I understand the various view points regarding Jones. He’s hugely frustrating at times. He’s up and down. Some games he looks like a world beater and other games he looks league one standard.
What I would say, that is that in the current squad, you definitely notice when he’s not on the pitch. He was suspended for the Ipswich game, and we had no outlet of threat on the break. There’s no doubt a lot of sides are wary of him and try to adjust their game plan to suit.
I think he works his b***ks off defensively. Always tracking back, and unsurprisingly picks up quite a lot of bookings due to the nature of his role as he has to get up and down all the time. Let’s be honest, some of the “silly” bookings are just cynical attempts to stop sides counter attacking on us. Adam Clayton made a career out for that - loads of people loved him.
I think Jones is a decent Championship player but he can be hit and miss - a lot of wingers are the same. If he produced regular quality and end product, the PL sides would undoubtedly be sniffing.
The same criticisms of Jones apply to loads of the current squad. It’s not their fault, that’s the club / squad we’ve got now. We’ve been spoilt over the years with some amazing players (and some dog chit ones too mind!). I still think some of our Fan base have PL expectations at times. That’s not trying to be critical, it’s just an observation and kind of understandable based on some of our history since the 90’s.
In summary, not perfect by any stretch but overall a solid Championship player who’s still got time on his side to improve. He’ll also be helped once we get numbers back, as we’ll be able to rotate more. He’s been an ever present nearly all season, which won’t have helped in recent weeks with the amount of games we’ve played.
. Even when he’s off it offensively he’s always tracking back and helping his fullback. It’s why he’s shattered after 60-70 mins every game.
