I HAVEN’T DONE BAD FOR A SKINNY RAT-FACED WELSH BOY

Jones out to prove point to Saints fans who wanted big name

‘SKINNY rat-faced Welsh boy’ Nathan Jones is happy to be written off before he has started as Southampton manager after saying he has already scripted his own underdog story.

Jones takes charge of Saints for the first time today at Liverpool after being named as surprise successor to the sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The appointment has been met with a mixed response from Saints fans hoping for a more glamorous name.

But former Luton boss Jones, 49, hit back at his sceptics, saying: “I know I am not the biggest name the club could have gone for but it doesn’t really bother me.

“It can bother fans and so on but I have to change that perspective and only results will do that.

“I come from a mining community in Wales which is the back end of anywhere.

“I left school at 16 to go to Cardiff City, got released and 33 years later I’m managing a Premier League club. It’s an underdog story really.

“I’m very proud of that and I’ve never been given a golden spoon. I’ve always had to work for everything and in God’s will I’m here where I am now.

“I like working hard. I’ve never really been gifted anything.

“The fact that a skinny, rat-faced Welsh boy is managing in the Premier League, that’s pretty much of a good story anyway.”

Jones admits Saints, who are in the relegation zone, have taken a gamble on him and that he is taking himself out of his comfort zone after two successful spells at Luton with an ill-fated 11-month stint at Stoke in between. The former Brighton left-back, whose wife’s family are devout Saints fans, said: “I’ve got a decent name as a Championship manager.

“I’ve got an unbelievable name at League One and at League Two I would actually be a real coup, so unless I want to stay at that level then, sooner or later, I have to get past that.

“I’ve never made a decision based on my name. It’s my work so if I feel I can impact and do something then, yes, I make that choice.

“I believe in the work we do and that I can transfer that to a wonderful football club and I wouldn’t have jumped for any job, I really wouldn’t have, but I felt this was the right fit.

“I feel I can maximise the work that I do and the potential I have at this football club and that’s what I’m excited about.

“As a player I craved a manager to care about me, I craved someone to want to make me better

“I never had it, which is ironic because I played for 23 years, but I want to be that manager, that coach who basically changes their lives!”