Alf Bentley Posted 23 January 2013 Posted 23 January 2013 Greatly enjoyed Bradford's aggregate win v. Villa tonight, almost as much as the Bradford 3-1 home win in the first leg... In both legs, I particularly enjoyed seeing Gary Jones in action, the Bradford captain and bald-headed bloke in midfield, who took all the set pieces. I first encountered him by chance 5 years ago. Most years, a lot of us who used to work together in London in the 1980s have a weekend get-together. That time, we stayed at Center Parks, Sherwood Forest - and took in Mansfield v. Rochdale (as you do): Mansfield 0 Rochdale 4, and it could have been a lot more. Billy Dearden (who used to live next-door-but-one to my Grandma in Sheffield in his 1970s playing days with the Blades) was sacked as Mansfield manager after the game. He could have blamed Gary Jones, because the bloke ran the game more than I've ever seen any player run a game. Page forward a few years to a fortnight ago and there's Gary Jones again, 2 assists and a commanding midfield performance in the 3-1 first leg win v. Villa. Then, there he was again tonight (aged 35), another crucial assist, dangerous at every set piece, calm in possession, almost never yielding possession. Loved it (I'm sentimental like that!) What I'm left wondering is why a player like that never made it higher up the league? He has a record number of appearances for Rochdale, which suggests he's not a difficult man.... he seems very slow (but compensated by superb positioning, temperament, accurate passing & outstanding set pieces...). Seems to me that he should have been a regular at least at lower Championship level (similar to Wellens: better passing accuracy, fewer killer passes, but set piece specialist...) Odd, the ones that get away... I would LOVE it to see that bald pate picking up the League Cup at Wembley...and playing in the UEFA Cup, why not?!
Aus Fox Posted 23 January 2013 Posted 23 January 2013 It's a funny old game, there are few very good players that never leave te lower leagues then players like Junior Lewis have played in the premiership. I guess there is a lot of luck involved knowing someone, or having a great game when someone is watching. Maybe he was a late peaker being 30 5 years ago not many clubs want to take a chance on a player over 28 from the lower leagues.
ADK Posted 23 January 2013 Posted 23 January 2013 According to wikipedia he was at Barnsley from 2001-2004, the first season of which they were in the 2nd tier. However, he only made 56 appearances and was then loaned out so this suggests they thought he wasn't good enough. It looks like his best season was 2010/11 where he scored an impressive 17 goals in league 1 for Rochdale, he'd have been 33 so the theory of him being a late peaker is plausible.
Jimothy Posted 23 January 2013 Posted 23 January 2013 Seems like a top bloke too http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2266983/Bradford-City-reach-Capital-One-Cup-Final-Bantams-captain-seeks-brave-kid-seal-stunning-Villa-win-kiss.html
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