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Posted by
Ian Clarke,
May 4, 2011 |
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Email Ian Clarke |
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"You want to play in the big games, you want to be the hero, you want to score the winning goal. And to get the winning goal, and to get promoted, it's unbelievable."
Simeon Jackson - March 2010
Simeon Jackson has done it again. The 5'8 striker continues to punch above his weight and prove that he can elevate his game to the level of his competition. His incredible run of form over the last month with Norwich City was stamped Monday night where his game winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth ensured the Norfolk club automatic promotion to the Premier League for 2011/12.
Jackson will now become one of a few Canadian strikers to make it to England's top flight. While the journey is far from over, the path to this point in his career has been long and winding.
Arriving in England as a teenager, Jackson was initially rejected by the club where he made his first impact, Gillingham, and spent time as far down as the seventh tier of English football. A move to Rushden & Diamonds in 2004 would be the starting point for where his goal scoring prowess would develop.
"They were in Division Two, Division one at the time," recalls Jackson, "Games were a lot more physical and you had to man up. At 18-19, this is the age where you'll really get your groundwork."
Gillingham would take notice and have to pay £150,000 to bring him back to the club he initially trialed with years before.
It was at Gillingham that Jackson earned his reputation of scoring big goals, in big games. His header in a promotion playoff won it for the Gills to move from League Two to League One, and his goal against Aston Villa in Cup play made the clubs in the Premier League and Championship take notice.
Jackson would be at a turning point in 2010, as Gillingham would be relegated back down to League Two. At 23-years of age, he needed to keep stepping up his level of competition if he was going to continue his development. For supporters of the Canadian National Team, it would be a crucial period as he had become one of the players for the future and where he ended up could determine what impact he'd have as an international player.
With rumours of the likes of Premiership clubs Everton and Wolverhampton showing interest, Jackson would end up at Norwich City in the Summer of 2010, to mixed feelings from those who followed his career closely.
Those who looked at Jackson's transfer to Norwich superficially would have been correct in thinking it wasn't the best move for him or for Canada. Grant Holt and Chris Martin were the established striking duo, and a recent promotion from League One to the Championship could mean years of toiling mid-to-lower table until they brought in better players to make a Premier League push. Jackson might get minutes, but not many, and the second division in England does not help the overall pedigree of Canada's National Team. A move to the Premier League now, whether it be Wolves or Everton, or Queen's Park Rangers who were destined for promotion, would have been a much better option.
Some though, looked deeper and could see that the move to Norwich had potential success written all over it for Jackson, Norwich and Canada. While Norwich were a club that slipped to League One, they had been an established Championship side for the better part of fifteen years. Current management had clear ambitions to return to the top flight and see themselves, their identity and future more in line with their remarkable third place finish in the first ever Premier League season, than what followed over the next decade and a half.
Grant Holt and Chris Martin were the primary strikers, but instead of concern over sitting on the bench, growth and development through competition for minutes, as well as competent and capable partners for service was an ideal situation and something he was lacking at Gillingham.
The overall environment at Norwich was sealed by a man many are predicting will be the manager to watch in years to come. Paul Lambert, a Scot to boot, has the highest experience as a player, and now is cutting his teeth and gaining a massive reputation with back to back promotions with The Canaries. For Jackson to not only train under a man with a growing reputation, but perform heroics will certainly cement his own. If Lambert becomes the manager many think he will be, and one day is in a position to lead one of the top clubs in England or Europe, the chance he will look to familiar faces he knows can perform is very likely.
What is most remarkable through the last year, bringing Jackson to this point, are the trials he has overcome. The last seven years condensed into eight months, there were points, like when he was initially rejected by Gillingham, where he was on the outside looking in.
A good start to the season saw four goals through the early months, but as winter set in, it wasn't just the temperature that went cold. Jackson was getting minutes, but goals were becoming few and as a result so were the minutes. Players such as Chris Martin, Wes Hoolahan and Andrew Crofts were providing the goals and making it difficult for Lambert to take them out and let Jackson rediscover his form.
Out of what looked to be the lowest point in the season, a reported lacklustre display for Canada in their 1-0 victory over Belarus, was followed by a remarkable 180 and perhaps the best run of form in his still blossoming career.
To return to Norwich City from an uninspiring display with Canada, only to find out two new attackers, Welsh international Sam Vokes and Spaniard and Liverpool wonderkid Daniel Pacheco, had been brought in on loan, would likely make some wave the white flag and concede defeat.
What followed would be a testament to the character and determination that is becoming a common trait with many up-and-coming Canadians.
Four days after facing Belarus, watching his teammate and team Captain Grant Holt score a hat-trick before 27,000 cheering Norwich supporters, Jackson would be on the bench and wait until the 70th minute to be subbed in. Instead of finishing out the final twenty minutes going through the motions and celebrating a comfortable win, Jackson would net three goals in a blowout that would become the catalyst for Norwich's dash to the finish line of promotion.
A late goal against Watford on April 12 to save a point would push Jackson into the starting line-up for the final four games, through which he would score five goals.
His promotion-winning goal, off a header like he had done with Gillingham two years prior, sealed a turbulent season that has mirrored everything he has gone through and accomplished to date as a player.
While the Premier League is a massive step up from the Championship, Simeon Jackson has shown time and time again that through hard work and determination, he can elevate his play to match his environment. It may be ambitious to expect him to continue the ascent, but defying the odds has been a reoccurring theme over the last eight years.
If there are any words of encouragement of what is to come as Jackson and Norwich move to the top flight, they can be taken from his former manager at Gillingham, Mark Stimson, who took a gamble and received criticism for signing an unknown striker from the Football Conference.
"The more he plays with better players, the better he will get. That's the advantage he's got, he's someone that when he has better players around him you'll get more out of him."
See also: Jackson's move to Norwich right on schedule
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