Cod Almighty | Article

by Paul Ketchley

31 July 2005

Ahh yes – the Jones boy.

Town have, to put it bluntly, a surplus of centre-backs, and if Tony Crane and Simon Ramsden are both fit and play regularly then either Justin Whittle or Glen Downey will play alongside them and there'll be little opportunity to judge Jones again.

Last year he could be either rather good or utterly dreadful. In a team that also included Ronnie Bull, Terry Fleming and Anthony Williams, often at the same time, it was pretty hard to look absolutely dreadful, but Rob sometimes managed it in spite of them. On a positive note, his dreadful spell was early on and he got much better at the end of the season, so maybe he'll take up where he left off?

At 6'7" he's masterful and dominant in the air (and so he ought to be) and he can look quite impressive going forward for corners and free kicks. If only he could learn how to direct those headers as well as connect with them in the first place.

And then there's the ground - you know – that thing you're supposed to play the ball along in football. Play the ball along the ground and Jones is a bit at a loss as to what to do. You'd say he was out of his depth, but it just seems that the ball is so very far below him that he can't react in time.

As you can see, there are still more questions than answers about him. On his day he can be a surprise, if not even a revelation. Maybe Rob Jones' day will come if we just wait a while.