It is hard to argue Nathan Jones does not deserve the opportunity to manage in the Premier League. Towards the end of his time at Yeovil, where he spent seven years as a marauding left-back in League One, his Sundays would be spent coaching the women’s team and later, while first-team coach at Brighton, he spent a week shadowing the then England Under-21s manager Gareth Southgate in the buildup to the 2015 European Championship. He took charge at Luton when they were 15th in League Two and last season led them to within two games of the Premier League with a modest squad assembled for less than £1.5m. On Saturday he will go toe-to-toe with Jürgen Klopp at Anfield.
The common denominator when talking to those who have worked under or alongside him is that the new Southampton manager is meticulous. It is commonplace for him to give prospective signings in-depth presentations on the plan, where he sees them slotting in and, critically, the journey on which he thinks they can go. For Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, whom Jones signed for Luton on loan from Leicester at the beginning of 2020-21, it was an hour of Wyscout clips, Venn diagrams and data in a hotel off the M1. For James Collins, it was the training ground and clips of previous games and goals. “To walk into a meeting with a manager having so much detail on you, it just shows how much he wants to sign you,” Collins says. “He’s really enthusiastic and passionate about what he wants. I signed a few days later.”
