MOWBRAY: CHE HASN’T FACED BIG TEST YET
BIRMINGHAM BLACKBURN 2 2 BIRMINGHAM poster-boy Che Adams has been warned he still has plenty to learn if he is going to be a Premier League pin-up.
Adams – a hero to Blues fans after becoming their first player in 24 years to hit the 20-goal mark in a league season – scored twice to remind his January admirers he is worth further inspection this summer.
But it takes more than a few flashy Championship goals from a 22-year-old to impress Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray.
“I know Che is strong and fast, but I didn’t sit there and think, ‘God, every time he gets the ball he’s going to hurt us,’” said Mowbray.
“He scored two goals and, undoubtedly, his physicality is his major asset – his power and speed.
“But the test for young lads like that is when they go to the Premier League and have to think about their game – know when to stand still, when to run, when to take a touch, and set it and spin again.
“He has scored some goals, but the test for that young man will be when he gets to the Premier League – either with this club or with somebody buying him.
“Then you will see whether he can do that or not.”
Adams’ first was driven low into the corner after Rovers had needlessly given away possession.
For his second, he showed cunning as well as composure to fire past David Raya from an impressively acute angle.
In between times, Charlie Mulgrew drew Rovers level, before Danny Graham put the visitors briefly ahead.
City boss Garry Monk said of Adams (above): “He’s as hungry now as he was when he scored his first goal (of the season) and knows exactly what we expect.
“His record is the silverlining of the day.”
Rondon Perez
MIGUEL ALMIRON probably thinks English football is a doddle after this Geordie romp.
Well, Newcastle’s record buy needs to be taken to one side and told that if he plays another five years in the Premier League, he’ll probably never again come up against opponents as woeful as Huddersfield. The Championship- bound Terriers are bad enough with 11 players on the pitch but, once Tommy Smith had been sent off for a horrific tackle on Almiron, the home debutant and his team-mates were on easy street.
The Paraguyan was by no means the Toon’s top performer – Salomon Rondon led the line in swashbuckling style while Sean Longstaff produced another display of astonishing maturity.
But the £20.5million signing from Atlanta was the catalyst behind this third successive home league win, wowing the crowd and inspiring those around him with his positivity and panache.
Watching Rafa Benitez’s welldrilled but limited team this season has rarely been pleasing on the eye but Almiron and his fellow forwards posed a constant threat with their movement and link-up play in the final third.
Three former Tory MPs announced themselves as the Three Amigos last week but it was Newcastle’s Spanish-speaking attackers who brought the Ole factor to St James’ Park.
“We were all speaking Spanish together,” revealed Rondon, who broke the deadlock immediately pace, P W D L FA Pts Leicester 27 95 13 32 38 32 Crystal Palace 27 8 6 13 31 35 30 Burnley 27 8 6 13 31 48 30 Newcastle 27 7 7 13 24 34 28 Brighton 26 7 6 13 28 39 27 Cardiff 27 7 4 16 25 52 25 Southampton 27 5 9 13 28 46 24 Fulham 27 4 5 18 26 61 17 Huddersfield 27 2 5 20 14 50 11
after the restart before Ayoze Perez sealed victory six minutes later.
“Miguel is still struggling to speak English well and, when he does, it’s an American kind of English with different words.
“So it’s better that we all speak Spanish and I tried to help by talking to him.
“But football is a universal language. It’s the same everywhere and I think we all felt on the same wavelength.
“Miguel showed his qualities. It’s a real positive when you’ve got a player like him who likes to run between the lines. He’s already