[Archived] jordan rhodes

[roverandout]

i would prefer terry and pique

[Stuart]

Jordan Rhodes (a League One striker) stands head and shoulders above anything else we've got. Only Gomez gets close.

Is he THAT good? Or are we just THAT poor?

[Tom]

First time I've seen him live and he is clearly a bit special, the goal was quality but the turn and shot tha he nearly sneaked in after the Gomes flick was nearly magic from nothing

Stuart at present both of them look a class above 90% of the league

[Mafioso]

i would prefer terry and pique

I doubt Pique would leave Spain for England. We should look at other options, maybe Terry and Anton Ferdinand.

[True Blue & White]

First time I've seen him live and he is clearly a bit special

Are you saying he has learning difficulties?

[rog of the rovers]

Rhodes was by far and away Rovers' best player last night.

Its funny because I thought he looked tall (but not a giant), quick (but not lightning), strong (but knows when to fall over), had a good football brain (without trying to over complicate matters ala Rochina) and took his goal really well.

Ironically his best chance was probably when he was put through after good closing down from Formica and he placed his left footed shot narrowly wide.

As mentioned above though, I thought his most impressive moment (goal aside) was when he took a 'nothing' flick from Gomes, shifted it out of his feet, gave himself 1/2 a yard and forced the keeper into a fine save low to his left. It showed his predatory instincts and this can only be a good sign going forward.

As for the comparisons with Shearer, I think they are a little premature. Alan was the best player I've ever seen in a Rovers shirt and I still maintain had he not have picked up his cruciate ligament injury at such a young age, he would have kept his pace and been even more prolific for both us and England, and probably have gone down as one of the all time greats.

Jordan has the potential to be a great player but he has to score plenty this year, then plenty next year (Hopefully in the Premier League) to be even considered Shearer standard.

[Mike E]

Rhodes was by far and away Rovers' best player last night.

Its funny because I thought he looked tall (but not a giant), quick (but not lightning), strong (but knows when to fall over), had a good football brain (without trying to over complicate matters ala Rochina) and took his goal really well.

Ironically his best chance was probably when he was put through after good closing down from Formica and he placed his left footed shot narrowly wide.

As mentioned above though, I thought his most impressive moment (goal aside) was when he took a 'nothing' flick from Gomes, shifted it out of his feet, gave himself 1/2 a yard and forced the keeper into a fine save low to his left. It showed his predatory instincts and this can only be a good sign going forward.

As for the comparisons with Shearer, I think they are a little premature. Alan was the best player I've ever seen in a Rovers shirt and I still maintain had he not have picked up his cruciate ligament injury at such a young age, he would have kept his pace and been even more prolific for both us and England, and probably have gone down as one of the all time greats.

Jordan has the potential to be a great player but he has to score plenty this year, then plenty next year (Hopefully in the Premier League) to be even considered Shearer standard.

He IS one of the all-time greats, even with the cruciate. Wow, to think how good he COULD have been

[LeChuck]

Anyone else getting worried that we've blown £8 million?

All this "feel sorry for him", "no service", "wrong system" talk reminds me of Kalinic.

Good strikers make things happen - look at Yakubu last season.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

No, not at all.

Some players are just natural goalscorers and don't contribute much.....they seem quite useless a lot of the time but then just score.....Mario Gomez is one example, probably could say it about Raul as well......if we hire a decent manager, he will come good, of that I have no doubt.

Yakubu was getting service from Hoilett.....if Hoilett was still playing for us, Rhodes would be banging them in.

How many goals did Yakubu create himself?.......QPR when he turned a couple of defenders......Man United from a throw in......apart from the penalties, most if not all of the others were hit first time after being set up.

[LeChuck]

No, not at all.

Some players are just natural goalscorers and don't contribute much.....they seem quite useless a lot of the time but then just score.....Mario Gomez is one example, probably could say it about Raul as well

But they are/were exceptional goal scoring talents. And to be honest, strikers of their ilk are becoming less common as the game moves on. Most teams only play with one dedicated striker now, so they can't afford that striker to be a passenger.

I hope I'm wrong about Rhodes, but he's done nothing for a few games on the bounce now. Also worries that, despite being 6'1, he doesn't seem to offer much in terms of ball retention.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

I know I wasn't comparing him to them, rather the principle of it.....H'field fans said don't expect much of him outside the area but if we create chances he will score.

Hopefully we start doing the basics like pass-and-move into space as well as starting to play Olsson/Vukcevic/Kazim on the wings then he will get a lot more service.

It would mean us dropping Gomes, but when Best is back, I imagine he plays up top with Rhodes and we start to hold the ball up as well as we did with the Yak or Roberts in the side.

Kalinic was just played in the wrong formation without a partner.....Rhodes' situation is different because we will start playing a different system soon enough and a real manager would base that around getting the best out of the guy we paid 8 million for.

I think we're gonna hire Shearer and just imagine what Rhodes could learn from him and Nuno Gomes.

[JAL]

Dont jump to judge this lad too soon please let him play and leave him be.

First season and all of that, I feel he'll score a lot of goals. The main problem lies more with the squad/ team, manager, plus the trainers at this moment in time.

[Pedro]

No, not at all.

Some players are just natural goalscorers and don't contribute much.....they seem quite useless a lot of the time but then just score.....Mario Gomez is one example, probably could say it about Raul as well......if we hire a decent manager, he will come good, of that I have no doubt.

Yakubu was getting service from Hoilett.....if Hoilett was still playing for us, Rhodes would be banging them in.

How many goals did Yakubu create himself?.......QPR when he turned a couple of defenders......Man United from a throw in......apart from the penalties, most if not all of the others were hit first time after being set up.

Excellent point. Yakubu was an excellent finisher and could hold the ball up well but he would be lucky to have covered 2 miles per game. Rhodes has been runnung around and has done some good holding up work BUT the system and lack of creativity around him doesn't suit him.

I know I wasn't comparing him to them, rather the principle of it.....H'field fans said don't expect much of him outside the area but if we create chances he will score.

Hopefully we start doing the basics like pass-and-move into space as well as starting to play Olsson/Vukcevic/Kazim on the wings then he will get a lot more service.

It would mean us dropping Gomes, but when Best is back, I imagine he plays up top with Rhodes and we start to hold the ball up as well as we did with the Yak or Roberts in the side.

Kalinic was just played in the wrong formation without a partner.....Rhodes' situation is different because we will start playing a different system soon enough and a real manager would base that around getting the best out of the guy we paid 8 million for.

I think we're gonna hire Shearer and just imagine what Rhodes could learn from him and Nuno Gomes.

And this.

[slater7]

The thing I like about Rhodes is that he passes the ball into the net - he doesn't thrash at it.

Even in the warm up he has passing the ball into / at the goal.

That'd be because he's white. I am not a racist, but I have a theory....

A few years back, if my Rockstar/ Fighter pilot career didn't work out, I was going to be a 20+ goal a year striker in the old first division. I watched all the goals and kept files on them, and my future workmates, for a while. Neville Southall, Everton's old keeper, was always off his line and often beaten by chips BTW.

There weren't so many black players back then and "they" (hello PC police) tended to be either speedy, tricksy midgets i.e. Rod Wallace, or big lumps good at bringing down long balls and holding them up, like John Fashanu. I noticed the black forwards, for example Tony Yeboah, would always hit their shots as hard as they possibly could and would either burst the net, or break someone's nose in row Z. While your Ian Rush's and Alan Smith's always sidefooted the ball just inside the post.

P.S. Ian Wright also favoured placement over power. But, to quote Rio Ferdinand, he was a choc-ice. Mark Hughes scored some screamers too, but I'm thinking he had black great grandparents, or something

[bluebruce]

That's just a really poor argument.

[Batman.]

That's just a really poor argument.

Deary me.

[bluebruce]

Deary me.

You're agreeing or disagreeing?

[Batman.]

You're agreeing or disagreeing?

I can't believe that you viewed the post as anything but a bit of fun. How many clues do you need?

[Salgado Is A Hero]

P.S. Ian Wright also favoured placement over power. But, to quote Rio Ferdinand, he was a choc-ice.

Surely that was enough of a reason alone to see this was clearly a joke? It was quite amusing I thought.

[bluebruce]

Whatever lads. Just felt that whilst some bits were obviously facetious, he went on enough about specific player attributes to be trying to make an actual point.

[Pedro]

Whatever lads. Just felt that whilst some bits were obviously facetious, he went on enough about specific player attributes to be trying to make an actual point.

I have some magic beans for sale if you are interested

[den]

Saw Rhodes in the flesh for the first time on Wednesday night - and the first words that came to mind were "one paced" He doesn't have the acceleration that most top strikers have. That in a nutshell is why PL clubs had stayed away.

He had a decent touch with him and might well score goals if we can get enough early ball into the box - I don't know about that, but he can't go past a man and offers very little outside the area. That's a big problem, especially away from home.

£8m? I would expect a lot more for that kind of money.

[LeChuck]

Saw Rhodes in the flesh for the first time on Wednesday night - and the first words that came to mind were "one paced" He doesn't have the acceleration that most top strikers have. That in a nutshell is why PL clubs had stayed away.

He had a decent touch with him and might well score goals if we can get enough early ball into the box - I don't know about that, but he can't go past a man and offers very little outside the area. That's a big problem, especially away from home.

£8m? I would expect a lot more for that kind of money.

He can get away with being one paced if he improves his link up play. He probably needs to look at the likes of Bobby Zamora and Steven Fletcher, who have carved out decent PL careers for themselves with similar limations.

The key is he needs to figure out how to play as a lone striker whilst still being effective. He's 6'1 and not a slight lad so there's plenty of scope for him to do this.

[diziet2]

I still think that he will develop into a player something like Teddy Sheringham. Neither has genuine pace, both have brilliant movement in the box and Rhodes build up play is far better than he is given credit for. this will develop over the next couple of years. In the Premiership, he'd score 15 goals in a team getting the ball into the box.

[Tom]

His quality of finishing means he is already halfway to being a top striker

I personally think he needs to bulk up a bit to add to his hold up and all round game still