Southampton appoint Luton boss as new manager
\n LONDON
\nSouthampton have confirmed the appointment of Nathan Jones as their new manager following the sacking of Ralph Hasenhuttl.
\nWelshman Jones, 49, has left Championship side Luton Town to take up the role and has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract.
\nHasenhuttl, who was in charge for nearly four years, was sacked on Monday after Sunday\u2019s 4-1 defeat by Newcastle.
\n\u201cI\u2019m really proud to be given this opportunity,\u201d said Jones.
\n\u201cI know a lot about the club from back in the days of The Dell, to coming here to St Mary\u2019s, and it\u2019s a wonderful football club.\u201d
\nJones watched from the stands as Saints beat Sheffield Wednesday on penalties in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday.
\nHis first game in charge will be away at Liverpool on Saturday.
\nHasenhuttl was dismissed after a run of one win in nine matches, with Southampton 18th in the Premier League.
\nJones, who signed a five-year deal with the Hatters in January, ends his second spell at Luton with the club ninth in the Championship.
\nHe will be joined at St Mary\u2019s by first team coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan.
\n\u201cA lot of my family are Southampton fans, which doesn\u2019t half help,\u201d Jones said
\n\u201cI wanted to manage in the Premier League, I\u2019ve dreamt of that since I became a coach, but this club in particular – because of how it\u2019s run, because of the structure, because of how they look deeper than just results – really appeals to me.\u201d
\nJones led Luton to last season\u2019s play-offs, where they were beaten by Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals.
\nThe former Brighton and Yeovil player took the reins at Luton for his first full-time managerial position in January 2016 when they were struggling near the bottom of League Two.
\nHe guided them to promotion in 2018 and the Hatters were second in League One in January 2019 when Jones left for an ill-fated spell in charge of Stoke City.
\nDuring his 11 months with Stoke they won just six of 38 matches. Jones moved back to Kenilworth Road in May 2020, speaking of his \u201cregret\u201d at leaving before resurrecting his career during a successful second spell with Luton.
\nThe Hatters were 23rd in the Championship but he helped them stave off relegation on the final day of the 2019-20 season that had been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Luton finished 12th the following campaign.
\nLuton\u2019s chief recruitment officer Mick Harford will take interim charge for the Championship side\u2019s game on Saturday against Rotherham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Southampton appoint Luton boss as new manager LONDON Southampton have confirmed the appointment of Nathan Jones as their new manager following the sacking of Ralph Hasenhuttl. Welshman Jones, 49, has left Championship side Luton Town to take up the role and has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract. Hasenhuttl, who was in charge for nearly four years, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-294514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n