Jones still 'obsessed' with the Hatters as he prepares for landmark 300th game in charge of Luton

Ahead of his 300th match in charge of the club tomorrow, boss Nathan Jones has revealed he is just as ‘obsessed’ with his job as Luton manager as he was when he first started.

Then, back on January 16, 2016, Jones, who had just left his role as Brighton first team coach, took charge of a Town side that drew 0-0 with Cambridge United, a result that left them sitting in the lower echelons of League Two.

Fast forward six years, and barring an eight month sojourn as Stoke City manager, whom he took for 38 matches, before being sacked and returning to save Luton from relegation to League One in May 2020, he will become only the third Hatters manager to ever reach a triple century when facing Sunderland at Kenilworth Road tomorrow.

He has some way to go to catch Luton’s two longest serving managers in David Pleat (609 games) and Dally Duncan (514 games), but when asked if he was still enjoying it, Jones, who has managed 140 wins, 81 draws and 78 defeats during his two spells, said: “Yes, I think I’m relatively different, I’m a bit calmer now than I was.

“I’m still obsessed with doing well and winning games for Luton, improving players and driving an environment.

“Enjoyment is a really difficult word because you don’t enjoy wins, you get relief.

“When you don’t win, it’s tough and you get sleepless nights.

“It’s a tough existence, not just for myself, but all those close to me as well, but it’s the most wonderful job.

“I loved being a player, I really did, but I have the same level of passion, drive for being a manager and coach, to do those things.

“I’ve got to be honest with you, I’d have been proud to reach 30, but to reach 300 is a fantastic achievement and I’m very, very proud of that at a wonderful club like this.

“When you set out as a manager you want to survive first and foremost, you just think I want to survive and I want to impact, but the way that the game is, then it’s very, very difficult and to be surviving in the Championship now means that you’re doing something right.

“But I've got a great club and great group of players and a great support staff all around me.

"To get to 300 you don't do that on your own, to get to 300 at one club is fantastic and obviously I’ve managed I don't know how many it is elsewhere, Brighton and Stoke, so it's very, very good and probably when I set out, 299 more than I thought I would get.”

Since Jones took over, Luton have experienced some of their best days in recent times, as he reached League One via the play-offs in 2018, leaving with Town sitting in second place, Mick Harford finishing the job by claiming the title.

Back when the coronavirus pandemic was hitting, it seemed a certainty that Luton would be relegated back to the third tier again when the season resumed, six points from safety with just nine games to play, only for Jones to mastermind the Great Escape, following a last day 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers.

He then steadily improved, finishing 12th in 2020-21, and going even better last term, as the Hatters were sixth, and had they not been hit by a crippling injury list, might have reached the play-off final at Wembley.

This time round, Luton looked well versed for another such challenge, and that gradual progression is the main thing that Jones pointed out as the key part of his time with Luton, that and the number of off the field modifications the Hatters have made too.

He continued: “It’s just the progression that we’ve made, it’s unrecognisable in six years.

“It’s not all been me, but from where we were in 2016, obviously the club had ambitions and we were like-minded in terms of developing this football club, we’re in the most wonderful place.

“That’s come from the six years of tireless work and previous work from others getting it to that point.

“When I look at my tenure, we were training at Ely Way which, with the greatest of respect, was a Portakabin that got broken into twice in the first month.

“I couldn’t open my own windows, so when it was hot, it was boiling.

"We had a table tennis table that we ended up smashing.

“To where we are now, in this state-of-the-art place and in terms of what we want to do. We’re a progressive Championship side.

“I remember training at a school up at Stopsley, getting abused by Luton kids and Luton teenagers and we’re a far cry from that now.

“It’s just everything in the way we’ve grown.

"Yeah, there are individual games, the survival one is probably the one that stands out the most, the promotion ones are good, but it was such a big one and it was shame there was no fans.

"Big wins that we’ve had, eights and sevens, going away and winning fives, testing ourselves, all those things are great.

"But when you sit back and have a look, if we could just have a little Mr Benn moment where you look back and see where we were in 2016 to where we are now, that’s the pride I think.”

Since Jones came back to Luton, he has now had 117 games in the Championship, which is the kind of longevity second tier managers can only dream of these days.

With the Championship undergoing a silly season this year in terms of managers, QPR’s Michael Beale the 11th longest serving in the division having been appointed only a few months ago in June, then Jones, who signed a new long-term deal in January, knows things must be going well to have stayed as long as he has.

He added: “I’m not being arrogant in any way, but if you can last a season in the Championship, you’ve done something right because it’s ruthless.

“It’s obsessive in terms of everyone wants to get to the Premier League and not dropping out of it.

“There’s a ruthlessness in the Championship that isn’t in many leagues.

"I don’t know how many have lost their jobs or changed jobs this season so far, or since the end of last season, so it really is shark-infested waters out there.”