Luton Town have confirmed that manager Nathan Jones has joined Premier League club Southampton, with chief recruitment officer Mick Harford stepping in to take interim charge of Saturday’s Championship clash with Rotherham.
In a statement, that Hatters confirmed only, ‘an acceptable compensation package with Southampton for a deal that will also see assistant-manager Chris Cohen and coach Alan Sheehan join the Saints’, while their new club confirmed it was on a three-and-a-half year deal.
That was despite initial reports of the deal last night being £4million, dropping to £2.5million when it was announced on Sky Sports and the three men were pictured at St Mary’s watching the Saints’ Carabao Cup win on penalties to League One Sheffield Wednesday.
For Luton, the search had already begun for Jones’ permanent replacement with chief executive Gary Sweet saying a recruitment group has been meeting every day since Southampton approached Luton about Jones.
After the weekend, they’ll have a break in domestic football to make their decision while the controversial first-ever winter World Cup in Qatar takes place, which will feature Town defender Tom Lockyer and loan keeper Ethan Horvath.
Sweet said: “We would like to thank Nathan for what he has brought to our club over 303 matches, which is the third most of any Luton manager.
“Together with his staff, and of course the brilliant group of players he has nurtured for the best part of six and a half years, he has given us some fantastic memories and a team to be constantly proud of.
“We all wish him well in his new role and thank Southampton for the way in which everything has been handled. They have acted in a most professional manner since first making their approach to us, as has Nathan.
“The events have panned out exactly as described over the last few days and we appreciate it’s highly frustrating to watch, but we would rather it be transparent and, genuinely, the formalities only came to a conclusion in the early hours of this morning. Until then, there remained two possible outcomes.
“Nathan leaves behind a fantastic legacy, along with Alan and Chris, who have both also played a significant part in taking us on a journey from League Two, in Alan’s case, to establishing us in the higher reaches of the Championship. We thank them both too and wish them every success.
“The fact we are looking up towards the Premier League, rather than down towards League One as we were when we brought Nathan back to the club, makes the Luton Town job an attractive one.
“This gives a genuine opportunity to give our continued progress a refresh, and we are treating this process exactly the same as when recruiting players. A managerial recruitment group has been set up and has met every day since we were first contacted by Southampton as we conduct a thorough search for his successor, and we are well into that painstakingly detailed process.
“Once again we can rely on our very own Big Mick to carry the honour of leading our men out on Saturday, and we will take the time afforded us by the World Cup break to ensure we find the right person to continue taking our football club forward.”
Harford, who has battled prostate cancer in recent years, took caretaker charge of the Hatters when Jones last left Luton for Stoke in January 2019. The club legend steadied the ship with a draw at his hometown club on his way to securing the League One title and getting Town promoted back to the Championship.
Once there, Luton gave the job to Graeme Jones who had been a well-respected coach at West Brom, Swansea, Everton and with the Belgian national team at the last World Cup. But the team struggled in their first season back in the second tier and were in the drop zone when the Covid pandemic struck, lockdown was enforced football was cancelled.
The Geordie was sacked and Nathan Jones was reappointed in May 2020 in a shock return after getting the axe at Stoke. The Welshman had nine games to save Town’s season when matches resumed and he managed the Great Escape on the final day against Blackburn Rovers.
The following season Jones steered Luton to a mid-table finish and then last term they reached the play-offs, getting narrowly beaten in the semi-final at Huddersfield. However, the 49-year-old was named Championship Manager of the Year and, having placed Town two points off the play-off this season, he was named as the front-runner for the Southampton job when they sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl on Monday.
Jones was given permission to speak with the Saints but only after taking Town to his former club Stoke on Tuesday night where the Hatters lost 2-0. Afterwards, Jones said a move to the south coast wasn’t a “done deal” but that he hoped fans would understand why he was going to speak with the Premier League strugglers. And, after negotiations yesterday, he was this morning officially named as their boss.
Speaking to Southampton in his first interview, Jones told the Saints: “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.
“I feel this is a real calculated club. 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.
“There are certain things which are specific, of how they look and what they look for, things that we’ve been doing well at Luton that they want to implement here.
“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.”
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There’s inevitably been the odd issue with NJ over the years – it goes with the territory – but overall he’s done a magnificent job for us since taking over from John Still in League 2. The rescue act after the GJ disaster bordered on the incredible, and last season was a tremendous achievement. It’s probably time for him to move on now, however – a new challenge for him and a fresh perspective at KR.
Many thanks, NJ, and all the very best.