Technician is fired and reappears as a player in England – 02/21/2023 – O Mundo É a Bola

Nathan Jones had at the end of 2022 the best opportunity of his career as a coach, which started in 2014.

In November, the Welshman took charge of Southampton, which was doing poorly in the Premier League, the top division of the English Championship, with three wins, three draws and eight defeats.

Sadly for Saints fans, the picture did not improve under Jones, who had spells at Luton Town (twice) and Stoke City.

After eight games in the Premier, with seven defeats and a measly victory, the club from the south of England, at the bottom of the table, decided to fire him, three months after hiring.

With Southampton in the relegation zone and repeatedly beaten in the English, the coach’s stay was not shorter because the team achieved positive results in the Cups (in England and the English League) in December and January.

Discarded after the 2-1 defeat to Wolverhampton, on the 11th of this month, Jones raised his head and left in search of a replacement in football.

It worked, so much so that he stayed away from the sport for a very short time. He reappeared a week later, on Saturday (18).

He was on the field in the 4-0 defeat by Cranborne FC, as a visitor, over Wareham Rangers, in one of the divisions of the Dorset League, one of the leagues that make up the 12th division in England.

That’s right, the 12th division, filled with 851 teams, whose rosters are made up of amateur footballers.

I don’t know of a country that has more divisions, in an organized way, than England. Today’s land of the king has more than two dozen of them, with the total number of teams surpassing 7,000.

When I write that Jones was on the pitch, I don’t mean he was on the sidelines as Cranborne FC manager.

He was literally on the field, acting as a player. This at 49 years old.

And it went well. A former player –the best known team for which he played is Brighton–, he used a cross from the left for a colleague to score the first winning goal.

However, before he could try to improve his performance, Jones had to be replaced, due to a leg (calf) injury.

Rumors are that he may have a short spell at Cranborne, as he is tipped to resume his coaching career. There is interest from Queens Park Rangers, from the second division.

If this does not happen, as soon as he recovers from the injury, he will be able to continue to help his current team to progress in the objective of gaining access to the slightly less modest 11th division.

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