NATHAN Jones compared Charlton Athletic’s 1-0 win over Birmingham City at The Valley on Saturday to his masterminding of Southampton’s EFL Cup quarter-final victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City last year.
In an encounter with plenty of spice around it, Matt Godden scored the only goal in the 54th minute against Blues, who had won their previous seven games in League One and had yet to be beaten.
It was especially sweet for Godden, the player signed in the summer to replace Alfie May, who was taken off at half-time by Chris Davies.
Another player hooked at the break, former Addicks loanee Krystian Bielik, had said in the week before the game that Birmingham were “too good for League One”.
Jones had come under fire from Valley fans after three successive defeats for the first time since he took over last February.
“There’s been a lot of noise this week,” Jones said. “I got abused by my own fans the other day. Questioned about selections: ‘He should be playing, he should be playing.’ We had to make big, bold decisions. I’m very proud of the group and the coaching staff. We didn’t panic.
“I’m experienced enough to know that you can’t listen to noise. It’s a message for the fans: if you want to get behind something, then get behind something. We’re going to have some bad performances. We’ve given them more good times than bad, so we’re in credit.
“People don’t know what happens during the week. When they say, ‘he should be playing’, well, why? He might have been carrying an injury. Something might have happened in training.
“People [should] just trust us, trust me to manage the football club. Fine, if they want to pick teams themselves then come in, have my money and I’ll move somewhere else if that’s what needs to be done.”
Jones’ spell as boss of Premier League Saints from November 2022 to February 2023 was mostly a torrid one. He won five and lost nine of his fourteen games in charge. But one of those victories was a 2-0 win against City, when not even substitutes Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland could save Guardiola’s side from a shock exit.
Birmingham didn’t have one shot on target on Saturday, despite having £15million League One record signing Jay Stasfield up front.
Jones said: “I came up against Manchester City when I was at Southampton. It was their first time in six or seven years that Man City hadn’t had a shot on target. It was that type of performance, where we had to be so aggressive, front-footed and stop them at the source.
“If we let them come onto us, they have wonderful talent. They have bought well and bought real quality. The first time they have suffered defeat this year. I think it was quite fitting as we were really good.
“In the midweek [3-2 defeat at Bristol City], one goal wouldn’t have been enough because we were poor defensively. Today we were much more aggressive. I am so proud of the group because they have been through a lot.
“They dominate the middle of the park by packing it out and dropping in, they make it really difficult as they play through you. We needed to protect the middle of the pitch, push them outside and then press aggressively. We were wonderful today. We should have been up at half-time. You’ll take that win all day.”
Godden revealed Bielik’s words were put up “all over the dressing room”.
Jones said: “That was an extra bit of motivation. I tend to probably agree with him but it’s very naive to come out and say that.
“If I believed I was one of the best-looking guys in south-east London, I’m not sure I would say that going into a beauty contest.”
Meanwhile, Davies raised plenty of eyebrows with some of his post-match comments. Birmingham reportedly spent £25million in the summer after their relegation from the Championship.
Davies said: “Charlton spent a fortune, they spent a lot of money on their squad and they’re a good team.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s multiple teams in this league that are well-equipped, well-equipped to be successful. We’re one of those teams. It’s not Birmingham and the rest – it’s League One.”
