Nathan Jones’s journey: Gareth Southgate, women’s football and a stint in Spain

SAINTS have made Nathan Jones their number one priority in the hunt for a replacement for Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Luton Town confirmed yesterday they have given permission for their manager to speak with Saints, after the Hatters’ Championship clash at Stoke City tonight.

Ruben Selles is set to take interim charge for Saints for the Carabao Cup contest with Sheffield Wednesday at St Mary’s tomorrow.

But reports suggest if all goes well, Jones could be in the hotseat by the weekend, with Saints heading to Liverpool in the Premier League.

But who exactly is Nathan Jones and how has he got to this point of being on the brink of becoming a top-flight manager?

Jones, 49, was born in the small mining village of Blaenrhondda in the south Wales valleys, around an hour from Cardiff.

After being released from the Bluebirds’ academy, Jones eventually found his way to Merthyr Tydfil in 1993, where they were playing in the English Football Conference.

Two years later, Jones’s association with Luton began, as he embarked on his first of three spells with the club.

Having been signed by David Pleat for £10,000, Jones stayed with the Hatters for just a few months, before heading to Spain.

There he played for Badajoz and Numancia in the second and third tiers, before heading back to England.

Primarily a defender during his playing days, Jones spent three years at Southend United, also having a brief stint on loan at Scarborough, before joining Brighton & Hove Albion in 2000.

He would enjoy success with the Seagulls, with promotions all the way up from the Third Division to the Championship.

Jones departed Brighton in 2005 to link up with Yeovil Town. He would spend seven years there in the third tier as a player, and was briefly a teammate of current Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

Whilst still playing, Jones began his coaching badges, and became a first-team coach at Yeovil Town Ladies in 2008, working under manager Steve Phelps.

He was installed as player-assistant manager of the Glovers’ men’s side in 2009.

During his time coaching at Yeovil, he helped nurture the likes of future England internationals Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend and Steven Caulker, during their loan spells at Huish Park from Tottenham.

Jones retired aged 39 in 2012 having made well over 500 professional appearances across his time in England and Spain.

He quickly made his next move in coaching, taking up a role as under-21 professional development coach at Charlton Athletic.

Brighton then came calling for their former employee a year later and Jones became assistant to new boss Oscar Garcia, and helped them to reach the Championship play-off final. Due to a change of management, Jones’s role also changed, to becoming a first-team coach, before then stepping in as caretaker manager following Sami Hyypia’s departure in December 2014.

That would prove to be Jones’s first games in a professional hotseat, taking charge of two matches, a win and a draw, before Chris Hughton arrived as Brighton’s next boss. Jones became assistant again, before going back to a first-team coach role.

During this spell, Jones also spent a week working with Gareth Southgate at St George’s Park, helping to prepare England for the Under-21 European Championship.

Jones then took his first job as boss of a professional club, moving to Luton in January 2016, with the club in League Two.

After defeat in the play-offs in 2017, he guided the Hatters up into League One the following season, finishing second in the fourth tier.

The Championship then came calling, with Jones swapping Luton for Stoke City in January 2019.

His time with the Potters did not go to plan, recording just six victories from 38 matches in charge.

He was sacked in November 2019, returning to Luton in May 2020, helping the club avoid relegation from the Championship during the COVID-affected final stages of the campaign.

Luton then finished 12th the following season, before Jones guided the Bedfordshire outfit into the Championship play-offs last campaign, losing to Huddersfield Town. During the 2021-22 season, Jones penned a new deal which runs until 2027.

The Kenilworth Road side currently sit eighth in the second tier.

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.

Don’t just take my word for it – subscribe today.

Follow the latest breaking news in the Southampton area by searching Southampton News – Breaking News and Incidents on Facebook

Follow the latest court and crime news on our dedicated group by searching Hampshire Court and Crime News on Facebook