The Nathan Jones debacle is bad news for ambitious managers in the EFL

N athan Jones says the job he did as Luton Town manager was “pound-for-pound the best in Europe” but his brief tenure at Southampton could have a career-limiting impact on more than just his own aspirations. He was the first manager working in the Football League to be appointed by a top-flight club for more than three years and his struggles in the job may make other clubs think twice about dipping into the second tier again.

The work Jones did at Luton across two spells was impressive, so it’s easy to see why he was on the radar of bigger clubs, regardless of his haphazard spell at Stoke in between. But his failure in the top flight – he lost nine of his 14 matches and was sacked after just 94 days in charge – shows that, contrary to what Southampton director of football Rasmus Ankersen said about there not being much difference between the Premier League and Championship, top-flights clubs are wary of managers from the EFL.

His bizarre interviews, unwise words about Welsh women and hubris reflect his own character rather than the Football League, but the fact the methods he used to great effect in the Championship did not cut it at the highest level could leave a lasting legacy.

Premier League clubs do not need another excuse to ignore EFL managers. In the last decade, top-flight clubs have made more than 100 managerial appointments but just nine of them have worked in the Championship in the year before they were given the job. Jones was the first manager to be poached from the second tier since the summer of 2019, when Frank Lampard took over at Chelsea after guiding Derby County to the playoffs final and Graham Potter was appointed by Brighton after a decent spell at Swansea.

Both managers, however, were already