If anything was symptomatic of Nathan Jones’s calamitous short-lived stint at Southampton – at 94 days, his managerial tenure was the shortest in the club’s history – it was the sight of Jan Bednarek bumbling backwards over the goal-line as Adama Traore’s shot pinballed between his legs and in to help condemn Jones to a seventh defeat in eight Premier League matches. It was a few seconds that speaks to the way Southampton have apparently regressed in the three months since boldly appointing Jones as Ralph Hasenhüttl’s successor.
In many ways, Bednarek’s inclusion in the starting lineup was also indicative of a muddled and miserable few months at St Mary’s. Bednarek was allowed to join Aston Villa on a season-long loan in September, with the Poland defender down the pecking order at Southampton. Bednarek, who irritated Southampton supporters by saying he had signed for a “bigger club”, wanted to play regularly before the World Cup but made just one league start before being recalled in January.
On Saturday, Bednarek was again preferred to summer signings Duje Caleta-Car and Armel Bella-Kotchap, both of whom were left out of the squad (the latter is recently back from injury), while the Arsenal loanee Ainsley Maitland-Niles was parachuted in to play alongside him at centre-back.
January arrival Mislav Orsic, part of the Croatia squad that finished third at the World Cup in December, was also omitted from the squad against Wolves. Supporters hoped the 30-year-old Orsic would help ease the scoring burden on Che Adams, one of few players to impress this season, but the former Dinamo Zagreb forward has played just six minutes in the league since signing at the beginning of last month and was among a quartet of first-team players who played for the B team instead of travelling to Brentford last weekend.
Jones, however, should not take all of the blame. He was never going to turn down a three-and-a-half-year contract and the opportunity to manage in the Premier League for the first time. Southampton were not put off by the red flags from Jones’s difficult spell at Stoke – he was sacked after nine months with the club in the Championship relegation zone – or the reality that his success at Luton, whom he propelled into the playoffs last season despite one of the smallest budgets in the division, came in a completely contrasting environment.
Overhauling the dynamic of their squad last summer was always going to be a brave step. In came three talented teenagers from Manchester City – Juan Larios, Samuel Edozie and Roméo Lavia – a raw 20-year-old forward from Bordeaux, Sékou Mara, plus a new first-choice goalkeeper, Gavin Bazunu, who does not turn 21 until this month and spent last season on loan from City at rivals Portsmouth in League One.
Southampton granted Oriol Romeu his wish to return to Spain but his experience has been missed, while they never truly replaced Danny Ings, who was sold 18 months ago. Another wave of promising youngsters arrived in January at a combined cost of almost £60m, including the 20-year-old Ghana winger Kamaldeen Sulemana, a glimmer of light in defeat on Saturday.
A fans’ forum for 100 season-ticket holders on Tuesday was inevitably dominated by supporters questioning Jones’s appointment. At one point a fan earned a few cheers after ridiculing Jones by mimicking the Welshman. But Jones also invited criticism by antagonising fans with his post-match comments.
There was plenty of bravado, the bizarre xG-fuelled rant after the 3-0 loss to Brentford, the swipe at Paul Doswell, the Havant & Waterlooville manager, after beating Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, and instances of referring to Southampton as “they” and his players as “them”. Martin Semmens, the Saints chief executive, had the thankless task of trying to explain Jones’s comments. “It probably annoyed everyone in this room but I think he was just trying to express his passion,” Semmens said.
Everton recently selected Sean Dyche, who kept Burnley in the top flight for six straight seasons, as the man to breathe life into their fight for survival but several clubs, including Southampton, blinked sooner and sought change last autumn. Wolves eventually replaced Bruno Lage with Julen Lopetegui, a former Real Madrid, Sevilla and Spain manager. Aston Villa appointed Unai Emery, a four-times Europa League winning coach, as Steven Gerrard’s successor.
Before those moves Brighton lost Graham Potter to Chelsea and so moved for Roberto De Zerbi, whose work at Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk meant he was a name on the lips of Premier League executives. Southampton gambled on Jones and how it has badly backfired. On Saturday a young Saints fan wafted a giant cardboard P45 in Jones’s direction and his exit is a full stop at the end of an error.
