Alex Jones on our forward play

[glenpvfc]

Maybe we should stop ******* strikers off by playing them on the wing and we won't get these comments. Same thing happened to JJ and that's why he went on loan to Northampton, it wasn't because he didn't want to play for us like that conor mcgregor lookalike said. After having a good season end and training nearly all the way through the holidays he was ready to try and bang some goals in for us and we shat on him. However, i heard when he went to Northampton he was played on the wing there too but i can't say for certain. I believe if we played Jones up top alongside someone not someone behind or in front of him then he would probably have twice the goals he got. He's gone now though so we can't say for sure and it's under different circumstances but lets see how he does with a team that will play him in his correct position with a midfield that can create and we will have a little indication of if he was good enough or not.

[TheSage]

I have to say that I half suspected one of the reasons for his departure was the fact that he felt he had been played out of position here. He clearly thinks of himself as a central striker playing off another forward and not a winger. He might have scored a few goals from wide positions but he was never a winger in a million years. He couldn't dribble with the ball and he didn't know much about defending and tracking back. But he did have an eye for goal and he was quick over 5 yards and he often hit the target when given the opportunity.

 

I don't think he was as good as some thought he was and it was only because our other 'strikers' were so atrocious that he looked so good. Yes, I would have kept him but he had a lot to learn, was lightweight and nowhere near the finished article.

 

He might have been wiser to have stayed put for another 6-12 months and continue developing but we can appreciate why he chose to go to a big club like Bradford who are on the up and gunning for promotion, especially if they play him centrally like he wants.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Not great reading, but nothing we don't know already of course

From the local paper in Bradford:

 

Jones was delighted to be back in his natural role as centre forward after playing mainly on the right during his half-season spell with Port Vale.

 

He said: "I prefer the system here because there are so many bodies up front with you. That makes it easier to link up.

 

"It's nice to play down the middle and get familiar with that position again. At Port Vale, most of the goals I scored were by myself and they didn't really create any clear-cut chances.

 

"Here they create a shed-load every game and hopefully I can start to put a few of them away. It's a great feeling to have as a striker that the lads behind are going to create things for you."

 

Hard to disagree with any of that, for much of the last 18 months the system has been the same and we have isolated the forward player when the system if used wisely can be as free flowing and fluid as any. We need a progressive forward thinking manager. No more clowns please chairman!

[SourceOfTheTrent]

I'm not in the least upset by Jones' comments I just think he's said it how he sees it and I can't see any disrespect to us as a club in there, his comments really relate to the tactical genius that is Bruno. I can see Jones scoring a lot as an out-and-out striker, he put a few away for us and his record before joining us was superb at youth / reserve level. He's a loss to us but he's now in the past so let's hope Browny can use JJ better than Page did and get more out of him because he isn't a wide player either.