SAINTS STAYING UP WITH THE JONES-ES
MICK McCarthy hopes Nathan Jones gets Southampton out of the Premier League relegation zone, as the Blackpool boss believes the top flight side made a ‘good call’ in hiring him.
Jones was brought to St Mary’s from Luton after the dismissal of Ralph Hassenhuttl.
The Saints are currently bottom of the Premier League table.
Jones has previously coached at Brighton, Stoke and the Hatters, before he was granted a chance in
He added: “Listen, if I was to get to the final and win it, wouldn’t that be great? But the reality is I’ve been brought in to try to help the club stay in the league,” added McCarthy, back in football after more than 14 months out.
“A win on Saturday would be brilliant because that would give us some momentum for Middlesbrough coming up the following week and games to come.
“I hope we win it and on Monday they (the players) are all saying they expect to play again.
“But if we don’t I’ll be expecting the ones I haven’t picked to the top flight.
Former Ireland boss McCarthy said: “I know him, he’s a great lad, a very good coach.
Excellent
“He was excellent at Luton, I was delighted he got the Southampton job, and I know what it’s like when you’re in that bottom three in the Premier League. The pressure is on.
“You try that but that has to be an ongoing thing, you have to keep dripping that in, all the standards you want.”
Meanwhile, McCarthy has been slammed by Scottish club Hearts after the former Republic of Ireland manager questioned whether the Jambos were being
“But he’s had some great results in the cup and he’ll be looking for some more. But he’ll be like me, not on Saturday as he’ll be thinking about the FA Cup, but he’ll have one eye on that league position no doubt.
“He’s a really good coach. I’ve seen him develop from being at Charlton and their Under-23 coach and he used to come to Ipswich and then he was at Brighton and wherever else he’s been.
“I think it was a good call.” honest about his new club’s interest in Toby Sibbick.
The recently-appointed Seasiders boss was responding to questions about Sibbick after reports claimed his club had been told the former Barnsley player was not for sale after submitting a bid.
Trigger
Quoted on Lancashire Live, the former Celtic defender said: “I wouldn’t discuss transfers unless someone comes into the building.
“I’m not quite sure they (Hearts) are being honest. Are they just trying to trigger somebody else to come in and offer more?
“They say somebody has made a bid, so it looks great to the fans that they’re keeping him.”
Hearts responded by saying: “Contrary to comments attributed to Mick McCarthy, we can confirm Blackpool submitted one bid for Toby on Monday, which was dismissed out of hand.
“For anyone to suggest that we have been not ‘honest’ is, in itself, extremely disingenuous.
“The club would prefer to conduct all transfer matters in private, but we will not sit back and let the good name of Heart of Midlothian be besmirched.”