James Ward-Prowse in astonishing rant at Southampton team-mates after relegation as he is linked with transfer exit
JAMES WARD-PROWSE has hit out at his Southampton teammates for not doing enough all season following their relegation.
The Saints have been confirmed as the first club to be relegated from the top flight this season after their limp 2-0 defeat to Fulham.
Skipper Ward-Prowse backed the club to bounce straight back to the Premier League, but said standards have slipped from day one this season.
Southampton have sacked two managers and suffered a club record 24 defeats with two games left to go.
Ward-Prowse said: “It’s disappointing. It is a moment that has been coming.
“We knew we had put ourselves in a difficult position.
“When these things happen you go away individually and as a club and ask if you have done enough? I don’t think we have. We talk about leaving things out there and ultimately that is why we are where we are now.
“Have decisions been right? Have we been good enough on the pitch? Have we done enough as a team to progress? I believe we should be performing at a better level than we have done and we have not done that on a consistent basis.
“From the first day of the season until now you can tell the standards have slipped.
“I have been here right through form eight-years-old, for all the ups an downs. I’m sure with the good people at the club it will be back in the Premier League in no time.”
The England international is now likely to leave the club, with Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham having shown interest in the past.
But Ward-Prowse would not be drawn on his future.
He said: “I’m not thinking too far ahead. We’ve just been relegated form the Premier League. I’m not looking beyond tomorrow.
“It’s about sticking together and dealing with it in the right way.
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“Over the last 10 years we have had that kind of consistency and that has wavered.
“It will be testing for everybody but these are the times that make you as a player and as a club, we have done it before and we will do it again.”
Manager Ruben Selles added: “As a club we need to evaluate and see what the standards that James referred to are and be sure that when we start the next season or when the club starts the next season those standards are on point.”