‘It baffled me’ – Nathan Jones responds to non-league manager criticism after Man City win
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Southampton manager Nathan Jones has hit back at non-league manager Paul Doswell after the Havant & Waterlooville boss said Jones was “out of his depth” at St Mary’s.
Jones is yet to taste victory in the Premier League as Saints manager, with fans voicing their discontent after defeats to Liverpool, Brighton, Fulham and Nottingham Forest has left the club at the bottom of the league table.
Among those to criticise Jones was Doswell, who manages Havant & Waterlooville in the National League South – the sixth tier of the English football pyramid.
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Speaking to BBC Radio Solent last week, Doswell said: “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.”
Despite his naysayers, Jones has managed to get Saints to win three games since his appointment, with all three coming in cup competitions.
The most recent of those was a 2-0 win over Manchester City at St Mary’s on Wednesday night, with Saints the better side for the majority of the game against the defending Premier League champions.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after the win, Jones took the chance to fire back at Doswell. He said: “I don’t know if I changed perceptions. Within 10 minutes of the Brighton game [a 3-1 defeat on Boxing Day], I was inept.
“The non-league manager criticised me the other day. It baffled me. I don’t speak about Havant & Waterlooville. I don’t speak about levels I don’t know about.”
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