Celtic fan on Hooper

[Paul_CFC 0]

"Do you think the rest of the SPL would have beaten those sides? I think the majority of what''s being said is about the standard of the teams he is scoring his goals against. He scored 19 league goals last season against the likes of Hibs, Inverness and Ross County. Why should we expect him to repeat the feat against the likes of Villa, Newcastle, Everton etc? He was outscored by Higdon, Griffiths, McGinn and McKay despite getting the best service of the lot from the best players in Scotland. I just don''t understand the hype!!"I was referring to the person that said Celtic would finish mid table in the Championship. As for other Scottish teams, what can we do about that? You can only beat the teams in-front of you.I''m not suggesting that he will come into the EPL and score 20 goals a season, but I do believe he will score goals. I think last season, the motivation wasn''t there for Hooper (and a few others) the league was won before it started and it showed, last year was his lowest goals tally up here despite the league being a lot easier. We all noticed a sharp increase in his form during January, think he scored 6 goals in 6 games, so if he''s tested at a higher level, I have no doubts he could cut it.He also outscored Andy Caroll the year Newcastle romped the Championship in a poor Scunthorpe side.

[Jonzey 0]

Thanks Paul for providing an intelligently put argument in favour of Hooper, and not rising to the low browed opinions of Scottish football.

I can only judge Hooper by the one match I saw him play last season in the League Cup final. He looked excellent, clinical and apart from one fluffed chance was the main man. Clearly a big game player if he did the biz there, and also as you say Paul scored home and away against Spartak.

Unless he was in the team when we d!cked Scunny 6-0, in which case I didn''t notice him.

Surely if a Celtic fan who''s taken the time to come on here and given a well balanced view based on actually watching him every week can rate him, and Lennon is willing to break the wage ceiling for him, he can''t be that bad?

[Paul_CFC 0]

[quote user="Jonzey"]Thanks Paul for providing an intelligently put argument in favour of Hooper, and not rising to the low browed opinions of Scottish football.

I can only judge Hooper by the one match I saw him play last season in the League Cup final. He looked excellent, clinical and apart from one fluffed chance was the main man. Clearly a big game player if he did the biz there, and also as you say Paul scored home and away against Spartak.

Unless he was in the team when we d!cked Scunny 6-0, in which case I didn''t notice him.

Surely if a Celtic fan who''s taken the time to come on here and given a well balanced view based on actually watching him every week can rate him, and Lennon is willing to break the wage ceiling for him, he can''t be that bad?[/quote]Thanks mate, i''m used to people dismissing the Scottish football, some of it is merited to be fair. The gulf between the EPL and SPL is huge now, and it''s only getting bigger, largely down to the money Sky are throwing at EPL teams.The business model for Celtic now is finding these players like Hooper, Wanyama, Ki, Izaguirre etc, developing them and then selling them on for a profit, whilst remaining competitive on the park. The domestic side of things should take care of itself for the next few years, but maintaining our presence in the Champions League group stage is vital not only financially, but also so we do not disappear into obscurity with the rest of Scottish football.I signed up for the forum when the Adam Drury testimonial was announced, then looked in every so often because I was really impressed with Norwich, the place, people and the club. I like to see them do well now.

[Jonzey 0]

That''s good to know. I think there''s been a strong, and very positve connection between Norwich and Celtic over the past decade.

I remember the testimonial a few years back possibly for our physio Tim Sheppard. The entire old South Stand was completely full of Celtic fans. To this day I''ve never seen a travelling support like it, so noisy and passionate. And it was a meaningless friendly, and most of the fans would have travelled all the way from Glasgow, that''s a day here, and a day back. Unbelievable.

[Jp1967 0]

Hi guys, Celtic Fan in peace. I think you would be getting a decent Epl striker in signing hooper. He is a penalty box striker, I can''t actually remember him scoring outside of the 18 yard box. His touch is not great but he is an intelligent player. His movement is fantastic and this makes up for his lack of pace. I''d much rather he signed for Norwich than QPR.

As far as people''s opinions on the SPL, the standard of the league is poor just now. I would say it is on par with league one football. Our bigger clubs like Hearts and to an extent Sevco (Rangers) are in trouble and as such the league has lost a lot of its quality.

I don''t agree with some comments about where Celtic would be within the English structure. Based on our current squad I think we would be lower half of the EPL. Teams like WBA Stoke etc who are established teams would be a good comparison. However if we did take into account the riches of the EPL then I believe we would be a top side. We have ahuge support worldwide coupled with the tv cash and subsequent increase in sponsorship, I think after a settling in period we would flourish.

All the best fr the season.

[Webbo118 0]

Certainly can''t argue with any of that. Thanks for the best wishes - duly reciprocated.

[Fleckys Flip-Flop 0]

I feel like I should point out that i''m a big fan of Celtic. That''s mainly down to the terrific attitude of their fans. That all started in that very same testimonial (We had Flecky and Iwan upfront together at one point. Almost brought a tear to my eye!). There is, I believe a mutual respect there and I really do wish you all the best.

 

Back to point though, you readily admit that the general quality of the SPL is not great and that''s where Hooper is scoring his goals. My concern is that he will be defended against much better in the EPL and won''t get the opportunities he does. I think we saw that alot last year. He won''t get anything like the kind of service or space he gets in Scotland over here and I think he is the kind of striker who needs both to thrive. I struggle to see him scoring half as many goals as he did last year if he came over here and for the kind of outlay quoted I think there may well be better options. He doesn''t strike me as having either the power or pace necessary to create his own chances and due to the likelihood of us playing a lone-striker system I think he would struggle.

[Jp1967 0]

He did well in the champions league mate. I really think he would get about 12 -15 goals on the league. He would be great at linking up with rvw.

[killiecanary 0]

I''d be very happy to see Hooper here. He knows where the goal is and would be a good addition to a rapidly improving squad.

As a natural born Scot and born and bred Kilmarnock fan I also need to take slight issue with some of the comments on here about football in Scotland. It is poor, of that there can be no doubt, but Celtic are a big club in any league - not that I can stand them or their bigoted ugly sister on the other side of Glasgow - but if they came to England with their current side and fan base they would be a threat within a few years of getting their hands on the sky cash.

My own little club Kilmarnock get gates of around 4 or 5,000 most weeks - this from a town with a population of around 45,000 roughly the same as kings lynn which has been probably the hardest hit by the recession of all Scotland''s small towns. I''m proud of my other club - Scottish league cup winners last year (sorry Paul CFC!) so please have a little tact when slagging off small clubs in Scotland. OTBC!

[ur just a man in a jacket 0]

So who would get in the celtic first team out of jackson, morison, holt or martin?

[whoareyou? 0]

All these comparisons of where Celtic would be if they were in the EPL are pretty pointless because IF they were in the EPL, they would be as big as Man Utd worldwide. It''s a massive club with a huge following but unfortunately for them they are playing teams who would struggle in the Championship.

[BroadstairsR 2,164]

I go onto a Celtic forum whenever the Hooper saga  re-appears. As to be expected, they seen slightly more in the know about it up there, although the following might be from National Press:- 

 

 

"QUEENS PARK RANGERS last night made an improved £4.5million bid for Celtic’s want-away top scorer Gary Hooper.

Hooper-s-future-is-still-uncertain-with-a-host-of-clubs-after-the-striker Hooper''s future is still uncertain with a host of clubs after the striker

The Championship club have upped their offer – which includes another £1m of add-ons – from the £4m that was tabled by boss Harry Redknapp last week.

The Parkhead outfit expect to sell their main striker, and he won’t be involved in tomorrow night’s Champions League opener against Cliftonville after telling manager Neil Lennon he wants to leave.

Englishman Hooper, 25, is in the final year of his contract and is prepared to leave on a free next summer if he’s not granted his exit before the transfer window closes.

Express Sport revealed yesterday that Premier League side Norwich had also bid just over £4m and wanted an answer by 5pm yesterday.

Canaries manager Chris Hughton has now agreed to extend that deadline by 24 hours at the request of Celtic. Hooper, above, would prefer to move to the Premier League but Norwich are unlikely to match QPR’s offer.

Celtic are already looking at potential replacements with Wolves striker Kevin Doyle, Watford’s Troy Deeney, Burnley’s Charlie Austin and Southampton’s Billy Sharp – who is on loan at Nottingham Forest – all on their radar."

 

As we know, Hughton has extended the so-called deadline, but the "at the request of Celtic" is significant IMO and would suggest we might be in pole position.

 

I actually am more confident about this one than I was about the Fer deal going through. It has rumbled on for so long now, the competition is probably not quite as hot and apparently the player himself has expressed a preference to come to Norwich.

 

We could land him today?

 

Something else of interest. In the same thread one poster put Hooper in the top five of all-time Celtic greats. Another contradicted this with the following list:

Henrik
Sutton
Bellamy
Pierre VH
Cadete
Viduka

 

Two of our youngsters there. Celtic owe us one.

[ReadingCanary 0]

He has told Celtic he wants to join us.He hasn''t traveled with Celtic on their European tour thingyIt''s clearly just an issue of money.Celtic must be requesting a lot more than we see reasonable

[Paul_CFC 0]

Hooper did not travel with the Celtic team to Belfast today so it looks a deal is imminent.The latest was last night QPR made an improved offer, but it has not been confirmed if we accepted it or not.I think you list of strikers might have been from the last 20 years, no chance that is of all time. I would class Hooper up there with the best strikers we have had in the last 10-15 years. 

[Salopian 1]

If, as now seems increasingly likely, we lose out to  moneybags QPR, I shall not be too disappointed. Hooper is a clinical finisher, but I have not seen much from the other parts of his game, - pace, passing, link-up, ball control, etc. Last season we could have done with his conversions, but I hope that we shall finish with four strikers including Becchio and RvW, and who can all interact with colleagues and exploit space, as well as scoring goals.

[ROBFLECK 132]

I understand your opinion Salopian , imo we do not have a full view of the player GH. But I am trying to think of another target and the italian is not one of them (too expensive imo) .

Who do you reckon???

[The ghost of Michael Theoklitos 0]

I know we''d never know the answer to this, but I wonder what the opinions of Celtic fans were on message boards a few years back when Scott McDonald was on his way to ''Borough after scoring 51 goals from 88 games.I wonder if he was then considered "the best striker for 15-20 years"?

[Jp1967 0]

[quote user="The ghost of Michael Theoklitos"]I know we''d never know the answer to this, but I wonder what the opinions of Celtic fans were on message boards a few years back when Scott McDonald was on his way to ''Borough after scoring 51 goals from 88 games.I wonder if he was then considered "the best striker for 15-20 years"?[/quote]

Scott McDonald was never as good as hoops. He scored a fair amount of goals but that''s it. His work rate, touch, movement was terrible.

I think Hooper is the real deal, I hope he sees sense and signs for u guys.

[The ghost of Michael Theoklitos 0]

[quote user="Jp1967"][quote user="The ghost of Michael Theoklitos"]I know we''d never know the answer to this, but I wonder what the opinions of Celtic fans were on message boards a few years back when Scott McDonald was on his way to ''Borough after scoring 51 goals from 88 games.I wonder if he was then considered "the best striker for 15-20 years"?[/quote]

Scott McDonald was never as good as hoops. He scored a fair amount of goals but that''s it. His work rate, touch, movement was terrible.

I think Hooper is the real deal, I hope he sees sense and signs for u guys.[/quote]In retrospect that''s the opinion. But what opinions were being expressed at the time?And further, what opinions will be expressed about Hooper in a few years time.This is my exact point.

[Webbo118 0]

[quote user="Paul_CFC"][quote user="Webbo118"]

Hooper did well for Scunny and has done well at Celtic, that leaves him completely unproven at (close to) premiership level.

 

Perhaps you could let us all know what the other GH achieved in the Premiership before he joined us.

[/quote]

Done well in the Champions League which is higher than most EPL teams.

Was injured for the home games against Benfica & Barcelona.
Played well in the Nou Camp where we lost a last minute goal to lose 2-1.
Scored home and away against Spartak Moscow.


[/quote]

 

The other GH being Grant Holt.