Nathan Jones insists that it is not a “done deal” that he will be the next Southampton manager, but has said he hopes Luton fans understand why he will speak to the Premier League club tomorrow.
If he does leave the club, he will exit after a disappointing 2-0 Championship defeat at his former club Stoke City tonight, as his men conceded twice in the first 13 minutes.
Jones admitted that the speculation surrounding his future probably did affect his players, but he said his walk off the Bet365 Stadium towards the travelling Town faithful, clapping them as he headed for the tunnel was not a farewell gesture.
“It’s not a wave goodbye,” said Jones, adding: “I’ve still got to have a conversation, so I don’t want it to be like that because that creates snowball speculation again.
“Southampton have been very respectful, in terms of how they’ve gone about it. They’ve gone straight in the front door, asked if they can speak to me and said, ‘yeah, we’ll wait two days’ and the club has granted them permission.
“It’s been done very, very well. The process has been good.
“I can reassure fans, I’ve had two approaches. One from Stoke, one from Southampton and I’ve want to go. My resolve has been tested on a number of occasions and I’ve only taken, I don’t know what it is as a percentage, but maybe ten per cent of my opportunities.
“So, it’s still a little bit up in the air, so we’ll see.”
Speculation has swirled that personal terms have been agreed, but Jones said: “It’s not a done deal. It’s a Premier League club, who are a very good Premier League club, a respected Premier League club, that have asked permission to speak to me.
“Now, that’s a credit, one, to the club. It’s a credit to the players that I have. They have put me in this position.
“Yes, I have to manage a group of players, but they’ve given me an opportunity to speak to a Premier League club.
“Whatever comes of that, we don’t know. It is unsettling. Some people say, ‘it’s a good position to be in. You’re at a club that you love and you really care about, and then someone else covets a chat to you, to see if you’re the right one for their job.’
“It’s not a bad position to be in, it’s just a little unsettling at the moment.”
If tonight should be his last game in charge of Luton, asked if he was disappointed that it couldn’t be at Kenilworth Road, Jones told the media: “It depends. I want to pick my words carefully because I don’t want to give anyone anything tonight, but I’ve got a wonderful relationship with everyone at the football club.
“These things sometimes happen. What I can assure people is, I’ve had a number of enquiries in terms of my time, six years, at Luton, but I’ve always loved my relationship with everyone.
“Yeah, I would love to take a game at the Kenny again, being Luton manager, and whether that’s Saturday or whether that’s in the future I don’t 100 per cent know.
“The thing is, they’ve always been behind me, so I don’t want to thank the fans, or thank the players yet, because that could be premature. It’s a difficult interview, but I hope that fans understand why I’m going for the chat.
“Because it’s a different world, the Premier League, and I want to be there one day. Whether that’s with Luton or with someone else, I want to be there.
“It’s just an opportunity to go and chat and if it is right for me to do, because this is a wonderful project that we have here. A wonderful, wonderful project with great people from top to bottom. People that give me absolutely everything and that’s going to be tough to leave.”
Having taken Town from League Two to the Championship play-offs last term, and scooping the division’s Manager of the Year Award, Jones has built a reputation as one of the best bosses in the Football League, which has led to overtures from other clubs.
He said: “With the greatest of respect, I’ve probably had eight clubs, in the terms of my time since I’ve been here, that have enquired about me. But I’ve not wanted to chat to them.
“Or, if there has been internal conversations, they’ve been able to be kept quiet. This has been slightly different.
“Ten years ago, you might have (kept it quiet) but there are so many things and people want to know everything. There’s so many news feeds that ask for people and have people that give them information, so it’s tough.
“Look, it’s not ideal, the timing of everything, but that’s football.”
The match at Stoke proved somewhat of a sideshow, with the speculation surrounding Southampton’s interest, and Town were up against it from the off. Keeper Ethan Horvath missed out due to illness and his replacement Harry Isted was picking the ball out of his net in the third minute when Nick Powell waltzed unchecked into the Hatters’ box and headed the Potters into the lead.
And things got even worse in the 13th minute when Tom Lockyer, the hero at Blackpool at the weekend, headed spectacularly into his own net.
It has been well over a year since Luton recovered to win on the road after conceding first and so it proved again. Carlton Morris fired straight into the arms of keeper Jack Bonham from point-blank range, while an unmarked Lockyer hit the post from similar close quarters.
Stoke had only won on home soil twice before Town’s arrival as they struggle near the foot of the table, but there was just something missing and Luton boss Jones conceded his players were probably unsettled by his position.
“Absolutely they would be,” he said of his players’ preparations, adding of the Southampton links: “It doesn’t help. Sometimes you can’t help that. They’re normally an unbelievable group and nothing fazes them, but of course it’s going to unsettle you when something like that comes out. It’s inevitable
“Ten years ago, you’d have been able to do business very, very privately. With the way the world is today, it’s impossible.
“Look, I’ve been granted permission to speak to Southampton, which is a wonderful honour for me to be able to do that. I’ve had an number of enquiries, but I’ve never really wanted to unsettle anyone.
“This is slightly different, because of the club it is, so I’m going to have a conversation and that’s where we’re at, really.
“So, I’m going to brutally honest with you, I’m going to have a conversation tomorrow with them and then I’ll know more about it then.”
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