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Monday, September 17, 2012
Rhodes paved with goals
Will Tidey
Welcome to The Trawler, your weekly submersion through the teeming waters of life in the Championship, League One and League Two. You might be surprised what you find down there.
Rhodes paved with goals
As apparent in the above headline, the Trawler is running dry of Jordan Rhodes puns. More accurately, The Trawler has run dry of Jordan Rhodes puns, as a result of his incessant goalscoring and general gluttony when it comes to Football League-based heroics.
Now appearing as Blackburn's record signing, Rhodes scored his first goals for Steve Kean's team in their 5-3 win at Bristol City. "The great thing when you buy a quality striker is that when he gets a chance you expect him to score," said Kean, who is justifiably basking in the fact Rovers are top of the Championship. "But there is much more to Jordan's game than finding the back of the net and he is open to plenty of improvement at such a young age."
Suggestions for next week's Jordan Rhodes pun much appreciated in the comments section below.
Bellamy is not leaving the building
Rumours of Craig Bellamy's retirement have been greatly exaggerated.
If you needed proof, it came with a fine free-kick goal and a typically full-blooded appearance after the 33-year-old came off the bench to inspire Cardiff to a 2-1 win against Leeds.
Bellamy's former Wales team-mate Nathan Blake, writing for the South Wales Echo, hailed him as the best player in the Championship afterwards. "He is a match-winner who would walk into any of the top eight teams at Premier level," Blake wrote.
Fergie fuming
Sir Alex Ferguson was revelling in Manchester United's routine victory against Wigan on Saturday, but not too far away his son Darren was reeling. Ferguson Jr's Peterborough team were beaten 5-2 at Burnley in the Championship, prompting a blast from a hairdryer we can only assume his old man had handed down to him over the years.
"So it's down to two things, either they're not listening or they're not good enough," Ferguson said of his players after a defensive horror show. "Either way, it's not going to happen any more. I either persevere with them or replace them... Anyone can see where the problem lies. It's embarrassing and we have to do something about it."
Unfortunately for Darren, the option of signing Robin van Persie to turn things around isn't available.
Ince for England?
Tom Ince's equalising goal for Blackpool against Barnsley made it five in five games and kept the hype volume at 11 for the hugely promising son of Paul. The man who marked him on Saturday is the latest to attest to the 20-year-old's undoubted potential.
"He's an unbelievable talent - he'll go on to play at the highest level," said Barnsley full-back Scott Golbourne. "England? Yeah. He's probably my toughest opponent so far in the Championship, he's hard to defend against. He's got such ability, an excellent player."
The new Zola
With a name like Calvin Zola, you better be good. And judging by Zola's volleyed golazo for Burton against Oxford in League Two, he shares more than just a name with his famous Italian namesake. A quick watch on YouTube is an absolute must in your lunch hour.
You pay peanuts, you get...
According to Carlisle manager Greg Abbott, the answer is a group of battling footballers who'll go to war for you and equal more than the sum of their parts. "Sometimes you've got to be realistic," Abott said after his team's 2-2 draw with Swindon. "We have got kids out there on peanuts but we scrapped for a point."
Di Canio corner
Which brings us, all too predictably, to Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio's latest verbal assault on his team.
"I'm not happy and want to send this mentality to my players," Di Canio told reporters after the draw with Carlisle. "I saw many selfish attitudes. They have two shots on target - two goals from two bad defensive mistakes from us. We have to improve from now the individual determination and feel the responsibility."
Swindon are now without a win in their last four games.
Taming of the Shrews
Shrewsbury's 34-game unbeaten run at home ended on Saturday, with Scunthorpe inflicting a 1-0 defeat thanks to Leon Clarke's winner.
Loan signing Clarke was also on target in the Shrews' 1-1 draw at Stevenage, and has thus been responsible for all four of the points they've accrued this season in League One.
Brighton fans get the pies in
Brighton's Amex Stadium welcomed a record crowd of 26,594 on Friday night, as the Albion beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 to take temporary control at the top of the Championship.
Seagulls fans also managed to set an "all-time club record in terms of total consumption at a single game", taking down 12,000 pies and
14,000 pints of beer.