Nathan Jones is building a reputation as one of the brightest young managers in the country.

The articulate Welshman guided Luton Town to the League Two play-offs in his first full season at Kenilworth Road.

Now they are sitting on top of the table.

He has prompted the same type of turnaround at a lower level as Chris Hughton has at Albion.

How different it might have been for Jones and the Seagulls if chairman Tony Bloom had made the wrong call.

As a player, Jones was part of Albion's initial revival at Withdean under Micky Adams.

He returned as assistant to Spaniard Oscar Garcia in 2013-14, when they reached the Championship play-offs.

The Argus: He remained in the role under Sami Hyypia (above) after the Finn had been snubbed by Sammy Lee, who turned down the chance to become his former Liverpool team-mate's No.2 by joining Southampton instead.

Hyypia's disastrous spell at the helm ended with Albion in the relegation zone.

Jones, put in temporary charge by Bloom, guided the team over Christmas to a home draw against Reading and uplifting win at Fulham.

He was desperate to be the No.1, but Bloom opted for the much more experienced Hughton. The rest, as they say, is history.

I was reminded of Jones' route into management by the sacking of Craig Shakespeare at Leicester.

There was an inevitability about the lack of longevity in his stint.

Show me a No.2 who becomes No.1 at the same club and goes on to be a success over a period. I'll show you three who have not.

It can work in the short-term. It is often doomed to failure in the long run.

The roles of assistant and manager require a different set of skills.

The assistant is a sounding board for the players, one of 'the lads', part of or a party to dressing room banter.

The manager has to be more detached in order to exert his authority.

Some, by nature of their character, are cut out to only ever be an assistant.

Others, like Hughton and Jones, are equipped to become managers - but it makes far more sense for them to do so at another club where they are not engrained.

Because ultimately the chummy element of their previous position will catch up with them once results deteriorate.

The Argus: There is often a bounce effect to begin with, as there was for Jones in his two matches as Albion caretaker and as there was for Shakespeare (above) after succeeding Claudio Ranieri.

Maintaining success is hard enough at any club at any level, without the extra baggage that comes with being a No.1 turned No.2.

Hughton, a stalwart of Spurs, was only ever caretaker in-between managerial change at White Hart Lane.

He went elsewhere to carve a career as the boss, at Newcastle, Birmingham, Norwich and now Albion.

Jones was initially his No.2 until the appointment of Colin Calderwood. Jones reverted to first team coach before moving to Luton a year after Hughton became Albion's manager.

We'll never know how it would have turned out if Bloom had gone for Jones, not Hughton, but it is hard to imagine that, two-and-a-half-years later, Albion would have been 12th in the Premier League.

Jones could still become Albion boss one day - at a more appropriate moment for him and the club.