Southampton sack Jones after just 14 games in charge

Southampton have sacked Nathan Jones after just 14 games in charge.

Former Luton Town boss Jones replaced Ralph Hasenhuttl on November 10, but he has endured a torrid time and leaves the Saints rooted to the bottom of the Premier League.

He suffered a 3-1 defeat away at Liverpool in his only game in charge before the World Cup break and things did not improve when domestic football returned.

The 49-year-old has overseen a run of six defeats in seven Premier League games since then, culminating in Saturday’s dire 2-1 home defeat to 10-man Wolves.

Jones raised eyebrows in his final weeks at Southampton by declaring in the wake of his side’s 3-0 defeat to Brentford that “statistically, there weren’t many better than me around Europe in terms of aggression, clean sheets, defending the box, balls in the box, xG, all those sorts of things”.

He angered Saints supporters after that defeat by saying he felt he had compromised his principles because of pressure from “personnel” and “fans”.

In a statement on Sunday, the club confirmed first-team coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan had also left the club, with first-team lead coach, Ruben Selles, taking charge of training and preparing the team for next weekend’s game against Chelsea.

#SaintsFC has parted company with Men’s First Team Manager Nathan Jones.

— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 12, 2023