£6.5M for someone who's scored a goal every other game in the Championship is less of a gamble for a yoyo team like WBA than £4M on a player who was released by Ipswich and has only scored a lot at L1 level. Even if Long doesn't prove good enough for the PL and they come down he's shown he's a more than useful player at this level so he'll be a big plus point for another promotion campaign.
I'd hate for us to be like Leicester are now, throwing so much money around that it actually makes our team worse, but it would be nice to be able to sign someone really good, just for once. The only time in recent years I've been really impressed with a signing (by that I mean impressed before seeing them play, rather than just trusting the management as I usually do with our signings when I know no better) is Bullard. That went tits-up, so I think we deserve a 'big' signing soon. Just one. I mean, it's not just the biggest clubs that sign these players, Donny are looking like getting Jason Roberts which is a great signing at this level, and for example when Burnley signed Charlie Austin it was a bit of a coup. I'd love it if we could get someone 'proven' like that, but it's obviously a lot easier said than done
The lad's playing in Lg 1 FFS - Stuart Elliott had scored 21 goals by Jan 1st before being brutally assaulted by Sodje in our 2004-05 season and whilst Stuart would be in my all time City 1st 11 he didn't progress beyond being an ok NPC footballer (even allowing for his training induced asthma) We don't need an out and out goalscorer just a mobile big guy who'll give us any sort of Plan B.
you're forgetting we signed Michael Owen, Alvaro Negredo, Bobby Zamora, Christian Vieri & Daryl Murphy (Daryl who?) all in one season.. seriously though, I'd say Jay Jay Okocha was our first ever "marquée" signing although Nick Barmby at aged 30, Ray Parlour even though it was a short deal & Robbie Koren have been pretty big signings.. back in the day Raich Carter was a big one and maybe the best player according to my dad, The Needler signings of Waggy and Co were big and you might even say the loan signing of David Rocastle was a head turner in these parts as we were division 3 at the time.. Keith Edwards was a pretty imortant one too in '78 and again ten years later..
I'd say in relative terms Koren is the first signing that's impressed me in a "how did we get him" way. I'd exclude Barmby on the home town club basis, it's no different to Bellamy with Cardiff last year. They might have been playing below their level but it's not like there was any competition to beat off, we were probably the only clubs that could have signed them at those levels so we were lucky they were born where they were. Okocha was more a favour for a friend than about us as a club. Even Bullard we knew it was the length of contract/wages being better than he'd get elsewhere so you could explain it. With Koren you look at it and wonder why there weren't any better offers than a cash strapped club he had no affinity to. He must have had options in foreign top flights or in America/the middle east for better money.
How can Huddersfield manage that then ? Surely they have to play in the champsionship first if they gain promotion from league one ? Lee Clark confirms that No Amount of money will get Rhodes out of Huddersfield BUT scouts are welcome at every game. The more the merrier. No buy out clause on Rhodes either. One must also remember he was only playing against Wycombe ffs. When he can score this many goals in the championship is the day PL clubs will try for him. imo. St.Ledger is interesting Paul Jewell @ Ipswich. lol.
why do some people still insist we need a 'proven' goalscorer when we have one of the best in the divison already at the club?? Wingers/support strikers are were our problems are not main striker role.
I tell you what REALLY pisses me off, when someone has been brilliant for a decent period of time and then after 1 game - bang - everyone suddenley notices him and thinks they should sign him. He's been banging them in for fun all season and yet it takes this for people to talk about him all over messageboards, facebook and twitter. What about when he got 4 against The Wendies a few weeks ago?
Yeah, right. I mean Zidane, Kaka and Ronaldo (Brazilian) had a price at Juve, Milan and Barca but Huddersfield are able to say no. We're not even talking tens of millions, if someone offered £8million they'd sell immediately.
All I can say is you get angry far too easily if that's the case. He's been getting an abundance of scouts all season anyway, it's just with that game being televised and on a Friday night when not much other football is on that people notice it more.
But that's my point - why does it take it to be on telly for people to suddenly notice him? It's like the Sky / ITV commentators suddenly talking about Cavani after Napoli beat Man City yet when the draw for the group was made it was "City and Bayern to get through, no trouble". This bloke was top scorer in the Copa America for Christ's sake - it's just pure, lazy ignorance.
For me Stuey was easily good enough for a Prem club, that Asthma really was a big blow, hard to run when you can't breathe. Sorry to say it but IMO our team just wouldn't have been promoted twice without him, nowhere near it.
I was actually going to make that point before I read this! God knows how many he might have netted that season if he hadn't been nobbled. I think Stewey was a total legend, but he couldn't quite cut it at Championship level due to the physical side maybe. Now, of course, that doesn't mean that Rhodes won't make it at a higher level. BUT, it goes to show, a player ought to be at least tested out at the next level before shoving him straight in the PL and expecting a goal fest. Possibly why PL clubs aren't falling over themselves to sign him so far...
That's something that's puzzled me for a long time. When it was announced I refused to believe it until I saw him wear the shirt.
Especially as he had just played in the South Africa world cup and had a terrific tournament. Koren is class.
Just been on SSN that a grand total of 8 PL clubs had scouts at the game last night. That in included Spurs who sent Joe Jordan and Clive Allen. I can safely say it's a non starter for us then.
Jordan Rhodes is 21 years old and has scored 60 goals in 104 games at Huddersfield! So what Ipswich let him go, their loss, too much expected if they wanted a 17/18 year old striker to bang them in. Any Championship side would be lucky to have him in their team, and if he doesn't turn out to be a very good Premier League striker in future then i'll be shocked. Strikers generally hit their peak about 26/27 still plenty of time for Rhodes to get better and better.
