Southampton have confirmed that they have parted ways with manager Nathan Jones.
The Welshman was giving his marching orders after the Saints somehow lost 2-1 at home to 10-man Wolves.
They remain rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, but their saving grace is they have not yet been cut adrift, which is why a change of manager was so necessary – their season can still be saved.
Jones leaves Southampton as almost unanimously unpopular among fans, but to the neutral, he was box office, constantly reeling off bizarre quotes in his press conferences and interviews.
Here are Jones’ best (or worst) soundbites from his brief time at Southampton.
Let’s start at the finish while it’s still fresh in the memory.
Having led 1-0, Southampton were beaten 2-1 at St Mary’s by a Wolves side that played around an hour with 10 men.
But according to Jones, this put the Saints at a disadvantage. How could they expect to compete against a team with one fewer player?
Jones is a devout Christian. He references his faith in pretty much every interview he does. Sometimes, he admits that the will of God is one of his tactics (hey, he did manage the Saints after all).
In his last pre-match press conference, Jones made this statement, ensuring us that he definitely believes in himself. Okay.
Oh yes, having a pop at the fans, a sure-fire way to save your skin.
Jones’ post-match presser after losing 3-0 at Brentford was a doozie and this is the first of several entrants in this list.
With Southampton staring another defeat in the face, Jones withdrew Romeo Lavia and Samuel Edozie, to that point clearly their two best performers.
The fans chanted than Jones didn’t know what he was doing. He disagreed.
Cor blimey, this was iconic.
In that same Brentford press conference, Jones explained why Southampton poached him from Luton.
The full quote read: “There weren’t many better than me in Europe for aggression, clean sheets, defending inside your box and xG.”
Right.
Yep, same Brentford press conference.
After admitting that he had compromised on some of his principles, Jones was asked if he had let outside noise get to him. He said he had not.
In another press conference, Jones was asked to elaborate on what he meant by ‘people in the village’ and revealed that even he didn’t know what he was on about.
There was no way to condense this quote into the title box, so here it is in full:
“I could have stayed in a mining community, been a PE teacher and had a nice life, married a nice Welsh girl. I don’t. I want to test myself on every level & that’s nothing against Welsh women. I want to test myself.”
Goodness knows how he went on this tangent.
