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Anyone else here a clip of his post match interview from Saturday on TalkSport this morning ? If ever a man was suffering from delusion he is ! I am sure he said in that clip that he considers himself one of the best coaches in Europe ! He really needs help
Hilarious, it was. He said that when he was at Luton "by every metric" he was one of the top coaches in Europe. Genius.
The sack is coming mate, are we allowed to over celebrate that?
Living down here I can tell you that there fans never wanted him in the first place and can’t wait to see the back of him. I keep telling them that the club is preparing for life in the Championship and he’ll be perfect for that!
Nathan Jones’ extraordinary post-match comments – what he said and the ramifications
Jones By Jacob Tanswell Feb 5, 2023
“I’ve let everyone down because I was brought in to drive standards and that wasn’t good enough today,” said Nathan Jones, following Southampton’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford, his sixth loss in seven Premier League games. “I’ve allowed certain things to happen and gone away from what’s made me successful in the past.”
“I’ve listened to people and it’s been to my detriment – I’ve compromised too much. What you’ve seen today, that’s not the way my teams play.”
Jones is a chronic fingernail biter and during his time at Stoke City, things got so bad he would require plasters to stop them bleeding. He is not blessed with a poker face or an off button.
As the door opened and Jones came into Brentford’s press conference room for his post-match duties, he arrived muttering expletives.
Twenty minutes earlier, he had ordered his players to thank the travelling support and started stoically walking towards the shark’s mouth. By that time, the away end had gone through the full repertoire of vociferous chants. First, Romeo Lavia and Samuel Edozie’s substitutions were met with cries of “you don’t know what you’re doing”.
Jones: “The fans saw a performance today that justified those sayings and that’s fine. All I can say to them is that I understand. To be fair, they’ve sung that at any point I’ve made a substitution. If we keep Romeo Lavia on a booking they will counter-attack inside, so we were at risk. Was Romeo Lavia running the game? Was he outbattling or dominating their team? If he was, they were watching a different game to me.”
Supporters’ ire spiralled. They had witnessed their team conceding the same type of goal three times – all were from crosses. Southampton are yet to score first in a Premier League game under Jones. This, increasingly, has led to fans suggesting a lack of tactical acumen in how Jones approaches games. Their most vehement shouts came towards the end, with chants of “get out of our club” and “your football is shit”.
No side has conceded more headed goals in the Premier League this season than Southampton (10), with two of Brentford’s goals on Saturday scored this way (Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images) Jones: “They’re entitled to their opinion and that’s no problem. I’ve got broad shoulders so I take everything on myself. At the end of the day, I only look at myself in the mirror and think, ‘Am I the best I can be?’ To be honest with you. I can be better.”
For a press conference that lasted little more than eight minutes, Jones spoke about the constant affliction he’s battled with since taking over. No person was absolved from the blame as underlying issues spilt onto the surface.
“No, no, not at all. Not at all,” Jones shakes his head when The Athletic asks if he has let outside noise in. “We’ve thought, ‘Right, what have we got?’ Because there are certain people in the village and players in the building that we have to work with. I haven’t listened to outside noise, I haven’t listened to anything, but now I’ll live and die by my own philosophy.”
Jones suggested there is discord across the first team, both among players and staff. He has repeatedly, especially throughout January, bemoaned certain deficiencies within his side, such as the lack of height and “aggression”. Jones’ description of “certain people in the village” is ominous, indicating that others of significant power have made efforts to influence his playing style. The manager was keen to stress that, from now on, he will do things his way and not listen to external voices outside of his closest coaching confidantes, Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan. That leads us to the next answer…
Jones: “I’ve compromised in certain principles because of personnel but in the way that people want (me) to play and fans and so on. I’ve been very successful playing a fluid style. At Luton, we were a real aggressive, front-footed side. Statistically, there weren’t many better than me around Europe in terms of aggression, clean sheets, defending in your box, xG (expected goals) – all of those things. We were pound-for-pound the best because we were spending next to nothing and producing so much. I’ve gone away from that because it’s the Premier League and due to certain players and internationals.”
His claim that there “weren’t many better than me” across several key facets has been privately disputed by some inside Southampton. As a reflex, Jones regularly recalls his time at Luton Town, where he was named Championship manager of the season in 2022. Jones’ biggest strength as a coach, in his opinion, is maximising a team’s talent through building a defensively-sound framework. It was the bedrock of Luton’s success but, given he has a more talented squad at Southampton, he feels he’s veered from those core principles and exchanged them for something more deluxe.
Jones: “This team is good enough to stay up. But the same things that have been happening for a year are still happening because, for a year, they’ve been losing games in the Premier League and conceding goals and not defending the box well enough and not scoring enough goals. We were brought in to do something different because, on an absolute shoestring (at Luton), we were scoring goals, keeping clean sheets, out-pressing and out-fighting teams and doing the basics so well. That’s why I was recruited. And I’m not doing them at the minute. But that will change.”
Supporters’ patience with Jones is wearing thin and that is partly down to a lack of connection between manager and fanbase, something his predecessor Ralph Hasenhuttl so expertly achieved. Fans have noted how, after defeats, Jones prefers to say “they” and “them” when talking about his Southampton squad. It could be a subconscious thing, borne out of wanting to disentangle himself from past difficulties.
Still, it is not a good look and is symptomatic of Jones’ failure to embed himself in the club and to endear himself to the fanbase. However, it is true that Southampton’s malaise is an entrenched problem and pre-dates his arrival. Southampton were never strong defensively under Hasenhuttl, but now no longer carry the same verve as they did previously. They had lost their way and Jones’ perceived ability to reinstall the “basics” was supposed to rectify those issues.
Jones: “I don’t know (if I’ll get time). That’s not a question for me but I hope so. I look at that team and I don’t see myself in that team. And that’s my biggest thing. But that’s going to change.”
Jones’s post-match press conferences have become an event of intrigue, with his lack of restraint and cavalier approach unusual in an era of managerial soundbites. But the comments made after the embarrassment of Brentford have drawn a line in the sand. In taking aim at fans, players and those within the club, Jones now promises to do it his way. Whether he is afforded the time to do that is another matter.
Jesse Marsch at Leeds has beaten him to the sack. Mick Beale's agent...sorry of course he doesn't have an agent, I mean Mick Beale himself will be busy getting those CVs out round the prem clubs
Jesse Marsch at Leeds has beaten him to the sack. Mick Beale's agent...sorry of course he doesn't have an agent, I mean Mick Beale himself will be busy getting those CVs out round the prem clubs
It's all a bit mysterious. I was half-listening to an interview Jones did the other day and I'm pretty sure that at one point he said the performance wasn't anything to do with him, and at another he said it was all his fault.
ok, against the grain, I've warmed to him, and in that interview, he's close to calling out the over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players for what they are, which strikes a chord with me at the moment. Plus he's not wanted there partly as a reflection of the class system that holds a lot of us back, brother. Good luck to him.
ok, against the grain, I've warmed to him, and in that interview, he's close to calling out the over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players for what they are, which strikes a chord with me at the moment. Plus he's not wanted there partly as a reflection of the class system that holds a lot of us back, brother. Good luck to him.
Man accepts managers job at a club full of over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players and then gets angry that the club is full of over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players.
I hate it too, what football has become, but he can hardly be surprised. Did he really think he was going to turn water into wine?
Until a few zeros start getting knocked off player salaries nothing will change.
Man accepts managers job at a club full of over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players and then gets angry that the club is full of over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players.
I hate it too, what football has become, but he can hardly be surprised. Did he really think he was going to turn water into wine?
Until a few zeros start getting knocked off player salaries nothing will change.
ok, against the grain, I've warmed to him, and in that interview, he's close to calling out the over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players for what they are, which strikes a chord with me at the moment. Plus he's not wanted there partly as a reflection of the class system that holds a lot of us back, brother. Good luck to him.
The fact that Saints DOF Rasmus Andersen when he was at Brentford gave Thomas Frank on a similar run of poor results time make me believe Jones will be afforded the same.Brentford are a good example to owners who pull the trigger far too early. Jones isn’t a bad manager but he’s very easy to dislike.
Really dislike him from all that i have seen, but could also imagine doing quite well under him and all of a sudden not finding him to be so much of a prat.
ok, against the grain, I've warmed to him, and in that interview, he's close to calling out the over-paid, pampered, privileged, tosser players for what they are, which strikes a chord with me at the moment. Plus he's not wanted there partly as a reflection of the class system that holds a lot of us back, brother. Good luck to him.
But what about IW's view, that surely as a manager you do your own thing from Day 1 - if it all falls apart or doesn't work - fine - that's down to you. But its pretty mealy mouthed to say - well if only I was allowed to be me!
IF they were doing well, I bet he wouldn't be deflecting the praise to others!
But what about IW's view, that surely as a manager you do your own thing from Day 1 - if it all falls apart or doesn't work - fine - that's down to you. But its pretty mealy mouthed to say - well if only I was allowed to be me!
IF they were doing well, I bet he wouldn't be deflecting the praise to others!
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