Jones slammed after Southampton interview

BBC pundit Chris Sutton has slammed Southampton manager Nathan Jones after his “erratic” recent interview with the press.What’s the latest?Over the weekend, the Saints were thumped 3-0 away from home in the Premier League against Brentford. Indeed, goals from Ben Mee, Bryan Mbuemo and Mathias Jensen sealed an easy win for the Bees.The result leaves Southampton struggling down at the very foot of the league table but when talking after the game, Jones delivered a defiant and somewhat bizarre press conference.Indeed, he spoke about how he has “compromised in terms of certain principles” and now he intends to go back to his original style that saw his previous team Luton up there with the best in Europe in terms of statics.When talking about these comments on BBC 606, Sutton claimed that Jones was being too “emotional” after the game and suggested that it could be a worrying sign.He said (18:38) “Amazing interview from Nathan Jones. I mean, it was you know incredible, you know talking about he’s compromised too much.”And then you know he’s bigging himself up in the interview as well, saying that statistically, he is one of the best in Europe for aggressive, playing balls in the box, for pressing, clean sheets, defending, doing all the good things. He’s one of the most fluent managers in terms of in the game and he’s created really good sides. And he says he’s gone away from that.“It’s not that I don’t like him, I just think he is so emotional. And I think some of the things he comes out with… I think if I’m a Southampton fan, listening to that interview – please listen if you haven’t done Southampton fans – I just think he’s too erratic. I really, really do. He is a passionate guy. But if I’m a Southampton fan, there are alarm bells ringing because of that interview.”War of wordsIt seems as though Sutton isn’t the only one to think Jones’ comments were a little odd. Indeed, when speaking on Match of the Day, Ian Wright said they were “strange” and asked: “What are you talking about?”.Jones only arrived at Southampton midway through the season but has won just one and lost the other six of his first seven Premier League games so far.What’s more, this isn’t the first time he’s been outspoken in the media. Indeed, he seemed to take a bit of a dig at his own supporters when they booed him after a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest.He said: “I can’t pre-empt what fans are going to do, that’s entirely up to them. It doesn’t concern me. It surprises me a little but that’s their prerogative. We need everyone and that includes fans. I understand their frustrations but that’s not adding any positivity.”All in all, it’s a mess right now and it’s easy to understand why he is keen on changing his tactical approach. However, his messaging in the media could certainly be delivered in a slightly tempered fashion.