Portsmouth boss delivers verdict on maligned former Southampton manager ahead of Charlton Athletic clash

John Mousinho is adamant Nathan Jones is a manager Pompey have to ‘fully respect’ ahead of the trip to Charlton.

The Blues believes the much-maligned former Southampton boss’ record more than stands up to inspection, as the pair lock horns at The Valley tomorrow.

Mousinho’s side aim to take another step towards the Championship against the strugglers, who are showing signs of life since Jones succeeded Michael Appleton at the start of the month.

The Addicks are winless in 15 League One games, but picked up their second point on the spin in a 3-3 draw at high-flying Bolton last weekend.

The Welshman was ridiculed in his time up the M27, in a 14-game tenure which saw Southampton lose seven of his eight Premier League games across a three-month period as his rock-bottom side plummeted towards the Championship.

Jones’ bizarre comments included talking up his credentials as among the best in Europe and criticising his own club’s fans, with a fan holding up a giant P45 before his sacking as things turned ugly.

Mousinho feels the former Brighton man’s success with Luton, where he helped them rise up the leagues, is evidence of his capabilities.

He said: ‘If I look back at my experiences of Nathan Jones, I played against his Luton side - the one which completely stormed the league. They were the outstanding side that season and he had a really successful time there before getting the Stoke job. He then came back to Luton and again did really, really well.

‘You’ve ultimately got a manager who, at this level, has had a huge amount of success - and a huge amount of success at the level above.

‘He was a Premier League manager just over a year ago. If you look at the career he’s had so far and the amount of success he’s had in terms of promotions, winning games and getting sides going then Nathan is a manager we have to make sure we fully respect. He’s a very talented man who gets sides going.’

It appears Jones has work to do to rebuild his standing, after being pilloried for what happened at Southampton and the negative exposure which arose from that tenure.

Mousinho pointed out, however, there may have been more than meets the eye to the 50-year-old’s time with Pompey’s fierce rivals.

He added: ‘Whenever you go into a job things can change and there’s loads of things possibly not under the control of the head coach or manager.

‘I have no idea what what happened behind the scenes or what went on at some of those clubs. What I do know is that when I’ve played against his sides they’ve been really tough opposition, particularly that Luton side who won League One a few years ago.’