Why Phil Jones should wait for Sir Alex to call

Described by his current manager as a 'Rolls Royce of a player', making national headlines after winning Man Of The Match in his first ever league game, scouted by Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and England.  Philip Anthony Jones certainly has had a meteoric rise to fame.  This summer will pose many questions for the man leading England U21's charge for success in Denmark, his ability as an outstanding footballer is not one of them however.

Should Blackburn decide to sell him Jones will undoubtably have his pick of teams to join, the fee will no doubt be between fifteen to twenty million pounds and most will be willing to pay it.  Jones should ensure that his maturity on the field is matched off it and he makes the biggest decision of his life to date, a correct one.

Arsenal have been admirers for the longest, ever since Wenger's scouts were watching another Blackburn fixture to weigh up whether Steven N'Zonzi was good enough for them yet.  What they weren't expecting however was that he would be upstaged by an eighteen year old from Chorley.  Whilst N'Zonzi's career has stalled a little due mainly to injuries, Jones' has soared to new heights and when the bidding begins, Wenger will be well and truly in it.

King Kenny returned to Anfield with a masterplan, to make Liverpool hungry once again and build his team around youngsters and locals, from January onwards, Spearing, Flanaghan, Kelly and company have completed stage one, now for outside assistance and step up Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones.  The Liverpool way is returning as is the confidence at Anfield and King Kenny will want to land his man as he sees him as a key part of his revolution.

Whether it's Sheikh Mansour, Roberto Mancini, David Platt, Garry Cook or another figure having their say at Manchester City, Phil Jones is on their list and they have the clout to land their man.  Keen to now lay the foundations for long term success they are looking at buying fewer but better,  Jones is undoubtably on their radar, even if it is to simply avoid their rivals gaining ground.

Young English prospects come to the fore and so do Tottenham Hotspur, they simply can't help themselves but try to land every England U21 player they feel is a star in the making, Redknapp has built his team around them and will want Jones to be a big part of that.

Chelsea were his first opponents and in John Terry have the man Jones is compared to the most.  They do not have a manager however and so questions have to be raised about who is behind their bid for Jones, could it be that Terry's words of encouragement for the young centre half have been heard in Russia? Maybe they are simply confident enough in their scouting network, what is for sure is they want Jones and like City are more than capable to get what they want.

So Jones has his choice of teams but for all their successes and relative appeal, they all indeed have their faults.  Liverpool are a long way from challenging for a title and Arsenal have won less than Birmingham City recently. Manchester City have a long line of players signed by everyone other than the manager and languishing on wages too big for anyone else with not very many appearances to go with their big wallet. Chelsea have an aging squad and as previously mentioned no manager, so who is to say the man coming in will want Jones? They also have an owner who seemingly can't make his mind up whether he wants to pay for more success or not.  Then there is the team from White Hart Lane, good enough for the Champions League? Not on last seasons evidence and there is a big question mark about whether they have the funds to close that gap.

All in all Jones has a tough decision but the correct one is to simply remain at Ewood Park until Sir Alex comes calling.  If he joins any of the afore mentioned he will never be allowed to move to Old Trafford and could quite possibly end up in the reserves due to a change of manager and/or trophyless for his entire career.  Staying at Ewood his talent will only increase and at United he would have the perfect opportunity to harness that further.  Ferdinand is perennially injured and Jones is far ahead of Evans and Smalling's ability levels.  If the phone call doesn't come this summer he should remain at Rovers and continue to enjoy the success he has so far, it will arrive soon enough however and that is the one Jones should then accept.

Reality of relegation

Sometimes football is over analysed, stats heard this weekend ranged from 'Paul Robinson will be desperate to avoid conceding his 500th career goal' to 'no team has ever done the double over Liverpool and been relegated'.  Well he did and Blackpool now have that badge of honour. The stat that only really matters is the ones that the league table provided us with at around 6pm yesterday.

Manchester United, they may not have been vintage this year as their 'low' points tally suggests but they were the best by a distance.  Whether you believe that their low points tally is due to them not getting out of 2nd or sometimes 3rd gear, or whether you feel the league is closer, is irrelevant.  United are deservedly champions and dropped only 2 points at home all season, not bad for an 'average' season.

Birmingham were relegated not because they relaxed after the cup final, not because they took their eye off the ball but they simply weren't good enough.  Their bench yesterday consisted of a decent sub keeper, two full backs who have 35 appearances this season between them and an on loan striker who only ever gets cup starts and occasional league run outs for 10 minutes. The rest did not have a single league appearence between them.  They simply couldn't cope with what the league threw at them.

Blackpool may look to games such as Blackburn away when they led 2-0, Man United at home where they again led 2-0 only to gain just one point in the first game and none in the latter. They may feel that they should have then defended for their lives on those occasions and tried to hold their lead. Blackpool simply wouldn't have been anywhere near safety had they not adopted the mentality and tactics they have throughout the season, so to suggest a change at times would've saved them is nonsense. They weren't good enough, defensively anyway, thats why they went down so to have sat back and invited pressure in games would have been suicide.

West Ham appointed Avram Grant, a manager who had an excellent reputation, but why did he? He took over at Chelsea, made no signings, he simply carried on with Mourinho's tactics and harnessed the anger the players felt at José's sacking. Terry, Lampard and the other senior players drove that team on, not Grant. He took over at penniless Portsmouth and got relegated comfortably and has managed the same at West Ham. Maybe now people will see his true 'talent'. The Hammers supporters also need to shoulder some blame, they feel they are a far bigger club than they are, without significant investment they won't ever be. They may point the finger at Grant, they may point the finger at the inexperienced Zola - his predecessor - but even Curbishley couldn't get them to the level the fans believe they belong.

A big reality check is needed for many, don't make excuses or lay blame at any individuals door, you simply weren't good enough,.