Jonesy Article - The Guardian FL Blog

[edmontonowl]

Hope this hasn't already been posted.

http://www.guardian....field-wednesday

Dave Jones at Sheffield Wednesday: what the fans can expect

Six things Owls fans can look forward to with the former Cardiff City manager Dave Jones at the helm

Dave Jones has been appointed as the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday after the dismissal of . Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Since being sacked by Cardiff City in the summer, Dave Jones has spent a surprisingly long time unemployed. Sheffield Wednesday have finally given him a route back into management, with the Owls lying third in League One and the owner Milan Mandaric desperate for promotion to the Championship. So what can Jones bring to the Steel City? Here are six things (one for each of his seasons with the Bluebirds) Wednesday fans can expect: three that may frustrate, followed by three that are more positive.

1) Professional detachment

In his last job, Jones refused to pay the sort of lip-service to passion, commitment and undying love that are common currency in football, frequently commenting that he wanted Cardiff to succeed simply because it was his job and saying he would never claim to feel about the club the way fans do. This also led to common downplaying of the South Wales derby matches against Swansea, with Jones consistently stating that it was just another game, the same as any other.

Frankly, he may pay for being too honest here, there is a lot of truth to what he says but it is not the sort of rousing talk that gets fans onside. Another feature of this was Jones's awful relationship with the local press, who he once famously wished "a poo poo journey home" following an away fixture. These issues may not present huge problems in themselves, particularly when things are going well, but when things go badly they only add to the pressure and ill-feeling, as well as meaning that by the end there were few people willing to publicly fight Jones's corner.

2) 4-4-2

The tactical inflexibility Cardiff showed under Jones was a particular bugbear for many fans. It was flat 4-4-2 and flat 4-4-2 all the way. Rather than change tactics to accommodate players, Jones would choose to move players so that they fitted his template. In itself of course, having a preferred set-up isn't necessarily a bad thing, and 4-4-2 can (and frequently was) more than adequate.

However, in a team chasing promotion (as Wednesday are now), there was a persistent feeling that Cardiff became too predictable: more flexibility, particularly away from home, could have been useful. Ironically, one of the few times Jones did change tactics, at home to Swansea, the result was a 1-0 defeat and a dire performance.

3) Choking

The most common complaint from Jones's reign in South Wales. Cardiff's end of season collapses become so well known that a Daily Record headline reported Celtic manager Neil Lennon warning his side "Don't do a Cardiff" (before losing the subsequent match and the league title – ha!). 2008 saw a limp performance in the FA Cup final; in 2009 Cardiff missed out on the play-offs after only one point from the final four games; 2010 culminated in a poor performance in a play-off final defeat to Blackpool while Reading defeated the Bluebirds in the 2011 play-off semi-final.

In 2002, Jones's Wolves team managed to lose an 11-point lead in March to lose out on promotion, though it should be noted that they went on to win promotion the following year, winning a play-off final 3-0 (against Sheffield United!). With a famously trigger-happy chairman clearly desperate to see his club in the Championship, to keep his job Jones may have to do something he failed to do in South Wales and gain promotion.

4) Progress

Under Jones's stewardship, Cardiff undoubtedly made huge advances, on and off the field. Joining the club after they had narrowly avoided relegation, Jones improved the team year on year, going from mid-table to play-off challengers to top-six certainties. Only in his final season did his side undoubtedly finish in a position lower than they should have, while his reign also saw the Bluebirds historically reach the 2008 FA Cup final.

Off the field, the financial problems he had to deal with have been well-documented, but Jones's tenure still saw the club's stature grow consistently: the average attendance in his first season was 11,802 whereas by his final season (in a new stadium of course) that average had almost doubled to 23,231. Jones deserves immense credit for the clear progress made by the club during his time in charge.

5) Attractive football with talented players

Perhaps unlike his predecessor at Hillsborough, Jones's commitment to attacking football was apparent as Cardiff became one of the most attractive sides in the Championship. This style was reflected in the players brought to the club: Bluebirds fans were treated to seeing players such as Jason Koumas, Peter Whittingham, Michael Chopra, Jay Bothroyd and others. It is a testament to Jones that in his final season, Cardiff's players were referred to as "big names": apart from Craig Bellamy, none of those players had made their names before they were brought to South Wales and had developed into fine players under Jones's tutelage.

He had an aptitude for dealing with notoriously difficult characters – Jones was able to succeed where many others had failed and bring the best out of talented players such as Bothroyd and Koumas, who became excellent players for the Bluebirds.

6) Operating shrewdly on a small budget

As mentioned above, Jones was able to bring in a lot of very good players during his time at Cardiff. What made this more remarkable was that he was able to do so while consistently having to make money through the sale (and replacement) of key players. To do all this and continue the forward progress of the team was nothing short of remarkable.

Jones had to sell players such as Jobi McAnuff, James Collins, Danny Gabbidon, Cameron Jerome, Aaron Ramsey, Roger Johnson and numerous others. Of course, there were lots of cheap and short-term signings that did not work out, but in the market Jones was operating in that was all but inevitable and any failures are more than outweighed by signings such as Kevin McNaughton (free), Whittingham (£300,000), Bothroyd (£350,000), Roger Johnson (£275,000) and more; a hugely impressive record.

The memory of Jones's time at Cardiff was stained by the ultimate failure to gain promotion, particularly in his final season when the Bluebirds underachieved in finishing fourth. However, this has clouded what was otherwise an extremely impressive tenure, in which the club made huge strides on and off the field. He is not perfect, but he is good enough to give Sheffield Wednesday fans genuine cause for optimism.

[aussieowl87]

Good read. Interesting points. Looking forward to finding out about our new manager for ourselves.

[uptheowls69]

I always think calling derby games 'just another game' spells trouble.

Quinn for the Blunts told his brother Alan before the recent derby game that it was just this! And look what happened.

This always seems to happen. The team that play down the derby, lose.

Lets hope we get promoted and they dont then or we may get beat by them next season

[Paul..]

Yep it was already posted from someone else's blog I believe :)

[Jowl]

Robson tried the 'just another game thing'

Warnock, Laws, Megson didn't.

The fact is it ISN'T just another game.

[latemodelchild]

We might not have a derby game next season so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Anthndav]

We might not have a derby game next season so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

But could have another, or worse two, before the end of this season.

[Guest davet30]

I always think calling derby games 'just another game' spells trouble.

Quinn for the Blunts told his brother Alan before the recent derby game that it was just this! And look what happened.

This always seems to happen. The team that play down the derby, lose.

Lets hope we get promoted and they dont then or we may get beat by them next season

lbh I would forgo a derby win so long as we finish above them AND get promotion :-)

[Guest Buxtonian]

Unfortunately, a Derby game IS just another game. Whatever other passions it may produce,what feelings are generated amongst the fan base, in the end it still only counts as THREE points for a win, One for a draw, exactly the same as if we were playing Rochdale, Exeter , Bury etc.etc.

Yes, the bragging rights are there for the fans, and no-one appreciates this more than I do, but if push comes to shove, I prefer to win two games against lowly opposition than one against our city rivals.I sometimes think that we can take our eye of the ball on the approach to and after the Derby matches. Unless played in a cup game, matches against Untied are only 2 out of 46, and League games are played over the season.

It's still great to hammer'em however.

[ReadingOwl]

Unfortunately, a Derby game IS just another game. Whatever other passions it may produce,what feelings are generated amongst the fan base, in the end it still only counts as THREE points for a win, One for a draw, exactly the same as if we were playing Rochdale, Exeter , Bury etc.etc.

Yes, the bragging rights are there for the fans, and no-one appreciates this more than I do, but if push comes to shove, I prefer to win two games against lowly opposition than one against our city rivals.I sometimes think that we can take our eye of the ball on the approach to and after the Derby matches. Unless played in a cup game, matches against Untied are only 2 out of 46, and League games are played over the season.

It's still great to hammer'em however.

Even if by losing the Derby, United get doubts and run into a bad patch of form.

The Derby looks like being much more than 3 points IMO.

Hopefully, it could be a season changer?

[townend_owl]

Just because Jones detaches himself from the passion of football doesn't mean he cannot win a sheffield derby, by the way. You could argue just as much that detaching yourself for a derby is actually beneficial and you can get your players playing like they would in any other game

Edited March 6, 2012 by townend_owl

[tomhollywood]

Unfortunately, a Derby game IS just another game. Whatever other passions it may produce,what feelings are generated amongst the fan base, in the end it still only counts as THREE points for a win, One for a draw, exactly the same as if we were playing Rochdale, Exeter , Bury etc.etc.

Yes, the bragging rights are there for the fans, and no-one appreciates this more than I do, but if push comes to shove, I prefer to win two games against lowly opposition than one against our city rivals.I sometimes think that we can take our eye of the ball on the approach to and after the Derby matches. Unless played in a cup game, matches against Untied are only 2 out of 46, and League games are played over the season.

It's still great to hammer'em however.

I have to agree with this.

The fact I don't live in Sheffield also means that the bragging rights for me personally are useless.

I'd much rather lose to the pigs and then win the next three.

For a lot of fans (and I can understand why) it seems to gloss over a lot of stuff. Guaranteed that if we lost the derby, loads would have been calling for Megsons head on top of the pressure that was already building, but we didin't and the rest is history.

[Paul..]

How Jones does or does not motivate our players for derby games are the absolute least of our problems, whether Jones does or does not stick to a 442 is the absolute least of our problems, what was a big problem was how our team was motivated for matches against Stevenage or Bournemouth or Bury or Carlisle or Walsall or Exeter, what was a big problem was our rigid, stuck in the past, playing style that teams quickly adapted to and overcame comfortably.

Motivation for derby games is not important, motivation for games away to little tinpot clubs is.

Rigid 442 is not a problem, rigid predictable playing style with no plan b is.

[uptheowls69]

I think you are right that motivation against tinpot clubs is very important as we do seem lacking in that department.

However, I disagree, to win a derby game (and to earn another 3 points) clearly needs something other than 'this is just another game' as a motivator.

The end result is the same. i.e 3 points but to get those 3 points is a million miles away from a run of the mill tin pot fixture

[tomhollywood]

rigid predictable playing style with no plan b is.

That's what has been worrying me, we seemed to be flying up until Christmas and then it was as if everyone had figured us out and we had no plan B.

I don't understand the Chessie game, how were we so great in the first half, passing it around etc and then resorted back to being direct in the second half??

Disclaimer: Just because I'm questioning GM's tactics doesn't mean I was happy with his sacking.

[York_Owl]

Even if by losing the Derby, United get doubts and run into a bad patch of form.

The Derby looks like being much more than 3 points IMO.

Hopefully, it could be a season changer?

good point, very much like the 79/80 season

[York_Owl]

That's what has been worrying me, we seemed to be flying up until Christmas and then it was as if everyone had figured us out and we had no plan B.

I don't understand the Chessie game, how were we so great in the first half, passing it around etc and then resorted back to being direct in the second half??

Disclaimer: Just because I'm questioning GM's tactics doesn't mean I was happy with his sacking.

also coincides with the loss of our best player