Bruce: Jones has got a bit of Drogba about him
Aug 18 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal
THE Kenwyne Jones fan club has a new member but, as Stuart Rayner reports, there was an iron fist lurking in Steve Bruce’s velvet glove.
KENWYNE Jones will be getting used to this. Comparisons between the Sunderland striker and Didier Drogba are becoming commonplace. Steve Bruce is the latest man to point out the similarity between the Black Cats’ totemic striker and the man widely regarded as the best targetman on the planet.
This time, though, there is a difference. No sooner had the praise left his new manager’s lips than it was followed by a warning.
The similarities between the Trinidadian and the Ivorian are based around the positive aspects of their play. Thankfully Jones does not mimic the preening, the diving or the moments of indiscipline which characterise the man who will lead Chelsea’s attack at the Stadium of Light tonight. The parallels are between powerful frames used cleverly to shield the ball, compete in the air and bring team-mates into play.
Last season there was another, less attractive, similarity. Both were frustratingly enigmatic to the supporters who adore them. In the first half of last season, Drogba was a pussycat, succumbing to injury too easily and too often, scoring just three goals before the Champions League resumed after its winter break in late February. The reason was made pretty clear as soon as Luiz Felipe Scolari was replaced in the manager’s office by Guus Hiddink and the goals began to flow.
Jones also had a mixed season, but the causes were less obvious. A serious knee injury picked up on international duty in June 2008 was a major contributor, postponing the start of his season by two months. A couple of weeks to scrape off the rust was followed by a splurge of goals but the infectious smile quickly disappeared and the goals went with it. His partnership with Djibril Cissé was a marriage feted not to last, a fact written all over both men’s faces.
