Jones eager to reassure Town fans that Luton job is not a 'quick fix'

Hatters chief planning on a long stint at Kenilworth Road
Luton have appointed Nathan Jones as manager once moreLuton have appointed Nathan Jones as manager once more
Luton have appointed Nathan Jones as manager once more

Luton boss Nathan Jones has moved to reassure fans that he doesn’t see his second stint at Kenilworth Road as a ‘quick fix.’

The newly-appointed Hatters manager was in charge for three years between January 2015 to January 2018, in which he was often quoted as saying Barcelona was the only club he would depart for.

However, despite a number offers to move on, he was eventually tempted to leave by Stoke City, doing so just days before a trip to Sunderland and with Luton involved in a promotion fight, something they completed thanks to Mick Harford.

Jones was then sacked by the Potters in November last year, and named as the successor to Graeme Jones this morning, where he confirmed he would never leave in such a manner again.

He said: “I’m not at the stage of my career where I want a quick little fix.

“I’ve thought long and hard, as a purely professional decision, it’s a no-brainer for me.

“In terms of an emotional one, as we always have at Luiton, it’s an emotional rollercoaster, but it’s one I’m fully committed to.

“The reason for me coming back is to resume the journey, not to get a quick fix, not to try and move down south, or whatever it is, the little things, the big thing is, I want to recommit.

“Yes, it’s much publicised the exit, I want to put that behind me, I want to build new bridges, and I want to continue the journey that we were on as we were on a wonderful journey.

"I was the one that broke that, now I want to resume that.

“I actively want that. You never know what's going to happen in the future but I want to be here.

“Other players have left the football club with the blessing of everyone because it was done in the right way.

“I think that was the thing with my exit, it wasn't done in the right way.

“I don't think anyone would have begrudged me moving to Stoke if it had been done in their right way, they would have been disappointed but the big thing was the manner of it.

“That will never happen again.

“I want this to be a long-term thing. I want to be here in 10 years’ time. I want us to be a Premier League club.

"I want us to take our first steps in securing our Championship status, to then become a more settled, established Championship side, to build the club on a good foundation.

“Then, where's the next step? Because we always plan.

"When we came in here we said we were going to be a Championship side.

"I said, ‘if you employ me we're going to be a Championship side by the summer of 2020’.

"We got there in the summer of 2019, so that's what I want to do I want to continue that journey because I'm not a quick-fix, fly-by-night manager.

“I've had to think long and hard about certain decisions I've made.

"I've always made sane decisions, that felt like a sane decision, but it was the manner of it, it was the craziness and sometimes football does that to you.

"So, now I am back here, and I want to continue that journey.”

Town chief executive Gary Sweet also confirmed that he expected Jones to be at the helm for the foreseeable future as well, saying: "It's a long term contract, we don’t do anything by halves.

"I think it would be wrong for us to appoint anybody for a nine game period and why this is so important to us is the fact that we’ve repaired this, is a critical element of us being able to commit to Nathan and him to commit to us, our acceptance of that.

"We’ve got here sitting in front of us the best manager we’ve had in decades.

"And if you put the personal things aside, if you are disgruntled by the way he left, which we were, if you put that aside, we’ve got the best manager that we could possibly have trying to keep us up in the Championship.

"So why wouldn't we want that to be a long term thing?

"In our conversations, we’ve often discussed situations like when Eddie Howe to a years sabbatical at Burnley from Bournemouth and went back and effectively became part of the furniture there, this could happen here at Luton.

"We never wanted Nathan to leave at the point of time that he did, we always felt that Nathan was going to be a long term manager for us at that time.

"So he’s admitted that he made a gross misjudgment, and we’re happy with that explanation, so let's put it back on, let's make sure this is a proper commitment."