MY HATTERS HAVE GHOST OF A CHANCE
Jones’ mentor is hero of greatest Cup shock of all time.. over Toon
NATHAN JONES will haunt Rafa Benitez with a ghost from Newcastle’s worst Cup nightmare when Luton arrive on Tyneside.
The Hatters boss, who signed a new four-year contract on Thursday, counts former Derby and Atletico Madrid manager Colin Addison as one of the biggest influences of his career.
As every Toon fan of a certain vintage will know, Addison was player-boss at non-league Hereford when they sent the Geordie nation into mourning 46 years ago.
It was Addison’s 25-yard equaliser which earned the Bulls a replay ahead of the greatest FA Cup third-round shock of all time at Edgar Street in 1972.
League Two leaders Luton are no strangers to Cup upsets themselves – five years ago, when they were exploring nonleague backwaters, they turned over top-flight Norwich in the fourth round.
Jones (right) said: “Colin was a big influence in my early career – someone I trusted because he believed in me and pushed me to improve.
“I worked with him when he was manager at Merthyr Tydfil and I was a young player at Cardiff. I went there for a year because it was better being in Colin’s first team than in Cardiff ’s reserves at 19.
“Then I had an opportunity to come here or sign for Coventry, who were then managed by Ron Atkinson, a big friend of Colin’s.
“I ended up at Coventry, so again he was making those opportunities happen for me. I enjoyed my time working under him and he gave me a lot of confidence to play.”
It was Addison again who provided the gateway to a stint in Spanish football for Jones at Badajoz, a second division side near the Portuguese border. Coincidentally, that was Rafa the gaffer’s backyard 20 years ago – and Jones has not forgotten how local rivals Extremadura, managed by Benitez from 199799, pipped Badajoz to promotion by a single goal.
He said: “Colin had worked out there with Celta Vigo and Atletico Madrid and when he went back with Badajoz I got a call asking if I’d be interested. “Initially I said no, because I was homesick when I played for Luton, never mind in Spain, but when I got out there I realised it would be a very good move for me – not only in football terms, but also for lifestyle and learning the language.
“Rafa won’t remember me. I didn’t actually remember him until I looked back years later.
“When I was playing in that part of Spain, I was young and naive and I didn’t know who Rafa was then because he was just starting out as a coach.
“But there was a big rivalry between Extremadura and Badajoz and it was only when he worked at Liverpool that I twigged who he was.”