‘I’M LOVING IT AT NORWICH’
Prolific striker’s eager to build on Carabao Cup treble at his happy hunting ground
AS JORDAN Rhodes stood on the Adams Park pitch after his hat-trick against Wycombe in midweek and answered the media’s questions, he could have been forgiven for wanting to dig up the pitch and take it with him.
There’s something about the Buckinghamshire air that seems to suit the 28-year-old striker down to the ground. It was, after all, at the Chairboys’ home where he hit five goals for Huddersfield in a 6-0 League One romp in January 2012.
That season, the young striker netted an astonishing 40 goals in 45 games as Huddersfield went on to earn promotion via the play-offs.
It earned Rhodes an £8m move to Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers. Eightythree goals in 159 league games showed that he could do the business in the second tier.
Then came a switch to Middlesbrough for £9m in February 2016 to help them over the line in their bid to reach the Premier League. Six goals in 18 league games may not have seen Rhodes score at the same rate as before, but it was mission accomplished as Boro earned promotion.
Chance
After plenty of years being talked about as a potential Premier League striker, the Oldham-born ace was finally going to get his chance. But it proved a false dawn – after a paltry six appearances and no goals, Rhodes was shipped out to Sheffield Wednesday, initially on loan and then for a £10m fee a little over a year ago.
But eight league goals in 49 games for the Owls, admittedly with a fair chunk of those appearances coming off the bench, appeared to show a striker on the wane.
Wednesday obviously thought so too as they packed him off to Norwich for a season-long loan in July. At a time when Rhodes should be approaching his prime, his game-time and goals appeared to be if not drying up, certainly slowing down.
A couple of goals for Norwich in his first three appearances, defeats against West Brom and Sheffield United, suggested that Rhodes, who started his career with Ipswich, could find life to his liking in East Anglia.
However, in recent games the 6ft 1in hitman has been confined to a place on the bench, coming on in the latter stages of matches as Norwich try to see out the ninety minutes.
That’s largely been down to the form of Finnish striker Teemu Pukki, 28, who joined on a free from Danish club Brondby this summer and has popped up with some crucial strikes of late.
It was why Rhodes was relegated to the stiffs for the Carabao Cup third round tie at Wycombe in midweek. Canaries boss Daniel Farke made nine changes to keep his first team regulars fit and fresh.
Fresh
But Rhodes seized his chance to show what he could do in emphatic fashion with a superb hat-trick – and he could have had four but for a dubious handball call against him when he was searching for a first-half treble.
He deflected the ball home via his stomach from closerange for his first goal on 12 minutes and then curled a sumptuous effort into the top corner two minutes later to double the lead and give Wycombe nightmare recollections of that five-goal haul six years ago.
Thankfully for the Chairboys, he settled for three this time, flicking home his hat-trick goal six minutes into the second half.
But it wasn’t just his goals that made Rhodes stand out like a beacon at Adams Parks. It was his all-round game – the headers, the flick-ons, the layoffs and his work-rate.
In the closing moments, when Norwich were hanging on to a precarious 4-3 lead, it was Rhodes who tried to hold on to the ball near the corner flag and eat up valuable seconds.
Forget the talk that he is just an old-fashioned goal poacher, one of a dying breed. There is a lot more to his game than that and if he did perhaps lack that yard of searing pace that could frighten Premier League defenders, he’s still a highly accomplished striker.
Farke hailed his ‘unbelievable attitude’ and labelled him ‘outstanding’ after his display against Wycombe and perhaps it was a message to the doubters that he can still be a prolific scorer.
Yes, it was against League One opposition, but he looked razor-sharp, hungry and determined – and showed that if you give him decent service, he will score goals.
Perhaps a return to Adams Park was just what was required to give him a confidence boost – it was his first hat-trick since he netted three times for Blackburn at former club Huddersfield four and a half years ago.
And the modest striker did try to recall his five-goal haul in 2012 to get himself in the mood.
“I was thinking of the good feelings that came last time round,” admitted the Scotland international. “I went through all the goals in my head like it was only yesterday.
“I was trying to take some of that positive thinking and fortunately enough tonight the lads found me in certain positions.
“Having had special memories here in the past having scored a few goals, I was almost trying to replicate that and have a positive mindset, getting myself in finishing positions and applying the final touch.
Tough
“You know, some grounds you go to not with a negative mindset but you think ‘it’s going to be a tough day today, I’m going to have to grind’, but on days like today, especially when history has played its part, it gives you that little extra boost.
“You almost have a spring in your step going out. Going out to warm up, you think, yeah, I can score a goal tonight. You never go out with a mindset to score three goals, but you go out with the mindset that I could possibly score a goal or two tonight.
“Coming here tonight was one of those situations - I like this place!”
And the quietly assured Rhodes is confident if he is given a run of games in the Championship this season, he will again prove his worth.
“If I didn’t think that, it wouldn’t be right for me to play, to be involved in such a set-up,” he said. “It’s a good, professional club and we’ve all got ambitions and want to
do as well as we can. “If I didn’t think I was up to the job or could score goals and work as hard as I can for Norwich City, I might as well finish now. Whenever the manager calls upon me, I’ll try to do the best I can for the team. “It’s not about individual accolades, it’s about Norwich City getting the job done on the night and working as hard as I can for the team.
“It’s nice for strikers when the goals do go in, but, at the same time, sometimes they don’t and you have to contribute in your own little way and work as hard as you can. That’s all you can do as a professional.
Contribute
“It’s one of the best changing rooms I’ve been in in football. What a great bunch of lads and you can see that on the pitch. We’re all willing to run that extra yard for one another.”
What gives Rhodes extra cause for optimism is the fact he believes there are players who can provide him with the service he thrives on.
“There are some really good creative players here,” he said. “It’s a joy to play in. I should maybe have had one or two more goals this season but that hasn’t been the case. You just forget about the last one and go on to the next one.
“It has to be that mindset for everyone involved. I’m really enjoying my time at Norwich City, it’s a fantastic club and the manager and the coaching staff have been great with me.
“I’m really enjoying my football, I’m really enjoying my life off the field – life’s pretty good at the moment.”