STRESS? Dave Jones isn’t having any of it. He is, as the new Hartlepool United manager puts it, born to be stressed.

It’s a way of life; especially so in the world of football.

Appointed this week, Jones could still be away from the game, certainly away from the wrong end of League Two.

And, possessing the CV and record he does, Jones should really be off Pools’ radar. Away from the usual suspects who you see on managerial shortlist after managerial shortlist, Jones hasn’t been playing the merry-go-round.

A three-year break from the frontline of the game and Jones is ready and willing to get his hands dirty again. Three times during his opening interviews this week he referred to something he’s missed doing: working in a real football dressing room and overseeing things on the training ground.

Old habits die hard for a football manager. From his first game in charge of Stockport County in 1995, to the FA Cup final with Cardiff in 2008, the passion and desire has never wavered.

“From day one it’s never changed for me, I am motivated now like was then. I enjoy this job through all times – rough and smooth and good times outweigh the bad times,’’ mused the 60-year-old.

“I’m lucky as everywhere I’ve gone I’ve been successful. Is it luck or hard work? It’s not just me and the team on the field, it’s about the team off it too. I need good, loyal people and they become an extension of what I want and demand – I can’t do it all, that’s impossible.

“So I can set the tone for them to do their jobs.

“If you do a job you enjoy then what’s better? Stress? We were born to be stressed – your first kiss, your first girlfriend, your first exam, we all get stressed. What I love about football and management is things change and quickly.

“You pick your team, someone gets ill, someone is out of form it all changes. You think on your feet.

“As a player it’s about your performances, as a manager it’s results. We all wobble somewhere down the line.’’

Jones has arrived at The Northern Gas and Power Stadium with 20 games to go this season, and while he has a watching brief against Stevenage this afternoon before starting to work with the players properly on Monday morning, he will have his say.

Pools aren’t in the heathiest of spots, 18th in League Two and arcing towards an all-too-familiar scrap at the wrong end of the table.

Craig Hignett’s remit 12 months ago was to keep Pools in the league and push on next time around. He managed the first task with ease, but fell short on the latter.

Now it’s Jones’ turn: “I want to grow this club and hopefully bring back good times.

“I’ve watched a lot of League One and League Two football and I would hope there’s players here that with the approach we bring and what I’ve done before they don’t stagnate and show what they have got.

“Players at this level can go higher, but what motivates them. If they play well then they set the tone and they will all be pushed to the limit.

“My staff here will do that and that’s what they have been used to – success. And they come with that attitude.

“We aim to change everyone’s mentality – good things breed confidence, bring a feel-good factor, more fans will come to watch it. We double the crowds here and we fill the stadium.

“I went to Cardiff and they were getting four thousand, by the time I left it was 25,000. Fans will come if they enjoy it.’’

Pools have been poor at home for the long-term. Since 2010-11 theyt have lost more than they have won in front of their own fans.

Jones wants to make a difference; and how needs to. He’s already altered the backroom staff, with three departures, while appointing two assistant managers to oversee training while he works on drawing up and implementing a blueprint for the future.

“It needs change, it’s got to change, and I’m just the next manager to come in and say it,’’ he reflected. “Hopefully the day I leave the club it will be in a far better state than when I arrived.

“Do I have a chance here? I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. The chairman wants the best here, there’s a good feel about what he wants to achieve. It’s a decision I said yes to, or did I wait for something that might not be around the corner.

“The chairman made this job different to others I’ve turned down. It’s how he wants to go about it. Chairmen can make promises and circumstances dictate how you go about it. He has set his targets, I don’t need to.

“I won’t be pressurised by anyone other than myself. Something has to change here, we know it’s not been flying for a few years so why not change it.’’

Jones spent time with the players yesterday, meeting them at the club’s current Maiden Castle training base in Durham. From Monday he will have made quick and instant assessments on what he has to work with.

“Within limits I know what I can do,’’ he said. “We have to work within the parameters of a club and I’ve always done that.

“I’ve seen the training ground and there’s scope for something else there. The guys I’ve brought in know how I work and know what I want.

“I can’t come in and try and change things straight away in a couple of days which is why I let Sam Collins and Stuart Parnaby take charge of things and all we will do is assess if they buy into what I am bringing here.

“I’ve a good record at other clubs, I’ve managed at higher levels. I’d not retired, but perhaps people may have thought that. I still spoke to clubs, but didn’t feel at the time jobs offered were for me.’’

Jones made his mark as Stockport County boss from 1995-97, leading the club to the semi-finals of the Coca-Cola Cup – beaten by Bryan Robson’s Middlesbrough.

From there, Southampton was his next port of call before an unsavoury exit and onto Wolves in 2001: play-offs, FA Cup quarter-finals and promotion to the Premier League.

Onto Cardiff, for an FA Cup final, the club’s highest League position in 38 years, before topping it 12 months later, and the play-offs.

Then Sheffield Wednesday, for a quick promotion to the Championship after ten wins and two draws and an 18-game unbeaten run after he took over.

When it comes to pedigree, Pools have landed on their feet.

“Managing is what I am used to,’’ said Jones. “The biggest thing I missed was being in a dressing room and being able to dictate what I want. I’ve passed advice onto people and told them what to do, now it’s my turn again.

“Playing is the best thing in the world, coaching is the next best thing and I can still do that. There’s nothing better than passing on my experience and knowledge in coaching and most of the coaches I work with go onto better things. If they want to learn from me, and that goes for people here at the moment then new get on really well.

“I’m here to do a job, not to enjoy it, but to do a job.

“We need results, but you have to see past that as they cover a multitude of problems too. There are big ambitions for this club, which won’t happen tomorrow but will take a long time.

“When I leave here, and I’m only a custodian now, that will continue and the clubs I’ve managed have had foundations set from young kids up to senior levels.

“Right now all I’m concerned with is the first time.

“Ambitions here are to get out of this division and go as far as we can. At Stockport we almost made the Premier League and reached the League Cup semi-finals. That club grew and grew and we had a fantastic few years – one season we played 84 games because of the competitions we were involved in.

“Now if I can get anywhere near that here to what we did there it would be superb. There’s a good fanbase here, I want to make sure they want to come and see good football.’’