Koeman4 said:
ok. Thanx. It was just a question. I don't want to talk about things that I don't know, really, I don't want to start a fight and my question was already answered.
No problem mate. If you need to know any more about Novo then just ask and one of us will try to help out.
Angle pointed out that Novo's finishing needed improving and that is true. It's not the first time this has been noticed in his career though and did seem to be improved last season.
He spent a year with Raith Rovers in the 2001/02 season scoring 19 goals in 33 matches for the Kircaldy club. It's not that impressive because it's very easy for players to score in the lower league.
In the 2002/03 season he made the move to Dundee and played in the SPL. He wasn't very impressive. Although he was fast and direct it was his final ball that was a very big problem. This led to him scoring only 7 goals in 26 league matches for Dundee. Dundee were actually not a bad team that year and as Scottish Cup finalists, where they were beaten 1-0 by Rangers, they got a UEFA Cup place.
In the summer of 2003/04 Dundee brought ex-Rangers forward Mark Hately to the club as a strikers coach. He worked with Novo on an individual basis and especially on his finishing. They got the benefits from this and Novo was on fire. He scored 19 league goals in his 34 appearances ending joint second top scorer. This was all the more impressive as Dundee finished in 7th place. On top he also scored 2 goals in his 5 domestic cup appearances and 4 goals in his 4 UEFA cup appearances.
This prompted Rangers and Celtic to chase him and he chose Rangers. He ahd a good preseason and then started slowly in the League despite scoring away in Moscow during Rangers' Champions League qualifier. He was dropped for a while before coming on as a sub against his old club Dundee and scoring the two vital goals that won Rangers the game. He has never looked back and is currently the 2nd top scorer in the SPL.
Things are looking up for him at the moment but McLeish keeps playing him out of position. Rangers would do well to learn from Dundee and get somebody working with him on his finishing as he is begining to snatch at shots again. He needs that composure back again that he had last season. He has the makings of a very good forward but is still a bit raw.