Nathan Jones joked that his heart couldn’t sustain the record-breaking managerial longevity of Middlesbrough’s Neil Warnock and hailed his counterpart as a “legendary manager” despite Luton pooping his party.
The Hatters scored three goals in five second half minutes at Kenilworth Road last night to ensure that the Boro boss marked his 1,602nd match in the dugout with a resounding 3-1 Championship defeat.
Warnock surpassed Dario Grady’s managerial milestone, but goals from Sonny Bradley, Elijah Adebayo and Harry Cornick fired Town back into the Championship play-off places as Town took the limelight in front of the Sky TV cameras.
“We played Middlesbrough twice last year, missed two penalties, so I think we’ve done enough for him,” said Jones on spoiling Warnock’s evening.
“You only have respect for him though. If you get to 100 games you’ve been a decent manager, if you get to 1,000 games, you’ve been a legendary manager, if you get to 1,600, you have to do something very, very well.
“He started in an era where it was tough, some real good characters, your Harry Redknapps when they started. He’s come through that and football evolves, so he’s had to evolve as well.
“Fair play, he’s had a wonderful, wonderful career, you look back in awe and say that’s the career you want to carve out, as if you take 1,600 games, then you’ve done something right.”
Jones was just 14 years old when Warnock made his managerial bow for Scarborough in 1987 and though he’s firmly reestablished himself back at Luton, the Welshman knows only too well from his short-lived spell at Stoke – who the Hatters play on Saturday – that the tenure of a modern manager can be short.
“I’m not sure my heart could take 1,600 games, genuinely,” he said. “It’s a different era now, but one thing is you play a lot of games now, so you can rack up games. I’m not far off 300, so I’ve got a hell of a long time to go, but I’m not sure my marriage or my heart would actually survive 1,602, if I’m honest.
“But, it’s a fantastic achievement. Anyone who gets to 1,000 games has done something phenomenal. And anyone that has done that amount of games has gone above and beyond.”
