that time Lavia's role has had to be taken up by James Ward Prowse, he has had to sit back and adapt his game, instead of looking to play the killer pass and get forward, he has had to sit back and hold the midfield, he has had to play like Steven Davis, winning the ball and then playing it short to fit in with the style of play being employed.

He could do that, no one should underestimate his ability to be a utility man, in the past he has dropped to right back and done the job, it would not surprise me if he dropped into the centre of defence at some stage.

In the last two months JWP has taken one for the team, sacrificed his own natural position to do a job elsewhere, now with Lavia back and ready to bloom, hopepfully so will Ward Prowse.

New manager Nathan Jones has been speaking about how he has been talking to his Captain and what he wants from him.

"I spoke about his role moving forward in terms of the leader he [Ward-Prowse] needs to be here and that I would like him to be here. The influence he can have and obviously the influence he can have on the team in terms of playing, not just off the pitch. He's buying into that. He's a great professional anyways, he's literally a stellar professional on all levels."

That is good to here and to be honest it was something Ralph Hasenhuttl did when he inherited JWP 4 years ago, at that point the midfielder was on the fringe of the first team and not an automatic choice and the Austrian got his career back on track.

He is hardly off track at the moment, just out of position, but he needs the guidance to turn himself into a leader of men, rather than a leader by example and hopefully Jones will start to help him become that.

First-team coach Alan Sheehan, who has joined Southampton in November to work alongside Nathan Jones and Chris Cohen has had experience of working under Jones as well as with him.

He was the Jones first signing for Luton in 2016 and captained them to promotion in 2020 to the Championship. Sheehan said in an interview for the Saints official website.

"I was coming up to 29/30 when I signed for him and possibly he just changed the way I saw the game really. He understood me as a player as well as every other individual within the squad and he gave me the license to run the dressing room at that time and make it a really challenging environment."

"He was very demanding of us but he was fair. He never asked us to do something that was impossible and we had unbelievable success at the football club getting two promotions from League Two to the Championship. The standards that he set and the autonomy now that he gives me as a coach are obviously wonderful."

So hopefully Nathan Jones can help James Ward Prowse refocus after a period when he has had to let his usual game suffer in order to do what is best for the team, if he does so then relegation will soon be banished from talk around Southampton Football Club.

Photo: Action Images

DellBoyWally added 14:50 - Dec 15 JWP had one really good last season after many pretty average ones. Seems he has reverted to his earlier seasons, nothing to do with his role.
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dirk_doone added 17:33 - Dec 15 You mean he could be turned into an average Luton or Stoke player? The only player Nathan Jones managed that anybody's ever heard of was Sam Vokes, who was his big buy at Stoke, and his career nose dived after that.
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Colburn added 17:36 - Dec 15 I think it's a bit harsh to say he's had one good season but I agree it took Ralph to turn him into the aggressive player he needed to be and this mentality change coincided with his increased success with free kicks. However the tactics deployed by Ralph this season and the back end of last is the reason for his drop in form moreso than the position he has played in. The incessant, predictable and uninspiring sideways and backward passing, along with the negative footballing mindset the team were sent out with is the reason for his drop in form, as with many others. We've seen the same with England, with our flair players being hampered by the tactics of a negative, inept coach who has never won anything so doesn't know how to get over the line and as such the in-game management is embarrassingly woeful. Ralph became that same animal and the result is the topic of this article.

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davidpeach added 09:34 - Dec 16 Regarding NJ's coaching ability. A knowledgeable Leicester fan I was talking to had hoped they would get NJ if Rogers had left when he was under pressure earlier in the season. The reason being that, as youngsters, Dewsbury Hall and Justin had both gone on loan to Luton and come back from there much better players than when they had left.
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underweststand added 16:56 - Dec 16 there are a few on this site who seem to dish JWP no matter what he does. He always looked better in an attacking role (especially when Romeu was with us ). Since when he has played several roles and turns up all over the pitch whilst clocking up more distance than any other Prem player. IF NJ can find a better balance in midfield then Prowsey may be able to return to the more productive role that he had previously.

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Block8 added 10:38 - Dec 17 I think we sometimes miss how hard Prowsey works for this team in what would not be his preferred positional deployment. He is a much better player than he has been able to show primarily due to his willingness to play wherever he is asked & whatever style he is required for his team. It has almost definitely been responsible for his limited international involvement and impeded him from being the player his ability deserves. Lets remember that he is Saints through to the bone!

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