Ex-Wolves, Cardiff City, and Sheffield Wednesday boss wants return to former club

Former Wolves boss Dave Jones wants a return to Cardiff City and has used Wolves as an example on how to run a good club.

The 68-year-old hasn't been in management since departing Hartlepool United in 2017. Since then, he's had some consultancy roles, helping out at various clubs, but is now keen to get back into the grind of professional football.

He later took charge of Cardiff City, and guided them to an FA Cup final where they narrowly lost to Portsmouth, beating Wolves along the way. Jones had always had Cardiff competing for promotion, but he could never get his side over the line in the final stretch of the season.

After failing to get them promoted in 2010, he was relieved of his duties. He later took over at Sheffield Wednesday, and helped them win promotion from League One, finishing runners-up in 2012. Having spent 22-years in management, Jones is now ready to offer his expertise to a club that desires it.

"My head is full of knowledge, bursting with knowledge," he said to WalesOnline.

"I've done other things at other clubs, helped young coaches. I've not picked the team or told them how to go about certain things, but I've been more of a soundboard for them.

"We've all been there and it becomes a lonely job when you're not doing well, but that's what a sporting director or technical director's job is – to support the manager or head coach in what he wants.

‘The best way to look at it is, the manager is short-term, the sporting director is for the long term. The manager looks game-to-game, which they have to, to get the results, and the guy above him then has to look for the future of the club and make sure those bonds are strong and not flaky.

‘It's being on sandy ground. If it's shifting all the time, there are no guidelines within the club, because every time you chop and change a new coach tries to bring in something new. Then, eventually, you lose the DNA of your club.’

In 2003, Jones guided Wolves to promotion via the play-offs after beating Sheffield United at the Millennium Stadium. They finished rock bottom of the Premier League the following season however.

Mick McCarthy got them promoted and was able to keep them there for three seasons, but following his departure, the club dropped out of the top-flight and in to League One. Now Wolves have spent six seasons in the Premier League, having made changes off the pitch, such as the introduction of a sporting director.

Jones believes that should Cardiff make the same changes that Wolves did then they would try and emulate what they have done. He has put himself forward for such a role.

He added: ‘When they have gone up, the one thing they haven't done is build to stay in it. And the Championship is the hardest one to get out of and the Premier League is the hardest one to stay in. That tells you the foundations weren't there. They are on sandy ground.

‘A similar thing happened at Wolves, but if you look at Wolves now, they realised the mistakes they made and turned themselves into an established Premier League club.

‘Cardiff have the infrastructure and fan base to do that. It's two of the three ingredients, you just need the players and the staff.

‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure than going back to somewhere I love. I loved living there, my children loved it. If the opportunity did arise, why would I not take that chance? If there is an opportunity, then fantastic. If not, I wish them all the best.

‘I only had good memories, just the one thing, that final bit, the promotion [that I didn't get].’