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

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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Yeah, fair enough. I would agree it’s best for the club that we aren’t paying huge wages for a guy who is always injured.

There are quite a few others we would want to leave as well and there may be takers for some of them. Phil’s problem was that to find a new club you have to be fit really. His injury record is so bad that the risk is too high for pretty much any club.

He will probably go the way of Hargreaves. Maybe he gets to the point where he can train and someone will offer a pay as you play contract but within a year he will retire, I’m sad to say.
 
Such a shame how his career paned out. Hopefully he can go on and do something else now, as I highly doubt he will move to another club.
 
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. You have to wonder if some of the people disagreeing to this post actually watched him play before his slide started.

The way he combined physicality with decent on the ball ability and a no-bullshit attitude made him a force on the pitch. To me, it stands to reason that if he’d been able to enjoy a natural progression without the injuries that impeded his development, he’d have gone on to become an absolute top class defender.

Unfortunately, every forced break and injury setback seemed to make him a little more shaky, and deprive him slightly of that natural ability and confidence that made him such a magnificent prospect in his early days.

Sad that it ended the way it did for him. It must have been a rough couple of years, no doubt. Wish him all the best, whatever he decides to pursue in his life after United.
 
Constable Odo said:
Yeah because questioning a player who has milked United for years for tens of millions of £ is all that's wrong with humanity, not Putin, not Assad, not Kim Jong, people who don't feel sorry for Phil Jones are the serious problem for humanity.

I'll puke if this guy gets a heroic send off on the field when legends like Keane and Rio never did.
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Yeah that's just changed my entire perspective!! Your puking is all we needed to see the light!
 
Suv666 said:
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?
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Fernando Redondo refused to receive salary from AC Milan for more than a year while he was being injured because he didn't want to get paid while he isn't playing. He even wanted to return the house and a car he got.
The player himself said: "I came to Milan to play. Milan must only pay me when that's what I am doing."
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Now, I wouldn't do such a thing certainly and 99% people either, but there are obviously small exceptions. I feel sorry for his career, but maybe, considering everything, he should have end it by himself a year earlier. It would be a nice gesture and something that would make a lasting bond with the fans... But hey ho, as I said, 99% or even more players, logically take the money (which is their right).
 
Jim Beam said:
Fernando Redondo refused to receive salary from AC Milan for more than a year while he was being injured because he didn't want to get paid while he isn't playing. He even wanted to return the house and a car he got.



Now, I wouldn't do such a thing certainly and 99% people either, but there are obviously small exceptions. I feel sorry for his career, but maybe, considering everything, he should have end it by himself a year earlier. It would be a nice gesture and something that would make a lasting bond with the fans... But hey ho, as I said, 99% or even more players, logically take the money (which is their right).
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Perhaps he or the club were having his wages covered by insurance
 
golden_blunder said:
Just wondering why you discount it so definitively?
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I didn't. I said I "guess" it won't happen.

Because he's a multi millionaire in his mid 30's. Hitting the books and retraining to do an actual, hard working job seems very unlikely to me.

That's on top of having the intelligence and cognitive skills to do a degree which has been oddly assumed. As if anyone can just do it after doing nothing but playing football all your life.

I reckon he'll have a go at being a pundit. Much better paid. Much easier. It's what he knows.
 
OrcaFat said:
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.
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He missed more games through not being selected than he did through injury.

He had great potential there is no doubt but after a few years it was apparent he was never going to get anywhere near it, and in the end he never got to be more than an average defender who had some good games and some bad, with way too many mistakes to ever establish himself with any manager. You feel sorry for him because it could have been very different, but I don't see why we are fawning over him as some great servant to the club. Its probably because hes almost the last remnant of SAF, but he would have shipped him out years ago.
 
Feel sorry for how his career went. Still amazes me how little he played - but when he did play the one game a season - he was great and one of the best players. Wish him all the best
 
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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Very good post. My thoughts completely
 
11101 said:
He missed more games through not being selected than he did through injury.

He had great potential there is no doubt but after a few years it was apparent he was never going to get anywhere near it, and in the end he never got to be more than an average defender who had some good games and some bad, with way too many mistakes to ever establish himself with any manager. You feel sorry for him because it could have been very different, but I don't see why we are fawning over him as some great servant to the club. Its probably because hes almost the last remnant of SAF, but he would have shipped him out years ago.
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This! Shame about injuries and everything he went through over the years, but some of the posts about him being brilliant defender and whatnot are over the top praise which are far from reality which is that he never really got close to fullfiling his potential.

He showed some great promise when he first came to United, but even without injuries he never really kicked on from that great start and never built on to become mainstay in United team. He was very good defender on his day, but those days were rare, mostly he was average, clumsy and would make mistakes which he had to correct with last ditch tackles and huffing and puffing which media potraryed as some kind of brave heart play.

It's hard looking at him clearly fighting something serious and wish him all the best in future family life. Hope he manages to find some role in football apart from playing but mostly hope he improves his mental and physical health.
 
I will miss his shadow on the United bench.
 
Marwood said:
I didn't. I said I "guess" it won't happen.

Because he's a multi millionaire in his mid 30's. Hitting the books and retraining to do an actual, hard working job seems very unlikely to me.

That's on top of having the intelligence and cognitive skills to do a degree which has been oddly assumed. As if anyone can just do it after doing nothing but playing football all your life.

I reckon he'll have a go at being a pundit. Much better paid. Much easier. It's what he knows.
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Alright mr pedantic.

my first guess would be punditry too but given his injuries it may be something that interests him. [/shrug]
whiteside did something similar when he retired due to injuries too.
 
His last contract is one of the worst contracts ever. He has played 13 matches combined in the last 4 years.

Saying that, it is not his fault that he had so many injuries, and it is not his fault that United gave such an idiotic contract. I mean, what was he supposed to do, to not accept it? If United offers me a 5m/year contract, I would sign it too despite knowing that I won’t ever play for them.

Hope he doesn’t have physical problems considering his injuries. Hope also the club has learned to not give idiotic contracts to not that good players who are barely fit.
 
golden_blunder said:
Alright mr pedantic.

my first guess would be punditry too but given his injuries it may be something that interests him. [/shrug]
whiteside did something similar when he retired due to injuries too.
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Because Whiteside needed a job. He wasn't a multi millionaire.
 
Jim Beam said:
Fernando Redondo refused to receive salary from AC Milan for more than a year while he was being injured because he didn't want to get paid while he isn't playing. He even wanted to return the house and a car he got.



Now, I wouldn't do such a thing certainly and 99% people either, but there are obviously small exceptions. I feel sorry for his career, but maybe, considering everything, he should have end it by himself a year earlier. It would be a nice gesture and something that would make a lasting bond with the fans... But hey ho, as I said, 99% or even more players, logically take the money (which is their right).
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Not sure if the CCP program was when he played but if it was, it was a big mistake from Redondo. FIFA covers a lot of the salaries if players are injured.

People who think Jones has cost the club a lot of money are absolutely clueless
 
If an employee is given a contract that says the employers will continue to pay you even if you can’t do your job for 95% of your contract then it’s on the employer.

Anyone pretending that they wouldn’t have taken the money like Jones until the end of the contract is talking shit.
 
Good solid work ethic among out fan base. Solid days work for a days pay. Your employers must be very proud of you. Sounds like some of you hold your shits in until you get home.
 
11101 said:
He missed more games through not being selected than he did through injury.

He had great potential there is no doubt but after a few years it was apparent he was never going to get anywhere near it, and in the end he never got to be more than an average defender who had some good games and some bad, with way too many mistakes to ever establish himself with any manager. You feel sorry for him because it could have been very different, but I don't see why we are fawning over him as some great servant to the club. Its probably because hes almost the last remnant of SAF, but he would have shipped him out years ago.
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That isn’t true.
 
USREDEVIL said:
Increase his wages and maybe he'll stay.

says the ghost of dead woodward
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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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Constable Odo said:
Yeah because questioning a player who has milked United for years for tens of millions of £ is all that's wrong with humanity, not Putin, not Assad, not Kim Jong, people who don't feel sorry for Phil Jones are the serious problem for humanity.

I'll puke if this guy gets a heroic send off on the field when legends like Keane and Rio never did.
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These posts are wankstains
 
sugar_kane said:
If an employee is given a contract that says the employers will continue to pay you even if you can’t do your job for 95% of your contract then it’s on the employer.

Anyone pretending that they wouldn’t have taken the money like Jones until the end of the contract is talking shit.
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This. Blame the idiot Ed Woodward for the contract, not Jones for signing it and taking the money as 99% of people would've done in the same situation.
 
Andersonson said:
Not sure if the CCP program was when he played but if it was, it was a big mistake from Redondo. FIFA covers a lot of the salaries if players are injured.
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CCP covers for injuries that occurs during games or while the player is available for the national team. Nothing regarding Redondo or Jones cases.
 
RedDevilRoshi said:
Have you had a similar experience to Phil in terms of the sheer number of injuries that have had a lasting, damaging impact on your body resulting in your physical, mental & emotional health taking a massive hit? Anytime you fell you are on the verge of recovery, your body plays up again and it puts all your progress back to square one yet again on countless occasions. Surgery after surgery which I couldn’t imagine going through. Because if you haven’t then your post is just beyond laughable to put it nicely.

How much money you earn means Jack shit when you don’t have your health and your body gives up on you resulting in you not able do the job you’ve worked your whole childhood life for. Money doesn’t guarantee happiness.

If you still need some more education on the damaging impact long term injuries can have on players then listen to the following for some real home truths on the damaging impact it can do to any professional athlete:

https://play.acast.com/s/undrcosh/malcolm-christie-part-2-broken-dreams

https://www.nutmegmagazine.co.uk/podcast/player-take-over-michael-devlin-tommie-hoban-pt-2/
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I suggest you don’t waste your breathe on twats like that. Just put him on ignore.
 
feel sorry for him with how it turned out

I reckon plenty would've showed up if he had a testimonial, he was a good lad
 
The lad has earned millions for years whilst sat at home in Hale and driving round in his Lambo - so he can stick his heartfelt open letter to the fans up his arse. Contract should have been terminated years ago as even when fully fit he was a liability. He is the epitome of everything that was wrong under Woodward.
 
11101 said:
Played 229.
Injured 205.
Not picked 237.
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Coming back from injury, not match fit, 200.
You can’t just go straight into the team the moment you are not injured. When properly fit he was usually picked.
 
OrcaFat said:
Coming back from injury, not match fit, 200.
You can’t just go straight into the team the moment you are not injured. When properly fit he was usually picked.
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If you're good enough you are. You at least make the bench, which he failed to do 168 times.
 
11101 said:
If you're good enough you are. You at least make the bench, which he failed to do 168 times.
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Today maybe but not in the day of 3 subs, that figure of 237 is really less than half that
 
11101 said:
If you're good enough you are. You at least make the bench, which he failed to do 168 times.
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Let’s see how you’d fare with your bones running together.
i know you like to play devils advocate but your posts are being gimps in this thread
 
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