The Plight Of David Jones …
Wanted! An energetic motivator is required to lead a team of specialists in a demanding, competitive environment.Ideally, you will be aged between 21 and 26, with relevant experience in a similar position. You will already understand the importance of team spirit, be comfortable in a multi-cultural environment and have a record of achievement at the highest level. We are an international brand and a market leader. We expect only the very best and will offer significant remuneration and benefits to the right candidate. Only winners need apply. United’s desperation to recruit an elite central midfielder with the above qualities has been advertised ever since Roy Keane, the prototype model, departed Old Trafford amid acrimony. In declaring midfield a priority, Sir Alex, finance boss Andy Anson and Chief Executive David Gill, have whetted the appetite of all fans, who await with messianic fervour the arrival of ‘the’ midfielder who will take United back to the top.
Lyon’s Jean-Michel Aulas,is already threatening to take more than the shirt of Fergie’s back, should United confirm an interest in signing Mahamadou Diarra, currently the darling of every top European side with midfield frailties.Lyon want 25 million pounds in consolation for his release which explains why Sir Alex is also said to have widened his search to include Javier Mascherano, of Corinthians. The deal could be complicated by the attention of Chelsea, who are also said to covet the Argentine.
With United’s top two targets encumbered by ifs, buts and maybes, glorious speculation has rushed to fill the vacuum created. In the last two weeks alone, United have been linked again with Villareal’s Juan Roman Riquelme, West Ham’s Nigel Reo Coker, Cameroon’s Jean Makoun and Lille’s Mathieu Bodmer. Milanese general Gennaro Gattuso and Reggina’s Carlos Paredes have also been mentioned as possibles for the United engine room.
As the season nears its end and the transfer window re-opens, expect Bordeaux’s Rio Mavuba, Tottenham’s Michael Carrick and even perennial favourite Thomas Gravesen, to be namechecked on more than a few back-page United lead stories. More and more agents will come to the fore with more names to feed the frenzy until the chosen player is paraded before the cameras some time in July.
Pity then David Jones, a dynamic midfield player with excellent credentials who is already on United’s books but who is never mentioned as a candidate for the first team, nor thought capable of providing energy, invention and subtlety to what many consider to be the worst United midfield for 20 years.This is a remarkable situation given Sir Alex Ferguson’s long and distinguished record of guiding young talent to the top and Jones previous role leading United’s reserves to trophies last year.
Jones, a former FA Youth Cup-winning captain, was sent out on loan in 2005 to gain experience with Championship contenders Preston. All reports suggest he acquitted himself admirably. When recalled to Old Trafford in December, at a time when United’s midfield was running on empty, Jones must have thought his moment in the spotlight had arrived.
Alas, it was more of a 30 watt bulb in a corner of the Netherlands, far removed from the glamour of the Premiership. Again Jones has proved an outstanding player with an eye for goal. Now the Southport-born, England Under 21 international wants a chance of the big time at Old Trafford.
‘I am ready for The Premiership‘ Jones told a Dutch interviewer.’ I hope to return to Manchester United. I don’t want to play for a team in a lower English division. “If I get the guarantee from Sir Alex Ferguson that I will get a serious chance, I want to return.’
Laying down the gauntlet in such a fashion to Sir Alex shows real nerve given that only very gifted young players break through at United. Managers, working the fine dividing line between success and the sack, are naturally prone to trust in experienced players rather than fledgling professionals.Sir Alex Ferguson, to his eternal credit, is the great exception to the rule. This explains why alarm bells must now be ringing in Jones’ ears. How can he have so failed to catch the manager’s eye that Fergie would entrust the heart of his team to a veteran winger and a jobbing centre-half?
United need a box to box player who can score goals. All these qualities feature prominently on Jones’ CV, yet he may be further from the first team now than in January 2005, when he was the only player to emerge with any credit from a pitiful United cup performance against Exeter City.
Chief Executive David Gill has voiced the club’s determination to produce its own players as a counter-balance to Chelsea’s overwhelming market power. The irony of scouting the globe for midfield talent whilst despatching to the calm waters of Dutch league football the star captain of the reserves, cannot have been lost on Jones.
Sir Alex has welcomed Bardsley, Pique and Rossi into the first eleven this year whilst sending Jones away with every reason to think that he is not yet good enough. Football can be a cruel obsession for those with the dream of making it in the profession. Jones, at 21 years old, should be worried about his United future. He would be forgiven if he eyed the emergence of Fabregas and the other youngsters at Arsenal and wondered if this triumph of youth in central positions could happen at Old Trafford now?
Jones has said that he would rather stay abroad than ply his trade in the Championship for another season. A showdown with Sir Alex looms. Other quality youngsters among the 11 players sent out on loan since last July, including the likes of David Bardsley, Chris Eagles, Jonathon Spector, and Sylvan Ebanks- Blake, may also challenge the manager for firm assurances. Sir Alex’s replies will be studied closely, given his own brief of developing young talent whilst assuring immediate success in the age of Abramovich.
Many fans see in the plight of Jones and other young players whose United careers are now stuck in neutral, the penny-pinching hand of Glazer. Some good players may not be given the opportunity to fulfil their potential at Old Trafford because of a management decision to trim budgets by reducing the playing staff.
Football is an extreme game of chance with many variables but if the ex-captain of a successful United reserve side can’t get an extended taste of first team action when the seniors are crying out for fresh blood, what hope have the rest? AU
