Canaries Blogs

Signing Jordan Rhodes Is A Signal Of Intent By Norwich

|

I don’t know about you but I’m a happy man after the announcement of the Jordan Rhodes signing.

I will admit to being more than a little apprehensive at the end of last season as to what the summer transfer window would hold for our club. Selling James Maddison was a given, it was always going to happen but what could be done to improve things on the pitch after that?

There was talk of a mere £2m war chest, which would be more of a trinket box in the current transfer climate, and then Josh Murphy was sold. Suddenly we had some money but we’d sold both of last season’s top scorers. Stuart Webber has, to my mind though, equipped Daniel Farke with a squad capable of a top six challenge.

The thing that impresses me most about this summer’s transfer dealings is that all the work has been done early and the new lads have the maximum amount of time to bed in, get to know their new teammates and surroundings, not to mention the Head Coach and his methods and ideas.

That can only be a good thing, right?

The signing of Rhodes is arguably the final piece of the puzzle, a proven Championship goal scorer.

I know that there are a few in the Canary nation who think this is a pointless signing and a waste of money. Well, I guess you can’t please everyone all of the time, can you?

To clarify, I don’t think we could’ve signed a more proven striker at this level than Jordan Rhodes. He has 95 goals in 207 Championship appearances. Tell me someone playing currently who has a better record than that?

Of course, we’ve only been able to get him because he’s struggled in the last eighteen months. If he had scored 30 goals last season, he’d have been staying at Hillsborough, obviously.

I think that we all feared we would be scratching around in the German third division, like sorting through a pile of coal and hoping to unearth a diamond. I actually think that some fans would love that to happen so that they could have a moan, that’s how it seems at times, anyway.

Instead, Webber has gone out and signed, albeit on loan, a big name striker. A striker that has widely been acknowledged as a big deal in this league for five of the last seven years. Who can argue with that?

Seriously?!

Some fans are voicing their concerns over the money being paid to Sheffield Wednesday and are worried that we’re over reaching ourselves.

Strewth, let Stuart Webber and Steve Stone worry about that and you just watch the game, alright?!

When added to the other new signings of McLean, Buendia, Leitner, Marshall, Pukki and Passlack, it sure looks to me as though City are going to have a go. I’m pleasantly surprised and a little excited too.

I am, naturally, a little wary of getting too excited after watching the possession based, but lack of cutting edge, football that we were served up in 2017/18.

I suggested on a previous piece about Rhodes speculation, that he could perhaps be thought of as a marquee signing for City this summer and I stand by that. He’s valued at £8-10m, which even if we were in the Premier League, would be a decent outlay for Norwich City.

It could all go horribly wrong and we might not play to his strengths, which is something that plenty of Wednesday fans have suggested their club didn’t do last season.

I’ve noticed that in the last two pre-season games though, Daniel Farke has played two strikers, Srbeny and Pukki from the start, so maybe he’s going to play a someone like Pukki as a withdrawn striker rather than a number ten. The formations will need to be flexible though, to cope with in-game situations, so player who can play different roles when required are useful.

What I can tell you is that Rhodes made his City debut at Lincoln last night and played the whole of the second half, collecting two assists (for Hernandez and Thompson) and putting himself about. He won headers, played some decent link up stuff and generally looked the part.

I know it’s only pre-season but it’s still positive and I’m going to stick my neck out and say that signing Jordan Rhodes is a signal of intent by Norwich City for the season ahead.

OTBC

Share this article

Editor - a forty something Canary, who has been following Norwich for 30 odd years. Family man with wife, kids, dog and a love of sport. Fan of Boxing, Vale 46, F1 and Rock.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *