Sheffield Wednesday haven’t been successful in any of their first ten Championship games, which has made for a difficult season for them.
After draws with Middlesbrough and Leeds United, they have only accumulated two points so far this season.
Xisco Munoz’s tenure as Owls manager came to an end on Wednesday night when he was fired. This dismal start had put him under significant criticism over the previous few weeks.
Dejphon Chansiri, the team’s owner, will now have to find a replacement, and the Owls are already being mentioned as potential candidates.
According to the Sheffield Star, former Southampton and Luton Town boss Nathan Jones is being considered to be Wednesday’s next manager.
It is said that Jones is ‘open to the possibility’ of becoming the new manager, after previously being considered in the summer, before Munoz was eventually appointed.
Jones is quoted earlier in the summer as saying that he would like to get back into management, but only if the right opportunity arises, saying: “As a manager when you’re in there, it consumes you in every aspect of your life.
“So I’ve enjoyed a bit of family time, I’ve been away on holiday which I don’t usually get to do. I’m really looking forward to my next challenge. I’m refreshed and I’m ready.
“I’m a builder, I like to build,” he said. “I like to be at places for a long time. Ironically, I believe that our work is deep and not just results based.
“If you look at my previous club [Luton Town] we built a club there that wasn’t reliant on just a manager being in place, right throughout the processes, the recruitment, the structure, the culture, the philosophy, everything is in place there and has been for a long, long time.
“I left on two occasions but the club kept doing well, so it shows that whatever had been built had been built on solid foundations.”
Should Nathan Jones be the next Wednesday manager?
Jones certainly has pedigree at this level, but is still a tricky one.
He has had four managerial spells, first at Luton, taking them up to League One in 17/18, before leaving for Stoke in an unsuccessful spell in which he was sacked.
He then returned to Luton in May 2020, helping them avoid relegation from the Championship, before leaving again in November 2022 for then Premier League side Southampton, only to be sacked in February, with the Saints sat rock bottom of the top flight.
Whilst Jones has certainly been somewhat successful at this level with Luton, after guiding them to the play-offs in 21/22. However, besides that, it has not gone well.
Ultimately, when going into clubs like Stoke and Southampton where there was a lot of pressure to do well, Jones crumbled.
With Wednesday sat bottom of the Championship, that pressure will most certainly come again, although it will be a hard job for whoever comes in.
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