Jones is not here to run around,he is here to score goals

Kenwyne Jones is at Cardiff City to score goals... other players can do the running around - Nathan Blake

9 February 2015

Cardiff City hero Nathan Blake insists striker Kenwyne Jones should be picked from the start, every week, whether he's willing to chase around for 90 minutes or not


It was great to see Kenwyne Jones back in Cardiff City’s Championship starting line-up for the first time in almost a month – and he celebrated with a 13th goal of the season.

He’s scored seven in his last 10 appearances and that’s an outstanding record for a team in the lower half of the table.

I’ve heard all the talk about how Kenwyne needs to be more of a 90-minute player, to be charging around the pitch all the time challenging here, there and everywhere.

But that’s not what Cardiff City need him to be doing.

Kenwyne’s game is all about winning physical challenges, scoring goals and being a nightmare for opposing defenders in the air. His approach is not like, say, Duncan Ferguson, who did tend to put himself about.

Kenwyne can help the Bluebirds by doing what he does best – and that is to be a focal point in attack.

Asking a big guy of 6ft 4ins tall to run around all over the place is a typical British attitude. Why?

That’s putting square pegs in round holes and doesn’t work. Kenwyne works hard, he puts in a shift, but football is not just about graft. There is far more to it and Kenwyne has the experience and knowhow to make teams he comes up against uncomfortable.



Other players in the team will be there to add the running and put themselves about in various areas of the pitch.

In my view, Kenwyne gets unfair press. Because his style can be a bit languid some people think he doesn’t care enough.

He cares a lot and is extremely effective for the team.

In my opinion Kenwyne has been Cardiff’s best player this season. No question. Thirteen goals in a struggling team says it all.

Cardiff don’t have another players in the group who could play a similar role to him and score the goals he does.

The Bluebirds are fortunate to have him in their team - and he’ll play a big part in ensuring City finish in a respectable Championship position.

Let’s hope City stick with Kenwyne and Eoin Doyle in attack against Brighton. They at least provide goals potential and could prove to be a useful combination.

The key, of course, is that a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday only becomes a good result if Cardiff win at home to Brighton.

They have a starting point, nothing more. After four successive defeats it was important to come up with something more positive and that’s what Russell Slade and his players have done.

Cardiff’s performance was half decent at Hillsborough and now we need to see a little more at home. The playing surface at Wednesday was poor, but it always is at this time of year. The pitch cuts up badly, but it was the same for both teams and Cardiff will have a far better pitch to play on at home.



Back-to-back home fixtures against Brighton and Blackburn is a real chance for Slade and his team. They can build on what was achieved in Sheffield and move forward with a little more confidence.

Their record now is one win in 10 league games – six points earned from the last 30 on offer. That’s simply not good enough no matter how you look at it and must be improved.

Slade’s team is starting to take shape. The transfer window has closed and this is, in so many ways, his team now.

It’s been a difficult spell. He had to cut the wage bill in a dramatic way. Plenty of players have gone and quite a few have come in.

These are Slade’s players now and we must see over the next few matches what can be achieved.

City’s first job is to beat Brighton, who are a team who like to get the ball down and pass.

That may prove a problem for Cardiff, who are low on confidence. There have been loads of disruptions, lots of change and a period of stability is needed.

Slade has said he still isn’t certain what his best starting XI is, but he needs to find out fast. Cardiff need a settled team if they are to put a run of results together and show they are a group of players with a bright future.


Simply beating Brighton is now the whole answer, of course, but it would be a solid step along the way.

If they can earn wins against both Brighton and Blackburn it would make a statement. City need to beat teams they are maybe not expected to beat and Blackburn, who are challenging for the play-offs, could come into that category.

At times it seems that Cardiff don’t have the mental strength to take control. If they are underdogs they seem to give it a go and see what happens.

But I want to see City players going out expecting to win, particularly at home. They must put themselves and each other under mental pressure and see it through.

If they can have a winning mindset the signs are that there is enough quality in their squad to have a decent set of results over the rest of this season.

They can at least ease any nerves about league position and enjoy the rest of this season. After all the turmoil so far during 2014-15 it would be fantastic if City could calm things down, work on playing in an entertaining way and move forward with a touch more confidence.

I couldn't disagree more .

Yes his goals are helping but when he wins a header and it drops to an opposing player 10 yards from him he should pressurise them not stand there doing nothing .

He needs to put pressure on defenses when the centre backs have the ball otherwise our midfield have to come out of position to do it leaving gaps behind them

When he comes back to defend corners and we start to counter attack he should bust a gut to get in the box to support his team mates , normally he ambles to about the half way line and we run out of options .

Imo his laziness is why multiple strikers ( le fondre , Maynard , macheda , Campbell ) to name a few have struggled when playing next to him . Due to his lack of movement they are being stretched all over the pitch resulting in them not getting opportunities to score .

He is a great goalscorer but the reason he is in the championship and not a top premier league side is his work rate

I couldn't disagree more .

Yes his goals are helping but when he wins a header and it drops to an opposing player 10 yards from him he should pressurise them not stand there doing nothing .

He needs to put pressure on defenses when the centre backs have the ball otherwise our midfield have to come out of position to do it leaving gaps behind them

When he comes back to defend corners and we start to counter attack he should bust a gut to get in the box to support his team mates , normally he ambles to about the half way line and we run out of options .

Imo his laziness is why multiple strikers ( le fondre , Maynard , macheda , Campbell ) to name a few have struggled when playing next to him . Due to his lack of movement they are being stretched all over the pitch resulting in them not getting opportunities to score .

He is a great goalscorer but the reason he is in the championship and not a top premier league side is his work rate

Blake is wrong - you are bang on the money with your assesment.

100% with thomasblue!! Does my nut right in when I see KJ just giving up when he loses the ball, not chasing anything down and helping the team.. Ok he scores goals, but that's all he does! Most will say yeah but we need the goals. But for me KJ has one talent! he will pull the trigger.

I agree with nathan 13 in a struggling team says it all and he hasnt started every game. His defending in are own box is good how many headers does he win for us.
Jones is never gonna run himself around but the goals are there cant argue with that.

I agree with nathan 13 in a struggling team says it all and he hasnt started every game. His defending in are own box is good how many headers does he win for us.
Jones is never gonna run himself around but the goals are there cant argue with that.

You and Nathan are right

Of course we would love him to run around and close down aswell, but its never going to happen, he puts the ball in the net which is what we need, ten times better than Le Fondre who runs about but can't score in a brothel.........

He is here for the team, of course he can chase down and track back and score goals, he gets paid very well for it .

I agree with Nathan Blake , KJ is most unfairly crisised player on this site if it was not for his 13 goals we would be in the bottom 3.

He is striker and he scores I do not want strikers running round trying hard and not scoring like Lefondre did for us that is no help to us at all or any team.

the size on Kenwyne means he will never be able to press defenders for 90mins. I think he has to play as he is a good goalscorer, this part of the game comes a lot easier than any other player on the books

Although I 'd like Kenwyne to run around a bit more,what position would we be in,if he hadn't scored 13 goals.

If KJ scores 20 goals for us this season, I don't care if he stands permanently glued to the penalty spot!!

Interesting cause most of them seem to be here for the money only....

My son plays striker for Young Boys Bern under 17's

He is told to:
- score
- create assists
- to chase down defenders to force errors
- close gaps between passing players
- also that his job isn't to defend, but if need be depending on match might be required to
- primarily he is told to develop an intelligence and intuition to know what is needed at the right time

So although I agree in principle with Blake. A lazy striker can create more problems than he is worth if his laziness allows the other team to build up from deep.

As concerns Slade, he should have enough intelligence to know how to bring the best out of his players. Leaving out your top scorer in a team that isn 't scoring seems a bit stupid!

What would I prefer Revell to runa round and not score much or Jones to run around less but score.

We dont have many others looking to help so for me Jones starts.

Duracell batteries required and ban him from smoking the same shit as slade

What would I prefer Revell to runa round and not score much or Jones to run around less but score.

We dont have many others looking to help so for me Jones starts.

Why does it have to be one or the other?

Jones weighs in with the odd goal during a game, but perhaps we go on to lose that game 1-3. However, if Jones did try to close down the opposition defenders and make it a bit more difficult for them to establish a platform to initiate attacks, then maybe we would begin to concede less, perhaps if Jones tried moving into space instead of strolling or jogging about he might create space for others to score?

I'm just saying what we have, yes ideally they would do both but they don't so we have the above options.

Jones record is more than the old goal and considering the service I think it's more than impressive.