Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Jones facing crucial Christmas period

It is the gift that rarely gives. The kind of present you gratefully accept but that soon leaves you wishing you hadn't.

And with a third relegation to League One within a decade now a distinct possibility, there appears no sign of the monster being tamed once and for all any time soon. Things had actually started so well for Jones after his appointment in March, with an unbeaten run propelling the Owls to promotion back to the Championship at the expense of city rivals Sheffield United last May. A steady start to the new season also followed as the former Cardiff City boss went undefeated for the first 18 matches of his tenure. But once that bubble was eventually burst, in a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in September, the pendulum swung remorselessly and seemingly irreversibly in the opposite direction. Wednesday have gone on to lose no fewer than 14 of their last 19 matches, winning just three, and are now part of a group of four teams who appear destined to battle it out between themselves for a sole survival spot. The feel-good factor that last season's promotion generated has dissipated and, while attendances at Hillsborough generally remain above the 20,000 mark, home fans now make their pilgrimage more in futile hope than expectation.

Ominous forecast

So what of Jones? Will he see out a full year as manager or join the list of the Wednesday damned? Immediate history offers an ominous forecast. Megson was given the sack by Mandaric with the team third in the league and on the back of a crucial Steel City derby win over Sheffield United, so there is little reason to think mercy will be bestowed upon a manager on such an awful run as Jones. But then if Mandaric was going to wield the axe, it seems logical that he would have done so by now. And with a vital victory over relegation rivals Barnsley secured in their last outing, Jones has bought himself time - the Christmas period at least. Wednesday face Charlton Athletic, Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town and Burnley in what promises to be a hectic and tension-filled 11-day festive programme. Jones just has to hope that the gift he received last March chooses this season of goodwill to finally start giving.