A man who scored seven goals in 41 appearances for St Johnstone is now in charge of super-rich Newcastle United.
Graeme Jones has been handed the Magpies’ caretaker role after head coach Steve Bruce left today by mutual consent.
The club was taken over earlier this month by a Saudi-led consortium and rumours were rife of a planned change in the dugout.
After taking charge of his 1,000th game as a manager in the 3-1 home defeat to Spurs, Bruce has now left St James’ Park.
His assistant Jones will take charge of the weekend game against Crystal Palace with the club searching for their first win of the season.
The 51-year-old cost St Johnstone £100,000 from Wigan Athletic in 1999 and promised much with a goal on his debut against Aberdeen.
He would go on to feature in Perth for the next two-and-a-half seasons but his time at the club was troubled by injury.
Jones left McDiarmid Park in 2002 to head back down south before ending his career with spells at Clyde and Hamilton.
Graeme Jones will lead the team on an interim basis, starting with Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace.
He will be supported by the coaching team of Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence, Ben Dawson and Simon Smith. https://t.co/uvkGGdpEUa
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) October 20, 2021
After confirming Bruce’s exit, a Newcastle statement confirmed: “Graeme Jones will lead the team on an interim basis, starting with Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace, and will be supported by the coaching team of Steve Agnew, Stephen Clemence, Ben Dawson and Simon Smith.
“The process of recruiting a new head coach is under way and an appointment will be announced in due course. The club will not be making further comment at this time.”
