Nathan-Jones-Manager

RECENTLY appointed Saints manager Nathan Jones is hoping to find the right balance between enjoyment and hard work in order to get the most out of his new squad and help revitalise their struggling season. Replacing Ralph Hasenhuttl less than one week before the Premier League pressed pause for the World Cup, Jones oversaw Saints’ 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield before getting the benefit of nearly six weeks without domestic football. After the players were given a break, Jones and his squad headed out to Spain for a training camp, and while abroad, the 49-year-old offered his thoughts on how to get the most out of this group. “There has to be a balance, I was a player who always had to work hard given my ability levels but I always did it with a smile on my face and if they can see that, they can see that we care about them and want to get to know and make them better, that we’ll work harder than anyone for them to be successful, then we can do it with a smile on my face,” Jones told the club’s in-house media.  “If you’re enjoying things you’re more relaxed and we believe we can get the best out of them. This is a good group, I’ve worked with good groups, bad groups and mediocre groups and this is a very good group.  "There's been a real buy-in" 🤝#SaintsFC boss Nathan Jones reflects on the week in Spain: — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) December 12, 2022 “If you’re holed up for a week together you create bonds and I’ve got to know a few of them, how they work, how they move, how they speak and interact, and it’s been a wonderful week. It’s been more British weather than Mediterranean but the work we’ve done is key.” Now back at Staplewood as preparation ramp up for Saints’ return in the League Cup against Lincoln City, Jones’ side are looking healthier than at any other point this season with Tino Livramento and Kyle Walker-Peters ramping up the recoveries from their respective injuries. It’s not been a happy season for Saints so far as they sit second-bottom ahead of only Wolves. But Jones and his players will be aware of how tight the margins are with just seven points separating Saints in 19th and Fulham in 9th. The upcoming run of league fixtures sees Saints face four bottom-half teams in their next six, a perfect and crucial chance to spark the flailing campaign. A message from the Editor Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo. Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website. You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more.

SAINTS boss Nathan Jones insisted there were “no egos” in his squad and described that as “fundamental” to the way his team would work. The former Luton manager took charge of his first game for Saints ahead of the World Cup break, resulting in a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool. After giving his players some time off, the manager got to work on the grass at Staplewood last week, before jetting out to Spain with the group on Monday. And, speaking to the club website ahead of their training camp across the continent, Jones insisted the response from his players had been what was desired. He said: “We were able to come in and bond with the staff at the stadium and training ground, and really get our bearings and make a plan for this week to run smoothly and we've really been able to come in and hit the ground running. “We asked for a response from the players and we've got it, and that's really positive. “They're a good group with no egos or anything, and that's fundamental to the way we work. “We're not egotistical. We like to work hard and work structurally and they've responded to that, and that's been excellent. “That's all you can ask from a coach and player relationship. All we're looking for is that buy-in and that response to implement the game plan, and providing our work is good enough and they implement it then that's how you get results.” Saints are currently 19th in the top-flight table, with 12 points from 15 games played. They host Lincoln City at St Mary’s in their next competitive game – the fourth round of the Carabao Cup (7.45pm). The St Mary’s side’s next Premier League game comes at home against Brighton on Boxing Day (3pm).

NATHAN Jones was denied the opportunity to make an immediate mark on his new club but the recently appointed manager has taken other things from his first week. The class of Liverpool saw Saints fall back into the same defensive mistakes during the opening half of an eventual 3-1 defeat at Anfield, before an improved second 45’ saw big chances. Although Jurgen Klopp’s Reds – without their manager after he was slapped with a one-match touchline ban on Friday evening – have not been their imperious best, they are top quality. Jones has inherited a team in the bottom three and – despite all of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s good work over four years – devoid of ideas and confidence. It was the 49-year-old’s first taste of Premier League management and could be one of his toughest, so the Daily Echo asked him if it was a proud moment personally. “Oh absolutely, but I don’t just want to be a Premier League manager, that’s not my ambition,” he responded. “I want to make sure I’m successful or relatively successful at the level. “So I’m very proud moment and as I said in a recent press, it would have been easy for me not to take the game today because I’ve come in with one day to work with them.” Jones added: “But that’s not my character, that’s not my style, I wanted to get in amongst it regardless of opposition. "I wasn’t here to get autographs or anything, I was here because I wanted to learn about my team, learn about my players, learn about myself, learn about my staff, learn about everything. “One of the toughest stages you can start with, I’m proud to be a manager, proud to be a Premier League manager, proud to have taken this game today. But I’ve learnt a lot and that’s the main thing.” Brazilian international Alisson made three big second-half stops to deny Moi Elyounoussi, Samuel Edozie and Che Adams finding Saints a foothold in the game. It continues a theme of missed chances which ultimately saw former manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s demise, but Jones has pointed elsewhere to make improvements first. “It's not only about missed chances, we’ve only kept one clean sheet as a club and that can’t happen,” Jones admitted. “If you keep a clean sheet you guarantee yourself points so that has got to change. I can look at all the negatives and we will be better in the next game on those negatives, but the positive for me is the second-half. That’s the main thing.” Saints will spend Christmas Day in the relegation zone of the Premier League with 12 points from 15 matches so far this season.  A message from the Editor Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo. Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website. You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more.

NATHAN Jones revealed he had asked his players for a few “key things” following his arrival at Saints but admitted: “They're not going to suddenly love me after a day.” The new Saints boss was speaking after being unveiled as the successor to Ralph Hasenhuttl on Thursday. Jones is set to take to the dugout for the first time with his new squad, when the St Mary’s side visit Liverpool in the Premier League tomorrow (3pm). But the former Luton Town boss admitted it would take time to build relationships with the group he has inherited this week. Asked what the reaction from the players has been like since his arrival, Jones said: "I think really positive. “I think all I do, look I haven't done anything ground-breaking. I've addressed them, asked them for a few key things. “Not many, just a few key things and then we'll build relationships. “They're not going to suddenly love me after a day. “I left a group that knew I cared about them (at Luton). Knew I invested in them. Knew I dedicated pretty much every element of my life into making them better and inadvertently making the team and the club better and that's what I'll do here. “So, they know they have a manager that's going to care for them and is going to try to make them better. “Then all I have to do is make sure that my work is good enough to win that respect and I'm pretty sure it will be." A point could take Saints out of the bottom three in the Premier League table. Liverpool go into the contest eighth in the standings. A message from the Editor Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo. Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website. You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more. Don't just take my word for it - subscribe today. Follow the latest breaking news in the Southampton area by searching Southampton News - Breaking News and Incidents on Facebook Follow the latest court and crime news on our dedicated group by searching Hampshire Court and Crime News on Facebook

If you ask Nathan Jones what kind of manager he would like to be for Saints, he’ll paint a picture of something he never experienced. A 23 year playing career took Jones from his home in Wales to Spain and back to the UK in the English lower leagues. Yet the manager he wants to be is based just as much on what he didn’t experience in that time. READ MORE: Nathan Jones' first and biggest task is to solve Saints' identity crisis Speaking to the media just 24 hours after his unveiling as Saints manager and a further 24 hours before his new side take on Liverpool to end a whirlwind week, the former Luton Town boss outlined what kind of relationships he wants to develop with his new group of players. “Being a football manager has many facets,” Jones explained to the Daily Echo when asked about his approach to dealing with players on and off the pitch.  “When you’re asking people to sacrifice certain things, when you’re asking people to metaphorically run through brick walls, when you’re asking people to buy in to something, you have to make them believe that.  “Now if you just dictate to them, that’s not my management style. What I want to do is get them to buy in to something and see the reasoning behind that, and then with my passion for what I do, with my work rate, they can see I believe in something.  “If I believe in a way of doing it and I can transfer that onto the pitch and I can get those to buy into that…and then see that I have an empathetic side when maybe they don’t play as well, then that will give them a real impetus moving forward.  “I manage like I want to be managed. I craved a manager to care about me, I craved someone to want to make me better, I craved someone to say ‘you can be this, you can be this player if you really want to, if you buy in.’ And then guiding me to be that. And then putting me in a team-framework that suited how I played, I craved that as a player. I never had it - which is ironic because I played for 23 years - but I never had it. But I want to be that manager, that coach, that basically changes their life.” ‘Buy-in’ is a phrase Jones regularly throws out in relation to pretty much all areas of his management whether it’s about himself, his players, or his team’s fans. We’re still zero games into his Saints tenure and just one press conference down, but Jones appears to understand his role as someone who both demands from his players while also believing in them through difficult moments. This group of players won’t be at their best every single time they step onto the pitch and that's especially true when considering the age and experience of this squad. They don’t have the track record and timeline of experiences to deal with each new challenge that comes up on the face of it. Some challenges will end in failure, but it's how they then learn and adapt. This squad needs a human manager just as much as it needs a tactical mastermind on the pitch and hearing Jones speak about his endeavors to understand and coach the human side of his players provides great understanding into part of why the club has made this switch. In some ways, it's reminiscent of the early days of Ralph Hasenhuttl's management carer. Described as a “human-catcher” - someone who people naturally gravitate towards and want to fight for - by those who knew him at the start of his first club Unterhaching, it’s noted that some of that personal approach disappeared by the time he departed St Mary’s. Reports claimed that out-of-favour individuals at times received no encouragement or explanation of what they had done wrong while he was never one to coddle his players. Hasenhuttl’s methods weren’t necessarily wrong, they worked for the best part of four years after all, but football works in cycles. When one style of management - or manager - stops working, you have to find a change. That doesn’t just mean a different human at the top calling the shots, but a different method of calling those shots altogether. Only time will tell if Nathan Jones is the right person to lead this next phase of Sport Republic’s Saints ownership. But it appears that much of Jones’ success will be determined by Jones the human, rather than just the football manager. And that is exactly what this Saints team needs right now. A message from the Editor Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo. Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website. You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more. Don't take my word for it - subscribe here to see for yourself. Follow the latest breaking news in the Southampton area by joining our Facebook group - Southampton News - Breaking News and Incidents Follow the latest court and crime news on our dedicated Facebook group - Hampshire Court and Crime News