Official: Phil Jones will leave United at the end of the season

Solius said:
The inability for some people on here to see things from someone else’s perspective never ceases to amaze me. So much judgement and no empathy without ever knowing the full details of something.

He’s probably had some incredibly dark days where he just went home and cried after another gruelling day of physio away from his family. So many operations, failed comebacks, people mocking him, etc…

His contract was on the club. Can you blame him for never giving up on his dream club? If I got sick and couldn’t work I would still take my pay, and I would expect them to look after me. It’s what happens in life and if you’ve made a commitment to someone you honour it.
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Apparently he should have ripped up his contract and taken a step down rather than believe he could fight his way back into the team.
 
Always gave everything. Shame his body broke down.

Should never have been given his latest contract, but obviously not his fault. I would have signed that too, and so would everyone else on here.

Should probably just retire and enjoy the rest of his life.
 
Word I've heard is he's been studying full time as well. No idea as what.
 
11101 said:
We have played 671 games since he signed. He has been injured for 205 of them. He has not been selected for 237. That is not a player who was in regular contention.
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Yes he was. You probably know that you can’t just go straight into the team after injury. If he was fit, he was pushing to get in and would be selected more often than not. Fitness was his problem but not his fault. (Although he could be reckless with himself in the same way that Robson, for example, often was.)

He didn’t realise his potential, which is a shame, but he impressed a lot of managers including Capello and Southgate beyond the club. His quality was not really doubted by anyone significant. You’ll always get jealous cnuts who want to stick the boot in but let’s ignore them.
 
dubplate warrior said:
There's kids out there who are about to get their first professional contract and a knee injury which ends their career and dreams. I'm supposed to feel sorry for a guy whose done the square root of feck all for a 110k a week? My heart bleeds.
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Ban worthy imo
 
simonhch said:
I am going to guess that there are quite a few on here who have forgotten what he was like when he was fit and healthy.

For my own part, I will say that he is one of the most natural defenders I have ever seen. He had a complete toolset for being an elite CB. Pace, power, reading of the game, bravery, aerial ability, quality on the ball, timing, tackling, leadership. If it wasn’t for his injuries, and he’d been able to play week in, week out, he’d be one of the PL’s all time best CBs.

And no, I’m not being nostalgic. People have just forgotten how brilliant he once was. And what enormous potential he once had.

There has been a lot of trash talk from fans over the years, which should only be directed at the club, who awarded that contract in 2019 to a player who couldn’t play anymore. Never towards Phil. No-one who is that good, has that much ability, promise, and fire in their belly, chooses not to play. He only didn’t play because he physically couldn’t.

He’s been robbed of a huge chunk of his career, and leaves with only a small fraction of the legacy that his ability and promise deserved. I wish him nothing but the best for the future, but above all, I hope that his body will allow him to play at least one more season somewhere he feels happy.

People will disagree with me, but keep it respectful. You don’t need to trash talk Phil to make your point. I think the vitriol directed towards him over the years, has been one of a few persistent distastes I’ve had for the direction this forum has trended in over the last decade.
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Excellent post
 
Quality control
Shame he is contact is up. I'm sure he'd have loved to stick around another few seasons earning top dollar while doing feck all.
 
Sviken said:
With all due respect to Fergie, I don't think he ever watched Duncan Edwards play
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About 99% of this forum, me included, weren't alive when he died, but SAF was playing then so it's possible he did
 
I just know he'll be remembered at the club, kind of a legend in his own way.

And he had that header on the ground to make the ball bounce wrong for Giroud, where he saluted mid-crawl.
 
In his pomp before being felled by injuries, Phil was brilliant.

The bizarre facial expressions gave us all a good laugh and I doubt we’ll another footballer quite like him ever again.
 
Quality control
He should have handed in his resignation two years ago and then gotten a job he was trained for, preferable one that requires knee cartillage.
 
VanDeBank said:
He should have handed in his resignation two years ago and then gotten a job he was trained for, preferable one that requires knee cartillage.
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I doubt we were gonna pay him the wages we owed him if he'd decided to leave, so I think it probably made sense for him to stay.
 
Redlyn said:
Shame he is contact is up. I'm sure he'd have loved to stick around another few seasons earning top dollar while doing feck all.
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Have a whip round all your bitter mates and send Phil a postal order to soften the blow.

Last thing he ever wanted was to do feck all and you know it.
 
Brilliant defender. Great character.

So many people here paying our teams wages directly from their pockets it seems
 
OrcaFat said:
Have a whip round all your bitter mates and send Phil a postal order to soften the blow.

Last thing he ever wanted was to do feck all and you know it.
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Of course. But it doesn't make me any less pleased that he is finally leaving. There are a bunch of other players that need to follow suit. I do wish him well for the future.
 
Hope he can continue his career somewhere and if not enjoys his retirement. He’s still had a great career. Showed class in how he responded to Rio.
 
It’s mad how quickly time passes. I still remember finding a stream to watch Jones & Smalling play for the England under 21’s in the 2011 Euros, thinking we were witnessing our next great defensive partnership. The heirs to Rio & Vidic. Then the excitement after his first few United appearances and that performance against Bolton at the Reebok. It’s been 12 years but it’s gone by in a flash. It will always be such a shame that injuries robbed him of what he could have become. 229 appearances for United is still something he should be proud of & we can only wish him the best for the rest of his career. I do hope he finds a way of playing football again, at least at some level.
 
The Cat said:
That's one of the worst posts I've read on here. Shameful. nothing against him personally but you call him a muppet in the same post?

Pathetic post.

He was a great player with a great attitude and very unfortunate.
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You're right - I shouldn't have called him a muppet. He isn't.

Its not one of the worst posts on here though, not by a long shot.
 
simonhch said:
I am going to guess that there are quite a few on here who have forgotten what he was like when he was fit and healthy.

For my own part, I will say that he is one of the most natural defenders I have ever seen. He had a complete toolset for being an elite CB. Pace, power, reading of the game, bravery, aerial ability, quality on the ball, timing, tackling, leadership. If it wasn’t for his injuries, and he’d been able to play week in, week out, he’d be one of the PL’s all time best CBs.

And no, I’m not being nostalgic. People have just forgotten how brilliant he once was. And what enormous potential he once had.

There has been a lot of trash talk from fans over the years, which should only be directed at the club, who awarded that contract in 2019 to a player who couldn’t play anymore. Never towards Phil. No-one who is that good, has that much ability, promise, and fire in their belly, chooses not to play. He only didn’t play because he physically couldn’t.

He’s been robbed of a huge chunk of his career, and leaves with only a small fraction of the legacy that his ability and promise deserved. I wish him nothing but the best for the future, but above all, I hope that his body will allow him to play at least one more season somewhere he feels happy.

People will disagree with me, but keep it respectful. You don’t need to trash talk Phil to make your point. I think the vitriol directed towards him over the years, has been one of a few persistent distastes I’ve had for the direction this forum has trended in over the last decade.
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Even fit and at his best he was prone to errors, as I remember it at least. He was all heart as a player but we should have moved on from him long ago. No issue with his wages etc, that’s on Woodward and the club.

Hope we can follow up his departure with the likes of Maguire, Mctominay, Henderson, Elanga, Telles, Williams and Bailly.

To not get £90m for that lot would be criminal. Subsidise wages if needs be.
 
It's so sad he was not able to play more. He certainly had the ability and he always gave me the impression that he will try his best. Too bad he had so many injuries.

Best of luck to him!
 
Such a humble guy and great personality on him, was talented and a team player. So much shame injury ruined his career. We struggled a lot over the years to replace him no matter what people say just up until recently. His facial expressions alone are gold. Happy new ventures and thank you Phil Jones!
 
Ironic that his shirt number will most likely go to the guy we nearly signed instead of him
 
Redlyn said:
Shame he is contact is up. I'm sure he'd have loved to stick around another few seasons earning top dollar while doing feck all.
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Redlyn said:
Of course. But it doesn't make me any less pleased that he is finally leaving. There are a bunch of other players that need to follow suit. I do wish him well for the future.
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Sounds like a lie..
 
Such good potential, but unfortunately very bad knees.

Good luck to him on his future endeavours.
 
simonhch said:
I am going to guess that there are quite a few on here who have forgotten what he was like when he was fit and healthy.

For my own part, I will say that he is one of the most natural defenders I have ever seen. He had a complete toolset for being an elite CB. Pace, power, reading of the game, bravery, aerial ability, quality on the ball, timing, tackling, leadership. If it wasn’t for his injuries, and he’d been able to play week in, week out, he’d be one of the PL’s all time best CBs.

And no, I’m not being nostalgic. People have just forgotten how brilliant he once was. And what enormous potential he once had.

There has been a lot of trash talk from fans over the years, which should only be directed at the club, who awarded that contract in 2019 to a player who couldn’t play anymore. Never towards Phil. No-one who is that good, has that much ability, promise, and fire in their belly, chooses not to play. He only didn’t play because he physically couldn’t.

He’s been robbed of a huge chunk of his career, and leaves with only a small fraction of the legacy that his ability and promise deserved. I wish him nothing but the best for the future, but above all, I hope that his body will allow him to play at least one more season somewhere he feels happy.

People will disagree with me, but keep it respectful. You don’t need to trash talk Phil to make your point. I think the vitriol directed towards him over the years, has been one of a few persistent distastes I’ve had for the direction this forum has trended in over the last decade.
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He was ridiculously overrated just like every young English player that's had a few good games is. He made stupid mistakes under LvG, Mourinho and Ole. Then there's that quote from Fergie which people used like it was some sort of a defense mechanism whenever Jones had a shit game.
Top level football isn't charity institution and he's way overstayed his welcome here with the rest of the Brady bunch.
 
simonhch said:
I am going to guess that there are quite a few on here who have forgotten what he was like when he was fit and healthy.

For my own part, I will say that he is one of the most natural defenders I have ever seen. He had a complete toolset for being an elite CB. Pace, power, reading of the game, bravery, aerial ability, quality on the ball, timing, tackling, leadership. If it wasn’t for his injuries, and he’d been able to play week in, week out, he’d be one of the PL’s all time best CBs.

And no, I’m not being nostalgic. People have just forgotten how brilliant he once was. And what enormous potential he once had.

There has been a lot of trash talk from fans over the years, which should only be directed at the club, who awarded that contract in 2019 to a player who couldn’t play anymore. Never towards Phil. No-one who is that good, has that much ability, promise, and fire in their belly, chooses not to play. He only didn’t play because he physically couldn’t.

He’s been robbed of a huge chunk of his career, and leaves with only a small fraction of the legacy that his ability and promise deserved. I wish him nothing but the best for the future, but above all, I hope that his body will allow him to play at least one more season somewhere he feels happy.

People will disagree with me, but keep it respectful. You don’t need to trash talk Phil to make your point. I think the vitriol directed towards him over the years, has been one of a few persistent distastes I’ve had for the direction this forum has trended in over the last decade.
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Disagree completely. Phil Jones at his best wasn't much better than Maguire. The one thing he had going for him over many defenders was his bravery, although at times it could be called stupidity. He worked hard and was a team player. But technically he wasn't anything special. He looked fairly awkward on the ball.

I'd put him alongside the likes of Evans and Smalling. Decent but not great defenders. Not good enough for an elite modern football team
 
AndySmith1990 said:
Disagree completely. Phil Jones at his best wasn't much better than Maguire. The one thing he had going for him over many defenders was his bravery, although at times it could be called stupidity. He worked hard and was a team player. But technically he wasn't anything special. He looked fairly awkward on the ball.

I'd put him alongside the likes of Evans and Smalling. Decent but not great defenders. Not good enough for an elite modern football team
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And I disagree completely with this.

He was very good on the ball, so good in fact that multiple managers took to playing him in midfield for a few games.

He wasn't a world beater for sure but he was a very very good player both on the ball and off it.
 
Why are folks having a go at Jones? It was the management who decided to hand him a new contract what’s he supposed to do? Decline it?

He seems like an alright lad but he should have left 4-5 years ago. The fact that he is departing the club in 2023 says it all about the Glazer regime
 
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