Jordan Rhodes - gone to Blackpool

[May Contain Nuts]

19 minutes ago, Sparkle said:

All good points - mostly camouflaged by him being a substitute mostly arriving with 15 minutes to go - I don’t mind this signing at all but he needs help next to him 

Coming on for the last 15 minutes can work to his advantage though - it might not be much time to make an impact, but it's a period of the game where the ball is likely being launched toward the box, creating some chaos in the area. Chaos in the area + an experienced striker who instinctively knows where to stand = goals.

The 75 minutes before that may only have seen the ball go into the box a handful of times, so coming on later when it's played into the box more often....

[PistoldPete]

4 minutes ago, Kokosnuss said:

Coming on for the last 15 minutes can work to his advantage though - it might not be much time to make an impact, but it's a period of the game where the ball is likely being launched toward the box, creating some chaos in the area. Chaos in the area + an experienced striker who instinctively knows where to stand = goals.

The 75 minutes before that may only have seen the ball go into the box a handful of times, so coming on later when it's played into the box more often....

Osula was pretty ineffective coming on as sub. Maybe we need someone with more savvy. Could do with some pace up top as well. Would it be worth going for Dobbin again frustrating though he was. 

[QuitYourJibbaJivin]

Some serious bed wetting over this potential signing. If he signs he’s just another piece of the jigsaw, it’s pointless getting hysterical until the window is closed and we’ve concluded our summer business. A league 1 strike force of Collins, Washington, Rhodes will be decent. It needs a splash of youthful endeavour but let’s not forget the young loanees we had last season were constantly slagged off for not being the finished article. Perhaps Warne sees Brown as filling the 4th striker slot? 

[Nuwtfly]

1 hour ago, MACKWORTHRAM said:

What's to say we won't sign a younger striker as well?

Still about 6 weeks left of the window.

As I’ve said to a few other posters, I can’t see us signing three strikers if we’re only going to play with one (3-4-2-1)

Three new signings aren’t going to sit on the bench.

[Srg]

1 element we haven't discussed is maybe Warne is a big fan of Dajaune Brown and he's factoring him in?

[Kernow]

It seems clear that Warne’s priority this season is just to get out of the league, once that’s done then worry about Championship signings.

I see the logic in wanting players like Nombe, Sam Smith etc. I wanted Smith here but there’s no guarantee they score the goals to get us up. We keep hearing we need to replace McGoldrick’s goals, but I haven’t seen any realistic suggestions who have ever reached that level of prolific scoring in their careers before.

There seems to be more attraction in the unknown. People wanted Bonis, they didn’t want Washington, who keeps Bonis out of his national team. There seems to be a conflict between wanting to take gambles on players and the necessity to get promoted. If Warne takes these gambles and it doesn’t pay off, he’s the one who risks losing his job, not the fans. I completely see the reasoning behind going for older players who have a better track record.

At least with Rhodes, we know he can score. It might’ve been a little while ago now, but you don’t get the stats he has through luck. There’s every chance he scores more than Nombe this season, who would probably cost 7 figures after hitting double figures for the first time in his career last season.

Rhodes has no resale value but he does have the ability to give any team in this league something to worry about. This could be a smart move if we add the right players around him, I think we’re still 2 short. Whether that’s two behind Rhodes, or Rhodes + 1 other and an AM behind. Like @Srg has said, this is an assess at the end of the window situation right now.

Rhodes doesn’t complete the puzzle so far, so if this is the end of our attacking dealings then I’m disappointed. If he’s part of the puzzle then I do think he can still play apart for this season coming.

[Animal is a Ram]

New Nixon post - he's playing in today's (Tuesday) pre-season friendly for Huddersfield, we may well try for him on loan.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Animal is a Ram

[SFox1993]

5 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

New Nixon post - he's playing in today's (Tuesday) pre-season friendly for Huddersfield, we may well try for him on loan.

Collins played for Cardiff in a pre season friendly , and signed for us not long after.

[YorkshireRam]

22 minutes ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

Your original point that I replied to was Warne needs to clarify it, he has done. Now you’re moving the goalposts and saying he was naive to make the comments in the first place, so what? He shouldn’t have said anything? 

And he has backed up his age bracket comment, we have signed players within and closer to the peak age bracket he mentioned. He’s then explained that he may have to look outside of that as well. We haven’t only signed old players, yet people keep suggesting we have. Elder, Ward, Wilson, Vickers and Nelson (just about) fall into that peak bracket. Bradley and Washington are just outside it, Bradley as a cb arguably is still in his peak bracket given he doesn’t need to be as fit and mobile as say Ward or Elder.
 

I partly agree with your comments about the short termism, that is a concern.
However, Wilson, Ward, Elder, Bradley, Nelson, Vickers are all capable of giving the club a good couple of years service, perhaps laying the foundations now for defence and midfield, short term in attack so when we go up there’s a chance to sign younger/better quality players with a stronger hand available to the club. We are still in league one, there is still a business plan of sorts we have to keep too. AND there’s still time to add more players.
Just feels like the relative lack of activity for a week, coupled with the potential addition of a striker some deem below their expectations, is starting to embolden an anti-Warne sentiment again. I’ve seen comments along the lines of “Warne needs to explain this. Warne needs to justify the finances. Where is the money? Where is the ambition?” The season hasn’t started yet, we’re still building a squad, there’s every chance we succeed and there’s every chance we fail, no need to get too dramatic about one signing when a week or two back plenty of people were happy with Kane Wilson and Sonny Bradley and the like. 

Bingo. I'm really not anti-Warne either. All this talk of a rebuild I was excited to see him get his own crop of players in, I just didn't expect the transfer policy to be virtually identical to last season, based on who's been brought in thus far.

Derby never seem to be the ones unearthing gems, we buy the 'proven' options. Maybe I was unrealistically expecting this to change with the new recruitment setup but I was hoping we'd get at least 1 striker who has more than 2 seasons in him, and we may be able to sell for a profit.

If Rhodes signs, I'll back him like anyone else but this seems very much like 'get up however we can and then worry about what happens once we're there' rather than trying to build something sustainable that could see continued success without major changes.

As it stands, if we go up, we'll be back to square 1 needing to sign 3 strikers in a years' time...

[May Contain Nuts]

41 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

My personal opinion is that it's disrespectful to Rhodes to put Washington and Collins in the same bracket as him. Rhodes is a markedly more accomplished footballer than both of them and (for my money) will score a lot of goals at this level. 

In terms of supporting our striker, that should be a priority regardless. Rhodes is going to play off the shoulder, although a few Huddersfield fans have praised his hold-up play too, so the two players behind him (assuming a 3-4-2-1) will need to run the channels and come deep for the ball. If you want Rhodes to run the channels, come deep for the ball, etc, it's not his game.  

Rhodes isn't an accomplished footballer though. He's a pretty basic footballer with one standout skill but the rest of his game is poor to middling, barely above average. It was that way even at his peak, and he hasn't really been able to adapt his game to make himself valuable in other ways.

Scoring goals and being a good footballer are not mutually exclusive.

That's the problem, it's why he's found his game time limited and other strikers preferred despite his scoring record. Again it's something you alluded to yourself yesterday so I'm not sure how we're even disagreeing? If he was an 'accomplished footballer' they'd be able to give him more minutes without feeling it impacts on their overall performance as a team.

I've also read some of the comments from Huddersfield fans, and to say they 'praise his hold-up play' is pushing it a bit based on the ones i saw (granted they may be different). They say it's better than they expected, that it's actually 'decent', better than it was in his first spell there but that's a low bar. They still acknowledge that he isn't a hold-up striker and shouldn't be played there regularly.

You've also got to remember that they consider him a legend there because of his past scoring exploits, so they'll naturally be kinder on his flaws, they're never going to badmouth him when his first spell there was so successful.

Enough going round the houses anyway, I just don't see us being a successful TEAM if Jordon Rhodes plays in more than 70% of our minutes this season. I welcome him as a signing if it's to come in and play maybe 30/40% of available minutes. That's my opinion, it could be wrong and he could surprise me greatly. I'll be more than willing to admit the errors of my thinking if he does.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Kokosnuss

[SparxTheRam]

2 hours ago, YorkshireRam said:

If this happens, Warne needs to come out and clarify his age comments. As soon as McGoldrick left, we thought a #9 would be our main priority this season, combined with the comment about wanting players in the 23-28 age bracket, it was fair to assume we were aiming for our marquee signing to be a #9 in this mould.

If we then start the season then with our youngest striker being 31, that would be disappointing, but only because of what Warne said which has built expectations a bit...

Warne actually doesn't need to to do that.... Because you know what, he's the manager, we're the fans.... Our job is to support the team, no matter who is wearing the shirt ... Just like we did and have done so well the last few years.

This isn't aimed directly at you mate specifically but people need to realise that we are in the 3rd division, yes we might have a budget now, yes there are all these players on a free but has anyone considered that these players might be holding out for better offers.... For more money than we are prepared, not able, to pay? Or maybe they are all idiots who will upset the dressing room, we don't know.

Yes warne said he wanted the side to be younger, yes he said he wanted more pace, I'm sure he'd like to sign exactly what he knows he wants but football isn't like that.

I'm sure Warne _wants_ what he wants and he's forced into telling us all this info because the fans clamour for every bit of info nowadays but you know what, maybe he can't get what he _wants_.

He shouldn't be dragged over the coals for getting what he thinks will do the job even if it's not who he really wants... 

He's got promotion fron this league what is it, three times? I think he is better placed to judge than us. 

[MACKWORTHRAM]

22 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

New Nixon post - he's playing in today's (Tuesday) pre-season friendly for Huddersfield, we may well try for him on loan.

Huddersfield don't have a friendly today?

[SparxTheRam]

2 hours ago, Mr Tibbs said:

No enthusiasm after our signings so far?! 

Glorious post. Almost hope we stay down another year for more of these beauties.

I know right? Weve only signed the captain of a championship promotion winning side, a former League two player of the year (only one season ago) a former League one team of the year full back, a championship centre half with over 300 games experience and championship striker with international experience .  

Fecking awful that for League One, diabolical!! 🙄🙄🙄

[Animal is a Ram]

6 minutes ago, MACKWORTHRAM said:

Huddersfield don't have a friendly today?

Behind closed doors, apparently.

[Rample]

I'm warming to this now. He's a quality  finisher and puts the effort in.

Dropping down a league should boost his returns, and even if we only play him as sub or when we go 2 up top I think he offers something a bit different and can contribute important goals.

Only thing is he's their top earner so he's going to have to take a serious pay cut. I don't think a fee will be a problem as they will want him off the wage bill. Hopefully we don't offer a silly or long contract 

[nogbad van 50]

59 minutes ago, therealhantsram said:

My PoV: When backs are against the wall and the club has no money, necessity leads to trying out some young players from with in the ranks.  Kevin Wilson, Phil Gee and Dean Sturridge all broke through when we had no cash and were in need of goals.  All three delivered promotion seasons for us.

For that reason I am not worried.  Someone - don't know who - will get an opportunity this season and grasp it with both hands.

Correct on Dean Sturridge but we signed Kevin Wilson from Banbury Utd for £20k and signed Phil Gee from Greeley Rovers.

[BOB BIGGS]

6 minutes ago, SparxTheRam said:

Warne actually doesn't need to to do that.... Because you know what, he's the manager, we're the fans.... Our job is to support the team, no matter who is wearing the shirt ... Just like we did and have done so well the last few years.

This isn't aimed directly at you mate specifically but people need to realise that we are in the 3rd division, yes we might have a budget now, yes there are all these players on a free but has anyone considered that these players might be holding out for better offers.... For more money than we are prepared, not able, to pay? Or maybe they are all idiots who will upset the dressing room, we don't know.

Yes warne said he wanted the side to be younger, yes he said he wanted more pace, I'm sure he'd like to sign exactly what he knows he wants but football isn't like that.

I'm sure Warne _wants_ what he wants and he's forced into telling us all this info because the fans clamour for every bit of info nowadays but you know what, maybe he can't get what he _wants_.

He shouldn't be dragged over the coals for getting what he thinks will do the job even if it's not who he really wants... 

He's got promotion fron this league what is it, three times? I think he is better placed to judge than us. 

Another contributor who shows signs of being reasonable and pragmatic…careful😄

It seems that we still have many fans who think we have a bottomless pit of money to draw on to sign players, particularly forwards. I presumed that wasn’t going to the case some time ago. We’re scratching around, trying to find value from a small number of players who might be available. 
 

I think we should worry about the following season’s players next Summer, if we’ve gone up.  Surely, we can’t afford Championship-type forwards at this stage.  

[MACKWORTHRAM]

4 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

Behind closed doors, apparently.

Oh ok. Well we'll find out later if he played then.

[Curtains]

Is this a joke !

[YorkshireRam]

6 minutes ago, SparxTheRam said:

Warne actually doesn't need to to do that.... Because you know what, he's the manager, we're the fans.... Our job is to support the team, no matter who is wearing the shirt ... Just like we did and have done so well the last few years.

This isn't aimed directly at you mate specifically but people need to realise that we are in the 3rd division, yes we might have a budget now, yes there are all these players on a free but has anyone considered that these players might be holding out for better offers.... For more money than we are prepared, not able, to pay? Or maybe they are all idiots who will upset the dressing room, we don't know.

Yes warne said he wanted the side to be younger, yes he said he wanted more pace, I'm sure he'd like to sign exactly what he knows he wants but football isn't like that.

I'm sure Warne _wants_ what he wants and he's forced into telling us all this info because the fans clamour for every bit of info nowadays but you know what, maybe he can't get what he _wants_.

He shouldn't be dragged over the coals for getting what he thinks will do the job even if it's not who he really wants... 

He's got promotion fron this league what is it, three times? I think he is better placed to judge than us. 

Then don't say anything, building expectations if you can't deliver isn't particularly wise. I'm not really digging Warne out, there just seems to be a disparity between what we're aiming to do and who we're signing.

Of course the Rhodes thing could be false and this could be complete conjecture; something is just slightly irking me about being told we're aiming for 23-28 year olds, the main position we're targeting is a striker, and then signing a 33 and 31 year old in that position...