Jermaine Jones’ MLS future is still to be decided, but if he does return to the league, there will almost certainly be a hefty suspension awaiting him.
As things stand, Jones’ club future remains up in the air as the U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder has yet to sign a new contract to remain with the Revs. Entering free agency, Jones could theoretically sign for any team in the world, although it remains to be seen if any team would be able to pay him a similar salary to that he made with the Revs.
Jones’ future became a major topic of discussion Friday afternoon, as the 33-year-old midfielder posted a cryptic message on his Instagram account.
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“I am so thankful what has happened in one and a half years with the club, the teammates & fans, the city of Boston,” Jones said on Instagram. “I appreciate the love from everybody! I’m going home now, and finally enjoying my family! Very excited to see what will be the next step in our life!”
Appearing on TSN last night, MLS commissioner Don Garber hinted that the New England Revolution midfielder will be suspended for the start of the 2016 season should he return to MLS. Jones, who saw his team’s season ended with a 2-1 defeat to D.C. United, shouted at and shoved referee Mark Geiger for missing a handball call in the box in the game’s waning moments.
Last season, D.C. United’s Fabian Espindola was suspended for six matches for shoving an assistant referee during last year’s postseason, and Garber hinted that the Espindola incident will serve as precedent for the Jones case.
“Let me start by saying, he’s a good guy,” Garber told TSN. “Jermaine is a good guy, loves our league. He clearly had a bad night last night and lost it when he got into that altercation. We’re going to address it. He’s going to spend some time not playing. We have a precedent that’s been set.
“We are very, very focused on trying to get our Professional Referees Organization to be better, to have our refereeing continuing to improve like our league is improving,” he added. “We need to grow the respect that exists on the field. One way to do that is to deter it, like discipline, but another way to do it is to continue to work with our players to have them understand it won’t be tolerated and suspensions (are) one way to ensure they get that message.”
What do you think of Garber’s comments? What kind of punishment do you expect for Jones? Think Jones will return next season?
Share your thoughts below.
I hope MLS is able to keep him and work a deal to a Western team, he would be perfect for the Quakes or SKC.
Dempsey got what 8 games? I would expect that too. Hopefully Geiger spends some time ref’ing usl or just not ref’ing at all, I can not take him seriously after this year.
The Xolos-Jones link is intreaging! Would be very entertaining, but for his sake no more turf team please!
thinking that the MLS working with the present group of referees will improve their quality is just a pipe dream IMO- the MLS refs are who they are and 4-5 of them are not capable of making the improvements necessary- poaching 4-5 top refs from euro or mexico is the way to go- enough money will attract the refs MLS needs and it should be a priority over the next 2 years
It was a poor, poor decision. THe one he did call, the guy was trying to get arm out of the way. Many hacks with no call and now Boswell gets an after the game suspension for an off the ball foul. That player was knocked out of the game and he threatens his ability to earn a living. Pure crap Boswell
Look at stupid referee face at the time player contest, he clearly saw a penalty but he acted like nothing. Garber you should know it better. MLS referees are too bias, un-professional, cannot count on them
You should watch the video about mls refs that sbi posted a couple days ago. It shows how much preparation and post-game review goes on behind the scenes. It’s easy to whine about the refs but it’s useful to learn a bit about what they actually do in between matches.
K, thanks for 2014. Bye!
Hopefully, Garber suspends the referee for some time as well. The Mark Geiger show has gotten really old. Missing a PK at that point in the game is inexcusable. His excuse of ball to hand is even worse.
You really can’t expect the professional referees organization to get better if this continues to happen. The Gold Cup was embarrassing enough with Geiger, but suspending the player without any referee repercussions doesn’t do anything for MLS
well, it sounds like the Cosmos and Xolos are both talking to him. Xolos willing to pay $2m-$3m, too. don’t think he’ll get that in MLS. and given he clearly wants to remain with the USMNT, i don’t see him going to the Cosmos.
as a Xolos, i would love to see it. plus, he’d be near his family in LA.
Interesting. I’d be interested to see JJ play in Liga MX.
There’s no way in God’s green earth Xolos or any Mexican team would pay Jones 2 mill much less 3. At 2 he’d be among the top 5 highest paid players in Mexico.
None.
and yet…
“Source: Tijuana in search of manager but are speaking internally about adding Jermaine Jones. West Coast, close to family. Looking for $2-3M”
but sure, it could be total BS. for Xolos, it makes sense from a marketing standpoint. and to be fair, that does not mean Xolos would match what he is looking for.
That’s how much Jones is asking for, not how much Xolos is offering. If they were Jones would have signed yesterday since nobody in the world is going to spend that kind of cash in a washed-out injury-prone 33 year old never-was. Not even MLS