Steve Claridge's scouting report, from the Grauniad:
My first impression of Simeon Jackson was his striking resemblance to a player from a higher division he would no doubt like to emulate. When I first caught sight of him his likeness to Rob Earnshaw really hit me. That feeling of deja vu did not last long and he did not have a great start to the game as Brentford congested the space in front of him and left him very little time or room to play when he received the ball with his back to goal.
His difficulties were exacerbated by Gillingham's strategy of starting with their wide players tucked in which certainly did not help him in his quest for space. Because of this his touch early on wasn't as good as it should have been and as a consequence, because his fellow centre-forward, Mark McCammon, was also suffering the same fate, Gillingham could not get the ball to stick to their forwards despite some nice build-up play to put them in possession.
Having played in a few games up front myself I was not going to write him off as this is something that happens a lot in matches. It is only when the game starts to open up that you will really see players such as Jackson coming into his own.
Having said that there is as much to learn about character from a player going through a tough spell as there is when everything is ticking along nicely. During this period in the game Jackson never hid, never stopped showing for the ball and was never reluctant to chase opponents down when he had the chance to put pressure on the ball.
Then, all of a sudden, just as I was being lulled into a false sense of security, I saw why he has been so highly rated as he latched on to a ball over the top, got between the two centre-backs, showed his strength in the challenge to deal with one of them and good balance to ride the tackle of the other. He then hit a first time half-volley into the bottom corner of the net with the keeper rooted to the spot but his effort was harshly disallowed.
His finish gave a brief glimpse of why he has averaged more than a goal every two games for the past three seasons and after witnessing that display his record comes as no surprise. But even after this setback he never let his head go down and kept working the opposition defenders, gradually eking out more pockets of space and on two occasions, because of his constant movement, he got into excellent positions to give him good scoring chances if he had been found with a pass. Unfortunately, both times his team-mates did not have the quality to pick him out. His reaction to this was nice to see and, instead of moaning, he was very demonstrative in his encouragement of his fellow players.
When you play up front with someone I think the more your game differs from theirs, the better the partnership will be. There is no doubt that Jackson is different in every sense – in size and stature, movement and pace – from McCammon but the pair never developed a meaningful understanding. Indeed, I was left with the feeling that I would have preferred Jackson to do some of the things McCammon did.
One example of this is when the ball is deep in Gillingham's half and the ball over the top is not on, Jackson should always be the first option but it tended to be the other way round. He did, however, get his just rewards with a goal to rescue a much deserved point with a well-struck penalty he never looked like missing.
There is no doubt Jackson is a goalscorer and he will probably be judged on whether or not he maintains his exceptional ratio of goals to games but this Canada Under-21 international has a little bit more in his armoury than just scoring. That is why I feel that plenty of supporters in the future will be glad he made the long journey here.
How he rates
Age 22
Born Kingston, Jamaica
Position Striker
Height 5ft 8in
Weight 11st 5lb
From Rushden
Team responsibility 8
Pace 9
Shooting 8
Heading 8
Valuation £600,000
