Cod Almighty | Article

by Tony Rogers

28 August 2005

The basic facts on Gary Jones as the Rothman's state them: six feet and three inches tall. Born in Chester. Started out with Tranmere, for who he made his debut in 1993-94. Went on to make 270 league appearances (and score 45 times) in two stints for Rovers, sandwiching a two year stint at Nottingham Forest (36 league games, two goals). No transfer fee ever paid for him...

...a feat our Russ has repeated in picking up Jones this summer, getting one over Ronnie Moore's Oldham Revolution (Moore eyeing up Jones as he wanted "someone with a little bit of pace"). Jones's record suggests he is hardly prolific for a forward but has a reputation as an awkward customer, possibly more of a 'feeder' in the Bergkamp mode. 

Not that Jones has exclusively cemented his abilities against lesser opposition. He played in midfield in the 2000 League Cup final for Tranmere - as did Parkinson - against Leicester, reaching the last eight of the FA Cup that season as well. Cue the "big move" to Forest on a Bosman. Form and injury caused him to flit in and out of the side, but a few Forest fans liked what they occasionally saw in a variety of positions: "Big and strong"; "useful height"; "a 100 per cent type of player." Falling out of favour – like many players under David Platt - the chance to return to Tranmere at the start of the 2002-03 season, initially on loan, was too good.

Invigorated by this second chance and in familiar climes, Jones played a major part under Ray Mathias and Brian Little, the latter guiding Tranmere to another FA Cup quarter-final, Jones scoring an eventually inconsequential goal against eventual runners-up Millwall.

Now 30 years old, he joins Town with the same kind of reputation as his ex-Tranmere team mate Andy Parkinson dragged along with him last summer: a promising lower league player, who didn't quite crack it at a bigger club (Parky's Sheffield United to Jones's City Ground stint). Will his supposedly languid style adapt to the perenially hectic fourth division? The better players, compared to those round them, always have that extra, vital second on the ball. If Jones proves to be a better player, then he clould be the link between midfield and Michael Reddy the team needs.