Nathan Jones slams critics after beating Man City: ‘I’ve had non league managers calling me out’

Nathan Jones slams critics after beating Man City, simply saying ‘I’ve had non league managers calling me out’ in his post match interview.

Southampton pulled off quite the surprise on Wednesday night when his side knocked out the favourites to reach the semi-finals, a 2-0 win.

This comes after the Saints boss lost his opening four matches and his side still find themselves bottom of the Premier League.

But he has put together back-to-back wins in cup competitions at Crystal Palace and this win over Man City.

Jones made reference back to a comment made by Paul Doswell, manager of Havant & Waterlooville, who had said he was out of his depth on BBC Radio Solent.

Doswell had said: “You don’t go through any managerial career without difficult moments but in all sports there’s levels, and I’m a firm believer in that.

“My level is the top end of National League, as a cricketer, I was Hampshire league level and I wasn’t good enough to play county cricket, I wasn’t good enough to play for Saints which would have been my dream as a footballer.

“One of the points I want to make is that Nathan Jones is up against the best football brains in the Premier League, that’s the level and that’s the point I want to make.

“If you look at (Mauricio) Pochettino, (Ronald) Koeman and Ralph (Hasenhuttl), within a week or certainly two you saw an absolute identity and a way the team were going to play, how they were going to press and how they were going to pass the football.”

”We’ve all got levels in life for a reason and I don’t think Nathan Jones is a Premier League manager”@HWFCOfficial boss and lifelong #saintsfc fan Paul Doswell has been speaking to @AdamBlackmore

🔊 Listen here 👇https://t.co/8Hfgkb4Sz1

— BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) January 5, 2023

He added: “In essence, it was easily identifiable. I’ve been to three of the four Saints games now, and I watch every game on Wyscout, there is no identity. What Nathan has done is fallen into the trap of wanting to play a certain way and you can only do that if you have a six-foot-four target man.

Jones spoke on what Doswell said, responding: “I don’t know if I changed perceptions. Within 10 minutes of the Brighton game, I was inept.

“The non-League manager criticised me the other day. It baffled me. I don’t speak about Havant & Waterlooville. I don’t speak about levels I don’t know about.”

“I’m really pleased with the performance. I thought we were excellent as a team.

“We were aggressive, we were organised, we went after the game, it wasn’t a smash and grab.

“I’m proud of the players and proud of the staff. I’ve had people calling me out, I’ve even had non-League managers calling me out saying I’m not good enough.

“It’s a proud moment for me. To be on the same level as him (Guardiola) is wonderful, it’s what I’ve worked very, very hard over my 33-year career to do.

“I’ve believed I’ve earned the right to be here. Whether people think I’m good enough or not doesn’t really affect me because I’ve been questioned at every level I’ve been at and I like to respond.

“It’s been tough but it’s what you’re paid for as a manager.”

Pep Guardiola felt his side were destined to struggle regardless of the team he picked.

He said: “Who knows whether with Kevin and Erling it would have been different? I don’t know it.

“We tried to do our best and we rotate the team when we played against Chelsea after the Premier League and it’s good.

“I understand how this business works. Always we try to have everybody involved and everybody has to do it but today was not the case.

“I had the feeling today it doesn’t matter what line-up I am selecting, we are performing this way. Don’t ask me why. This is my experience.

“It doesn’t matter today the line-up we choose, it would happen because we were not here. And that’s why when this happen, they deserve it.”

SEE MORE: Dramatic penalty shoot-out ends in mass brawl between Nottingham Forest and Wolves

This is what fans had to say as Nathan Jones slams critics after beating Man City, in which he said ‘I’ve had non league managers calling me out’…

@MatthewLeGod: Jones vs Doswell wasn’t a rivalry I thought I’d ever be adding to the database on FM23! #SaintsFC

@ChrisBonner93: Such a sour response. Paul Doswell spoke as a fan first and foremost and he certainly deserves his opinion. I agreed with everything he said the other day, and like me tonight his opinion may be changing. #saintsfc

@ltfckimbo: Well said NJ. Bad enough that anyone’s writing off a manager after 4 games at a club already in free-fall. But for this non-league bum to call out the championship manager of the season as being out of his depth was so disrespectful its unreal.

@THE_SA1NTS: He woke up and chose violence! 🤣

@RickBigshow: Don’t get the hate towards him. He’s worked hard to rise through the leagues and doesn’t take any shit. He shoots from the hip and certainly isn’t a ‘yes man’. He’s joined a club in free fall a couple of months ago yet the fans and papers are calling him out of his depth

@SaintLee_: Oh my, the rest of this season is going to be an absolute rollercoaster ride at #saintsfc 🤪

@RickBigshow: Don’t get the hate towards him. He’s worked hard to rise through the leagues and doesn’t take any shit. He shoots from the hip and certainly isn’t a ‘yes man’. He’s joined a club in free fall a couple of months ago yet the fans and papers are calling him out of his depth

@peckham86: Ha, so petty. It sounds like he has spent his spare time scrolling social media; he should be focusing on the performance of the team and saying that’s the minimum expected standard for the rest of the season.

@andydavis1978: He desperately needs some PR training.. I get it he is opinionated but if he ever wants a relationship with the fans he has to get his head out of his own a*se and take some accountability when things don’t work, which has been the case in every game except last night.

@ArchersRoadEnd:
Such an odd man.
Wins: makes digs.
Loses: makes digs.
I don’t like overly media-managed press conferences and ‘we go again’ sound bites, but there is a balance to be struck.
#saintsfc

@nonleaguerobber: Its so important for non league clubs to build relationships with pro clubs , you never know when your gonna need the help , loans , financial pre season games etc . The hawks board should have him in and rip him to bits , embarrassing man . #Dos

@TYSONDURAN: If the team plays the style of football they did last night, then supporters will back him, win, lose or draw. If he serves up the type of football he did against Forest. Then he will get called out on it. He said Forest was a good performance, hence the backlash. #SaintsFC

@Joeeeeeee_96: Has he really just gone for some non-league manager after beating Man City 🤣🤣🤣

@CallumWilson21: If you’d done this earlier, we’d have beaten Forest Nathan. You deserved the criticism for the incompetent displays. It took you a while but maybe you’ve figured out the winning formula the fans have been trying to tell you about. Consistency will tell #saintsfc

@DeanoBaggio83: Fantastic result last night & well in his right to give it back, but boy does he have the arrogance of someone like Jose. I really do hope this is the turnaround for him, let’s see on Saturday. #SaintsFc