Graeme Jones is expecting to face a Swansea side tomorrow that has returned to the style of play he and Roberto Martinez instilled when they were at the club more than a decade ago.
The Hatters boss spent two years in South Wales as assistant manager, where they got promoted from League One to the Championship as title winners, amassing 92 points, the highest ever by a Welsh club in the Football League.
They got to Premier League in 2011 adopting a similar continental style but were relegated last year.
Asked about his time with the Jacks, Jones said: “(I have) just really fond memories. It was the start of our coaching career. We took on a wonderful football club who had been in the doldrums for a while and gave them a pattern of play in League One that stood them in good stead for ten years.
“They’ve reverted back to that in the last two appointments with Graham (Potter) and Steve Cooper. It’s a style that has worked for them through the years and I think that’s what we can expect from them tomorrow.”
Under Cooper, the Swans sit 10th in the league, 14 points better off than Town who are hovering one place above the relegation zone.
Jones said of his managerial adversary: “I’ve heard of him and you can see his method of work in their play. He’s intelligent on the game. I don’t know Steve personally. I’ll hopefully have a drink with him after the game tomorrow, but I love how his teams play, that’s for sure. It’ll be a difficult game.”
To highlight the task in front of a Town side that are on a two-game losing run and who have conceded the first goal in the majority of their matches this term, they will have to stop the likes of Ghanaian forward Andre Ayew.
The 30-year-old returned to the Welsh club in January 2018 after a spell with West Ham United, for a fee reportedly around £18million, potentially rising to £20million with add-ons.
“He’s only £20million, Ayew,” Jones joked, adding: “We’ve got deal with him. He’s a powerful player, he hits the target, he scores goals, but it’s about us wanting to impose ourselves both off and on the goal. That’s what I expect us to do.”
