Nathan Jones says Mick McCarthy is “one of the good guys” who congratulated him on Luton’s Great Escape last term but, despite an expected impact at Cardiff, the Hatters boss wants his friend’s trip to Kenilworth Road to be “disastrous”.
Town host the Bluebirds tonight, looking to build on their victory over Birmingham at the weekend, and notch their first Championship win on home soil since the 2-1 win over Bristol City on December 29.
Former Republic of Ireland boss McCarthy took charge of Jones’ hometown team last month and has led the Bluebirds to five unbeaten games to start his reign, including victories in their last three.
The Hatters chief said: “I think when you have a new manager, there is always a boost anyway. Someone like Mick with great experience and the way he gets around players, I had no doubt he was going to make an impact.
“(He’s a) great appointment from Cardiff, my hometown club, and I’m very pleased because I like Mick. Mick is one of the good guys, he’s honest, very respectful in the things he does and he has old-school respect in terms of his manners, the way he does stuff, how he speaks about other managers, his conduct, everything.
“I really, really like Mick and I speak to Mick regularly, in terms of that he was very good to us. Lent us Flynn Downes (when he was Ipswich manager), I think he took a bit of personal slack for lending us Flynn Downes at the time.
“Not that I needed to have anymore respect for him but I have and I’m really looking forward to seeing him because as I said, he is one of the good guys, Mick.
“I called him the other day and we had a real good chat about football and things. He sent me a lovely message when we survived, so he’s a real good guy. I really want him to do well. Obviously not (tonight), I hope he has a disastrous evening, but after that, I hope he does very well.”
Under previous Bluebirds boss Neil Harris, Cardiff handed the Hatters their heaviest defeat of the season when they clashed in the Welsh capital in November.
Two goals inside the first nine minutes effectively ended the contest on a dreary afternoon for Luton that Jones labelled “horrific” as his men eventually went down 4-0.
Reflecting on that last meeting, the Town chief said: “We let ourselves down there by not doing the basics right. Normally we do the basics very, very well, at times we lack a little bit of top end quality at this level, but we normally do the basics well, so that came as a real, real shock.
“It’s not quite making amends but if we don’t do the basics well then we won’t get anything from the game, that’s pretty clear from how Cardiff play.
“And when you come up against a Mick McCarthy side, you know you have to do the basics well as he’s always a front-footed manager. I’ve got great respect for Mick, so we know we’re going to need to be at our best.”
Luton are just three points behind seventh-placed Cardiff, with a game in hand, which highlights why Town are looking up the table, believing a place in the play-offs is not out of the question.
Jones said: “I think the Championship is that type of league, it’s a marginal league where there’s usually some real good sides in the league that are usually ex-Premier League sides.
“Some go against the grain like a Sheffield United, for example, a few years back, but usually some big sides in there that are the ones that make the running, and then it’s really open to qualify for the play-offs.
“If you put a run together and that gets you in and around it, you’ve only got to look at Cardiff. Cardiff got three wins on the bounce and they’re in seventh place so that’s what you need to do and, with three games per week, it gives you that opportunity.
“Now, we believe we’re in a decent position, not unrealistic, as believe we should be higher, but we’re in a better position than we were, so it’s all about work in progress, but it’s a real marginal league.”
