2 Aug 1997: A portrait of Dave Jones, the manager of Southampton watching his side during the pre-season friendly match against Swindon Town at th...
2 Aug 1997: A portrait of Dave Jones, the manager of Southampton watching his side during the pre-season friendly match against Swindon Town at th...
Everton’s 1997 managerial search can be remembered as a chaotic, panicked scramble that ultimately defaulted back to the comforting familiarity of Howard Kendall.
Kendall oversaw an amazing first stint at Goodison Park in the 1980s, delivering two First Division titles, an FA Cup and a European Cup Winners’ Cup. His second spell was disappointing and unspectacular compared to his legendary first stint, but the Toffees were still keen to turn back to him a third time.
But his third spell was a real struggle and shortly after his appointment, Dave Jones says he was offered the chance to lead the Toffees out of the chaos.
Jones made an appearance on The Managers YouTube channel to shed light on the reasons he turned down Bill Kenwright’s approach for him.
Dave Jones on the key reason for turning down Everton
Mick McCarthy asked Jones about the time Everton came calling.
Dave Watson had been Everton’s caretaker manager since March 1997, following the resignation of Joe Royle. In the end, it was Howard Kendall, coming back for his third stint, who took charge. Jones has now revealed the real factors behind turning the Toffees down just a few months after Kendall returned and after he had pitched up at Southampton at a similar time.
He told McCarthy on The Managers: “Bill Kenwright (a director on the board at the time) rang me up three months after I’d gone to Southampton. I didn’t feel it was right.
“I’d signed these players on a promise. What we were going to build.”
McCarthy: “Very honourable Dave, very honourable.”
Jones: “Or stupid! Whatever you want to call it. If I was selling the club to the players and then I was prepared to walk away… that’s what I used to do, I used to sell my dream of what I saw the club being. I didn’t think it was right and to be fair, God bless him Bill Kenwright said to me he appreciated that.
“I also spoke to my wife about it. And I wouldn’t be Dave Jones, brother, uncle, cousin, because my family and Anne’s family are all blue! I remember playing Everton one season and Bill phoned me up and said ‘Dave, you can’t beat us, we’re in relegation!’ I said ‘It’s my job Bill!’. He said ‘You can’t beat us, you’re an Evertonian!’
“That’s why I didn’t leave Southampton. I just didn’t think it was the right move.”
Jones then suggested he had no regrets, saying: “I looked at Mark McGee at the time. I’m sure Mark won’t mind me saying. I think he had three clubs in one season. He hadn’t done well at any club when he’d gone in. But he hadn’t given himself a chance to build anything. I did look at that and thought ‘Is it the right time to go?’ Do I look back on my career and think should I have gone, no not really.”
Jones managed Southampton for 109 games and won the prestigious LMA Manager of the Year award in 1998.
Kendall’s third spell at Everton was plagued by instability under chairman Peter Johnson. The club spent most of the 97/98 season hovering just above the relegation zone, with survival only being secured on the final day.
Amid ongoing replacement rumours in the summer of 1998, Kendall departed the club by mutual consent.