Jones turns over a new leaf and admits that it has made a world of difference
IT says plenty about the self-destructive tendencies of Jordan Jones the teenager that he regarded good news as something inextricably linked to — and, inevitably, followed by — the onset of a harmful episode to his career.
The in-form Kilmarnock forward is currently dreaming of the World Cup Finals in Russia after recently being called up to Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland set-up, but such glories seemed a long way off during his tearaway years in Middlesbrough’s youth ranks.
‘When I was a kid, if something positive happened I would somehow manage to turn that into a negative by just being stupid off the pitch,’ said the Killie ace. ‘I am so glad that I am way past that now.
‘When I got my call-up to the international squad, I went for a meal with my family to celebrate. Whereas before I’d have gone out with 30 or 40 lads and turned the town upside down. I have changed. And I’m just focused on my football now and, I think, making up for lost time.’
The uncapped Northern Ireland new boy’s ambitious aim of booking a trip to Russia next summer would aid his other lofty goal of finding a pathway to the English Premier League via the salvation stint with Killie.
That was a course the 22year-old was in severe danger of veering so far away from that it could never be navigated again, at no stage more so than when handed a four month custodial sentence suspended for two years as a Boro academy prospect for his part in a post-nightclub fracas.
Jones has a new manager with a high-class playing and coaching pedigree in the shape of Steve Clarke and is fresh from his first experience of the senior international scene with O’Neill’s play-off bound squad.
‘I feel now as if I am fulfilling my potential,’ said Jones, who qualifies for Northern Ireland through dad Paul. ‘My family are proud of what’s happening now. I think they’d been concerned for me at one point.
‘The best thing to happen to me was moving to Scotland. The first six months I found it hard, I was travelling home twice a week. That’s a long journey, doing that four times a week kills you. That’s why my football wasn’t going as it is now.
‘I think I’ve totally settled. I’m happy with my life and football, and I just want to keep on getting better. I had good form towards the end of last season. I was a bit slow at the start of this one but over the last five weeks I’ve really picked my game up.’
Jones was too much for Rangers in midweek as Kilmarnock’s second-half display earned the minimum that was merited — a draw in Clarke’s first full game in charge. A Lee Clark signing amid a flood of new arrivals in the summer of 2016, Jones is the sole survivor to then go through Lee McCulloch’s spell in charge and emerge as a potential star for the former West Brom and Reading boss.
‘I was quite impressed by the fact the club were able to attract a manager of his calibre,’ said Jones of Clarke. ‘We’d all seen his name mentioned. And not so much turn a blind eye to it but obviously sort of thinking: “Is that really going to happen?”
‘Because he’s a really big name in the game and has worked with some of the best managers out there. So to bring someone like him in is a good thing not just for Kilmarnock but I think for Scottish football.
‘The Ibrox game was a great benchmark to set in his first game. We’d done a lot of work over the previous ten days, he’s been brilliant with all the players as a team and individually.
‘I think you could see at Ibrox the transformation in the team. He’s a really experienced manager so he’s brought a lot into training in terms of shape, the way he wants us to play and I think it’s paid off.’
‘MOVING TO SCOTLAND IS THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO ME. I FEEL AS IF MY POTENTIAL IS NOW BEING FULFILLED’