Luton boss Nathan Jones on life in Spain and his perfect preparation

Luton boss Nathan Jones spent the early part of his playing career in Spain before embarking on a coaching journey that has taken him from Yeovil Town Ladies and Charlton Under-21s to Brighton assistant manager and beyond. Adam Bate finds out how he did it…

What do you do when you're a young player waiting to make a breakthrough at Luton, the manager who signed you has moved on and you're missing your old life in Wales? If it's 1996 and you're Nathan Jones then you up sticks again and move abroad.

"I was home-sick at Luton so I decided to go to Spain," Jones tells Sky Sports, almost as though he's still surprising himself 20 years on. It's particularly curious given the fact that he's now Luton's manager. "It's ironic, I know," he adds quickly.

"I went out there to play for Colin Addison [at second division side Badajoz] and I really liked it. In hindsight, it was one of the best things I've done. It stood me in good stead for learning different types of football and just learning about life.

"I worked under a manager called Antonio Gomez and he was one of the first managers I'd seen who was just phenomenally organised and regimented. He was excellent to work with and showed me another side to the game.

"It was a good learning curve being out there. But the main thing was the lifestyle. I learnt to integrate and I had to grow up very quickly." Jones did that by learning the language. Even now, his WhatsApp update reads trabajando - working.

His spell in Spain has had a major impact on his coaching career too. "It just gives you added strings," he explains. "When I moved from Charlton to Brighton it was mostly because of my coaching background but I also ticked the box of being fluent in Spanish."

At Brighton, with a number of Spaniards on the playing staff, Jones was promoted to the role of assistant manager alongside Oscar Garcia and the pair soon struck up a partnership. "Oscar came from a Barcelona background," says Jones.  

"He had a real Catalan approach to it in terms of his style having worked with Johan Cruyff and been good friends with Pep Guardiola, and I already understood the Spanish mentality to training in terms of intensity levels and attitude.

"That was really helpful at Brighton because I understood better how they thought. For example, the Spanish lads tend to be more laid back on a Friday - protecting themselves for the weekend. I knew that so I could adapt my coaching to them."

Adapting is part of the life of an assistant. When Oscar moved on, the style changed but Jones stayed and kept learning. "Sami Hyypia was totally different," he says. "He gave me a lot of responsibility and we became close friends very quickly.

"I then got the privilege to continue my development under the legend that is Chris Hughton. I hold him in very high regard. He's someone who likes to coach but the biggest thing I learnt from him is how to manage a football club. I took a lot from him."

As you'd expect from someone whose coaching career began as a teenager when he spent two summers coaching in America during the breaks in his apprenticeship at Cardiff, Jones didn't wait for his playing career to end before starting that learning process.

He did his badges early, began coaching Yeovil Town Ladies while still playing for the club - "they had a real desire to learn" - and kept his eyes and ears open to new ideas. "I always had that desire to coach," he says.

"I realised about 28 or 29 that I was never going to be a top Premier League player but I really had this feeling that I could be a top coach. Maybe it's bold of me to say it, but I felt I had an aptitude for it too.

"I like to try to understand players and get the best out of them. I'd write sessions down from the managers I was working with and I'd always make a mental note of things I wouldn't do. I just threw myself into it.

"I was the most committed trainer. I wanted to be challenged and thrilled by doing something different. I didn't always get it from my managers but that's what I craved. So that's the coach I try to be. I try to be innovative in my sessions."

After leaving Yeovil in 2009, that's what he did at Charlton where he worked with the under-21 side. "We didn't just want to make nice footballers, we wanted to make winners who could go into the first-team," he says. "I had a fantastic year there."

Is there any job he hasn't done? "I'm really learning the ropes," he says. "I was a player and then I was a scout. I've been an assistant, I've been the dietician and the fitness coach. I've had so many jobs and it's been a great grounding."

In a sense though, everything has been leading to this moment. The beginning of his managerial career. "Eventually you arrive at where you want to be," he adds. "I decided that I wanted to go out on my own and test my own philosophy.

"I want to be a manager and I want to be a top manager. I haven't got a name as such. What I've had to do is earn a reputation as a top coach. Now it's led me to getting the opportunity to manage Luton."

He was appointed in January with the club sitting in 15th and on a run of one win from nine games. Jones soon turned things around, lifting Luton comfortably into the top half by picking up nine wins from their last 15 games.

"We were top six after I came in last season," says Jones. "I learnt so much about the league in that four months or so. It's really beneficial that I came in then rather than the summer because I've had the chance to evaluate my squad and the league itself.

"The first thing was to implement my style of play and my way of doing things off the pitch. We have done that now. The next step is recruitment and we've brought in players who can do well at this level and higher.

"The board have done fantastically well in backing me. Now we need to produce a team that can get results. I haven't come here from the fantastic place I was to just be mediocre. I don't want that. I want Luton to be successful."

The campaign could hardly have started better, top of the table after a 3-0 win over last season's play-off finalists Plymouth. Next up, it's Aston Villa in the Sky Bet EFL Cup on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports 1. Jones calls it "a big test" and "a great occasion" but he's not overawed. He's expecting more games like these.

"Our goal is to be a Championship club in time ourselves," he says. "We've got the plans in place. Now we just need to develop them. That might not happen in two seasons, but I want to get there. Hopefully that means we'll be playing League One football next year."

Jones has big plans. But maybe that's no more than you'd expect from the man who left for Spain as a youngster. "It's a journey and the more adventures you can have on a journey the better," he adds. "I'm proud of it so far. But it's only just beginning."