Phil Jones has already outlined his long-term ambition amid Sheffield United links
Sheffield United’s hopes of appointing Phil Jones have been boosted after he departed Blackburn Rovers.
Former England defender Phil Jones has previously outlined his ambition to one day step into the world of management amid the prospect of him joining Sheffield United’s coaching staff.
Jones, 34, confirmed his exit from his position as a first-team coach at Blackburn Rovers in a social media post on Wednesday evening. Blackburn, on Thursday morning, revealed Jones had departed to pursue an opportunity elsewhere.
The Star, last Thursday, revealed United manager Chris Wilder’s backroom team is set be freshened up this summer as ownership group COH Sports plan to look to the club’s future. As part of the shake-up, Wilder’s long-time assistant, Alan Knill, is expected to leave the club.
Knill, who has worked with Wilder at the likes of United, Middlesbrough and Watford, is understood to have been left shocked when the news was delivered. COH Sports are understood to have made the call to move him on.
It was first reported last weekend that Jones had emerged as a contender to join Wilder’s coaching staff, and confirmation of his exit from Blackburn has only added fuel to the fire.
Jones, who is a graduate of Blackburn’s academy, moved into coaching almost immediately after calling time on his playing career in August 2024. He spent time working in Manchester United’s academy before joining Rovers in February this year, being drafted in following Michael O’Neill’s appointment as head coach.
The opportunity to return to Rovers 15 years after he departed to move to Old Trafford was too good a chance for Jones to turn down, and his return was welcomed by the club’s supporters. It gave him the opportunity to work closely with the first-team and learn from a vastly experienced head coach in the form of O’Neill, who has now left Ewood Park to return to the Northern Ireland national team on a full-time basis.
Long-term, Jones, who played under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, has ambitions of becoming a manager himself, meaning he could view the opportunity to work with a manager as experienced and highly regarded as Wilder as another enterprising opportunity in his development as a coach.
Speaking to BBC Sport back in October 2024, Jones said: “I’d like to think I’ve taken a bit from each manager and created my own coaching identity. I dislike the word 'philosophy' but I know the way I'd want my teams to play.
“Like I say, though, from my own experience, what is paramount is an atmosphere and environment at your club where the players trust you and engage with you, and believe in what you are doing. If that isn’t there, then I don’t care how good you are tactically, because it won't make a difference.
“There is a way of managing players and I think Sir Alex Ferguson did it best. He knew exactly how to manage, or micro-manage, every single player - the ones he could have a pop at, and the ones who needed a little bit of love.
“I'd like to think that is something I will get bang-on as a manager too, because I think as a player, all you want is honesty - that's all I wanted anyway. My coaching journey has started already because I worked with Manchester United’s academy while I was completing my Uefa A Licence last season, which I really enjoyed doing.
“There are three stages of getting on a Pro Licence course, which starts in January, and I am on the last part now. Hopefully that will be really good for me, not just from the point of view of developing as a coach, but as a networking opportunity as well.
“I am looking forward to it because I am ambitious, I want to challenge myself and I love to put myself under pressure. I am itching to get involved somewhere in some capacity and hopefully, in a few years' time, I will be in a position where I can put all of this to the test.”