Jones drops Saints bombshell (From Daily Echo)

Jones drops Saints bombshell

1:27pm Friday 24th August 2007 in Sport By Adam Leitch, Chief Sports Writer

Kenwyne Jones is refusing to play for Saints after handing in a transfer request.

The Trinidad & Tobago striker, who has been the subject of two bids from Derby that have been knocked back by Saints, handed in a written transfer request to manager George Burley this morning.

And he followed that bombshell by telling the manager he is not prepared to face Stoke, who he spent a short loan spell with in 2005, at St Mary's tomorrow.

Burley said: "Kenwyne spoke to me on Tuesday and said he did not want to play against Stoke. He confirmed this to me again this morning and I am very disappointed by that."

Saints - a summer of upheaval.

May 25: Gareth Bale joins Tottenham in a deal believed to be eventually worth around £10m. Saints receive a £5m downpayment which helps stave off any threat of administration.

June 7: Chris Baird, last season's player of the year, hands in a transfer request.

June 26: Defender Martin Cranie, who had rejected a new contract, rejoins Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth. Pompey stump up a compensation fee of around £400,000.

June 28: Some good news for Saints fans as Marek Saganowski completes a £1m permanent move to St Mary's.

July 7: Cranie's flatmate, Leon Best, signs for Coventry after also turning down a new contract offer. His fee will be settled by a tribunal.

July 12: Chris Baird is sold to Fulham for £3.025m.

Winger Adam Hammill arrives from Liverpool on a season long loan.

July 21: Centre half Darren Powell is sent off in a friendly at Bournemouth and is ruled out of the first three games of 2007/08 as a result.

Claus Lundekvam plays 45 minutes in the friendly, his second friendly run-out following an ankle injury last April. But the Norwegian has not played since.

July 23: Off the field, acting Saints football club board chairman Leon Crouch is sacked - voted off by the club's executive directors. He remains on the PLC board.

July 27: Saints complete the season long loan of Lens left-back Gregory Vignal.

July 31: Saints sign Reading central defender Alan Bennett on a six-month loan.

Aug 1: Saints' defensive options diminish further with the £1m sale of Pele to West Brom.

Aug 2: Saints sign Norwich midfielder Youssef Safri for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £200,000.

Aug 11: Saints' suffer a 4-1 home loss to Crystal Palace on the opening day of the 2007/08 season - their worst post-War opening day result.

Aug 13: Saints are dumped out of the Carling Cup 2-1 at Peterborough, who are two divisions below George Burley's men.

Aug 16: Saints sign Burnley defender Wayne Thomas for £1m.

Aug 18: Thomas makes his debut at Norwich but Saints lose again 2-1 after leading through a Kenwyne Jones goal.

Aug 24: On the eve of the home game against Stoke, Kenwyne Jones drops a bombshell by handing in a transfer request and telling boss George Burley he is not playing against Stoke.