Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Born 27th March, 1972, Paramaribo, Suriname
Current Club: Middlesboro
Previous clubs: Telstar, AZ Alkmaar, Neerlandia, Campomaiorense, Boavista, Leeds United, Atlético De Madrid, Chelsea
Position: Striker.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (or Jerrel Hasselbaink - apparently, while playing in Portugal, they couldn't pronounce Jerrel, and thus started calling him Jimmy Floyd) signed for Chelsea from Athletico Madrid in the summer of 2000 at a cost of £STG15 million, making him the most expensive player in British football at the time. But he has proved to be worth the money. Since first coming to prominence during a stint with Portuguese club Boavista, he has scored goals wherever he went. At Leeds, he managed 34 goals in a season and a half; he left there in the summer of 1999 because of a disagreement over his wages. Athletico Madrid paid £STG12 million for his services, and he finished up as the top scorer in the Primera Liga in the '99-2000 season - but despite his efforts, Atrhletico were relegated. And so, he signed for Chelsea.
Chelsea had had a pretty poor record with regard to goal-scoring; their previous most expensive player was £STG10 million signing Chris Sutton, who had scored plenty of goals with Norwich and Blackburn Rovers; he only managed a handful of goals with Chelsea. Nobody had managed more than 20 goals in a season since Kerry Dixon, back in the '80s; Jimmy Floyd ended that run with ease, scoring 27 goals and winning the Premiership Golden Boot in his first season.
He only improved the following season, striking up a breathtaking partnership with young Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjonsen during '00/01; at times, the pair seemed to have a telepathic bond between them, and they managed over 50 goals between them that season. Both players, however, ended up nursing injuries during the summer of 2001, and Jimmy only managed 15 goals for the following season. In the '03/'04 season, despite competition from Chelsea's summer signings (Romanian international Adrian Mutu and Argentinian Hernan Crespo), Jimmy Floyd held his own, and was Chelsea's top scorer that season.
The following summer, however, José Mourinho took over at Chelsea, and decided to shed some of the side's older players. Jimmy Floyd joined international team-mate Boudewijn Zenden in making the move from London to Middlesboro.
Internationally, Jimmy Floyd hasn't really replicated his club form. Since his first call-up to the Dutch squad in 1998, his appearances haven't been all that regular; being up against Patrick Kluivert, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Pierre Van Hooijdonk and Roy Makaay in international terms is a rough task, especially as the majority of them play the same style. Hasselbaink is an out-and-out striker; he has a powerful shot, and can be deadly from free kicks; and he also has that selfish streak that many great strikers have; although this has diminished somewhat during his time at Chelsea, especially when lining up alongside Gudjonsen. Another noteworthy point is that Jimmy floyd is known for his eyes - he has a penetrating stare, and is sometimes referred to as "The man with the scariest eyes in football", alongside completely bald, but hugely respected, international referee Pierluigi Collina.
References:
- http://www.chelseafc.com/
The Official Chelsea website
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/squad_profiles/default.stm
The BBC's squad profile for Chelsea - more stats than you can shake a stick at.
- http://www.soccernet.com/england/players/hasselbainkjimmyfloyd.html
ESPN Soccernet's profile of Jimmy Floyd. A bit out of date, but still quite informative.
A submission for caknuck's Athletes and Sports Figures quest
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