Sheffield Wednesday signed Jordan Rhodes on loan from Middlesbrough in February.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Steven Fletcher celebrates (left)
Sheffield Wednesday have won all five of their fixtures since Gary Hooper returned from injury while Steven Fletcher has scored in four of them.
The pair’s form is attracting deserved plaudits, but the contribution of another Owls striker should not go unnoticed despite his failure to score in any of his last nine outings.
Jordan Rhodes was the marquee January signing meant to deliver promotion for Wednesday, as he had done a year earlier after moving to Middlesbrough from Blackburn.
So confident were the Owls in his ability to repeat the trick, they agreed to pay a club record fee for the Scotland international, whose initial loan deal was only struck to prevent the Hillsborough outfit from encroaching the EFL’s Financial Fair Play restrictions and will become permanent this summer.
Rhodes had scored 91 goals in 189 Championship games before signing for Wednesday and goals – and little else – were what those of a blue and white persuasion had expected to see.
Rhodes celebrates scoring for Middlesbrough last season
Yet, bizarrely, while only three have arrived for Rhodes in 16 Owls outings, they continue to flow for his teammates who have, interestingly, failed to score a single goal without him on the pitch since his debut against Wigan at the start of February – despite him completing 90 minutes in only half of his appearances.
Why that could be is anyone’s guess, although I would suggest it’s probably a combination of his own selflessness (dragging opponents out of position to create space for others) and the fear his reputation bestows.
That Wednesday have scored within minutes of Rhodes’ introduction from the substitutes’ bench in two of their recent wins (Newcastle and Derby) appears to support the above theory.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Tom Lees (far right) celebrates with Rhodes (second right) seconds after the latter’s introduction
It would also explain why few chances seem to be falling his way. But when they do, Hooper and Fletcher could have some company on their pedestal.
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