David Jones gives insight into Sunderland's January window, recruitment strategy and challenges

Jones joined the board in December in a non-executive role.

That means his role is not a day-to-day one but he is tasked with consulting and offering advice on footballing matters at the club.

Recruitment is a central part of that and he has already discussed his desire to build a ‘modern’ system that can provide ‘huge value’ for the club.

He has experience in that regard having carried out a similar role at Oxford United, whose success he believes shows the ‘rewards’ that can be reaped from investing in recruitment structures and building a reliable system.

In an interview with the FC Business magazine, Jones has outlined he approached the last window, which came just weeks after his appointment, and also explained the key challenge that the club still faces when trying to get value in the deals they do.

"I arrived just before the January transfer window,” Jones explained.

“Myself, Phil and Tony Coton, who is head of recruitment, got together quite quickly and asked what was needed, what would help and what is missing. Richard Hill, the club's head of football operations, was also involved.

“I certainly didn't want to tread on people's toes coming into a role like this and was aware that people have been doing this as long-standing jobs and are very passionate about it. But I tried to have an impact without treading on toes, just by asking questions. That can be a really powerful tool - why are we doing this, why are we not doing that?"

"Richard is the guy that holds the purse strings and he's the one that spreads the message that agents aren't going to get an easy payday here,” he added.

“We had situations even in January where clubs in the Championship were expecting a level of money because it's Sunderland and we had to say no.

“Sometimes you have to be firm and a manager might say they really want a player, but we have to explain the reasons why we can't have him."

Jones also believed that Sunderland has a squad ‘that the fans can be proud of’, explaining how important the recruitment team believe character to be when it comes to recruiting players for the club.

"It's up to us to get the right characters so it doesn't matter if they train from a shed in a field or this stunning complex,” he said.

“I have to say that the decisions that the manager has taken over the last four or five months, we're at a place where we've got a squad that all the fans can be proud of.

“In terms of character, you cannot doubt that. You cannot doubt their commitment to the cause and that's through the decisions made by the manager."