Jones powers to three points
WORKAHOLIC Nathan Jones claims he can match Marcelo Bielsa when it comes to the graft stakes – but not counter-espionage.
The new Stoke boss caught his Leeds counterpart tactically napping after the Potters declined to join the other EFL clubs who have made an official complaint about Spygate.
Last week Bielsa gave an hour-long PowerPoint lecture in response to the row caused by sending an undercover scout to watch Derby.
And Jones, whose response to Bielsa’s revelations has been light-hearted, revealed:
“I use Keynote because we use Apple, but if you want to see a presentation, I can put on a presentation for you.
“Not everyone does it but I know we are doing it.
“My fiancee could tell you that. We do phenomenal hours and have done since I started.
“We do good work and if people want to sit down and see the working week we do, then it would open a few eyes as well.”
The result of Jones’ homework was evident on Saturday during an impressive win against the leaders, his first since leaving Luton, and he made it clear afterwards that he wants board, players and fans to buy into his vision.
“I haven’t gambled my life to come here and play fantasy football,” he said. “I have gambled my life because I believe in something.
“We started the season poorly but there is a long way to go so let’s not get too pessimistic nor too euphoric about this. It’s a start.
“We believe in what we do. It is great to have the fans embrace us because they must look at us and think, ‘Well, they’re not big in stature’. But we do good work, tireless work, hard work, and that is all we can promise.
“We don’t play at it, we work on it, and hopefully Stoke will see the benefit of that.” Jones’s first act has been to bring back Charlie Adam and it was the Scottish midfielder’s experience which proved vital against a Leeds side who struggled to turn possession into proper chances. Sam Clucas and Joe Allen scored the goals for the home side with Ezgjan Alioski hitting back in injury time for the league leaders, by which time Pontus Jansson had been sent off for two bookings.
Stoke’s first goal came from a mistake by Mateusz Klich, who apologised for his sloppiness.
Klich said: “They were waiting for us in their half and it was very difficult for us to create anything, especially when we lost a goal after our mistake and my poor clearance. But we cannot drop points like this.”
STOKE (3-5-2): Butland; Williams, Shawcross, Martins Indi; Bauer, Allen, Adam, Etebo, Clucas; Campbell (McClean 67), Afobe. Booked: Adam. Goals: Clucas 49, Allen 88. LEEDS (4-1-4-1): Peacock-Farrell; Ayling, Cooper, Jansson, Alioski; Forshaw; Clarke, Hernandez, Klich (Stevens 76), Harrison (Roberts 61); Roofe. Booked: Forshaw, Jansson, Hernandez. Sent off: Jansson 76. Goal: Alioski 90.
Referee: G Ward (Surrey).