One to Watch – Cameron Jerome

Name: Cameron Jerome
Date of Birth: 14/08/1986
Previous clubs: Cardiff City, Birmingham City, Stoke City, Crystal Palace (L)
Apps (goals): 471 (112)

While it may have been a disappointing campaign for pre-season promotion favourites Norwich, with the club heading into the last league game this term 10 points adrift of the top six, one Canaries player that will be able to look back on the last nine months and be happy with his input is striker Cameron Jerome.

With six assists and 16 league goals to his name in the Championship this campaign, Jerome leads the club`s goalscoring charts, five ahead of Nelson Oliveira, while only six others have notched more in the division, which should see him as one of the frontrunners for the Canaries` Player of the Year award.

Having made his debut for Cardiff back in October 2004, the 30-year-old is vastly experienced, notching up over 450 appearances in his career so far, primarily across the Championship and Premier League for the Bluebirds, Birmingham, Stoke and Crystal Palace, before signing for Norwich almost three years ago.

After less than two years of first team football in South Wales, where he bagged 27 goals in all competitions, he moved to Birmingham ahead of the 2006/2007 season after the Blues parted with £3million to take him to St Andrews, where he would spend the majority of his career to date.

After promotion to the Premier League in his first season at the club, he saw a decent return of seven league goals in his maiden season in the top flight, but it was not enough to help the Midlands club stave off a return to the Championship, as they finished an agonising one point off safety.

The striker would make an immediate return to the big stage with the Blues as they finished as runners-up in the second tier in 2009, and over the next two seasons in the Premier League with the club, he bagged a further 13 league goals, before moving to Stoke at the end of August 2011.

Tony Pulis snapped up the forward for £4million, but it would prove to be a frustrating period for Jerome, as over a three-year period, he made 15 league starts for the Potters, scoring seven times in the Premier League, and in search of regular games, he joined Crystal Palace in September 2013.

The move was for a season-long loan, adding to the Eagles` attack after their promotion to the top flight via the play-offs the following campaign, and he would struggle infront of goal for the South London club, scoring just twice in 29 games in all competitions before returning to the Potters.

Deemed surplus to requirements by new Stoke boss Mark Hughes ahead of the 2014/2015 season, and with just one year remaining on his contract, the club accepted a reported bid £1.5million bid from current club Norwich, a move Jerome approved, signing a three-year deal at Carrow Road.

21 goals in all competitions helped the club gain promotion to the Premier League in his first season in Norfolk, as they saw off Middlesbrough in the play-offs, in which he netted the first in a 2-0 win at Wembley, but life in the top flight proved difficult for both the club and player the following year.

Jerome netted just twice as the Canaries finished second from bottom at the end of the 2015/2016 campaign, but the striker would extend his stay with Norwich shortly after, signing a new three-year contract, with the option of a further year, ahead of their attempt to bounce back this season.

Despite Jerome`s goals this term, the Canaries have fallen short of the play-off places, in large part due to just five wins on the road, compared to 14 at home, where he has bagged in each of the side`s last two matches, which recently included a 7-1 demolition of promotion-chasing Reading.