After Southampton was fired, Nathan Jones was considered for a position at Bristol City; now, his Charlton team can surprise Robins.
After winning promotion through the League One play-offs, the Addicks have won their first two games. They defeated Watford 1-0 to end Watford’s opening-day record and then defeated Stevenage 3-1 in the Carabao Cup to show off their depth. Given that Gerhard Struber led the team to a 4-1 success away at Sheffield United on Saturday and a 2-0 cup triumph against MK Dons on Tuesday, the trip to Ashton Gate won’t be simple. Nahki Wells, a fan favourite, left Bristol City this summer for nothing, but they have since added Emil Riis and Adam Randell and retained the players that helped them get to the Championship play-offs the previous season.
However, reports discovered less than two years ago reveal that the Jones and Robins could have taken very different routes. At the end of 2023, Jones was on the Robins’ list of manager targets after declining a position with City’s development teams in favour of joining his boyhood club, Cardiff City. After two years in command and with the Robins in 15th place in the Championship after losing five of their previous seven games, Nigel Pearson was fired that October. According to reports, Jones, Gareth Ainsworth, and John Eustace were on their shortlist to succeed the former Leicester manager.
After being fired by Southampton, the former Luton manager had been unemployed for eight months. With just one victory in eight league games, he is the Saints’ shortest-serving permanent manager in history. The Welshman was never acquired by Bristol City, though, and they instead hired Liam Manning, who earned them a spot in the playoffs before departing the team this summer for Norwich City. Jones took a little less than a year off from management after being fired from Southampton and Stoke City.
In February 2024, he made his way back to The Valley, where he had previously worked as a coach under former Sheffield Wednesday coach Chris Powell. Since then, the Welshman has turned Charlton into a Championship team after they were in danger of being relegated to League Two. Lloyd Jones, Josh Edwards, and Kayne Ramsay are just a few of the Addicks’ outstanding backfield players, who helped them record 25 clean sheets throughout all competitions the previous season. Last Saturday, they maintained that pattern against Watford.
Jones has also proven his managerial prowess by turning Charlton from a team that gave up nine goals in the final fifteen minutes of the ten games prior to his arrival to one that finished with the most goals—11—of any team in England’s top four leagues after ninety minutes. The Addicks will need to maintain a strong defence in order to have their best chance in the Championship after five years away, even though they have increased their firepower with the addition of Reading supporter Harvey Knibbs and League One Golden Boot winner Charlie Kelman from the previous season. When they play free-scoring City this Saturday, they will undoubtedly need to do that.
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