Nathan Jones was eyed for Bristol City job after Southampton sack, now his Charlton side can stun Robins

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Newly promoted Charlton travel to face Bristol City on Saturday, and Nathan Jones will want to continue to show his side aren’t just in the Championship to make up the numbers.

The Addicks have won their opening two fixtures after winning promotion via the League One play-offs, ending Watford’s opening day record with a 1-0 win and then demonstrating their strength in depth by seeing off Stevenage 3-1 in the Carabao Cup.

A trip to Ashton Gate will be no easy task, given Gerhard Struber masterminded a 4-1 victory away at Sheffield United on Saturday, before beating MK Dons 2-0 in the cup on Tuesday.

Bristol City let fan favourite Nahki Wells leave for nothing this summer, but have recruited Adam Randell and Emil Riis and kept last season’s stand outs that led them to the Championship play-offs.

But unearthed reports from less than two years ago show the Robins and Jones could have followed totally different paths.

• READ MORE – Ross McCrorie’s Bristol City future decided after Gerhard Struber’s latest comments amid interest from Serie A giants

Bristol City considered ex-Luton boss as Nigel Pearson replacement

Jones, who turned down playing for City’s youth teams in favour of a move to boyhood club Cardiff City, was on the Robins’ list of manager targets at the end of 2023.

Nigel Pearson was sacked that October after two years in charge, with the Robins 15th in the Championship, having lost five of their last seven games.

Jones was reportedly on their shortlist to replace the former Leicester boss, alongside Gareth Ainsworth and John Eustace.

The former Luton boss had been out of work for eight months after being sacked by Southampton. He is the shortest-serving permanent Saints boss in the club’s history after achieving one win in eight league games.

However, Bristol City’s interest never led to a move for the Welshman, and they eventually appointed Liam Manning, who earned them a place in the play-offs, before leaving the club this summer for Norwich City.

• READ MORE: Only one EFL club boasts worse record than Ipswich after ‘painful’ Carabao Cup exit

How Nathan Jones rebuilt Charlton and his reputation

After being sacked at Stoke City and Southampton, Jones took just shy of a year out of management.

He returned to The Valley, where he previously served as a coach under former Sheffield Wednesday coach Chris Powell, in February 2024.

Since then, the Welshman has transformed Charlton from a side threatened with relegation to League Two to a Championship club.

In true Jones style, the Addicks are incredibly impressive at the back, with Lloyd Jones, Josh Edwards and Kayne Ramsay among the stars that earned them 25 clean sheets in all competitions last season. They continued that trend against Watford last Saturday.

Jones has also demonstrated his managerial capabilities by taking Charlton from conceding nine goals in the last 15 mins of the 10 games before his arrival, to scoring the most goals after 90 minutes out of any of England’s top four leagues with a tally of 11.

While they have boosted that firepower with last term’s League One’s golden boot winner Charlie Kelman, and Reading fan favourite Harvey Knibbs, the Addicks will need to keep solid at the back to have their best go in the Championship after five years away.

They will certainly need to do that against free-scoring City this weekend.