Nathan Jones’s reign as a Premier League manager goes down as one of the shortest in the competition’s 31-year history.
Southampton parted company with Jones on Sunday after a 2-1 home loss to 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers left them rooted to the bottom of the table.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -34 | 39 |
| 16 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -30 | 38 |
| 17 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -23 | 36 |
| 18 |
Leicester
LEI
|
38 | -17 | 34 |
| 19 |
Leeds
LEE
|
38 | -30 | 31 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
38 | -37 | 25 |
Jones’s sacking came just 94 days after he joined Saints.
Only five managers lasted a shorter time at a Premier League club.
The man who holds the unwanted record of the shortest managerial reign is Les Reed, who remarkably was in charge for only 40 days at Charlton Athletic in November and December 2006.
Reed did, however, still manage to pick up a point more than Jones in less than half the time.
Shortest managerial reigns
| Manager | Club | Matches | Points | Days in charge |
| Les Reed | Charlton | 7 | 4 | 40 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rene Meulensteen | Fulham | 13 | 10 | 75 |
| Frank de Boer | Palace | 4 | 0 | 77 |
| Bob Bradley | Swansea | 11 | 8 | 84 |
| Quique Sanchez Flores | Watford | 10 | 7 | 85 |
| Nathan Jones | Southampton | 8 | 3 | 94 |
Jones’s record of seven defeats in eight matches also makes him statistically one of the least successful managers in the Premier League.
His 0.38 points-per-match average is the fourth-lowest, behind only Eric Black, Terry Connor and Jan Siewert.
Lowest points/match records*
| Manager | Matches | Record | Points | Pts/match |
| Eric Black | 9 | W0 D1 L8 | 1 | 0.11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Connor | 13 | W0 D4 L9 | 4 | 0.31 |
| Jan Siewert | 15 | W1 D2 L12 | 5 | 0.33 |
| Nathan Jones | 8 | W1 D0 L7 | 3 | 0.38 |
*minimum eight matches
In comparison, Southampton’s previous manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl, averaged 1.17 points per match in his spell on the south coast.
With Saints sitting five points below 17th-placed Leeds United, and with the second-worst goal difference in the division, the club will hope their next manager can work their magic and inspire a great escape from relegation.
