Diary of a Sky Sports Reporter

Research is an essential part of any reporter’s job, and when previewing a football match it usually follows a similar pattern, ie finding out what position the teams are in the table, how many points have they acquired, what is their recent form and who are the key players etc.

With regard to Huddersfield’s League One game home game with Chesterfield on Boxing Day, all my research pointed to a home victory as a side with just two defeats in 46 league outing met the team at the bottom of the division with no league wins in 12.

On further examination, the most likely goalscorer was Huddersfield’s Jordan Rhodes, who’d netted four times against Sheffield Wednesday in their previous outing to put him top of the division’s scoring charts. And my research didn’t go to waste because the 21-year-old was a constant threat and scored the only goal just past the half hour with a clever back heal.

But will Rhodes be playing for Huddersfield in the Championship next season? and is he capable of playing at the very highest level? That’s difficult to answer but it did remind me of two years ago when I watched Leeds United’s Jermaine Beckford, the then-best player in the same division, score in two FA Cup ties against my local team Kettering before netting a shock winner at Old Trafford in the third round.

Leeds did gain promotion that season. But Beckford soon left for Everton, has now been shipped out on loan to Leicester’s bench, and his reputation has arguably never been the same since. Let’s hope Jordan’s potential doesn’t go down the same road… or should I say Rhodes?!

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