Southampton sack Jones with club in last place

LONDON, Feb 12 — Southampton parted ways with manager Nathan Jones today after the Welshman won just one Premier League game during his three-month tenure to leave the south-coast club rooted at the bottom of the standings.

Jones is the second Saints manager to lose his job this season after the former Luton Town boss was appointed in November as Ralph Hasenhuettl’s replacement a few days before the World Cup break.

While the Saints reached the fifth round of the FA Cup and the semi-finals of the League Cup after beating Manchester City, the club failed to get out of the relegation zone in the league.

“Southampton Football Club can confirm it has parted company with men’s first team manager Nathan Jones. First team coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan have also left the club,” the club said in a statement.

In Jones’s eight league games in charge, Southampton’s sole victory came against a similarly struggling Everton last month while they lost the other seven matches.

Jones’s last game in charge was Saturday’s defeat by 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers who came back from a goal down to win 2-1 to leave the Saints on 15 points in 22 games, four points from the safety zone.

Jones’ sacking was the culmination of poor form and bizarre excuses that earned him no favours. He was also on borrowed time after failing to win over the supporters at St Mary’s Stadium.

After a 3-0 defeat at Brentford earlier this month, the 49-year-old was heavily criticised for saying he had compromised on his style of management due to fan pressure.

He said he had not put his stamp on the team but had instead pandered to his players.

He eventually accepted responsibility for their performances but the damage was done as the atmosphere at the ground turned toxic with fans chanting, “You don’t know what you’re doing” and “Get out of our club”.

Southampton said first team lead coach Ruben Selles will take charge of training and prepare the squad for next Saturday’s game against Chelsea.