Rhodeswatch

[thisal]

Boro have signed Gestede from Villa. Rhodes must surely move this transfer window. Villa and QPR mentioned.

[Savage Henry]

Boro have signed Gestede from Villa. Rhodes must surely move this transfer window. Villa and QPR mentioned.

You'd have thought Villa would have come out smelling of roses if that happened.

[thisal]

26 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

 

You'd have thought Villa would have come out smelling of roses if that happened.

 

Yes they've sold a player who doesn't get a game for £6m and will be putting that money towards a proven championship player.

However that would still mean we wouldn't get a chance to see if Rhodes can cut in the premier League.

[Peppino Impastato]

It doesn't matter,  none of our other strikers are playing epl,  if he's scoring regularly in the championship that's good enough

[thisal]

37 minutes ago, Peppino Impastato said:

It doesn't matter,  none of our other strikers are playing epl,  if he's scoring regularly in the championship that's good enough.

It would obviously be a lot better if he was scoring regularly in the Premier League.

[Peppino Impastato]

Of course it would,  it would be better if he was playing for Barcelona too but it doesn't prevent him getting picked for Scotland

[Gordopolis]

1 hour ago, Peppino Impastato said:

Of course it would,  it would be better if he was playing for Barcelona too but it doesn't prevent him getting picked for Scotland

Well, as things stand, it does. He could score 15 between now and the end of the season for Villa and he would still be absent from almost every Scotland squad.

I really wanted to see him bag a few in the EPL just to put the squeeze on Strachan to accept his limitations and try to use him. Hardly like we have the goalscoring answer keeping him out of the squad, is it? (and yes I know the 1 in a 4231's job is to hold up and bring the 3 into play, but likewise, the 3 have hardly been rattling' em in for Scotland either have they?)

[RandomGuy.]

He needs to prove he's worth adapting the current style of play for (system doesn't work, change everything, Rhodes is God, etc etc.). Scoring goals in the Championship proves nothing.

[dogmc]

He needs to prove he's worth adapting the current style of play for (system doesn't work, change everything, Rhodes is God, etc etc.). Scoring goals in the Championship proves nothing.

Chris Martin doesn't fit the system either but still gets picked.

[Gordopolis]

He needs to prove he's worth adapting the current style of play for (system doesn't work, change everything, Rhodes is God, etc etc.). Scoring goals in the Championship proves nothing.

Exactly, he needs to score a few at Boro to show he can do it in a 4231, or get a gig in a more adventurous EPL team playing with a second or more advanced fwd and show up equally well.

Going to the Championship will no doubt revive his club career but will do nothing to change his standing in the international side (with the current manager and probably most other replacements too - tho he seems to me to be a perfect choice as the out and out goalscorer in any squad with 4 or 5 strikers).

[Lex]

[Gordopolis]

Very good. TBF though, at 26, Rhodes career goals tally already trumps that of Nugent (31), Earnshaw (Retired) and Jerome (30).

I was wondering if Rhodes might be best breaking away from British football. There was talk of Moyes taking him to Sociedad a while back. Perhaps a move like that (if he's up for it) is the best way for him to break out of the Championship/EPL limbo.

[forameus]

33 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

Very good. TBF though, at 26, Rhodes career goals tally already trumps that of Nugent (31), Earnshaw (Retired) and Jerome (30).

I was wondering if Rhodes might be best breaking away from British football. There was talk of Moyes taking him to Sociedad a while back. Perhaps a move like that (if he's up for it) is the best way for him to break out of the Championship/EPL limbo.

Hes not really in Championship/EPL limbo though, just EPL.  There's no shame in going to a club in the Championship to get game time and be at a level where he clearly feels comfortable at.  Maybe he can move abroad and be successful, but it seems unlikely, especially when I imagine you'd have many Championship clubs forming a queue if he became available.  Not playing in the EPL isn't going to endear him to any Scotland manager.  Playing and scoring in the Championship will give him a better chance.

Or maybe he's just not that bothered.  Maybe he's happy enough to sit on the bench on EPL wages.

 

[Dullard Bluteau]

Surely if he was any good he would be playing for his own country ?

[Gordopolis]

3 hours ago, forameus said:

Hes not really in Championship/EPL limbo though, just EPL.  There's no shame in going to a club in the Championship to get game time and be at a level where he clearly feels comfortable at.  Maybe he can move abroad and be successful, but it seems unlikely, especially when I imagine you'd have many Championship clubs forming a queue if he became available.  Not playing in the EPL isn't going to endear him to any Scotland manager.  Playing and scoring in the Championship will give him a better chance.

Or maybe he's just not that bothered.  Maybe he's happy enough to sit on the bench on EPL wages.

 

Well it is limbo in terms of the national team. Or a rock and a hard place, if you like. When playing well in the Championship, he was a fringe player at best for Scotland. Stuck on the bench in the EPL, he's totally out of the scene. Going to the Championship might well reignite his club career but will it really change Strachan's mind about him? I sincerely doubt it - not unless he totally changes his game too.

That's why I reckon a move abroad breaks that rock and hard place scenario. He might well be happy to pick up a wage as an EPL bench-warmer, and he might not be willing to move abroad even if someone offered him a salary matching or bettering what he's on now, but, for talking sake, say he went to a Malaga or a Kaiserslautern or the like and notched goals regularly at that kind of level, surely then he'd have to come into more serious contention. All ifs and buts and I've no idea if the player would be interested in any such options. I guess my point is that the EPL is not the ultimate destination if you want to make it as a Scottish international player, nor is the Championship the only fallback (as convenient as it is for some players).

 

ETA: Okay, not Kaiserslautern - just noticed they're in the German second tier (where Kristoff Martenz would probably get picked ahead of him)

[forameus]

It's never been about level with Rhodes, so not sure where you're going with that.  It seems purely down to him not fitting in as a player.  It doesn't really matter where he moves in that sense - if he's going to get picked, he's going to have to show that he can be effective in whatever sense a manager - Strachan or otherwise - needs him to be.  He can do that in the Championship.

[Frankie S]

1 hour ago, Gordopolis said:

That's why I reckon a move abroad breaks that rock and hard place scenario. He might well be happy to pick up a wage as an EPL bench-warmer, and he might not be willing to move abroad even if someone offered him a salary matching or bettering what he's on now, but, for talking sake, say he went to a Malaga or a Kaiserslautern or the like and notched goals regularly at that kind of level....

 

ETA: Okay, not Kaiserslautern - just noticed they're in the German second tier (where Kristoff Martenz would probably get picked ahead of him)

Malaga are 8th in La Liga. Why would a benchwarmer (at best, more often than not he doesn't even make the bench) at a completely toothless Middlesbrough side, whose manager is reluctant to give him any gametime whatsoever, even at the death of a meaningless cup game when they have a comfortable lead..

a) be of interest to them?

b) get parachuted straight into the first team ahead of the likes of their Brazilian striker Charles (hat trick against Real Sociedad), Uruguayan international Santos, former Barcelona and Spanish Under 21 international Sandro etc?

Not sure why some Scotland fans seem to cling to the delusion that Rhodes is an international class striker-in-hiding whose talents have inexplicably escaped the attentions of a succession of Scotland managers, his own club manager at Middlesbrough and so far ALL Premiership, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A managers looking for a goal scorer that could do a job at their respective levels.

He's almost 27 now, and no longer a promising young player. He should be at the peak of his career, but he's languishing on the sidelines, a marginal figure at a modest relegation-threatened club that has scored 17 goals in the league this season, the lowest equal with Hull City. It's not a conspiracy. He's just not very good. 

[PrestersKTID]

Scoring an average of 23 goals a season (4 years in championship) makes you not very good? The difference between him and likes of Nugent, jerome, etc is they got a bit of a run out in the premiership.

It's a shame he's never gotten a real chance. 

[AMMjag]

He's perfectly entitled to force his way into the Middlesbrough team; they're hardly flush with quality options up front. That he isn't getting a chance in the first team is entirely his own fault.

[Gordopolis]

2 hours ago, Frankie S said:

Malaga are 8th in La Liga. Why would a benchwarmer (at best, more often than not he doesn't even make the bench) at a completely toothless Middlesbrough side, whose manager is reluctant to give him any gametime whatsoever, even at the death of a meaningless cup game when they have a comfortable lead..

a) be of interest to them?

b) get parachuted straight into the first team ahead of the likes of their Brazilian striker Charles (hat trick against Real Sociedad), Uruguayan international Santos, former Barcelona and Spanish Under 21 international Sandro etc?

Not sure why some Scotland fans seem to cling to the delusion that Rhodes is an international class striker-in-hiding whose talents have inexplicably escaped the attentions of a succession of Scotland managers, his own club manager at Middlesbrough and so far ALL Premiership, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A managers looking for a goal scorer that could do a job at their respective levels.

He's almost 27 now, and no longer a promising young player. He should be at the peak of his career, but he's languishing on the sidelines, a marginal figure at a modest relegation-threatened club that has scored 17 goals in the league this season, the lowest equal with Hull City. It's not a conspiracy. He's just not very good. 

Re Malaga, I did say 'for talking sake' - I didn't go and google the exact standing of the clubs (clearly given I cited Kaiserslautern - oops).

He's not very good? Relative to Negredo and his ilk, yes. Relative to Chris Martin, Steven Fletcher etc? Not in my book. Different kind of player, yes, but in the same class as them and with the ability to consistently do what none of them can.