“It seemed like a strange fit to be honest” – A look at Nathan Jones’ job at Southampton given what we saw of him in the EFL: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Southampton manager Nathan Jones has endured a tough start to life as a Premier League boss, following his move from Luton Town in November.

Losing six of his seven league games as Saints boss and sitting bottom of the top-flight pile, pressure is being applied to his position at St Marys.

On the flip side of things, the Hatters have reached new heights with Rob Edwards succeeding the Welshman and the Bedfordshire club are currently sitting fourth in the Championship.

Someone who played a vitally important role in Luton’s rise through the leagues, it is yet to work for the 48-year-old in the Premier League thus far and it remains to be seen if Southampton will be forced into making a major decision.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts on Jones’ stint at Southampton thus far and whether or not more was expected after his success at Kenilworth Road.

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Billy Mulley

It was always going to be a risk appointing Jones and whilst I was fully behind the Welshman being deserving of a top-flight opportunity, I did not think that the Southampton gig was right for him.

I had reservations about whether Jones would be able to get much out of a younger squad, and whilst he helped to oversee the development of the likes of Jack Stacey and James Justin, he was not a manager that presented too many opportunities to the youthful talent progressing through at Kenilworth Road.

Unfortunately for Jones, it has not worked out thus far and some comments he has made have not helped his case.

I always knew it was going to be tough for him but if players start to get on Jones’ back too, that is when a real issue arises.

James Reeves

In all honesty, Jones’ struggles at Southampton are not a surprise.

While there is no doubt he did an outstanding job at Luton on two occasions, his spell at Stoke was dismal and raised serious questions about how he would perform away from Kenilworth Road.

However in his defence, it was always going to be a tough task to inherit a Saints side which was in decline towards the end of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s reign and seemingly lacking the experience and quality needed in the Premier League.

Jones is a passionate and emotional character and while those are positive qualities, you did wonder how he would handle the increased pressure and scrunity and his comments after Saturday’s defeat at Brentford have done him no favours.

It is hard not to have sympathy with Jones, but it always looked like a job which may have been too big for him.

Marcus Ally

Even from the outset it seemed like a strange fit to be honest.

Ralph Hasenhuttl performed very well with limited resources to keep the Saints’ heads above water, and the job he did looks even better now given what has come after.

The squad at Jones’ disposal is one of bottom three quality in the Premier League, and Jones should not have to carry the can for that.

Jones looked set to take Luton to the top-flight at some point in the coming years, and maybe that would have been a better pathway for him to have a crack at the top division.

It was always going to be a huge ask to keep Southampton up, and I will not hold it against him if he takes them down or is dismissed, the squad is not good enough.