FL72 review: David Prutton talks Jordan Rhodes, rotating Reading and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Wednesday 18 March 2015 18:29, UK
Each week, Sky Sports experts review the Football League action on FL72. Check out David Prutton's thoughts on the latest round of fixtures...
Rotation is Clarke's prerogative
DAVID SAYS: I’m sure Steve Clarke will say that it is his prerogative to name whatever team he wants to name and his focus is different this week. I’m sure it is pretty galling to the teams around Watford but again Steve Clarke has to look after himself and his club. He’s made nine changes and seen fit to do that. [Watford are] an extremely potent attacking team when they are all on song – Vydra, Abdi, Forestieri, Deeney are wonderful players. It is a case of always the bridesmaid with them in recent years and it is that last hurdle that is the most important one.
Rhodes key to Blackburn aspirations
DAVID SAYS: The funny thing with Jordan is that he has been in and out the last couple of weeks but he comes in and scores his goals as he always has done. He’s been such a prolific striker throughout his career, is the next step for him somewhere like Middlesbrough or is it somewhere higher? You just don’t know.
He’s probably a victim of his own prolific-ness. He’s known for scoring goals galore. I mean 150 career goals now, which is a wonderful statistic. He’s a very unassuming lad and he gets on with his job. You do wonder when the next step is for someone as prolific as that. Do you really want to go and test yourself against the biggest names in that game? Or do you stick loyal to where you have been? If you’re a Blackburn fan then you are thinking ‘why in the world are we even contemplating this?’ But football now is not just what is on the pitch; it’s the finances, the projection of where the club needs to be off the field and if it is about book balancing then you never know. If Blackburn have aspirations to get anywhere then Jordan Rhodes needs to be part of that.
Promotion chasers face test of nerves
DAVID SAYS: It is a real test not only of footballing ability but of the mental capacity of all the players and managers and owners to keep their team on the boil and also (maintain) the confidence in this last stage of the season. It’s a test of nerves, a test of mettle and keeping confidence and composure going into these last few games. It’s whether that team that was maybe in the top two drops into the play-offs right near the end of the season and what kind of effect that has on them in the play-offs.
No let up for Bristol City
DAVID SAYS: Steve Cotterill want to keep them on course with the amount of games that they’ve got going, when you are playing well it is great for the momentum. Obviously, they have the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final on Sunday so there is a lot for them to play for but the league is their main priority. Steve Cotterill will have instilled it into his team to want to be as hungry as they can to show what they can do in every game.
Johnson deserves credit for work at Barnsley
DAVID SAYS: Especially with some of the off the field stuff that he had to put up with at Oldham when he was there, I thought he dealt with it remarkable well. He didn’t get the greatest of receptions but it’s football and you have to take it on the chin. He’s gone there and Barnsley are absolutely flying – he has brought some form of confidence and perhaps a different thought process to the players that has really got them up the league. They’ve been great, 18th when he took over and they have gone on a run that can make or break your season. Danny Wilson did his upmost with Barnsley but sometimes a change is needed and he has settled in really well.
Hasselbaink earning his stripes
DAVID SAYS: Ever since Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has come in he has very quietly and conscientiously gone about his managerial career. Obviously there was a lot of attention and hullabaloo when he came in but he just settled down and got the team playing. He’s reaping the rewards and it is a great apprenticeship for him in league football. Over the course of the season Burton and Wycombe have been consistently up there it it would be a great testament to someone like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at his first club to get promoted.
