Ex-Portsmouth, Palace and Nottingham Forest boss - and regular assistant of under-fire Southampton manager - leaves Luton

The 69-year-old has quit as the Hatters’ Academy director after ‘respectfully serving a period of notice’, according to the club.

Hart had replaced another Blues manager – Andy Awford – in that role in April 2022, stepping down from first-team coach to fill the vacancy.

Now he has opted to depart Kenilworth Road, with one-time Pompey loanee Paul Benson taking over in the interim period.

Hart’s exit comes at a time when Southampton’s Jones is struggling to revive the relegation-threatened Premier League side amid growing supporter criticism.

While Pompey themselves are seeking an assistant head coach to help John Mousinho.

Yet it’s his long-term links with Jones which intrigue, with the Welshman having taken just three points from his seven Premier League matches since his November arrival.

As a respected mentor, Hart was by Jones’ side in both of his hugely successful spells as Luton boss, along with the failure at Stoke.

The pair first crossed at Charlton, when Hart gave Jones his chance as an under-21 coach more than a decade ago.

Then, in May 2016, Hart was appointed as assistant manager to Jones at Luton, beginning their managerial journey together during two eye-catching spells at the club.

Hart, of course, spent nine-and-a-half months as Pompey manager earlier in his career, consisting of an initial stint as caretaker.

Asked to step up from Academy head to take the reins from Tony Adams in February 2009, he steadied the slide to keep the Blues in the Premier League.

That arrangement became permanent in July 2009, yet, following a disastrous start to the 2009-10 season which included seven defeats in their opening seven Premier League games, he was dismissed.

His replacement was Avram Grant, who left his Fratton Park director of football role in November 2009, albeit an inevitable appointment.

Hart, who admittedly managed the Blues during spiralling financial problems, won six of his 27 league matches in charge.

He remained in the game, taking charge of QPR, Crystal Palace and Swindon, while later serving in the Academies of Charlton, Notts County and Leeds.

Luton are currently managed by Rob Edwards, who took over from Jones when he left for Southampton in November 2022.