Hobbs | Decision made on Jonny…
Wolves’ Sporting Director Matt Hobbs has clarified Wolves’ position on Jonny after the defender returned to the club’s Compton Park training ground following a period away.
Hobbs met with the Spaniard earlier this week, after a training ground incident meant that he was unavailable for selection for the last two matches and not training with the squad.
Hobbs confirmed that Jonny had apologised for the incident and accepted the club’s position, which is that the defender will train away from the first-team squad until the end of January.
Hobbs said: “As people have become aware, there was an incident with Jonny last week, and since then I’ve sat down with him, he’s apologised, and we have outlined the way forward.
“We had a conversation and have agreed that at least until the end of the January window he won’t be part of the first-team group.
“He will still be training at the club and, if he chooses, he can play for the under-21s to keep up his match sharpness, and I think, knowing him, he’ll probably do that.
“This is a guy who has been a great servant to the football club. One incident doesn’t define the role he’s played during the successful times and the man he is day to day around the place.
“Everybody has moments and that’s all it was, but we have to deal with it and move forward for the wider group.”
The decision means Jonny will not be considered for Saturday’s game with Nottingham Forest and future first-team fixtures, but could play for James Collins’ side, who face two final December fixtures before the winter break.
“It might seem big because someone’s been removed from the group, but it’s not. When you’re trying to create a culture, keeping everything aligned, sometimes things happen which aren’t what you want to be and where we want to go.
“Now it’s dealt with. It’s not something Gary’s had to deal with, we’ve dealt with it as a football club and allowed Gary to focus on getting the team ready for the important games coming up.”
O’Neil’s side beat Burnley on Tuesday – the first of six tests before the new year and transfer window opens and Hobbs is remaining open-minded regarding Jonny, who has turned out 134 times for Wolves, but only once in the Premier League this term.
“It makes sense to take it up to then (the end of January) because a lot of things can change between now and then, and then we’ll sit down, talk again and decide the way forward.
“December’s a busy month with lots of points to play for and lots of games we feel we can be really competitive in. That always has to be the focus.”
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