Brad Jones – Are they kidding?

May 8th, 2006 | by: Matt | Comments Off

Ive just read an article which discusses Brad Jones and the possibility that he may switch sides and play for England (English passport) or France (his wife is French). This has come about due to the fact that the Australian team and its management have made no contact with him at all. Indications based on this suggest he will not be called up to the Australian side due to be announced sometime next week. Is this a joke?

Brad has been at Middlesbrough since 2000. I have seen him play on and off in the last few seasons, and know he has competed with Carlo Nash for the second goalkeeping spot behind Schwarzer particularly this and last season. This season he has filled in when Schwarzer has been
absent, and more than justified this with numerous top saves. Most notably recently, he saved a penalty against Man Utd. I reported on this about a week ago.
To find out that he has had no contact from Australia, is unthinkable. Here is a lad who has played Premiership, FA Cup, and Uefa Cup football this season, and he is unlikely to feature as a part of World Cup squad as one of our three goalkeepers. That is ridiculous. The one who is most likely to fill his spot, is Ante Covic. Ante plays for Hammarby in the Swedish football league.
I don’t mean any disrespect to Ante, Hammarby, or the Swedish competition, but how can they overlook Brad. There is something wrong there. The only thing I can think of is international experience, but you can not convince me that having played in three of the biggest football competitions going around, he cannot be prepared for the world stage.

Am I the only one who thinks this?

By the way this is what Brad said on the matter:

“I’m not holding my breath, I haven’t had any contact, so I don’t expect to all of a sudden be included in the squad,” Jones said.

“To be honest, I’m disappointed that I haven’t been looked at or had a chance to train before the manager.”

“I’m younger than the rest of them and if that’s what is keeping me out of the squad, then fair enough. But I’ve played a fair few games and gone reasonably well so I am disappointed but not really surprised.”

I am baffled.