Jones admits Wolves career is over
Saturday 25th July 2009, 11:24AM BST.
Forgotten man Daniel Jones admits his Wolves career is over and he is now focusing on ‘doing a Mark Davies’ and proving his hometown club wrong.
Having been with the club for 14 years, the Wordsley-born Wolves fan turned 23 earlier this month knowing there’s nothing he would love more than to pull on a gold and black jersey in the Premier League.
But the Academy graduate accepts that scenario is not going to happen and he’s resigned to leaving as soon as possible to secure regular first team football elsewhere.
“I’m in the last year of my contract now and I know I’m not going to feature here so I’ve got to get away and do as well as I possibly can,” said Jones, who made the last of 11 senior appearances for Wolves in the Carling Cup tie against Accrington Stanley last August.
Jones now wants to follow the example of fellow graduates Mark Davies and Keith Andrews who have gone on to play in the Premier League after leaving Wolves.
“Mark was always injured but then he went on loan and excelled somewhere else, as did Keith Andrews,” he said.
“Hopefully I can play in the Championship and prove to people I can play at that level and then step up again if I do well enough.
“I’m focused and determined to succeed somewhere else.
“Whatever opportunity comes for me, I’ve got to take it. I speak to my agent regularly so we’re getting the ball rolling now and we’ll see what happens.”
Jones added: “This is my team. I’ve been here since I was nine-years-old and I love the club and support them, but things don’t always work out the way you want them to.
Chance
“I’m disappointed because I’d love to play for Wolves. I know I’m good enough but I had my chance here a couple of seasons ago and I hadn’t had one really since.”
Jones has discounted going out on loan again as he’s in the final year of his deal.
And he feels he did well enough in two spells at League One Oldham in 33 League games last season to warrant a chance at that level or the Championship.
“I think I’ve done well enough on loan which was underlined by the interest I’ve had,” he said.
“I definitely think I can play regularly in the Championship, or if I go to a team in League One, it will have to be one on the up.
“Every time I’ve played for Wolves I think I’ve done well, but that’s football.”
Jones is fully fit again after breaking a bone in his foot against Walsall on the final day of last season.
“I’m back in training now and I’m getting myself fit, so I’ll see what happens,” he said.
Jones, who has been with Wolves since he was 10, also had a loan spell at Northampton Town in 2007-08 where he made 33 appearances to gain more first-team experience.
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Shame really i thought he showed alot of promise, good luck kid.
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good luck mate always rated ya.
live only 15mins away from northampton saw him a few times there he looked a great player.
fingers crossed paul ince wud have him at mk dons thts a 20min drive and its like the wolves 3rd team. :)
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Your not too big headed, are you!
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Its a shame but we do have better wingers. UP THE WOLVES mid table next season
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Sorry mate. But Oldham or Northampton is about your level. To be fair, you have not torn up trees, so I do not think it is fair to blame the club for not picking you.
You can play left wing or left back. Ward, Friend. Elokobi, Surman, Jarvis are all way ahead of you. So a reality check is needed by your good self. I wish you look, and maybe dropping a level might boost you forward.
Good luck for the future.
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I think this lad showed real potential and I wish him well in his future career.
I do sometimes wonder why we make such a big thing of an academy and investing in home-grown talent when they so rarely get time to prove themselves as a first team player.
I look forward to the day when Wolves are a Premiership regular with 4 or 5 players developed through the youth system at the heart of the team.
A pipe dream perhaps but it would be great to see it realised one day!
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be sad to see him go, he is a quality young player who i’ve always thought had something going for him.
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Shame were losing another one of our promising academy graduates, but i dont think the lad would of made the step up to the premier league. I wish him well though. Hopefully he doesnt come back to haunt us though.
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I hope the guy stays, always thought he would do well given the chance…i can’t see how he is rated below S.Ward ? I trust MM but I think we learnt a lesson already with M.Davies
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keep him! he is a quality player and will povide back up for my jarvis.
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Always thought you were class, but Thick Mick thought otherwise. Great crosser of the ball and good left foot. Shame you were never given a real opportunity as I’d prefer to see local lads who have passion a go. I think you would have been better than Ward on the left although I appreciate he had a decent season. Good luck fella, I hope you do a “Mark Davies!”
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Wolves have announced the squad numbers for the forthcoming premier league season they are all going to have the no 20 on their backs as it will reflect our league position all season.
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your better than steven ward mate.
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If there is a cxhance to stay do so, I believe you can get into this team.
However if you wish to move I would suggest you move to Sheff Wed they have a good manager and a decent team.
What ever you do good luck
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Sorry to hear that Daniel but you are probably right in your thoughts about getting away.
Your prospects are slim at best so why wait to be told your contract will not be renewed. Best to go now and find a new club before the new season gets underway.All the best to you for the future.
On a different point, I notice that Heart’s have been after a striker called Adam Nemec, a Slovakian who plays for Gent in Belgium. He is 23yo and 6’3″, is a left footed target man and is available for around £1M – (Heart’s bid has failed by the way although Kaiserslautern in Germany have also bid for him.)
His last season was poor due to a niggling groin injury but the previous season he scored 10 goals in 29 matches.
Here is a comment about him from another website – ” is described by scouts in Slovakia as a strong target man who works very hard for his team” – sounds to me like a typical Mick McCarthy player!
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Its getting to be a rather monotonous story of Academy players not getting their chance at Wolves and having to leave to find regular football. This is one aspect of their operation that the club is going to have to look at. From what I have seen and heard Daniel is more than capable of performing at Championship level at least but has never really been given the chance to prove it. How many Academy players have actually succeeded in getting into and staying in the first team over the last five years, even when the club was on its knees when Hoddle left?
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not sure why Daniel never got a chance under MM as I thought he was a useful player.
Good luck in thr future!
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Good luck for the future.Would be nice to see you every season playing against us in the prem.
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I thought he was a decent player who probably should have had more opportunities. He seems resigned to going and good luck to him. Hope he does achieve the same as Keith Andrews. Not sure what message it sends to those academy players who are approaching 18?
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Very good luck to you , as a Wolves fan you’re always one of us wherever you end up .Just please not with a winning goal against your home club !!!
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was never given a chance by wolves in his best position of left back. I see similarities with george freind- for god sake mick play em in defence if anywhere
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I admit i get frustrated at times by mick not giving our youngsters a chance, but in the games he had this kid was obviously not good enough. Too slow for the CCC nevermind the prem. Think league 1′s his level as he’s performed reasonably in loans spells there i believe.
Gave his all though in the games he did have though. Good Luck.
UTW
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on ya bike then mate, if you were good enough you would have played dont sit back moaning
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good luck mate wish you all the best
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what is the point of the academy m.m has not played any of our young players,litte,jones,davies,glesson,gobern,
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Good luck Dan. You’re a good player and deserve a chance.
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Daniel who?
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good player.just not had the chance to show it.good luck and one day you might get the chance of putting a wolves shirt on in the premiership.
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Best of luck . It is obvious that Mick McCarthy prefers Stephen Ward and hence Daniel has not been given a decent run in the side.It will be interesting to see how their respective careers pan out.Instead of casting off one of our own why not give him a season in the reserves and see if he can force his way into the first team,we should have done that with Mark Davies of course.
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Fairplay to the lad, it must be really frustrating as well as heart breaking. I hope he does well and succeeds somewhere else. We might want to buy him back one day. No doubt he’ll be one of those players who comes back and haunts us by scoring the winner against us in the cup for someone we dislike, like Coventry or Cardiff. It is beginning to worry me slightly how many lads go through the academy and don’t quite get the chance in the first team.
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Here we go again, name another club who lets its young grass roots players down!!!!! Since the end of the Fifties it has being going on. Good look to the youngster he will in the future turn around and smack us across the face.
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its sad really that we have a player like Daniel Jones who incidently fits into the young and hungry catagory but never gets a chance,this lads got talent and can only get better so cmon the 3 ms give this lad a chance and let him show what he can do,WE ARE WOLVES
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Never Given a Chance. Like Michael Branch and Freddy Eastwood. He is quick, very quick.
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Sad really……I always believed Daniel to have real potential, was ever really given a chance by any of our present or previous managers?? 14 years of loyalty I think he should have a testimonial after such service…or at least release him now on a free to enable him to find a club who would give the chance he craves. I suggest your agent goes and has a discussion with Paul Ince at MK Dons Daniel..good luck son. Who knows one day we may end up paying a fee to bring you back.
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I wish Dan Jones well. I always thought he was a decent prospect when I saw him play, I had good reports from a mate who is an Oldham Season Ticket holder. Probably not a Premiership player (but there aren’t many that are, are there?) but I was a bit surprised that he wasn’t given a chance at LB when Elokobi was injured last season. It must have been dispiriting for him to be have that place given to a converted striker & then to be 4th choice behind Hill & Friend as well. Not sure why he didn’t get a chance really. I hope he goes to somewhere like Leicester & does a good job for them.
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Sad news. We have to trust that the management know what they are doing, having seen him up close, but it seems that the Academy boys of that generation never get the benefit of the doubt. I hope it’s not a question with MM of ‘I only play those who i brought in’.
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Fair play to the lad, always put his best in, but cant see him getting near this team now unfortunatly, especially with us fairly settled down the left with players.
Cant see him doing a Keith Andrews or Mark Davies, but good luck to him in the future.
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Yes Dan you are good enough, though if your not in the manager’s plans then that seems a shame.
I thought the likes of Dan Jones and Mark Little did very well in the 06/07 season but they seem to have been farmed out on loan since we’ve seen a little bit of investment.
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where are all you “wolves fans ” now??? we got a young lad prepared to give his all for Wolves. I wish you well Daniel I hope you make the top with Wolves….. please dont come back to haunt us!!! Keith Andrews got loads of stick at the Mol… where is he now? Premier League regular!! Lee Naylor… loads of stick too… played in Champions league with Celtic…… tell you what some Wolves fans are so stupid….. I aint goin again….they on to Keogh now…works his balls off for Wolves, and he gets slagged off by so called Wolves fans!!!
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Good luck Daniel, I am sure you will go on to bigger and better things than Wolves…..like Lee Naylor and Keith Andrews to name but two! Andy Keogh is gettin the stick now…. how can so called Wolves fans get on at these players and drive them away??? and they all come back to haunt us!!!
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24 – Not good enough, simple’s
32 –
Michael Branch – played loads of times for wolves.
Freddy Eastwood – mick was right, whats he done for coventry?
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What excatly is “doing a Mark Davies” ? Does it involve being constantly injured, leaving at the first oppurtunity that comes up and then getting injured at your new club ?
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as i said before given no chance like the rest of young players just look at players who where give a chance before m.m and other, lescott,keane,Murry,naylor,then since not given a chance,davies,andrews,now in prem, let see what happens with clesson,jones,little will next to go, all a bit of a waste.
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Can’t recall him ever playing full back for us, but remember some stonking displays on the wing.
Many’s the time I wondered where the hell he was when Jervis was out injured.. If he had been given half the chance other players (bought by M.M) have been given, we would be tying him down to a long term contract, I’m sure.
As a good Championship player we might be glad of him in the near future…
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He is simply not good enough and just because he is a ‘local lad’ does not mean he was good enough. At Wolves if the kids are good enough they will get the chance but we also bring in young players from other clubs. Dan Jones, Gobern etc have not been better than Kightly or Jarvis so didnt play as simple as that. Mark Davies played a couple of games for Bolton then got injured. Wolves are a premiership club also but Bolton can now pay his wages whilst he’s injured!
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another hotshot ruined by mick… ten times better than stephen ward but unfortuneatly not irish or capable of puckering up half as much..
39 – come on kid, keogh’s a farce
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Little, Jones, Davies, even george friend have all been given little four or five game runs in the side sometime in micks era. and all four have done a good job, showed a lot of promise, been involved in winning teams, and then dropped with no explanation or logical reason. possibly for accommodation purposes…
it’s not so much the fact that mark davies, dan jones, mark little, stephen gleeson couldn’t get in the side, it’s WHY they couldnt..
Kept out of a side or even the squad by Karl Henry, Neil Collins, Stephen Ward and when we needed a wide midfielder we constantly went with little mick (andy keogh) who was shockingly poor rather than give gleeson his push.
Now this begs the question were these selections made on ability, or merit
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To be fair… He probably ain’t done himself any favours with this article… We all saw what happened to Freddy
I personally think he is a bit weak for the premier league and poddibly the championship but we will see…
Good luck lad.
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Good luck young man.
He never shone when ever I saw him play, so for me he isn’t good enough.
As for Keith Andrews, the fact that he is about 2 stone lighter now than he was when he played for us might have something to do with is improved form (which is as much down to his own attitude than any training he is doing!!!), but he is another who played lots of games & contributed very little & wasn’t missed when he went, however I am pleased he has gone on to do well for himself
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Whose next,Mark Little.And nobody can tell me, that hes not a better full-back than Matt Hill and Stephen Ward.
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50,
And your point is????
Hill & Ward are left sided, Mark Little is a right back & a very good one at that.
I don’t want him to be sold either, but there is no point in comparing him to players in different positions, talk sense!!!!
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