Devante Rodney

[Guitar Ray]

3 hours ago, Beech said:

Rodney's first touch is often like a pass and so it should come as no surprise to anyone. But his overall performance was abysmal. None more so than him constantly getting knocked off the ball by players who simply wanted it far more than he did on the day. Poor technique is one thing. But a guy his size getting knocked off it time and time again, and not doing anything to win it back... That's pretty shocking in my book.

Really?  One of our players get's bumped off the ball and you find that shocking?  Personally I'd be more inclined to be shocked by fans over-reacting when one of our own players takes bad first touch.

[Guitar Ray]

4 hours ago, Beech said:

What are you even rambling about?

There is no point in me knocking as clearly nobody is home.

[Paul6754]

4 hours ago, Beech said:

In fairness he doesn't start every week of late because of too many poor performances. Nobody gave Rodney more credit than myself last season. I'm not trying to start a crusade against the bloke. But he was shocking on Saturday and a few fans booing/moaning shouldn't be blamed. He needs to look at himself and hopefully he's doing that.

But Beechy, you've watched him for over a season now so you know a player like Devante is not gonna be brilliant every week, he has his good days and not so good days but he always gives 100%.

Hence I would always have him start or at least be on the bench, we've all seen how he can be anonymous and then produce a piece of magic which changes the game and as long as he's doing the covering/tracking back then he should be at the fore front of DC's thoughts.

[Beech]

23 minutes ago, Paul6754 said:

But Beechy, you've watched him for over a season now so you know a player like Devante is not gonna be brilliant every week, he has his good days and not so good days but he always gives 100%.

Hence I would always have him start or at least be on the bench, we've all seen how he can be anonymous and then produce a piece of magic which changes the game and as long as he's doing the covering/tracking back then he should be at the fore front of DC's thoughts.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on him. I certainly don't condone booing him or any Vale player, or member of staff for that matter. Never have and never will. But he's had a poor start to the season, Rodney, there's no two ways about it. The fact that he's currently much easier to knock off the ball concerns me more than anything else.

[cactuselves]

9 hours ago, Beech said:

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on him. I certainly don't condone booing him or any Vale player, or member of staff for that matter. Never have and never will. But he's had a poor start to the season, Rodney, there's no two ways about it. The fact that he's currently much easier to knock off the ball concerns me more than anything else.

I know where you are coming from, it is frustrating because we all know what he is capable of. He is a unit, he is fast and he has the ability to change the game in an instant. Sometimes when it isn't going for a player, they are better off running their socks off, chasing every ball down and firing the crowd up - I would love to see Rodders do this more, he would frighten the opposition to death and I think that DC would like him to do that too as he has effectively said so much before.

I don't think that he is going into the matches with a 'cant be bothered' attitude, I think he just has a languid / laid back style - but if he could change that (Iearn from Proctor who is everywhere chasing down and harrying defenders) he could be absolute dynamite.

[Joe B]

I've always thought Rodney worked really hard.

Fans started wailing on Saturday because he didn't press, but he was clearly under instruction not to. He was tucking into the defensive shape.

He played poorly but put himself about and had a bad time. He was a yard behind every flick on and couldn't seem to get any time on the ball. His confidence seemed to drop.

The howling/wailing really winds me up. A slight misstep and fully grown men in the Railway start belting out C sharp notes at the top of their lungs. OHHHHHHHHHWAHHHHHHHHHHH every time an attacking move breaks down.

[geoff1]

56 minutes ago, cactuselves said:

I know where you are coming from, it is frustrating because we all know what he is capable of. He is a unit, he is fast and he has the ability to change the game in an instant. Sometimes when it isn't going for a player, they are better off running their socks off, chasing every ball down and firing the crowd up - I would love to see Rodders do this more, he would frighten the opposition to death and I think that DC would like him to do that too as he has effectively said so much before.

I don't think that he is going into the matches with a 'cant be bothered' attitude, I think he just has a languid / laid back style - but if he could change that (Iearn from Proctor who is everywhere chasing down and harrying defenders) he could be absolute dynamite.

sort him out gaffer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Beech]

1 hour ago, cactuselves said:

I know where you are coming from, it is frustrating because we all know what he is capable of. He is a unit, he is fast and he has the ability to change the game in an instant. Sometimes when it isn't going for a player, they are better off running their socks off, chasing every ball down and firing the crowd up - I would love to see Rodders do this more, he would frighten the opposition to death and I think that DC would like him to do that too as he has effectively said so much before.

I don't think that he is going into the matches with a 'cant be bothered' attitude, I think he just has a languid / laid back style - but if he could change that (Iearn from Proctor who is everywhere chasing down and harrying defenders) he could be absolute dynamite.

All I'm asking from him is that he looks more interested than he has this season so far and especially on Saturday. While others certainly had poor games I don't think anyone else didn't put in a fair shift. Rodney looked lazy and dis-interested. Whenever he lost the ball, which was plenty, he didn't do anything like enough to get it back. And watching him get put on his arse by people that should be bouncing off him was cringeworthy.

[Rampant Zebra]

Maybe we need to clear out the deadwood and start again...

[cactuselves]

41 minutes ago, Joe B said:

I've always thought Rodney worked really hard.

Fans started wailing on Saturday because he didn't press, but he was clearly under instruction not to. He was tucking into the defensive shape.

He played poorly but put himself about and had a bad time. He was a yard behind every flick on and couldn't seem to get any time on the ball. His confidence seemed to drop.

The howling/wailing really winds me up. A slight misstep and fully grown men in the Railway start belting out C sharp notes at the top of their lungs. OHHHHHHHHHWAHHHHHHHHHHH every time an attacking move breaks down.

I agree, he does work hard, I think its a change in the aggression levels in 1v1s that is needed, press hard, chase down, harry, battle.

And the booing / wailing is just daft.

[Joe B]

Apparently Clarke has said that Rodney has Championship/Premier League clubs watching him.

He says he didn't have a good game on Saturday but there's a reason he's being scouted. No reason to lie.

It's inevitable that a player of 23 with his game-changing abilities will be getting looked after scoring 11 open play goals for a pretty poor team last year. 

Alas; he fell over on Saturday and needs a 50 post thread discussing his merits.

[valeparklife]

I like Rodney but it's up to him how his career pans out.

He's got the tools to make it much higher up - look at how Uche Ikpeazu has developed into a £1m player with Middlesbrough.

On his day, Rodney can be unplayable with his speed, strength and powerful shooting. On other days he looks half-hearted and an average L2 player.

The coaches + Rodney himself need to bring that consistency into his game and there is no reason we couldn't get a fee for him.

[cactuselves]

Darrell also made a big point of the fact that he is a confidence player and needs an arm around his shoulder. Hence booing isn't going to do him any good (sorry to conflate two topics I'm getting obsessed) 😂

[Bycarsbill]

13 minutes ago, Joe B said:

Apparently Clarke has said that Rodney has Championship/Premier League clubs watching him.

He says he didn't have a good game on Saturday but there's a reason he's being scouted. No reason to lie.

It's inevitable that a player of 23 with his game-changing abilities will be getting looked after scoring 11 open play goals for a pretty poor team last year. 

Alas; he fell over on Saturday and needs a 50 post thread discussing his merits.

I very much like Devante. He potentially has the full package--build, strength and speed.  With additional experience and, assuming he has the tough mentality required, I believe he can really go places. However, I'd like Devante to score a hatful more goals during his current contract with PV before leaving for any higher level club!

[Rocky]

17 hours ago, Beech said:

In fairness he doesn't start every week of late because of too many poor performances. Nobody gave Rodney more credit than myself last season. I'm not trying to start a crusade against the bloke. But he was shocking on Saturday and a few fans booing/moaning shouldn't be blamed. He needs to look at himself and hopefully he's doing that.

But you said earlier in the thread if he made an impact in a game you'd be full of praise - he scored against Stevenage and didn't start the next game. So he can score, you will praise him but he's played badly so he's dropped, makes no sense.

Clarke has said today that Rodney needs an arm around him, encouragement is key. This is why I've been saying hold off on the criticism and support him, I don't think it's that difficult to understand. It feels like you're digging your heels in now.