Watching on from the St Mary’s stands on Wednesday night, Nathan Jones took a momentary break from the action to glance down at his phone. He’d be forgiven if he was checking the train times back to Luton as the players in red and white in front of him toiled desperately against League One opposition to cap off a rough week.

But no, if there were any second thoughts from the manager-in-waiting then they didn’t seem to linger as less than 12 hours after Jones’ new team scraped into the fourth round of the League Cup, the 49-year-old was holding up a Saints shirt with a big smile on his face.

READ MORE: New boss Nathan Jones issues message to Saints fans

Joining on a three-and-a-half year contract, Jones is now at the centre of Sport Republic’s long term project to build Saints into a team and club that can regularly compete for the top-half of the Premier League table while investing money in their own way.

But if that sounds daunting, the short term job is potentially even more difficult. Saints sit 18th in the Premier League table after 14 fixtures, a season hindered by just one win in the last nine.

Injuries have no doubt hampered the first third of this new season but there’s a reason why Ralph Hasenhuttl was dismissed after nearly four years in charge: this is a team in trouble and Jones has been brought in to reverse the immediate momentum before the next steps can even be considered.

On the positive front, after this weekend’s trip to Anfield, Jones will be blessed with a 44-day break in order to solve some of the many problems facing Saints. The first and perhaps biggest issue to tackle is the one at the heart of every team: curating a clear identity on and off the pitch.

Daily Echo:

It’s certainly not all the Austrian’s fault but Hasenhuttl’s team this season often resembled a shapeless blob, going through the tactical motions but seeming almost constantly lost and giving the Saints faithful quite little to rally around.

As Jones sets about putting his early building blocks in place, it’s probably fair to ask...What actually is this Saints team? While no one expects everything to be fixed overnight, that is the question Saints fans will need answering when the Premier League returns shortly before the new year.

In the best days of Hasenhuttl’s tenure, that question was easily answered. High octane, high pressure and high risk, Hasenhuttl’s football came with major benefits as well as major consequences when it didn’t click right. But for the vast majority of his four years, it was clear what he wanted from his team.

That disappeared over the last nine months as Saints became scared and tame. It won’t be the same under Jones and it shouldn’t be but the new manager needs figure out what the identity of his team is and what it needs to be in order to keep Saints in the Premier League.

Whether it was due to the spate of heavy defeats in preceding seasons or the limitations he felt he had in his squad, Hasenhuttl seemed to rip up his own tenants this season. That started from day one as he shifted away from his trusted 4-2-2-2 formation in favour a back five.

Often criticised for his stubbornness in years past, it was the opposite this season as Hasenhuttl switched between as many as four different shapes, failing to settle on one style as his side looked decidedly uncomfortable regardless of the system they were set up in.

That uncertainty seemed to go much deeper than just how the team would look on paper. There appeared an emphasis on defensive solidity first and foremost, something achieved with confusing results.  With German international Armel Bella-Kotchap and experienced Croatian Duje Caleta-Car added to the defensive ranks, there have been real signs of talent from Saints’ back three, four, or five - depending on the moment.

Yet, despite some defensive improvement, Saints have kept just one solitary clean sheet this season. That didn’t stop Hasenhuttl from continuing to keep his side in their protective shell.

Daily Echo:

This season Saints have scored just five first half goals and seven of their 12 league goals have come after the 60th minute. The aim throughout much of the early campaign has been to stay alive in each game rather than truly go for it from the start. 

Against Sheffield Wednesday it was more of the same. Despite being the obvious favourites in a tie against lower league opposition, it was Saints who started off sluggishly. By half time at St Mary’s, Saints were on level terms thanks to James Ward-Prowse’s penalty but it was hard to feel that equaliser on the stroke of the interval was deserved after the visitors racked up ten shots to three.

It was Ruben Selles on the touchline this time, but the game had a frustratingly familiar feel to the long and unsuccessful run that led to Hasenhuttl’s exit. In their 14 Premier League games thus far, Saints have managed 63 shots in their first halves and 101 in their second halves - 4.5 shots every first half compared to 7.2 after the break.

In contrast, they have conceded 98 first half shots - or 7 per half - and just 82 second half shots - 5.9 per half.

Saints have led at half time on just three occasions this season and have been losing at the break seven times. The statistics paint a fairly clear picture and it’s a picture that mimics what we’ve seen on the pitch. 

Just take a look at the touch map below from Saints’ recent 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

On the left is Saints' touch map from a first half in which they were outshot nine to four and on the right is the touch map from the second half when they managed ten shots to Palace’s three. As can be seen, Saints operated far deeper and closer to their goal in the first half.

Daily Echo:

This Saints team has too often looked timid and scared, particularly early on in games, and it’s no coincidence that they concede so many of their goals from avoidable situations.

With Saints teams of old, opposition players would find themselves sucker-punched from the off, but Saints have been taking a far more laid-back approach seemingly in an attempt to peak later in games and while it has worked in certain ways - Saints have taken eight points from losing positions this season compared to nine all of last for example - it clearly isn’t working well enough with Saints currently occupying a spot in the relegation zone.

At Luton, Jones developed a reputation for making his side functional rather than swashbuckling and if this is the approach he ends up taking with Saints, so be it. But whatever the new manager decides is best, he needs to actually figure out what is best. Hasenhuttl failed to figure out the identity of this team and it eventually led to his downfall.

Jones has to solve Saints' identity crisis. At least he has the next six weeks to do exactly that.

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