I REMEMBER meeting James Ward-Prowse in a little restaurant one day, as this young fella and his father were there – and I thought he was a very well-mannered and nice lad.

He recognised Kevin Keegan and myself; he was only a young player then but he knew I had been at Southampton.

After that meeting, I kept watching James at a distance and I have been very impressed with him – especially his ability on set-pieces, of course – since.

It’s always important you have somebody in the team that is good at that. In our day, we would have Alan Ball or Mick Channon and you knew that the opposing crowd wouldn’t put them off as they walked up.

Most importantly, Ward-Prowse, with all of his experience and ability, has been a proud captain of the club and has been without a doubt the best option for captaincy over the past few years.

Captaincy doesn’t just start at three o’clock on a Saturday – it’s Monday to Friday on the training pitch and in the dressing rooms.

Sometimes, when the manager and staff are having a meeting down the corridor in the manager’s office, the boss will send a member of his staff down to the players to see what’s happening.

With Bally and Channon, etcetera, the answer would come back that they have taken control – and that would make me happy.

I haven’t been in the current dressing room but I’m sure Ward-Prowse will have been doing exactly that. Some players are always happy to clear off and go and play golf or whatever after training.

Even after relegation, the crowd will always turn up and that is because this is their club, so they always want to see players giving 100 per cent.

Dressing rooms will often have one or two in who are stirring up a bit or not giving everything and it’s down to the captain to spot this and deal with it.

The fact we’ve been relegated means that agents will be banging on doors trying to get Premier League moves and that is something the management and club will understand.

Some players will think they’re good enough to get back to the top flight, while others will have to work twice and hard to impress again.

If we have seen the captain’s final game in a Saints shirt, I’m sure he will go with the best wishes of everyone at the club and its supporters – despite the disappointment.

To an average club in the Championship, if they’ve never been in the Premiership, when they are coming to Southampton, they’re coming to a big club, a big stadium and they will be trying very hard.

Our players have got to forget where they are and focus. The other thing is, what sort of contract is each player on? If some are running out, that player will have to work twice as hard if he wants to stay or get a good move away.

All in all, Tuesday’s game at Gillingham – a 3-1 defeat to the lower league side – could be a good reminder that things aren’t always easy – those that didn’t give 100 per cent should be out the door.

I was reading a newspaper feature this week and it was about players that Premiership clubs would like to sign – eight times a Southampton player was named.

Che Adams – Bournemouth and Everton. Nathan Tella – Burnley. Lavia – Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. Tino Livramento – Newcastle (done deal). James Ward-Prowse – West Ham.

Typically, the manager is usually the first one out of the door after relegation and that was the same in our case, but now Russell Martin and his staff have come in.

They will have been working twice as hard to fix things and that is why people like Chris Sutton have added Southampton to their predicted lists for promotion.

Former Premier League striker Sutton predicted that the top three would be the three relegated sides from last season, including Leeds United and Leicester City – they will hope he is right.

Most will expect Southampton to get back up straight away but I don’t have to tell you that isn’t easy – ahead of the first home game of the league season today, let’s get behind the team and wish everyone the best of luck.