Gary Hooper

[Canaryboy]

We messed up big time selling him for £3m didn't we? 

He's an assassin, and this 'complete striker' thing we've tried to do has failed miserably. 

Just seen the highlights of him destroying Cardiff in 25 minutes yesterday and making David Marshall look like a complete muppet. 

 

[morty]

Found his level.

 

[KeiranShikari]

Shame that we've seemingly been moving to a formation that would suit him better recently. 

He'd' have been a better option to throw on in the last 20 minutes than Bamford that's for sure.

 

[Canaryboy]

Found his level.

Which may be our level next season. 

His 6 league goals in the disappointing Hughton season is actually more than any of our players have scored this season, OK so we've got a few games to go, but what does that say about Jerome's 3 goals this season.

Hooper's goals per minute ratio and goals per shot ratio in the Championship is astonishing, I think his goals per shot ratio is the best in the league, and 2nd in the league for goals per minute played. 

I know he's in a good team, but he's massively out performed Jordan Rhodes and Ross McCormack. 

If we go down a goalscorer is the most crucial signing we could make (well, if we stay up also!). Just looking at the best strikers in the Championship and you have to put Hooper and Chris Martin near to the top, if indeed they don't win promotion this season.

Finding the money for McCormack would probably solve the problem for the Champs, but he'd probably struggle in the Premier League too.

 

[morty]

Which may be our level next season. 

His 6 league goals in the disappointing Hughton season is actually more than any of our players have scored this season, OK so we've got a few games to go, but what does that say about Jerome's 3 goals this season.

Hooper's goals per minute ratio and goals per shot ratio in the Championship is astonishing, I think his goals per shot ratio is the best in the league, and 2nd in the league for goals per minute played. 

I know he's in a good team, but he's massively out performed Jordan Rhodes and Ross McCormack. 

If we go down a goalscorer is the most crucial signing we could make (well, if we stay up also!). Just looking at the best strikers in the Championship and you have to put Hooper and Chris Martin near to the top, if indeed they don't win promotion this season.

Finding the money for McCormack would probably solve the problem for the Champs, but he'd probably struggle in the Premier League too.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Sheff Wed go up, and how many games he gets in the Prem.

 

[GJP]

Everyone knows he can score a goal at that level.

But at Prem level he lacks pace, work rate, movement and physical presence.

How many good Prem strikers don't have at least one of those attributes?

 

[Canaryboy]

Signing a couple of good strikers next season is crucial, whether we go down or stay up. 

I like the look of that Kodjia from Bristol City, 20 goals this season and is big and strong, and only 26 so best years may be ahead of him.

Nahki Wells at Huddersfield is good striker too. 

Possibly Dwight Gayle from Palace, but think a promoted side would sign him.

The club are going to need to drop some serious money on strikers in the summer, even if we go down. 

 

[Wiz]

It was imo, bang crazy to flog Hoops, sometimes I despair at decisions like this by our club, borderline neglect I suggest.

 

[Din]

I remember saying on this forum all the way back when Neil Adams was appointed, that if he was able to keep hold of Hooper then he would've done well. During his 2 and a half years here we criminally under-used him. He played relatively regularly in Hughton's final season, however Hughton's system of playing long ball to a completely isolated front man didn't suit him at all. Despite that he scored 8 goals that season, more than any of our squad have managed this season. I can almost understand Adams/Neil not using him, as the Jerome/Hoolahan combination was incredibly successful for us that whole season. However despite playing in just over half of our league games that season, the majority of them from the bench, he scored 12 goals and got 6 assists.

This season though it has amazed me we haven't tried to accommodate him. He is a natural goal-scorer and if you put him 1 on 1 with the keeper he'll score 9 times out of 10. All you need alongside him is someone who's good in the air, has a good work rate, and pace to get to the ball, and in Jerome we have someone who fits that profile perfectly. If he matched his  total from the 13/14 season then we could well at least have a few more points on the board, which is the difference between 17th and 18th in this league.

We did mess up definitely by selling him, particularly for such a low fee. Almost hope that Sheffield Wednesday get promoted so that we don't have to come up against him next season. 

 

[It's Character Forming]

Yeah I was thinking against Arsenal it would have been good to have Hooper on the bench to bring on towards the end to play alongside a big striker, rather than having Jerome/Mbokani together.  Or indeed rather than Naismith at that point.

so I have to agree,  bad call to sell him.

 

[Fenway Frank]

We should never have sold Bellamy and Ashton either. What a pairing they would have been. Sack the board ! ?

 

[Canaryboy]

so I have to agree,  bad call to sell him.

On the other hand, it took him nearly two months of playing to get fully fit and start scoring for Wednesday, so perhaps we just have to accept that it was all or nothing with him. Either he needed to play regularly or leave, and that he wouldn't have made much of an impact from the bench or in the odd game this season because he never would have reached full fitness here. 

It is next season where I think he could have been really useful, could easily have built our attack around him, and it wasn't a requirement to sell him in January when we could quite easily have loaned him for the season and got a fit and confident Hooper back in the summer. 

Instead we've got to go through that whole thing again where Alex Neil pretends to like Van Wolfswinkel whilst crossing his fingers that somebody takes him off the payroll, and fans start going on about how he'd be world class if we just gave him the right service and that his 1 goal in 15 games at Betis this season must mean that they play inverted wingers like Hughton. 

Hooper is a clear level above Van Wolfswinkel for me. I wouldn't grumble at McCormack as an alternative though, especially as he can play out wide or as a second striker too (perhaps should have signed him instead of Naismith?).