HAVANT & Waterlooville manager and Saints fan Paul Doswell has expressed his deep concerns over Nathan Jones’s management and the Sport Republic strategy.
Doswell, 56, is a Southampton local with big links in non-league football after spells managing Eastleigh, Sutton United and now Havant & Waterlooville.
In a lengthy interview with BBC Radio Solent, Doswell has voiced supporters’ worries as Saints sit rock-bottom of the Premier League 12 months on from the club’s takeover.
Jones has lost all four league matches as manager after he was picked by Sport Republic to be Ralph Hasenhuttl’s successor, following his exit after nearly four years at the club.
COMMENT: Saints are paying the price for one year of Sport Republic's gambling
Doswell said: “You don’t go through any managerial career without difficult moments but in all sports there’s levels, and I’m a firm believer in that.
“My level is the top end of National League, as a cricketer, I was Hampshire league level and I wasn’t good enough to play county cricket, I wasn’t good enough to play for Saints which would have been my dream as a footballer.
“One of the points I want to make is that Nathan Jones is up against the best football brains in the Premier League, that’s the level and that’s the point I want to make.
“If you look at (Mauricio) Pochettino, (Ronald) Koeman and Ralph (Hasenhuttl), within a week or certainly two you saw an absolute identity and a way the team were going to play, how they were going to press and how they were going to pass the football.”
He added: “In essence, it was easily identifiable. I’ve been to three of the four Saints games now, and I watch every game on Wyscout, there is no identity. What Nathan has done is fallen into the trap of wanting to play a certain way and you can only do that if you have a six-foot-four target man.
“To watch the ball get hoofed and I mean hoofed non-stop, the Lincoln game was awful and Nottingham Forest was up there with the worst I’ve seen, I’ve watched them in the (Ian) Branfoot days and everything else and that’s as bad as I’ve seen.
“Nathan Jones was talking about technical sixes the other day. Come on, you’re just lumping it forward. Is it obvious to supporters you should play a four-at-the-back? Of course it is.
“If you saw him on the touchline, he looked like a frustrated player, he’s running up and down the touchline, biting his nails to the core and his head is in his hands every five seconds.
“He’s out of his depth, and not only out of his depth but by some way as well. I hate to say that, but it is true. He’s out of his depth by some way and his coaches are too.
“You have the best football brains in the world in the Premier League and sport is about levels, and I feel sorry for him – but not that sorry for him, because of the pay-off he will get.
“But it was an absolute shambles of a performance and depressing really. I feel for the people spending a lot of money to watch.”
Doswell was keen to stress that failings have extended up beyond Jones, to those who appointed him from Luton Town in November in the first place.
“We’ve sold previous managers up the river and Sport Republic, who we were delighted with coming in and replacing a silent owner, have become even more of a silent owner,” Doswell said.
“They’ve bought young players from Manchester City’s academy who have obviously been taught a certain way.
“The owners haven’t told us apart from the obvious what their plan is. Their plan is to buy cheap young players, develop them and sell them for as much as possible, but that won’t work in the Premier League.”
He continued: “Ultimately Rasmus (Ankersen, CEO) has definitely taken a path of deciding the players to buy, lots of staff have left and there is something going on that is not quite right for me.
“I think we’ve lost our soul, and I genuinely care about this club. I wish I didn’t care about this club but I do, it’s our religion, our club. We’re born into it and it’s the hardest thing in the world watching this horror show unfold.”
READ NEXT: Jones admits fans 'won't just forget' early results but wants to change perceptions
A message from the Editor
Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo.
Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website.
You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel