Jones: ‘I absolutely feel I’m a good fit for Southampton’

When asked the double question of whether he was up to the task and whether he thought he had broken bridges with supporters, he initially replied, “I’m not sure.”

Later at a press conference, in the second part, which was not allowed to be printed, Jones was asked to clarify exactly which part of the question he meant.

With the Saints at their lowest level in the Premier League after 21 games, seven of them under his management (six losses) and a strange string of comments after Saturday’s defeat, anything was possible.

Jones quickly confirmed, “I strongly believe that I am the right person for this job because I know my job.

“If others, outside influences or whatever feel I don’t know. But if you ask me, I categorically believe that I am the right person for this job. I know what I can do and what I do every day and I know what we need.”

Jones’ attitude at the press conference ahead of the St. Mary’s relegation rivals’ visit on Saturday was noticeably different.

While many of the core ideas were the same – faith in God to help him, a desire to be an aggressive, outgoing team, and a bit of rebelliousness and uncertainty about his decisions – Jones seemed more thoughtful.

“I think every situation is unique, but listen, I was in Luton. I was homesick when I came to Luton as a gambler,” began the Jones anecdote.

“The manager is gone, David Pleat is gone, my next step was to go to Spain. It doesn’t make sense because I miss Luton and then I decide to go to Spain.”

He added: “I like challenges, I want to be the best version of myself. I could have stayed in a mining village, become a PE teacher, have a good life and marry a nice girl from Wales. Good. Not me.

“I want to test myself at all levels. And that means nothing against Welsh women,” he joked. “I want to test myself, I have always wanted to test myself. I wanted to test myself, become a player and survive.

“I knew that I was not a brilliant player, but I was the strongest man in history. I thought, “I’m going to keep this dream and climb as high as I can.” In doing so, I was earning coaching badges and learning from people, and I wanted to be the best coach in the world.

“That’s who I wanted to be. I learned to develop myself, then the moment came when I thought that I could become a manager. I didn’t want to be a manager, but then I liked it. I like the pressure, I liked it when the team won, I liked it more when my team played well than when I played well.

“Now I am injured like everyone else, like every Southampton fan. I’m not saying I’m a huge Southampton fan, but my life depends on it now. So after that I don’t go to the pub and stuff like that, but my life depends on it and I like the pressure, I like the challenge.”

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