Below are extracts from Jones’ exclusive interview on topics such as Dave Jones, Steve Bull, Molineux and the Dell, which features in full in the £3.50 programme this weekend.
How different were your two spells at Wolves, at the opposite ends of your career?
I loved coming back. Unfortunately, Wolves were struggling at the bottom of the league. Matt Murray was struggling with injuries, but we nearly stayed up in the end, it was quite close. The following season things happened – Dave Jones left, Glenn Hoddle came in, and he was looking to do different things, so it didn’t pan out the way I’d hoped. My family were Wolves fans growing up, so it was amazing – they’d be behind the goal every week and couldn’t believe I was playing at Molineux. I loved every minute there; things didn’t quite work out both times, but, like Saints, I always look out for the Wolves results and the last couple of years have been brilliant.
Wolves and Southampton had a special talent each during that era, how much did you enjoy playing with them both?
They were similar groups because there was ‘Bully’ at Wolves and Matt [Le Tissier] at Southampton, so both squads were built around them and the other players would do what they could to help them. They were both scoring goals. They were different players: ‘Bully’ would run through a brick wall, while Matt would jog through it. They were both fantastic talents. Some of the goals Matt scored from outside the box and on set pieces were brilliant, while Bully was hard-working and scored a bagful of goals.
You played under Dave Jones and Glenn Hoddle at both clubs, how strange was that situation?
Dave took me from Stockport to Saints, before Glenn came in there. Dave got back in at Wolves and won promotion to the Premier League, by which time Glenn was at Spurs. A couple of years later, I was back at Wolves with Dave, then Glenn came in, so it was a bit spooky. To be fair, Dave was probably my best manager, we got on so well and I just loved the way he worked. He was so honest with players. Glenn had ability in training to show players what he wanted in the early years, which was fantastic, and the players improved massively at Southampton under Glenn.
Jones joins Adama Traore, Conor Coady, Morgan Gibbs-White and Andy Mutch in featuring in the official matchday programme, which is fronted by the latest stunning Louise Cobbold painting of Traore.
The matchday programme is available from around Molineux on Saturday and previous editions can be purchased now here.
