5 goals for Jordan Rhodes tonight at Wycomber

Some striker

 

Wycombe not Wycomber

 

And to think he could have been up front tomorrow if his dad hadn't moved jobs

All those that say the Academy doesn't produce any talent need only look at Rhodes, Butterfield, RNL etc.

 

But he'll be gone by the end of January, Huddersfield will still be in Division 1 next season and Lee Clarke will be out on his ear!

 

Re: And to think he could have been up front tomorrow if his dad hadn't moved jobs

true

 

Re: And to think he could have been up front tomorrow if his dad hadn't moved jobs

Rhodes is hardly a product of barnsley.

 

Re: And to think he could have been up front tomorrow if his dad hadn't moved jobs

Ipswich produced him not us. If he had stayed with us he probably wouldn't have got a chance. Whilst other clubs give academy strikers a chance like Rhodes, Wickham, Carroll etc, we haven't in years. Other clubs are brave enough to play youngster, but we always want to wrap them in cotton wool and bed them in slowly.

 

In league 1 that is

 

Re: And to think he could have been up front tomorrow if his dad hadn't moved jobs

Rhodes played 10 games in 3 years at Ipswich, then let him go to Huddersfield. Hardly giving him a chance.

The main reason we've not given young players much of a road into the team in recent years is that we've been fighting relegation battles most years. It would be plain daft to through young, inexperienced players into such situations. I do agree that Robins had a few chances to give some of the academy players a bit more experience in the last two seasons, but you could also argue that Lazarus, Clark, Taylor & Rose have had some exposure that will hopefully help them in the future.

I suspect if Keith Hill finds himself in the same no mans land with 8-10 games left as Robins did last year, we'll see a few of the academy players on a more regular basis.

 

I think he was destined to score goals wherever he went

Rhodes was bought by Ipswich from Barnsley for £5,000 in March 2005 when his father joined Ipswich Town. He scored over 40 goals for Ipswich Town under-16s, under-18s and reserve teams in his first full season at the club.

He obviously had the talent before he even went to Ipswich. Are you saying that Barnsley would have suppressed his natural ability? I think he would have made it wherever he'd been, goalscoring has obviously been in his locker since he began his career. David Hirst, David Speedie, Steve Agnew, Glynn Hurst, Luke Becket - all came through the Barnsley youth system as strikers and didn't do too badly out of it.