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- Dec 30, 2010
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Nathan Jones' inside story on why he staked his reputation on recommending Dale Stephens
Brian Owen
Nathan Jones believes he put his reputation on the line when he recommended Dale Stephens to Albion.
But the former Seagulls assistant boss is not surprised to see the man he told his boss Oscar Garcia all about is making a name for himself in the Premier League.
Jones, now in charge at Luton in League Two, and Oscar have told The Argus how they came to sign Stephens from Charlton getting on for four years ago.
They both speak highly of the man who has come through from the fifth tier to be a regular among the elite and mentioned in passing when the last England squad was named.
Jones knew Stephens from his days on the Charlton coaching staff and knew who he wanted when Albion, pushing for a play-off place in the Championship in the 2013-14 season, looked to strengthen their midfield.
Oscar had successful converted the marauding Rohan Ince from central defence and was giving Jake Forster-Caskey and Keith Andrews plenty of playing time.
But the management felt they needed something more in the engine room.
The need became urgent when Andrew Crofts, enjoying perhaps his best season in the stripes, suffered cruciate ligament damage during a 1-0 home win over Birmingham in mid-January.
Jones told The Argus: “I remember everything quite clearly.
“When I was at Charlton, I saw Dale in probably three or four training sessions and a friendly at Welling and I knew then he could play at the highest level.
“We were looking at a couple of midfield players for Brighton.
“Oscar liked Adam Clayton, who he felt was the best in the division at the time.
“But I said I thought Dale was better.
“We tried to sign them both.
“Dale, for me, was the best midfielder playing in the Championship at the time.
“Oscar took some convincing and, around Christmas, he was looking at signing him six months later.
“But we pushed to take him at Christmas and it was a good thing we did.
The Argus: This goal by Dale Stephens helped him win the sponsors' vote as man of the match
Dale Stephens scores his first goal at the Amex - versus Blackpool
“We had regular discussions about transfers and I gave my opinion on lots.
“Dale was one I recommended very strongly to the club and staked my reputation on, really. Thankfully he wanted to come.”
Oscar concurs that Jones should take all the credit for identifying Stephens as the man for Albion’s midfield.
But he doesn’t remember it taking too much to win him over.
Oscar told The Argus: “Nathan recommended him to me and, when I saw videos of his matches, I loved what he did.
“He’s a midfielder who can do everything and he does it all well.
“He’s got great physical capacity, a very good strike, he gets into the opposition box and he is aggressive without the ball.”
Stephens completed his move on an otherwise underwhelming deadline day in the January window and made an inauspicious debut in a grim 2-0 defeat at Watford.
Oscar was unhappy at the time as he wanted to sign more players.
Plenty of new arrivals have made more instant impacts than Stephens, certainly among fans.
But he caught the eye with a super goal from outside the box at home to Blackpool on Easter Monday.
The final home league fixture, against Shane Duffy’s Yeovil, was to be his last game for ten months as he was ruled out by ligament and nerve damage in an ankle. He missed Sami Hyypia’s tenure completely.
Jones said: “Just when he hit form he picked up a bit of a mystery injury and that set his development back a bit. But he was worth waiting for.”
And it has been some wait for the Premier League.
The Argus:
Nathan Jones and Oscar Garcia
There was the near miss with Albion in 2016 and offers from Aston Villa, when he was at Charlton, and Burnley which came to nothing.
He has earned top-tier billing the hard way.
Jones said: “I’ve watched most of Brighton’s games this season but I know what he does anyway.
“He can be any midfield player you want him to be.
“Chris (Hughton) uses him fantastically well at the moment as that midfield general.
“With Davy Propper, you have got two of them in there who can handle the ball.
“When he was with Beram Kayal, Beram wanted to get forward so Dale was the one who would sit and was disciplined.
“He was renowned at Charlton as a scorer of a long-range goals, which is something you don’t see at Brighton
Stephens’ last goal at the Amex dates back to the far-post finish in a promotion six-pointer against Burnley towards the end of the 2015-16 season.
He has only netted once in the past year, at Blackburn last December.
Just like Ashley Barnes, born in Bath, used to score regularly against sides from the South-West, Bolton boy Stephens has a knack of netting against clubs from the North-West.
Next opponents Stoke come from too far down the M6 to fit into that category.
But their Midland rivals Aston Villa knew a player when they saw one and it is the aftermath of that failed move which still offers Jones some of his best memories of the emerging Stephens.
He said: “At Charlton, Dale had the chance to go to Aston Villa.
“Clayton is a good player. Jacob Butterfield and Jeff Hendrick are good players.
“But Dale is complete.”
Brian Owen
Nathan Jones believes he put his reputation on the line when he recommended Dale Stephens to Albion.
But the former Seagulls assistant boss is not surprised to see the man he told his boss Oscar Garcia all about is making a name for himself in the Premier League.
Jones, now in charge at Luton in League Two, and Oscar have told The Argus how they came to sign Stephens from Charlton getting on for four years ago.
They both speak highly of the man who has come through from the fifth tier to be a regular among the elite and mentioned in passing when the last England squad was named.
Jones knew Stephens from his days on the Charlton coaching staff and knew who he wanted when Albion, pushing for a play-off place in the Championship in the 2013-14 season, looked to strengthen their midfield.
Oscar had successful converted the marauding Rohan Ince from central defence and was giving Jake Forster-Caskey and Keith Andrews plenty of playing time.
But the management felt they needed something more in the engine room.
The need became urgent when Andrew Crofts, enjoying perhaps his best season in the stripes, suffered cruciate ligament damage during a 1-0 home win over Birmingham in mid-January.
Jones told The Argus: “I remember everything quite clearly.
“When I was at Charlton, I saw Dale in probably three or four training sessions and a friendly at Welling and I knew then he could play at the highest level.
“We were looking at a couple of midfield players for Brighton.
“Oscar liked Adam Clayton, who he felt was the best in the division at the time.
“But I said I thought Dale was better.
“We tried to sign them both.
“Dale, for me, was the best midfielder playing in the Championship at the time.
“Oscar took some convincing and, around Christmas, he was looking at signing him six months later.
“But we pushed to take him at Christmas and it was a good thing we did.
The Argus: This goal by Dale Stephens helped him win the sponsors' vote as man of the match
Dale Stephens scores his first goal at the Amex - versus Blackpool
“We had regular discussions about transfers and I gave my opinion on lots.
“Dale was one I recommended very strongly to the club and staked my reputation on, really. Thankfully he wanted to come.”
Oscar concurs that Jones should take all the credit for identifying Stephens as the man for Albion’s midfield.
But he doesn’t remember it taking too much to win him over.
Oscar told The Argus: “Nathan recommended him to me and, when I saw videos of his matches, I loved what he did.
“He’s a midfielder who can do everything and he does it all well.
“He’s got great physical capacity, a very good strike, he gets into the opposition box and he is aggressive without the ball.”
Stephens completed his move on an otherwise underwhelming deadline day in the January window and made an inauspicious debut in a grim 2-0 defeat at Watford.
Oscar was unhappy at the time as he wanted to sign more players.
Plenty of new arrivals have made more instant impacts than Stephens, certainly among fans.
But he caught the eye with a super goal from outside the box at home to Blackpool on Easter Monday.
The final home league fixture, against Shane Duffy’s Yeovil, was to be his last game for ten months as he was ruled out by ligament and nerve damage in an ankle. He missed Sami Hyypia’s tenure completely.
Jones said: “Just when he hit form he picked up a bit of a mystery injury and that set his development back a bit. But he was worth waiting for.”
And it has been some wait for the Premier League.
The Argus:
Nathan Jones and Oscar Garcia
There was the near miss with Albion in 2016 and offers from Aston Villa, when he was at Charlton, and Burnley which came to nothing.
He has earned top-tier billing the hard way.
Jones said: “I’ve watched most of Brighton’s games this season but I know what he does anyway.
“He can be any midfield player you want him to be.
“Chris (Hughton) uses him fantastically well at the moment as that midfield general.
“With Davy Propper, you have got two of them in there who can handle the ball.
“When he was with Beram Kayal, Beram wanted to get forward so Dale was the one who would sit and was disciplined.
“He was renowned at Charlton as a scorer of a long-range goals, which is something you don’t see at Brighton
Stephens’ last goal at the Amex dates back to the far-post finish in a promotion six-pointer against Burnley towards the end of the 2015-16 season.
He has only netted once in the past year, at Blackburn last December.
Just like Ashley Barnes, born in Bath, used to score regularly against sides from the South-West, Bolton boy Stephens has a knack of netting against clubs from the North-West.
Next opponents Stoke come from too far down the M6 to fit into that category.
But their Midland rivals Aston Villa knew a player when they saw one and it is the aftermath of that failed move which still offers Jones some of his best memories of the emerging Stephens.
He said: “At Charlton, Dale had the chance to go to Aston Villa.
“Clayton is a good player. Jacob Butterfield and Jeff Hendrick are good players.
“But Dale is complete.”
