Rhodes: Lifestyle changes for longevity and living in the present

To the untrained eye, it seemed as though Neil Warnock and Jordan Rhodes working together would be a match made in heaven when the former took over at Huddersfield in February last year.

Both are Terriers legends – and Championship icons – in their own right, so the idea of getting out of the tight spot the club found itself in did not seem quite so bad.

Warnock managed to fulfil the brief, with a comfortable 11-point cushion between his side and the bottom three – but Rhodes’ involvement was minimal. In fact, he made just four appearances, totally a measly 128 minutes between February 13 and the end of the season.

His second spell at the club where he made his name limped to its conclusion.

“I wouldn’t say there was one [a relationship with Warnock], to be honest, but these things happen in football,” Rhodes tells Sky Sports.

“People make up their minds, make their decisions and it’s just a mutual handshake and you move on and go elsewhere. I hadn’t changed as a player; I still felt like the same player and the same person I always was.

“The first time around under Lee Clark, there was an emphasis on 4-4-2, wingers, balls into the box and you very much knew where you stood. The second time around, maybe it was a little more complicated with tactics, formations, systems and the demands of that lone striker had changed in those 10 to 12 years.

“But I very much enjoyed going back there. I have friends to last a lifetime and I wish them nothing but success in the future.”

It is hard to argue against the idea that what came next for Rhodes was meant to be, whether you believe in fate or coincidence.

For the final year of the three-year contract he signed in July 2021, he was shipped out on loan to Blackpool, deemed surplus to requirements at the John Smith’s Stadium.

In his first 19 League One games for the Tangerines, he scored 15 goals and provided three assists – and is surprisingly modest when he talks about it.

It was not about proving a point or making up for lost time.

“In all honesty, it was just coming here to enjoy my football,” Rhodes says.

“It was enjoying coming into training, doing the best I could, being present, helping in whatever scenario I could help in, just living for the moment and taking each game as it came, whether that was from the start or from the bench, it was just giving my all for the team, playing with freedom and a smile on my face.

“While the football years are still here, it’s about staying in the present.

“It was a wonderful environment to come into at the stage of my career I was at. Every day was a learning day under Neil Critchley and I learned a great deal under him.

“There haven’t been too many times in my career where I can say I could turn up every day and be authentically me. Sometimes you have to put on a bit of a mask, a facade and try and be somebody you are not.”

Rhodes has previously spoken about a lifestyle change after turning 30 to prolong his career in the game, which no doubt helped.

“It’s been a choice to do these things, to look after myself in a certain way as I’m getting older, just to feel the benefits of waking up in the morning feeling good in myself, good in my body, staying as injury-free as possible.

“I did pick up a few injuries from the new year onwards, breaking my ribs and a couple of knee issues, but, all in all, I’m feeling good in myself, feeling good in my body.

“Having that mental clarity to be able to run around Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday after these 20-odd-year-olds and compete, that’s what it’s all been about.”

It has piqued his interest in the scientific side of the game.

“I do find it fascinating. The nutrition side of things, the calorie intake, the carbohydrate load – both matchday minus one and matchday plus one.

“I do a lot of swimming and a lot of biking and there’s been a lot of blood flow resistance techniques that I wouldn’t necessarily have done. It cleared up one or two issues in the past; I still do that once or twice a week and I think I will continue to do that for the rest of my career.

“I think back to my early days at Huddersfield when we used to order the next day’s meals and you had to have something like jacket potato, cheese and beans – how times have moved on!

“I just want to be able to do as much as I can within the boundaries of what a player in their mid-30s can do. I’m just trying to squeeze as much out as I can. It’s a matter of being in control of your body and your mind.”

Blackpool finished three points off a play-off place last term and the fact Rhodes missed 13 of the final 17 games is certain to have played a part.

When he signed a 12-month contract in June, the aim was to go one better this time around.

But, after starting with defeats to Crawley and Stockport, Critchley was sacked. And although Steve Bruce won his first four league games in succession, Blackpool are now on a run of seven games without a win.

Rhodes has been in the game long enough to know there is more than enough time for fortunes to change.

“You look over the results of the season and you think – pardon the pun, with Blackpool – it has been a bit of a rollercoaster,” he adds.

“As everyone knows with League One, Two and the Championship, any team that puts a decent run together will suddenly find themselves in the right areas of the table. There isn’t that much of a gap between top and mid-bottom.

“There are loads of points to play for, there’s an important Christmas period coming up where games come thick and fast and you can accumulate a lot of points pretty quickly.

“It inevitably ends up being a squad game with injuries and suspensions, so everyone needs to remain as ready as they can be to be in the best shape they can be when called upon.”

He calls for patience.

“There’s a community spirit about it all and we hope the fans can appreciate everybody’s hard work and endeavour, regardless of the result on a weekend. It’s not easy creating that environment and it takes a lot of work and the right personnel coming into the building.

“It’s a marathon not a sprint. There will be highs along the way, which we’ll all celebrate and enjoy, but there will be plenty of lows and it’s just a matter of levelling both of those out, not being too high, not being too low and then, hopefully, over the course of the season, getting ourselves in a position where we’re in amongst it at the end of the season.

“We’ve got a pretty young squad here, so I’m sure the experience of the manager and my uncle [Bruce’s assistant, Steve Agnew] will help flatten out those extremes.”

As for Rhodes himself, this season has not quite been like the last – yet.

He has started three times in the league and provided one assist, though in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, he captained the side in all three group games and scored twice to help Blackpool reach the last 32.

At this stage of his career – the former Scotland international turns 35 in February – is accepting of the fact his role is changing.

I’ll just try and be as positive as I can and when I come into training, I’ll try and work hard to maintain those health benefits of keeping myself right as a 34-year-old player so I know I’m ready to start in whatever games I’m called upon.

“Off the field, if there’s a calling for anybody to lend any experience or anything I’ve encountered over the years, I’m more than happy to do so.”

With an optimistic attitude, a healthy body and a natural goalscoring instinct still alive and kicking, we have not seen the end of Jordan Rhodes yet.

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