Saints fire Jones after humiliating loss to Wolves

February 12 - Southampton Premier League have sacked manager Nathan Jones a day after their humiliating home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Jones only lasted 95 days at the club.

A brief statement from the club read: "Southampton Football Club can confirm that they have parted ways with men's first team manager Nathan Jones.

"First-team coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan have also left the club. "First-team head coach Rubén Sellés will take charge of training and prepare the team ahead of next weekend's game against Chelsea."

Jones leaves Saints three points from the end of the Premier League after losing nine of 14 games in the lead.

Brought from Luton Town as a relatively unknown and certainly unproven manager at Premier League level, Jones won just one of nine Premier League matches and concluded with a run of four successive defeats at home in St Mary's.

He had opened his management of the Saints by losing four of his first five games in charge. His only win was a 2-1 EFL Cup win over League One Lincoln. However, this was followed by a quarter-final win over Manchester City before a semi-final loss to Newcastle United.

The Saints' new owners, Sport Republic, in their first season in charge, have had a miserable time as the club's caretakers.

After taking over a club comfortably placed in the middle of the Premier League table and a team with confirmed Premier League players, they ended the season just above the relegation places.

Over the summer, they rang the staff changes, bringing in a group of young players, presumably in a bid to make money in the transfer market. However, this came at the expense of their proven existing team.

Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, who had been in charge since 2018, struggled to integrate his charges into a cohesive unit and was replaced during the World Cup break by Jones.

From Jones' first game in charge, it was clear that he was also unable to bring the team together.

The Saints have splashed the cash during the winter transfer window, including breaking club transfer record €25m Kamaldeen Sulamana from Ligue 1 Rennes (the record is for Danny Ings at 25.1 million euros) and striker Paul Onuachu from Genk.< /p>

They both made their debuts against Wolves, but it was far from enough to save Jones.

Sport Republic now has the added expense of finding a new manager.

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