It’s a case of same old same old with West Bromwich Albion looking for a new manager and adding Cardiff City boss to their shortlist of managerial candidates.
Last time round, Cardiff City were flying high, proving doubters wrong and doing so on a huge financial disadvantage. When the Baggies came calling, Cardiff City fans were firmly behind Jones and crying out for him to stay and for Peter Ridsdale to reject any advances. Jones did stay, claiming he had a job to do here, was settled in the area and even invested shares in the club.
This time round however, Dave Jones admirers are far less vociferous. His tactical failings are evident at times and to my mind the last time we deviated from a rigid 4-4-2 formation was 3 seasons ago when Jason Koumas was deployed as a support striker in a 4-4-1-1 !This rigidity and lack of a plan B saw us found out by numerous teams last season and Davew Jones must take a share of the blame for the capitulation.
There are those who think Dave Jones is a poor manager. That is simply untrue. He performed exceptionally well to keep us afloat and in the Championship initially. Since then he has signed some truly awful players but unearthed some gems. McNaughton, McCormack, Chopra etc. The mistakes made by signing Fowler and Hasselbaink are still fresh in the mind, as are last season’s failings.
If Jones is made an offer by West Brom, he may think hard about taking it. His relationship with the fans and South Wales media is strained at times while he has previously fallen out with some players (Quincy, Thompson) and regularly been accused of favouring his under-performing ‘untouchables’ (McPhail, Whittingham, Parry).
While there would be some disappointment and some celebration amongst Cardiff City fans with Jones’ departure – it would most likely be met with apathy by most Bluebirds. It would certainly disrupt our pre-season plans and getting a new man in could prove de-stabilising.
West Brom will likely look elsewhere, while Dave Jones has a comfy set-up here in Cardiff. I can’t see the ‘special two’ of Jones and Ridsdale being split up just yet.
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