It's all God's will says the Welsh Wizard

Nathan Jones recently spoke to The Athletic (very good value in my view) and here are a few excerpts from the interview.

'he south-east Londoners, a top-flight club as recently as 2007 but who were flirting with relegation to the fourth tier of English football when he took charge, have pulled away from danger and there is a real sense of optimism as thoughts turn to next season.

“We want to get the club back to where it’s been in previous seasons,” Jones tells The Athletic. “We believe there’s an infrastructure here that’s wonderful, a fanbase that’s wonderful, a history of being in the Premier League and with good planning, with real good decisions, with a lot of God’s will, that’s where we’d like to return to.”

Jones is keen to have “99 per cent” of his squad for next season in place by late June, to allow time for a thorough pre-season with the right personnel already assembled. “That’s the type of things we want to create here,” he said, “not going into pre-season where we’re six short and we’re signing people in August.”

For Jones, a born-again Christian, his faith has been important in guiding him through testing moments. He has religious tattoos — including a version of Michelangelo’s painting The Creation Of Adam across his back.

“It gives me a set of values that I stick by,” he says. “I never get too high or too low, everything I believe is God’s will. So if God takes me to a tough, tough period, then I know he’s going to bring me through it to something different or he’s going to teach me."

“I speak to (Newcastle head coach) Eddie Howe and Brendan Rodgers (manager of Scottish champions Celtic) on a regular basis.”'

Quite a few Charlton legends over the years have been born again Christians such as Keith Peacock and Chris Powell.   I'm sure it can inspire them, although as an Erastian it is not my cup of tea.  As chair of the friends of the local parish church, I find my theological disputes with the vicar quite testing.  He did allow me to show Life of Brian in the Church, but drew the line at my suggestion of a Halloween event in the crypt.