Jordan Rhodes: Can the forward revive his goalscoring ability to keep Sheffield Wednesday up?

The 31-year-old was able to get on the scoresheet in Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Wycombe that saw the Owls jump out of the relegation zone.

Jordan Rhodes is becoming a player that simply cannot be dropped out of the starting 11 as he popped up with another crucial goal in only his fourth start of the season.

The Scotland international has only bagged three goals this season for relegation-fighting Wednesday, but that comes after only playing a combined 518 minutes throughout the current campaign.

Rhodes really put his name on the map after a few fantastic seasons for Huddersfield Town when they were back in League One.

In his first season for the Terriers, he scored 19 goals and grabbed eight assists through the whole 2009/10 campaign as the Yorkshire side made the play-offs but were knocked out at the semi-final stage.

Another season and double figures were looking like a consistent feature in the striker’s game. He played fewer matches this campaign but still managed 16 goals as Huddersfield would make the play-offs again.

Once more, the Terriers were knocked out of the play-offs at the semi-final stage as they looked to make it third time lucky with Rhodes’ goals making a massive impact.

The 31-year-old’s goals were really crucial once more as the Yorkshire side made the play-offs once more with the forward scoring 35 goals in 40 league games.

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Huddersfield were promoted to the Championship after three attempts at the play-offs. He scored in both semi-final legs against MK Dons as the Terriers made their way through 3-2 on aggregate.

In the final, after extra-time, the game was settled by penalties. Rhodes scored his penalty as the Yorkshire side beat another Yorkshire team in Sheffield United 8-7 after the penalty shootout.

He moved away from Huddersfield to Blackburn as the Lancashire club acquired the services of the Oldham-born forward.

His four-season stint at Blackburn saw him amass 72 goals in the Championship as he saw Middlesbrough come in for him and he moved to the fellow second-tier side.

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2015/16 is were it all started to go wrong for Rhodes. 25 league games for the Rovers and ten goals is not a bad return but nowhere near his glory days of scoring 20+ goals.

His move to Boro saw him feature 18 times and score six goals. Was the change in scenery and the constant transfer rumours what led the forward see his goalscoring ability drop so much.

The side were promoted into the Premier League for the 2016/17 campaign which must have made the forward happy, but it led to the forward only featuring six times and scoring no goals.

A move back to the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday looked to be the best option to put his career back on track.

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In the second half of that season, he made the move to the Owls and featured 18 times scoring three goals and assisting three times as the Yorkshire side made the play-offs.

Rhodes faced his old side, Huddersfield Town, as Wednesday were knocked out by the Terriers on penalties after the two sides were still level after both legs.

2017/18 saw the striker spend his first full season at Hillsborough and amassed seven goals in all competitions as he looked to return to his best and that was scoring double figures every campaign.

Another change came for the 2018/19 season, Norwich city acquired the services of the experienced forward. The Canaries were promoted to the Premier League with Rhodes getting six goals throughout the Championship campaign.

The forward didn’t leave Hillsborough as his progress would have been massively hindered if he was to make the plunge into the top-tier once more.

He’s featured in 32 league matches for Wednesday during the 2019/20 and during the current 2020/21 campaign, scoring six times during the last two seasons.

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Rhodes has featured a combined 1,202 minutes for the Owls and has proven that when he starts he can be a dangerous threat in the opposition penalty box.

The forward combined well with Kadeem Harris for his goal during the first-half. The full-back crossed the ball into the Wycombe area which on the first attempt was cleared away, but on the second try his cross got through to the striker as he nodded the ball into the back of the net.

Given enough minutes, he will for sure make an impact for the Owls and if he can continue to prove that he has the real pedigree and an eye for goal then caretaker manager Neil Thompson will surely continue to pick the striker more often.

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