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Luton manager Nathan Jones hoping his Spanish experience will help see off Rafael Benitez's Newcastle
So beguiling, perhaps, is the reputation of Rafael Benitez, that it plays tricks on the minds of the young and ambitious.
Nathan Jones, 44, the articulate manager of high-flying, high-scoring League Two Luton Town, played in Spain in the mid-nineties, and is convinced he came up against the Newcastle manager, against whom he pits his wits in the FA Cup third round tomorrow.
He is one of the most talked about managers in the lower leagues which is why, on the eve of this encounter, Luton have got out the news he has just signed a new four-year deal. He is also unashamedly ambitious, wanting to measure himself against the best – and a meeting with Benitez, given his coaching achievements, is something for him to savour.
“It’s where you want to be, as a manager, you want to be pitting yourselves some of the best in the business, Rafa has got a wonderful track record,” Jones says. “I have come up against him actually once in my career, when he was the manager of (Spanish club) Extremadura and I was (a player) at Badajoz, and they got promoted (to La Liga) instead of us by one goal. He won’t remember me; I will guarantee that.”
The mind plays tricks. Jones was, indeed, at Badajoz in 1995-96, a remarkable move for a young Welsh left-back who left Luton for Spain, but Benitez was not at Extremadura then. He joined later, in 1997-98, after they had been relegated back to the second division, but again gaining promotion and launching his own stellar managerial career.
Memories may be blurred but Spain made a big impression on Jones, who admitted to being homesick in Bedfordshire, as he struggled in Luton – after being signed by manager David Pleat – but was willing to give it a go overseas under the influence of Colin Addison, the former Atletico Madrid coach and something of a mentor.
“He went back out there with Badajoz, and I got a call asking if I would be interested in going out, and I was not initially. But when I went out there I saw it was a good move, and as it turns out it was a very good footballing move but in terms of lifestyle and learning the language. It has helped me in my second career,” Jones says. “It is amazing - when you consider I was homesick in Luton - to then swap it for going out there.
“I have made no secret of the fact that I am a born-again Christian, and I trust God’s will in lots of things. It just felt right when I went out there and it was a great two seasons, and I taught myself Spanish so I was fluent when I came back. That stood me in good stead in my career and obviously going back to Brighton as Oscar Garcia’s assistant, so it all worked out.
“I learned a lot about lifestyle, and like sleeping in the afternoon, which may seem a bit of a joke, but that probably helped me prolong my career because I was able to play until I was 39,” he says. “Sleeping in the afternoon is a massive thing. I still do it – I have got a couch in the office. When you go out there with an open mind, which is what I did, you are always going to learn something.”
The priority for Luton is promotion. Jones has worked his way up after starting his coaching career at Yeovil Town, then at Charlton Athletic’s academy under Paul Hart (now his assistant) before Brighton and taking over at Luton in Jan 2016, guiding them to safety.
“It’s going to be brilliant,” he says of facing Newcastle and Benitez. “I didn’t actually remember him until I looked back years later,” he adds. The mind, though, does play tricks even if Jones has been shaped by his time in Spain and the path Benitez has taken.
“The club is in a real good place, we want that feel-good factor,” Jones says. “This is just a bonus but we are focused.”