JC read again what I wrote, Keane had very little choice, we didn't have that team by choice, he was a rookie manager etc.
If it wasn't for Keane he simply wouldn't of had that profile, there were many managers that commented at the time they looked at him at Southampton but passed.
He played really well upto about the Liverpool game in his 1st season then went off the rest of the season looking tired / jaded, he then got injured and have albeit very rare glimpses of that form again. Bruce came and it was fairly obvious they just didn't get on for whatever reason and he handled him (and a few others) badly.
JC he went for relatively cheap money, if he was so good why wasn't there a big queue waiting to sign him and a bigger fee.
He needs a fair bit of work on his game, ball control, shooting and application. I got slaughtered on here one week for reporting what Paul Merson said on SSN about him, one week he looks like a superstar the next a pub player.
Its chicken and egg he simply isn't going to get a chance at a big club when in reality he seemingly can't get on the pitch for Stoke, he might get a chance with a decent coach such as Moyes, JOL or even MON as his way forward. There has also been a marked change in attitude of clubs being promoted in rather than being tight and having 1 up front to playing more on the front foot due to Hull, Blackpool, Norwich and swnasea showing its probably their best chance of survival rather than backs to the wall. Kenwyne needs to earn the right to play in a better team and apparently a lot of teh managers / coaches of those teams don't think he has as of yet.
Kev, my beef was never about keane or the dilemma he found himself in, but rather kenwyne jones and the way he was misguided and misused by his managers past and present, roy in particular.
(1)i know keane was ah rookie manager, i've been around english football long enough to know the roy keane saga, but that doesn't exclude the fact that he's misused the kid in every which way in order to fend off relegation, and didn't help his game in the least.
sometimes he would use KJ as ah "holding" forward defending and attacking all at once, in most cases as the lone striker with no one to play off, and in more cases than none, he also had his fair share of defensive duties running back to help out a porous defense when he should be attacking, that's what keane brought to the table in regards to kenwyn.
don't get me wrong, i have nothing but the uttermost respect for roy keane, he did what he had tuh do, and i rate him for his no nonsense approach to the game, and for giving our boys ah chance tuh shine, but lets face it, with or without keane KJ was headed for the prem that very season.
(2) do you remember that very season david nugent , chopra and KJ were top scorers in the championship, and they were all targeted by promoted teams, and darby county was seriously interested in KJ even before keane put in ah bid.
jones was on darby county's radar when billy davies was bussing his balls to sign him and put in ah 5 mil bid only to have george burley turn it down refusing to release KJ bc he was chasing promotion and jones was seriously in his plans. it's only when jones went on strike burley decided to let him leave for 6 mil and a stern john swap.
(3) in reference to things that jones need to work on, i'll have to agree with you on his touches (ball control) that has been his biggest flaw as a frontman, but surprisingly i've actually noticed that he's gotten better in that department, seems like he's been working on his ball skills bc in the WCQ it was obvious that he's technically better.
on his shooting , i'll totally have to disagree with you in that regard. i remember his first goal in the prem vs redding, and let me tell you, that ball was struck extremely well and from a very difficult angle, players who can't shoot would not have been able to pull that off and with such ease and accuracy.
last season he also pulled off another wonder goal against spurs which was definitely ah candidate for goal of the yr, that ball was hit with such poise and technique that there's no way that this kid lacks in the shooting department. i think ppl assume that bc he scores more goals with his head he has no ground game, but that side of him they rarely get to see bc of how these one dimensional coaches chooses to use him.
last but not least, in regards KJ's not being able to demand ah big pay day bc of his performance under bruce. bro i remember his last season under bruce, liverpool and harry rednapp was in for jones, rednapp even put in ah bid for 12 mill, and bruce and quin blatantly turned it down in the january transfer window, only to turn around and sell him in the summer to stoke for 8 mill.
it's obvious that those guys (spurs) already acquired the players that they needed, after all, who's gonna sit around and wait for jones when there are other players to target.
trust me kev, there will always be ah market for high jumping strong speedy relatively young players, and this transfer window proved it, moyes is interested, and so is hughs, but pulis seem to be another stubborn mule like bruce, and instead of releasing the player, he insist on holding on to ah bad situation.
a lot of these english coaches have some serious ego's, and always manage to destroy players instead of nurturing them and elevating their game, hek, even the fans are equally impatient unsympathetic and vicious.
