Ex-Cardiff, Sheff Wed, and Wolves manager reveals Bristol City job rejection

Ex-Cardiff City and Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Dave Jones revealed he was once interviewed for the Bristol City manager’s job.

Jones is best known for his time across the Severn Bridge, guiding the Bluebirds to an FA Cup and Championship play-off final.

The 66-year-old also managed Wolves to play-off success in 2003 and led Sheffield Wednesday to promotion from League One in 2012.

Jones however has not been in the management scene since 2017, having been sacked by Hartlepool United.

Now he is opening up on whe job opportunities that passed him by, including a chance to manage at Ashton Gate.

Asked by the TWS Sport Podcast, whether he’d ever been rejected for a job after an interview, he responded: “Only once. Once I had been an interview for a job, partly it was my fault because I didn’t really want the job.

“I’d just spent eight years at Cardiff and Bristol City asked for me to go to an interview.

“I’d only just left Cardiff about two weeks earlier. After you have done eight years at a club non-stop, day-in-day-out, I just felt I needed a break. I needed to get away with my family and have a holiday.”

Despite his initial Jones was persuaded to go for an interview at Cardiff’s arch-rivals Bristol City, after an eight-year stint in South Wales.

Five months after his sacking by Cardiff, a job opportunity became available 40 miles away. City’s board were on the lookout for a new manager after parting ways with Keith Millen.

Jones had been considered a favourite at the time for the role along with Aidy Boothroyd, as well as Mark Robins and John Hughes, but they went in a completely different direction.

City opted to appoint up-and-coming manager Derek McInnes, who had been honing his craft in the Scottish Premiership with St Johnstone. McInnes would go on to manage the club for a season-and-a-half, overseeing 63 matches, before his dismissal in January 2013.

“They wanted me to start straight away,” he added. My agent persuaded me to go to the interview which I did.

“I can honestly say that I didn’t really throw my heart into it because I needed a break for a couple of months, I need to recharge my batteries.

“They gave it to somebody else rather than me, which I wasn’t really bothered about. In hindsight if they would have offered me the job, I would have probably gone in and recharged the batteries straight away. I just felt I needed a break away and that’s what I did.

“Partly my fault, it’s probably the one really that I have gone for and not got.”

He eventually returned to management on March 2012, taking over from Gary Megson at Hillsborough, as he eld them to promotion.

Jones would only manage Hartlepool after his spell in Yorkshire and fell under the wrath of Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling, who urged him to quit his job live on air.

The former-Southampton boss held a consultancy role at Bury before their demise, but has not held an official football role since.