When Jordan Rhodes eventually made his move to Middlesbrough on deadline day there were many calling the Scottish international striker the last piece of the promotion puzzle. Up until about a month ago Middlesbrough were looking favourites for promotion, so will the addition of Rhodes give them the goals that will take them to the Premier League?
Jordan Rhodes has scored goals wherever he has played – and lots of them. Huddersfield and Blackburn have benefitted greatly from the striker’s goal return and now Middlesbrough will be hoping that he can do a job for them.
Boro Goals
Defensively Middlesbrough have been outstanding this season, allowing the fewest amount of goals of any team in the Championship. But scoring has been a problem and they have not hit the target as well as their promotion-chasing rivals. It would seem that Rhodes can solve that problem, but will it be enough to go up?
Head coach Aitor Karanka has put together a solid side at the Riverside but things have looked a bit shaky recently. This can probably be put down to a post-Christmas blip but Karanka will be well aware that the gap between the top sides in the division has markedly decreased since the start of the year. The Championship is notoriously hard to get out of and Middlesbrough will have last year’s playoff final capitulation to Norwich in the back of their minds.
Prolific Rhodes
Even with Blackburn struggling at the wrong end of the table, Rhodes has still managed to score 11 goals in all competitions and looks likely to beat the 20 mark for the seventh season in a row. In fact, ever since Rhodes moved to Huddersfield in 2009 the goals have just not stopped coming.
It is obvious that Rhodes is a top Championship centre forward but some have questioned whether his goal scoring prowess will be enough to shine in the Premier League. He is an out and out striker but that may not be enough in the top flight where an all-round game is more appreciated.
Long Season
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There is still three months left of a long and arduous season to go and there is still plenty of time to either go on a long winning streak or fall away from the promotion-hunting pack. After the disappointment of last year, Middlesbrough would definitely rather not have to deal with the torture of the play-offs but they will be wanting to find that winning form again soon to make sure that they don’t have to deal with that particular problem.
Middlesbrough have looked better than the majority of the sides in the Championship this season and as long as Rhodes’ goal scoring form transfers to Teesside, they should be one of the lucky two automatically promoted come May.
If that is the case, owner Steve Gibson will undoubtedly spend in the summer to bring in players capable of dealing with the huge step up that the Premier League demands. Bournemouth have proved this season that this doesn’t necessarily mean bringing in huge names – just players with experience of top flight football. Jordan Rhodes could then profit from their contribution as well as a revitalised Stewart Downing.
Jordan Rhodes should now finally be given a chance in the Premier League after his January transfer window move to Middlesbrough. What remains to be seen is if he will take that chance and shine.
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