Birmingham fan in peace.
Congratulations on your signing of Jerome. You will probably find out that at the club there are a number of fans who like him (like me) and also a number who don't. I think in Pulis you have an astute manager who knows how to use players and who will get the best out of him.
Jerome is seriously quick, once he is gone not many can catch him. While he was here McLeish did some good work with him and he is now a reasonable target man, he is decent in the air. The problem we had was that when we knocked long balls up to him, he'd race to get the ball, often winning it, only to find out that the rest of the team were still in the other half of the pitch. He'd then get cornered and lose possession, something for which he got a lot of stick at the Blues, in my opinion very unfairly.
He isn't the most instinctive footballer, he hasn't got the best football brain, and I am sure that Pulis will know that he works best from fairly predictable tactics. The idea of your big forwards winning balls for him to run onto is exciting - no-one likes runners from deep, and when they are as quick as he is, it is extra dangerous.
He is a confidence player and the criticism he got last season got to him, his first touch is erratic and got worse last year. But I firmly believe that with the expereince he now has, he can bag 10 -15 goal for you this season.
Cameron will give you 100% week in week out, his workrate is phenomenal, and his attitude on and off the pitch is a credit to him. I wish him all the best at Stoke, he will be missed at St Andrews.
Cameron Jerome
posted on 2/9/11
lol!! honestly that is a crock...
10 to 15 goals - tap ins on a plate.. not thru instict or ability -
yes he is quick and yes he is quick
and yes he hasnt a football brain
and yes he gives 100%
none of which are needed to be a good premier league footballer
he will not be missed at st andrews - if he hadnt of played last year we would be playing you this year - thats the honest..
utter rubbish - i love you stoke city - easily the worst striker we have ever had in top league in my 38 years of supporting blues..
again i thank you..
posted on 3/9/11
Well Darren Bent would haev struggled more with the sevice Jerome had last season under McLeish.
Then again Jerome has many weaknesses, his main use is not a Striker well a goal scorer, his use is as a foil for a Partner you see Jerome is a handfull not if he is isolated and thus marked upon 2-1, but if you get boddies in support then Jeromes pace, strength and work rate will keep defenders busy, and that means that it would create space for other attacking players to exploit it also means defenders would take their eyes of the game to keep up with Jerome.
I wish him all the best, he is not a out and out Striker but then he was never used right at Blues, he did ok with more support in the Championship under Bruce when we first signed him and he did good with pacey support in Chucho Benitez 2 seasons ago.
The KiD
posted on 16/9/11
@nezblue
You certainly don't pull your punches!You're right though,let's call a spade a spade here!
Everyone raving about how he's gonna be Huddersfield's answer to Messi now he's scored on his debut for Stoke.
It will be very interesting to see the statistics at year's end!
posted on 19/9/11
Looking at the Goal Jerome scored it was not exactly hard
He did have the composure to lay a extra touch and then take his time with the shot, for us we have seen him miss those kinds of goals so it could be confidence for the lad.
The rest of the game he just ran about a bit like he did for us, he did look better than under McLeish but then again Jerome never looked bad when playing with a partner, he was awfull when played at 4,5,1 and having to chase balls into the corners.
He did show good movement to be in the right place at the right time for the goal mind
Pulis expects 10-15 goals from him, i think thats a massive ask and recon he would score 5-8 but his pressence will help other players get more goals.
Because i still stand by that Jerome is best used to cause trouble for defenders so that they take their eyes off other players and thus allow Stokes other attacking players or Strikers to get a lot of space.
For us that never worked because Jerome had no support he was played AWOL on his own, we only needed to see how Jerome played and the side did when we had Chucho playing with him.
For McLeish to miss that and carry on playing 4,5,1 untill it relegated us showed us Big Eck never had a Clue and had we sacked him at Xmass we would have stayed up
The KiD