Coventry City fans are debating whether latest signing Jack Rudoni is the new Callum O’Hare. Here we get the expert view of Huddersfield Town writer Steve Chicken to see where their similarities lie
There’s plenty of debate amongst Coventry City fans as to whether Jack Rudoni is a replacement for Callum O’Hare.
Unless Mark Robins comes out and says, ‘yes,’ which is extremely unlikely, then we won’t really know until the exciting 23-year-old steps out onto the pitch in pre-season and we see where he’s deployed.
It would be unfair, of course, to compare like-for-like and put too much pressure on the lad who comes as the Sky Blues‘ third summer signing of the transfer window so far, joining for an ‘undisclosed’ fee which CoventryLive understands to be just under the reported £5million, having signed a four year deal with an option of another year in the club’s favour.
Here, Huddersfield Town reporter Steve Chicken, a writer and podcaster for We Are Terriers gives a detailed insight on Rudoni’s strengths, weaknesses and best position in an attempt to settle the argument.
Strengths
First and foremost, he’s extremely hard working. He covers a huge amount of ground and I think he was pretty well consistently top of the running stats for Huddersfield. Some of the numbers he posted, the kilometres he covered were pretty massive. I heard a couple of figures that were (former star man) Lewis O’Brien level, and for a Huddersfield player that’s one of the highest compliments you can pay in terms of work-rate.
For a player who is predominantly attack-minded, he does a lot more defensive work than players of that mindset. He’s always willing to go in with a tackle, he can be solid in the press and he carries the ball really well.
Standout quality
I think carrying the ball forward is one of his main strengths. If there’s a man to take on or space to run into, he can be very effective at moving the ball from one end of the field to the other, or covering the ground that way. What he does in the middle of the park at times is exceptional.
Weaknsses and things work on
He signed from Wimbledon, having got into double figures for goals. I think he had 12 goals and eight assists in his last season there, and that was in a poor side that got relegated from League One, so those figures are quite impressive. But Huddersfield never really got the finishing out of him. In fact he was quite frustrating in that regard. It’s obviously there in him somewhere and his record at Wimbledon suggests that but it just never happened at Huddersfield. He has got a good left foot on him but we never saw the end product to the degree that I think his numbers at Wimbledon suggest he was capable of.
The only other thing is that his heading is dreadful.
Best position?
He’s left footed and he has played on the wings at times. André Breitenreiter particularly picked him at number ten but other Huddersfield managers never really played with a ten before Breitenreiter arrived. I believe that’s where he mostly played for Wimbledon, in more of an attacking role, either wide or in a ten, and that’s where he scored goals for them.
But for me, from what I saw of him at Huddersfield, I always preferred him as an eight for the reasons I have talked about; his work-rate, his ball carrying and tackling all make him a more obvious eight than a ten. But what I would say, if he can find his shooting boots again then I can absolutely see him as a ten.
Is he the new Callum O’Hare?
It’s all down to that end product when you play as a ten. That’s what you’re judged on. His passing is not a major strength. He’s fine but he’s not a player who is going to split a defence five times a game with his passing. I would say he tends to look for the shot and he does have good instincts for the areas to get into, so there’s that to build on.
And if they want him to replace Callum O’Hare, he’s always in the right place for a cut-back to come to him. It’s literally just his finishing that needs work. There’s a lot of shots that go just wide, against the post and that kind of thing. It’s not as though he was shanking it out for a throw-in every time he took a shot. He often went close but just didn’t hit the target often enough.
Do you think he will fit into Coventry’s style of play?
Yeah, I have watched Coventry a lot over the last few seasons and have always admired how hard working and organised they are, and I think Mark Robins and the fans are going to love his work-rate and ability to do the dirty work, which a lot of attacking players don’t always do. It’s not necessarily a given with players like that, but you get that with Jack. His tackles per game are very high for an attacking midfielder and I can see him fitting in at Coventry.
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Character
He’s a very polite boy and he always speaks well in press conferences. He has an interesting or quirky fashion sense and quite likes his hip-hop gear.
Relationship with the fans
He was quite well liked by the fans. Kids, in particular, love him because he’s very distinctive on the field with his hair, whether it’s bleached blonde or permed, so he changes his styles a bit and kids often latch onto things like that.
People really like his work-rate and work ethic but his lack of end product can frustrate at times. But we’re talking about a player who only turned 23 last week, so he has still got a lot of time to grow into that. He was ever-present in his first season, which was the first time for years that any player had done that at Huddersfield.
And when he got injured midway through last season – he broke his foot, so it was an impact injury and not something that’s likely to reoccur – he missed seven or eight games and they really, really missed him because he was such a key player. He was the one player who you didn’t want to get injured at that time of the season because he was so important to the way that team played.
I think because he was there every week I think it was often overlooked that he was still only 22 last season, and I think there were high expectations put on him because of the position the club were in, and the key role that he immediately established when he moved to Huddersfield.
I know the pressure will be on at Coventry as well. They’ll be looking to get into the play-offs and go for promotion again, and Callum O’Hare has big boots to fill. But I think he is very ambitious and will want to play in the Premier League one day, and he will feel he can do that with his move to Coventry.
He has international ambitions as well, and is eligible to play for the United States through his dad, and that’s something he would like to pursue. I think they have asked about him, although he hasn’t had a call up yet.
And finally, what do you know about the fee?
It’s been reported to be around £5m. My understanding is that’s broadly accurate although I am not sure how that breaks down in terms of payable up front or payable later. But Huddersfield were quite clear in their statement that they would only let a player go if they got the right fee for them.
Conclusion:
Andy Turner says: It’s clear that Jack has many similar qualities to Callum in terms of an incredible work-rate, willingness to track back and defend, moving the ball upfield and getting into goal scoring positions in the final third. Like O’Hare, his goal scoring record has been a bit hit and miss but he has been deployed as a number ten by some managers and a number eight by others. The fact is, the Sky Blues have a versatile player but, more importantly, a really good player who is expected to develop and get even better, and become a real asset for the club.
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