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gRaeme Jones met Jonathan Woodgate last February when West Bromwich Albion hosted Middlesbrough at the Hawthorns. It was a "strange game", recalls Jones, which ended in a 3-2 win for Middlesbrough and a long talk between the two coaches.
At the time, Jones was badistant to West Brom's manager, Darren Moore, while Woodgate was part of the Middlesbrough coaching team led by Tony Pulis. For Woodgate, a discussion after the match was an opportunity to broaden his tactical horizons. "Jonathan was intrigued to know the system we were using at the time," Jones says excitedly. "Looking back, I may have told him a little too much.
It is fair to say that neither of them would have expected their next meeting to be on the sidelines at Kenilworth Road, where they will both be making their management debut at the first one. match of the championship season Friday night. Woodgate as head coach of Middlesbrough, Jones as the new director of a Luton City team animated by back-to-back promotions.
All in all, Woodgate has the best team. But Jones has the best story: he was the right arm of Roberto Martinez for eleven years as they climbed the ranks of Ligue 1 with Swansea City to the glory of the FA Cup with Wigan Athletic and a third place at the Cup of the world 2018 with Belgium. A decade of success and applause, working with Leon Britton players at Eden Hazard, led Jones at this time, the beginning of life as number one.
"In my head, when I was a player, I was always going to be manager," said Jones, who scored 44 goals in 96 games for Wigan, where he played alongside Martinez. "I ended up in a partnership, a two-way street, and I'm excited to share that, but it was something I was always going to do at one point."
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