If Boro manage to land Jordan Rhodes on loan it would send out a massive signal of intent.
It would send out a huge message to the rest of the Championship promotion challengers that, hey, Boro mean business and that they are not leaving anything to chance.
It will be a massive boost inside the Boro changies room because adding a quality player always lifts a team and they will know that it is goals they are lacking.
It will be a massive boost for the fans too because a signing always perks people up and especially a proven striker.
And it will be a big blow to the opposition. Every player, every manager and every supporter knows how close it is, how tight it is at the top.
There’s nothing between the teams - and then Boro go out and add a potential matchwinner!
That has got to knock your confidence a bit if you are a Derby or Norwich fan, especially as those teams were apparently after him too.
Derby have Chris Martin injured and they brought in Darren Bent and he got crocked too. They would love Jordan Rhodes right now. If he goes to a direct opponent instead that’s got to hurt.
And you can’t argue that if he comes, Rhodes would be a great signing.
He is a proven pedigree Championship goalscorer and there are not many of those about.
He’s got 25 and 28 in his two seasons at Blackburn. That’s a great strike rate.
And he’s got 13 in the league this year when he’s hardly been playing - and that’s more than any of our guys up front!
Boro need goals. They need options up front. They need firepower. A blind man can see that.
I know it, the fans know it and Aitor Karanka knows it. He’s said a few times lately that the side have played well but haven’t been able to take their chances and that has cost them games.
He knows that unless he can make all the possession and chances count then Boro may fall short.
So for him it is a no-brainer to bring in a player with an excellent record of scoring in this league.
Of course, there’s never a guarantee but on paper you have to say he is great bloke to bring in.
He knows this division, he knows the physicality and the pace and the style. He’s done it.
You can’t say that about the rest of the strikers.
Yes, Patrick Bamford had played a few months at Derby and scored quite a few goals so you can say he had a taste of it and looked a good prospect.
But both Kike and Jelle Vossen were coming in as unknown quantities to a league they didn’t know and that was very different to what they were used to.
And you have to say, whatever, their other qualities, whatever else they bring to the team, they are not scoring enough goals.
Karanka has praised his strikers quite a few times and talked about their technical abilities and even said they are the best three in the league. Well, I don’t buy that.
For me the best striker is the one that scores the most goals.
It’s nice that your front men have a good touch, or good movement, that they are easy on the eye or that they work very hard to prise open the defence or drop deep to link up well.
That’s all great. But at the end of the day the striker earns his corn by sticking the ball in the net.
As a striker myself I would hate it if I came off the pitch and people or the press praised me for my hard work and contribution tracking back in midfield if we hadn’t won.
I would rather have a stinker so long as I scored and the team got the three points. That’s your job.
If he arrives it will ruffle a few feathers, of course it will. It says that he manager isn’t happy with what they are delivering.
But that’s good. They need that kick up the pants. They haven’t been scoring enough goals and that’s their job.
They can’t complain about the service because Boro have dominated games and created dozens of chances. It is down to them to stick some in.
And if they can’t why wouldn’t the club look to bring in someone who will? Especially with promotion up for grabs.
Sometimes, even if you are going well - and Boro are joint top remember - you need to do something to freshen it up and get that extra bit out of the squad at crucial times.
It is so tight at the top that getting just a little bit more now could swing it. Five or six goals could be what wins it for Boro.
And sometimes you just need something a bit different, whether it is a big man, a quick man, a niggly street-fighterwith a bit of a nasty edge. If he can add something extra that can swing games.
Sometimes I think our strikers are maybe just a little bit too ‘nice’, a bit too polite and well behaved in and around the box.
In a successful team you don’t want all angels. You need a few players with a bit of the devil in them.
Not dirty. But you need people to be selfish and spiteful and to terrorise and unsettle defenders.
If Rhodes can come in and add something to the mix that could be the key.
We all know what Uwe Fuchs and Marco Branca did at this stage of a promotion push.
A couple of early goals and BANG! Suddenly teams that had looked a bit flat and were wobbling were back on track.
Uwe wasn’t the greatest technical player but was different, he was strong and direct and had a bit of fire about him.
He changed the dynamic bit, gave Boro some extra punch and his goals - nine in 13 games - got Boro promoted.
Branca had the same kind of impact. He was a great player, had a great touch, was intelligent with the ball and knew exactly where the goal was.
Boro had Ricard, Beck and Merson but had hit a wall, stopped scoring and slipped off the top.
But Branca came in, scored against Liverpool four minutes into his debut to take Boro to Wembley and then scored against promotion ricvals Sunderland on his first league start and gave the season a kick-start.
If Rhodes can have that kind of impact it would be incredible. It could seal it for Boro. Let’s hope so.
**************************
IPSWICH on Saturday is the start of a make or break week for Boro.
With Ipswich at home then the top two Derby and Bournemouth away people are calling it the “Week of Destiny.”
That may not be the case - especially in a crazy division like this - but it will sure set the tone for the promotion run in.
They are tough fixtures and if Boro drop a lot of points then they will find it very difficult to claw them back. We’re running out of games fast.
But if they win a few of these then they can pick up momentum and seriously dent the opposition.
We’re at the business end now and if Boro are going to take control of their own promotion fate they have to do it now.
All the teams at the top are dropping points but we can’t rely on that.
Boro have to grab the league by the throat now and start winning games by hook or by crook.
And we have to start by winning at home. Draws at Derby and Bournemouth can be good points - but only if we are winning at the Riverside.
There are five games left at home and Boro really need to be looking to win all five. Away points, especially at rivals, are a bonus but if Boro want to get promoted then they need to do it on home turf.
And, for me, they have to start with Ipswich.
They kick off before everyone else so victory really piles the pressure on the three teams we are sharing top spot with.
If Boro win and win well - and if Jordan Rhodes scores on his debut - that really turns the heat up.
And for the sake of the fans nerves they need to do it comfortably. Let’s have an early goal and make it a routine win, no slips, no late wobble, no nervous last 10 minutes.
I couldn’t bear battling away again and being on top but still being goalless on 89 minutes. That would send me down to the Legends Loungue to hit the booze. And I’m tee-total!
I think the nerves are getting to everyone now: Just look at the results.
The table if tighter than I can ever remember and the pressure on teams and on players is incredible as they know one individual mistake now, one bad result could be crucial.
It will all come down to mental strength and a bit of luck now.
The teams and players who keep their nerves are the ones who will come through these tense last 10 games in the top two.
We are going to find in the next week or so if Boro have that inner steel.
No comments:
Post a Comment