Sacked: Nathan Jones has left Southampton
(Picture: PA)Southampton have sacked manager Nathan Jones to end one of the most bizarre managerial reigns in recent Premier League history.
The rock-bottom Saints parted company with Jones on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after a damaging 2-1 home defeat by relegation rivals Wolves in which his side blew a one-goal lead against 10 men in front of a furious crowd at St Mary’s.
Such a dispiriting loss was spiralling Southampton’s seventh in their last eight top-flight matches and ninth in 14 games overall under the Welshman, leaving them in 20th place and four points adrift of safety with 16 fixtures still to play this term.
Jones spent just 95 days on the south coast after being poached from Championship high-flyers Luton to replace Ralph Hasenhuttl just before the mid-season World Cup break in November.
However, his short-lived tenure was an extremely unhappy one, with fans left quickly incredulous by his divisive tactical approach, poor results and a string of odd comments to the press.
Fans made their feelings towards Jones abundantly clear again against Wolves, with chants of “get out of our club” as he headed straight down the tunnel at the full-time whistle.
Last week, the former Stoke boss claimed that he had “compromised certain principles” since taking charge at Southampton and admitted after yesterday’s defeat that he had “no idea” if he would be permitted to continue in the role.
First-team coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan have also departed Southampton along with Jones, with another coach in Ruben Selles stepping up temporarily to lead the team ahead of next weekend’s trip to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Saints will now search quickly for their third manager of the season in a desperate bid to beat the drop, with Marcelo Bielsa and Nuno Espirito Santo among the very early favourites with bookmakers.
