[Archived] Phil Jones

[John]

No need to announce the fee.

[Parsonblue]

absolutely right, topman. in addition to more money.. we've wound united up, showed we are no push-overs and our owners have shown great strength and genius in the phrasing of the clause.

there wont be much praising of the owners or any rejoicing but there should be!

victory for venkys and blackburn rovers!

How losing one our most talented players can be cause for celebration is beyond me. The fact is that like so many before him - and I go back to the Fred Pickering era - another youngster has been enticed away by the lure of success at another club.

I suspect United paid a little bit more than they wanted to and Venkys got a little bit less than they wanted. However, United have got an outstanding talent at a fairly reasonable price. We have money to spend but have to find a replacement for Jones. If we lose Samba as well, we are going to have to spend a fair amount of money replacing the centre of our defence - and that's before we get down to signing the players we need in midfield and up front.

I hope Phil has a long and successful career with United and wins plenty of honours along the way.

The one positive for me is that it will help to promote the Academy at the Rovers and show lads that coming to Blackburn will give them a better chance of first team football and progressing their career.

[philipl]

BBC say up to £17m

Desperately sad day for the Rovers.

[USRoverME]

odd, because up to 17 mil and "potential record transfer" are at odds, are they not...

which is correct, the club or the Beeb?

[CrazyIvan]

http://twitter.com/#!/Ph1lj0nes

[Blackburn Ravers]

BBC say up to £17m

Desperately sad day for the Rovers.

The manager himself has said its over 20 million but dont get little things like that get in the way of your Vendetta

[JAL]

Good luck to Phil Jones and the near future.

Hopefully one day you'll be reunited with the super blue whites once again.

[imy9]

Good luck to Phil Jones and the near future.

Hopefully one day you'll be reunited with the super blue whites once again.

The man signed a Manchester United shirt BEFORE a transfer had been completed.

He requested to leave the club even when he has been looked after well and given TWO improved contracts in the same of a year (THREE if he had stayed).

He can stay at Manchester United for the rest of his career as I for one do not want him back.

[BRFC4EVA]

Bad luck Phil Jones. Hope it all goes horribly wrong for you. Not even a full season worth of games for his hometown club-the club he claims to support and he buggers off. Once in a lifetime opportunity? Your barely 19 ffs!

[Blackburn Ravers]

We dont want reckons, assumes, speculation etc., Is there a problem to knowing the exact amount.

Oh i am sorry JAL, you really are a nice person arent you,

[JAL]

The man signed a Manchester United shirt BEFORE a transfer had been completed.

He requested to leave the club even when he has been looked after well and given TWO improved contracts in the same of a year (THREE if he had stayed).

He can stay at Manchester United for the rest of his career as I for one do not want him back.

Imy9, at that moment in time he thought he'd signed for Man U just for it all to be held up, dont blame him.

What you have to ask is, if the owners had any real ambition, would Phil Jones have left the club so, so, early in his career despite the offer of more money than he was on at the time (if true)baring in mind he lives at home with his parents.

Oh i am sorry JAL, you really are a nice person arent you,

Sorry ravers, didnt have the answer at the time and was getting a little frustrated.

Keep the faith

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Bad luck Phil Jones. Hope it all goes horribly wrong for you. Not even a full season worth of games for his hometown club-the club he claims to support and he buggers off. Once in a lifetime opportunity? Your barely 19 ffs!

I can't wish that on anyone. I can only think that his injury has made him look at his career differently. Playing for honours is a huge opportunity for any footballer - would he do that on a regular basis at Rovers - no - would he play for England on a regular basis - possibly, but definitely playing for United. Personally I would have stayed at Rovers for at least another season - but he may have feared another injury and his opportunity would pass him by. Look at Le Tissier - a superb player who remained loyal to Southampton - but could have gone to win numerous honours if he had accepted the numerous offers from bigger clubs (including Rovers in Jack's day).

Overall I am hugely disappointed looking at what he could have achieved in combination with Samba next season. But he has moved on - as the club must.

[chocky]

Some of you just want to blame anyone else but Jones for wanting to leave the club. He is no different to anyoner else. Glory hunting , money grabbing greedy ######. He's gone then good riddance. he does not want to play for Rovers is the bottom line. He could easily have given it another ccouple of years.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

What you have to ask is, if the owners had any real ambition, would Phil Jones have left the club so, so, early in his career despite the offer of more money than he was on at the time (if true)baring in mind he lives at home with his parents.

Oh come on - level of ambition - we know our new owners don't have the money that the City owners have - it would take that level of investment to get us anywhere near United's level of success. Even with the millions invested - City are still playing catch up. Ambition for Rovers is to get into Europe - United's ambition is to win the Premiership and Champions league.

It is amazing how the owners get blamed for everything by some people.

[BangkokRover]

Bad luck Phil Jones. Hope it all goes horribly wrong for you. Not even a full season worth of games for his hometown club-the club he claims to support and he buggers off. Once in a lifetime opportunity? Your barely 19 ffs!

On par with the post celebrating Keith Andrews being injured, totally disgraceful.

Cheers

BKR

[davulsukur]

http://twitter.com/#!/Ph1lj0nes

Presumably he will be changing that profile picture sometime soon

[jim mk2]

JONES MAKES 'DREAM' MOVE TO UNITED

By Simon Stone, Press Association Sport Chief Football Writer

Blackburn Rovers have stepped aside to allow Phil Jones to ``follow his dream'' of joining Manchester United.

Although Rovers have claimed Jones' switch to Old Trafford could eventually break their transfer record, United have not gone beyond the initial £16.5million offer that triggered a buy-out clause in the teenager's contract last week.

Even as Blackburn owners Venky's were refusing to sanction the deal when it was first put together last Wednesday and were fielding renewed interest from Liverpool over the weekend, Sir Alex Ferguson was secure in the knowledge Jones was not interested in going anywhere else.

So, once Jones' contribution to England's draw with Spain in their opening European Under-21 Championship group game was out of the way last night, further contact with Rovers was made to assure the club any attempt at prolonging the transfer was futile.

Jones will formally sign a five-year contract once he returns from Denmark.

``Much as we would love him to stay on with us - and we made all efforts to convince him to stay - Phil has to finally follow his heart,'' said a statement on behalf of the Rovers' owners, directors and manager, released on www.rovers.co.uk.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean confirmed those efforts included offering to make Jones the highest-paid player in the club's history.

``The offer we made he was staggering for a 19-year-old, but it wasn't the money,'' Kean told Sky Sports News. ``Phil wants to play Champions League football now and we're not at that level.

``I'm sure we will be in the coming years, and we gave it a real good try and made him a fantastic offer, but I understand why he wants to go now. He goes with our blessing and it's an opportunity for us to invest in other young players across other areas of the pitch

.``We were hoping he was going to be captain of our club and captain of England, he's a fantastic prospect and I'm sure he'll be an England regular very soon.''

It represents a smart piece of business for Ferguson, who knew the 19-year-old was also coveted by Arsenal, and secures another important piece in a developing United team that now contains four of England's starting line-up last night.

In addition, the Old Trafford chief is hoping to complete the signing of Spain goalkeeper David De Gea, who produced an excellent performance in Herning.

However, Ferguson is not focusing purely on youth as he looks to rebuild in the wake of his club's chastening Champions League final defeat to Barcelona last month.

It is widely assumed Ashley Young's much-discussed switch from Aston Villa will be completed once the Midlands outfit have sorted out their managerial situation.

Ferguson is also trying to secure a replacement for recently retired playmaker Paul Scholes, although apparently it will not be Mesut Ozil, the Germany star whom United were interested in before he left Werder Bremen for Real Madrid last August.

``We thank Manchester United for their interest but Ozil is fine in Madrid and has no intention of leaving,'' said the midfielder's agent Reza Fazeli.

With Wesley Sneijder giving out mixed messages over a potential departure from Inter Milan and Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp repeatedly stating he has no interest in offloading Luka Modric, finding someone to step into Scholes' shoes is not going to be easy.

``That is up to the manager,'' laughed Scholes.

``You only have to look at the youth team and what they have done this year to see there is a lot of talent at this club. There are some great players.``But the ones we have been linked with are great as well.'

'Although he will be part of Ferguson's coaching team at the start of pre-season, with his precise role yet to be determined, Scholes will have no input in the discussions over his replacement.Instead, he will be like any other fan, sitting back and waiting to find out which star name will eventually arrive, knowing his first appearance on English soil could well come in Scholes' testimonial game against New York Cosmos on August 5.

``It is a great time of year,'' said the 36-year-old.

``Even when I was a player you see all these top players around the world that you're linked with, and you are excited about maybe playing with them.

``Now I am just like my son, hoping we buy the best players in the world and that they make us even stronger for next year.''

Meanwhile, one of Ferguson's more bizarre recent captures, Bebe, is in talks with Turkish club Besiktas about a loan move.Ferguson broke the habit of a lifetime buy snapping Bebe up despite never actually seeing him play.The transfer has not really worked out, with the 20-year-old making only seven appearances, scoring two goals.end

[Parsonblue]

Some of you just want to blame anyone else but Jones for wanting to leave the club. He is no different to anyoner else. Glory hunting , money grabbing greedy ######. He's gone then good riddance. he does not want to play for Rovers is the bottom line. He could easily have given it another ccouple of years.

He's a professional footballer. Football is his chosen career and the lad is ambitious. When the best team in the country come calling you are hardly going to turn it down as the chance may never come round again. Too many people on here are looking at it from the perspective of spectators. Jones, while he may support the Rovers, is a professional footballer and his career must come before any support for a particular club. At the end of the day the Rovers have got a good price for him and now have money to spend. Good luck to the lad.

[Tom]

Of course, had Rovers announced the fee in all its glory, you'd probably excuse them of naively broadcasting our transfer kitty to the rest of the world.

That sums it up for me, it starts to look like Rovers look OK out of it and people shift the goalposts and moan about something else, it's really tiresome.

Now the Rovers official site says potential record deal yet Philip and others are scouting round for any reports which say less to make Rovers look worse it seems.

[LeChuck]

Some of you just want to blame anyone else but Jones for wanting to leave the club. He is no different to anyoner else. Glory hunting , money grabbing greedy ######. He's gone then good riddance. he does not want to play for Rovers is the bottom line. He could easily have given it another ccouple of years.

What if he went over on his ankle/knee in those two years, did his ligaments and then never quite got back to the same level again? He'd have to spend the rest of his career wondering "what if I'd said 'yes'".

If he'd gone to somewhere like Newcastle or even Spurs I might have held a grudge, but to turn down the most successful club in the country, and one of the most successful in the world? Can't blame him, really.

If we spend that money correctly then everyone could be a winner. We have good centre backs already, if we can get some quality players for the attacking third then we'll be stronger without Jones.

[BangkokRover]

JONES MAKES 'DREAM' MOVE TO UNITED

By Simon Stone, Press Association Sport Chief Football Writer

Blackburn Rovers have stepped aside to allow Phil Jones to ``follow his dream'' of joining Manchester United.

``Much as we would love him to stay on with us - and we made all efforts to convince him to stay - Phil has to finally follow his heart,'' said a statement on behalf of the Rovers' owners, directors and manager, released on www.rovers.co.uk.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean confirmed those efforts included offering to make Jones the highest-paid player in the club's history.

``The offer we made he was staggering for a 19-year-old, but it wasn't the money,'' Kean told Sky Sports News. ``Phil wants to play Champions League football now and we're not at that level.

``I'm sure we will be in the coming years, and we gave it a real good try and made him a fantastic offer, but I understand why he wants to go now. He goes with our blessing and it's an opportunity for us to invest in other young players across other areas of the pitch

.``We were hoping he was going to be captain of our club and captain of England, he's a fantastic prospect and I'm sure he'll be an England regular very soon.''

Where is the Rovers Press Officer???

[BRFC4EVA]

On par with the post celebrating Keith Andrews being injured, totally disgraceful.

Cheers

BKR

Not really. I never said that I wanted Jones to get a career ending injury or die in a bloody car crash. I just hope it goes the way of many of our other recent big name sales that believe its always greener; Bentley, Santa Cruz, Bellamy etc etc

[rebelmswar]

On par with the post celebrating Keith Andrews being injured, totally disgraceful.

Cheers

BKR

You would have to say that continuously being jilted by your players as soon as they show a modicum of talent is hurtful. Its like being constantly dumped by girls, eventually you will sit in your wet nappy and have a voluminous weeping fit.

I have now changed my way of thinking more towards the whoring aspect. From what I have been told, Johns don't get very attached to certain night stalkers because, when said woman of the night gets her head turned by a charming pimp, they are moved away from said Johns pissing ground. This could be very sad for Mr. John but if he steels his heart and realises that it is ALWAYS business then he can shrug off the parasite of the pant area without much heartache.

Football players = whores - paid to perform and entertain.

Supporters = Johns - pay for said entertainment, but should remember that there is no strings attached.

Agents = Pimps

Maybe we should treat them as they deserve, back hand to the face when they get too uppity and all that good stuff.

[BangkokRover]

Not really. I never said that I wanted Jones to get a career ending injury or die in a bloody car crash. I just hope it goes the way of many of our other recent big name sales that believe its always greener; Bentley, Santa Cruz, Bellamy etc etc

Personally I hope he does what Berg did and comes back to play for us.

Cheers

BKR

[Stuart]

The sad thing is that Jones has somehow become convinced that this move had to happen now ("once in a lifetime") but this could easily have been a move in two or three years. He's only 19, FFS!

What I find most distressing though is this:

Blackburn boss Steve Kean confirmed those efforts included offering to make Jones the highest-paid player in the club's history.

``The offer we made he was staggering for a 19-year-old, but it wasn't the money,'' Kean told Sky Sports News. ``Phil wants to play Champions League football now and we're not at that level.

``I'm sure we will be in the coming years, and we gave it a real good try and made him a fantastic offer, but I understand why he wants to go now. He goes with our blessing and it's an opportunity for us to invest in other young players across other areas of the pitch

.``We were hoping he was going to be captain of our club and captain of England, he's a fantastic prospect and I'm sure he'll be an England regular very soon.''

Does he really believe this BS??