SOUTHAMPTON have confirmed Nathan Jones as their manager.
The 49-year-old, who replaces Ralph Hasenhuttl, has penned a three-and-a-half-year deal at St Mary’s after leaving Championship club Luton Town.
He will be joined at the South Coast club by first team coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan.
Jones will be in charge for Southampton‘s trip to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday and he cannot wait to get to work.
He said: “I’m really proud to be given this opportunity.
“I know a lot about the club from back in the days of The Dell, to coming here to St Mary’s, and it’s a wonderful football club.
“A lot of my family are Southampton fans, which doesn’t half help, and I feel really, really proud to be given the opportunity, and I’m really looking forward to getting started.
“Obviously, I wanted to manage in the Premier League, I’ve dreamt of that since I’ve become a coach or a manager, but this club in particular – because of how it’s run, because of the structure, because of how they look deeper than just results – really appeals to me.”
Jones was in his second stint at Luton, having left the club for a rotten spell as Stoke boss before returning to Kenilworth Road in 2020.
The former Brighton defender kept the club up on the final day of the 2019/20 season.
PLAY OUR DREAM TEAM WORLD CUP FANTASY FOOTBALL GAME TO WIN A SHARE OF £50k
He then guided the Hatters into the Championship play-offs last term, losing to Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals.
Jones, who leaves Luton sitting ninth in the second tier, added: “It’s pretty amazing really. It’s been a whirlwind time, but I’m really proud to be given this opportunity at a wonderfully traditional football club.
“It had to be something specific, because Luton is a wonderful football club and everything there is geared towards success – the alignment from top to bottom – and that was the thing I felt is here as well.
“It’s always a gamble when you employ a manager, when you take a job at a football club, but for me this is one I’m excited about and really feel I can impact.”
Meanwhile, the Saints axed Hasenhuttl, 55, with the club in the bottom three after their 4-1 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday.
