--- title: "Why does Jerome continue to play?" canonical: "https://readnorwich.com/2016/02/28/jerome-continue-play/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Daniel Emery" section: "Articles" published: "2016-02-28T14:46:29Z" modified: "2016-02-28T14:46:29Z" --- # Why does Jerome continue to play? The only possible explanation for Cameron Jerome continuing to find a regular Premier League starting place is that Alex Neil lost it, or given up on his entire strike force. He continues to defy the odds as he tries to set a Premier League record; most glaring chances missed in one season. I think he is well on course to win it! In all seriousness, he was superb last season. He scored 20+ goals, including **that** one at Wembley, as we gained promotion to the Premier League. His pace and strength dominated Championship defenders, however, it was fairly clear to all Norwich fans that it wouldn’t last. ![Tom Dulat/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readnorwich.com/readnorwich/2016/02/474713640.jpg) Jerome has built a career around being good in the Championship but average in the Premier League (See Birmingham, Stoke, and Palace). Yet, somehow, Alex Neil decided he was good enough to start the season as the first choice striker for Norwich, and he still continues to be it come March… I was willing to give him a chance to finally prove himself in the top-flight this season but he has simply flopped yet again. The first warning signs were against Stoke in the 3rd game of the season. Superb cross into the box from Brady and Jerome, unmarked, heads over the ball when it looked easier to score from five yards out. Norwich ended up drawing 1-1 when they should have easily won. Jerome then missed another sitter inside the six-yard box against Southampton the next game, completely missing the ball when, again, it looked easier to score. That was early in the game at 0-0 and Norwich ended up losing 3-0. Even at this point, I still had some faith that Jerome could do well. He scored a tap-in against Bournemouth and I thought that could give him some confidence… nope. He continued to miss chance after chance in matches, whilst looking isolated due to poor movement as well… He scored against Manchester City, simply down to Joe Hart placing it at his feet one-yard from goal. If he would have missed that, he should have retired and changed his name. Jerome then produced the miss of the season so far for me, in the whole of the Premier League. 1-1 against Everton at Carrow Road and the ball is cut back to him three-yards out and somehow, I have no idea how he balloons it over the bar when it was easier to score. ![Stephen Pond/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readnorwich.com/readnorwich/2016/02/501079490.jpg) He also scored a good goal at Old Trafford in a 2-1 win in December. He rode a few challenges but even then, scuffed his effort straight at David De Gea. Luckily, De Gea made a mistake and completely missed the ball, allowing Jerome to get the goal. When you are down near the bottom fighting for survival, you need a striker who can score goals, You are not going to get many clear-cut chances so you need to take them. Jerome doesn’t. Too many times this season Norwich have played well but been let down by Jerome who seems to need way too many chances to actually put the ball in the back of the net. I truly think that if we had Gary Hooper or Dieumerci Mbokani playing every game, we would be mid-table. We have created tons and tons of clear-cut chances this season but every single one has fallen to the wrong player; Jerome. Jerome shouldn’t be held entirely to blame. Alex Neil is the one who picks him. Jerome clearly gives his all on the pitch, which is great to see. But sadly, he isn’t good enough to play in the Premier League, no matter how many times some people tell you he is a class act. Mbokani came in toward the end of December and throughout January and impressed me. He won player of the month for January. Mbokani scored against Aston Villa and Liverpool and a lack of service led to calls for his head, which Alex Neil bottled to and brought Jerome back two weeks ago against West Ham. Jerome didn’t have a bad game against the Hammers but it was the same old story. He had no end product and couldn’t hold the ball up, leading to Norwich dropping a valuable three points. That brings us to today’s game. Playing a team top of the Premier League means you are not going to get many chances. This means that you need a striker who will be clinical with them. Well, Neil thought it would be okay to play Jerome, he was wrong yet again. Jerome missed two sitters, one of which was called one of the “worst misses of the season” and Norwich’s hard work was unrewarded as they lost 1-0 to a cruel winner from Ulloa. ![Michael Regan/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readnorwich.com/readnorwich/2016/02/512651064.jpg) I feel so sorry for Patrick Bamford. Clearly a talented young player and yet he is on the bench whilst Jerome is out there playing terribly. Fair enough that he didn’t start but with 60 minutes gone Jerome was still playing poorly, so why didn’t Neil bring him on? He waited until Leicester scored in the 90th minute to bring Bamford on. Pointless. Neil has shown time and again that he is inept at reacting to in-game situations with substitutes, something shown perfectly in the game against Aston Villa, where his response to going 2-0 down to the worst team in the league was “Chuck more attacking players on.” If Jerome isn’t playing well and hasn’t done all season, why is Neil still playing him? It doesn’t make sense. The fact he left the sub so late today was even more baffling considering Norwich host Chelsea in just three days time and Bamford is ineligible to play. Now, if you don’t want to believe me and see what is obvious then have some actual stats for Jerome this season. In 26 Premier League appearances Jerome has scored just three goals, all of which were down to mistakes by goalkeepers. He has had a pass accuracy of 64%, which is very poor for a top-flight player. His ability in the air is also poor, with only 38% of aerial duels won. However, the two most telling stats are his shooting accuracy and chances created. As a lone striker, you need to have good finishing and be able to hit the target when needed… Jerome has a shooting accuracy of 24%…. yes just 24%. If that isn’t enough evidence to support the point of this article, he has also created just five chances for his teammates in 26 games, so not only is he failing to score, he is also failing to help anyone else out. Russell Martin has actually created more chances than Jerome… he’s also scored the same amount of goals too… Out of the entire Norwich squad, Jerome has the 3rd worst shooting accuracy, with only Sebastien Bassong and Alex Tettey behind him. Also worth mentioning that Mbokani has a shooting accuracy of 60%, which is far, far better than Jerome’s. So, can you really argue with those stats? I think someone needs to show Alex Neil because if we are going into vital Premier League matches trying to score goals to win games, it looks like we are better off having Martin up front. To sum it up really, Jerome is not Premier League standard. Alex Neil is blind to this and Bamford should really get a chance against Swansea, else what was the point in signing him?