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Jim Smith

I know people will say Hooper was not great last night but

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Am I the only one who is frustrated at Neil''s apparent inability to play him with Wes? Pretty much every time the two play together they seem to thrive off each other''s game and even last night the commentators said that Hooper''s performance improved a lot as soon as Wes came on. He was then promptly withdrawn about 5 minutes later for the completely ineffectual and out of his depth Andreu just as we sounded as if we were pinning them back and building up some momentum which was promptly lost.

I was rally disappointed with that sub and indeed the decision not to start Hoolahan who is our most in form player at the moment. Every time we drop/rest him we end up dropping points and in the case of the Wigan game and lats night these could well be very, very costly. I also think tettey should be starting wherever possible but as he did not come on at all perhaps he was carrying a knock. I just don;t feel we should now be resting any players given we need to be winning virtually every game. 3 points last night should have been the main aim and if Tettey then could not play Saturday as well we cross that bridge when we come to it and perhaps call on a fitter O''Neil or even VOO.

I''m also bemused at Andreu continuing to be brought on ahead of others. he looks barely football league standard to me whenever he comes on.

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Sorry inability perhaps the wrong word. Its either he''s unwilling or he does not seem to see the way the two link up together.

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It''s a shame that all the time Jim Smith puts in at Colney watching the players interact with each other in training isn''t put to better use by the club, why they let Alex N and his coaching staff make the decisions is puzzling.

 

 

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He was absolutely woeful last night. Couldn''t find a player in a yellow shirt, laughable first touch and, most worryingly , simply didn''t put a shift in. 100% effort is the minimum expectation for players, if they can combine that with some actual footballing ability that would be great. Seems to be under the impression he''s still a Scottish Pub League superstar.

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(Hooper) He just needs to find some form as he has the quality. (remember when people were slating Grabban, suddenly he''s now the answer.)

It''s up to AN if he''s willing to give him that time as he''s someone who needs games, however, time is not on our side at the moment.

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Hooper was the main attack at celtic and everything was centred around him, now at Norwich he''s asked to play in the deeper role of which Ive actually been impressed with.

Don''t get me wrong hoolahan has been brilliant, hes exciting to watch. My slight groan at fans is they enjoy a spin, 5/6 touches and flair, with little appreciation for the likes of Hooper who takes 1/2 touches, a little give and go and makes his way into the box. Any form of link up play of creativity should be just as appreciated as the rest!

He''s not got bags of pace , is stocky in size and he''s not leading the line so doesn''t chase lost causes across the defence, none of these make him lazy or mean he shows any less effort than the rest.

As for playing them together it''s a bit of a tough one. I can see the case for playing them both individually but it''s very rare Neil has got his line ups incorrect. Different teams are lining up in very different ways against us, some need hooper and others need hoolahan. I can''t really complain because we have 3 strikers looking on course to finish on around 15+ Goals and we have quality in midfield that can''t get a place in the side

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[quote user="mrs miggins"](Hooper) He just needs to find some form as he has the quality. (remember when people were slating Grabban, suddenly he''s now the answer.)

It''s up to AN if he''s willing to give him that time as he''s someone who needs games, however, time is not on our side at the moment.[/quote]

Easy for you to say ...... but are the people who were slating Grabban the same people who are now saying he is the answer ? I certainly didn''t slate him and IMO there is no doubt that we sorely miss him. On a different level, I also think it was unwise to loan out Lafferty. And whilst I''m at it, why isn''t Vadis being used, why didn''t he come on last night instead of Andreu ?

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[quote user="Mervyn Corn"]He was absolutely woeful last night. Couldn''t find a player in a yellow shirt, laughable first touch and, most worryingly , simply didn''t put a shift in. 100% effort is the minimum expectation for players, if they can combine that with some actual footballing ability that would be great. Seems to be under the impression he''s still a Scottish Pub League superstar.[/quote]
If 100% effort is the minimum...what is the maximum?

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100% effort + ability

Even if you''re technically poor you can still put a shift in. Failure to do that is letting the team down. Like Hooper did last night.

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[quote user="Mervyn Corn"]100% effort + ability Even if you''re technically poor you can still put a shift in. Failure to do that is letting the team down. Like Hooper did last night.[/quote]

yes, his one-two with Hoolahan for our equalising goal was awful wasn''t it...

I agree that he appears to lack the ''up and at ''em style'' of Grabban, yet somehow has scored 10 goals this season.

AN picked an attacking team to win the game last night with Jerome, Hooper and Redmond in the starting 11, but I''m more worried that we only had 2 shots on target all night, despite 62% possession.  I said a while ago, that I think Hooper''s on borrowed time with AN due to his, shall we say, ''languid'' style, and unless he scores more regularly, he''ll be the one who gets dropped first.

I like Jerome, but he does seem to need 2 or 3 shots to score, whereas Hooper looks a more natural finisher.

 

 

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[quote user="Mervyn Corn"]Highlights can be misleading ...[/quote]

 

So can posters on a message board.

 

 

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Was Howson with the one two wasn;t it.

Anyway my point really is that Hooper looks twice the player when he plays alongside Hoolahan in comparison to when he plays behind Jerome or plays up front on his own. I''m therefore really surprised that the two have played together so little this season and that Neil basically took Hooper off for that waste of money Andreu (who did not bother to pick up the man for their second goal) 5 minutes after Wes came on last night despite the commentators saying that Hooper was suddenly looking sharper following Wes''s introduction.

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It''d be great to see how we''d cope with Redmond, Hooper, Wes and Jerome playing. It''s cavelier but if it got us 3-1 up by half time then who cares.

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Apologies, it was Howson not Hooper who set up Wes for the equaliser. I do agree though that Wes and Hooper are definitely on the same wavelength and work well together. Not sure we could be as gung ho to play Wes, Redmond, Hooper and Jerome from the start, but if Tettey and Johnson\Dorrans played with discipline behind them, that would certainly be an exciting frontline. Go out, get 3 goals up and shut up shop!

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I think that would be fine. 4-2-3-1 with tettey and Dorrans/Johnson holding and Wes, Hooper and Redmond behind Jerome.

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Hooper with with Hoolahan or not?If he can''t tap in a simple chance from 2 yards (and this was the 2nd time in a few matches) then it doesn''t matter who he plays with

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[quote user="Making Plans"]Hooper with with Hoolahan or not?If he can''t tap in a simple chance from 2 yards (and this was the 2nd time in a few matches) then it doesn''t matter who he plays with [/quote]this coupled with the fact he doesnt give enough for the team, shame Grabban got injured when he did. (i never slated Grabban)

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Can''t believe in a Hooper/Wes pairing. It is just too limiting to the team. Who is going to run beyond the opposition back 4? Who is going to drag them wide. We would end up just playing in front, and have proved we can''t open teams up from there.

While Grabban is out it is an either/or. Wes or Hooper?

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I think people have got to stop thinking of Hooper as a CAM because he''s only played there for us. At all his other clubs he''s either been pushed forward into a striking pair with him as a poacher, or he''s played up top on his own and score red loads in both positions, so thats his natural position. Personally I''ve always said i''d like to see him in his best position as he''s a natural goalscorer/finisher. We have wes who plays CAM and is on fire there.

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