Cod Almighty | Article

by Various

1 July 2004

Once the darling of Liverpool FC and set to be England's right-back from then until eternity, Jones suffered a series of injuries that preventing him fulfilling anything near the number of appearances his early start with Crewe promised. If only it were that Rob Jones.

Instead Town fans were left scratching their heads over the one we signed in July 2003 from Stockport. A quick consultation of this year's Football Yearbook tells me he's made 17 appearances and scored two goals during two seasons at Edgeley Park. The man measures up at six feet and seven inches, which is bloody tall. Further research tells us that he was bought from Gateshead for £5,000 (yes, three zeroes).

He looked quite good at Darlington: robust, a surprisingly smooth touch for a such a big man (well, smoother than the only player of comparable height I can think of, Jan Koller), willing to get his body in the way of shots and passes. I like that in my centre-backs. Whether he does that all the time, the Lord only knows. In the second game of the season, Jones was stretchered off. Stockport fans put warning signs about this bloke our way, but if he picks up where he started from then Jones could be a shrewd signing.