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IrishCelt67

Congrats on signing Hooper

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Was away enjoying the Italian sunshine last week so was unable to post and wish you/him the best for the new season. An excellent signing and a player I really liked at Celtic. Could be a lazy sod at times but part of that was down to the lack of competitiveness of the SPL. Guy has a cracking touch and a goalscorer''s instinct. He''ll score goals for you. On the other side, delighted to see that Celtic stood their ground and got good money. Many posters here seem to laud this McNally chap as some kind of ace negotiator. I think it''s fair to say he''s been somewhat outdone by Celtic''s Peter Lawwell on this deal - Norwich eventually just had to step up and pay the bill. A good deal all round really as he was not going to sign a new deal with us. Enjoy the new season. Hope to see Hooper vindicate the hype over the last few months. P.S. I''ll resist the urge to bump the posts from a few months back claiming Celtic would be begging for £2-3m or that he''s not good enough for you anyway. ;-) Hindsight is a great thing.

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[quote user="IrishCelt67"]Was away enjoying the Italian sunshine last week so was unable to post and wish you/him the best for the new season. An excellent signing and a player I really liked at Celtic. Could be a lazy sod at times but part of that was down to the lack of competitiveness of the SPL. Guy has a cracking touch and a goalscorer''s instinct. He''ll score goals for you. On the other side, delighted to see that Celtic stood their ground and got good money. Many posters here seem to laud this McNally chap as some kind of ace negotiator. I think it''s fair to say he''s been somewhat outdone by Celtic''s Peter Lawwell on this deal - Norwich eventually just had to step up and pay the bill. A good deal all round really as he was not going to sign a new deal with us. Enjoy the new season. Hope to see Hooper vindicate the hype over the last few months. P.S. I''ll resist the urge to bump the posts from a few months back claiming Celtic would be begging for £2-3m or that he''s not good enough for you anyway. ;-) Hindsight is a great thing. [/quote]Cheers Irish Celt67, such a very sweet and at the same time slightly sour post......................understandably so to be fair.

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Difficult to see how a buying party can be truly "beaten" in a deal like this as, ultimately, we did not have to go ahead with any deal unless we were happy with the price. If it was considered too much, we would not have paid.

The only exception to this is where the buying party has very obviously overpaid, e.g. Torres and Carroll.

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[quote user="IrishCelt67"]Was away enjoying the Italian sunshine last week so was unable to post and wish you/him the best for the new season. An excellent signing and a player I really liked at Celtic. Could be a lazy sod at times but part of that was down to the lack of competitiveness of the SPL. Guy has a cracking touch and a goalscorer''s instinct. He''ll score goals for you. On the other side, delighted to see that Celtic stood their ground and got good money. Many posters here seem to laud this McNally chap as some kind of ace negotiator. I think it''s fair to say he''s been somewhat outdone by Celtic''s Peter Lawwell on this deal - Norwich eventually just had to step up and pay the bill. A good deal all round really as he was not going to sign a new deal with us. Enjoy the new season. Hope to see Hooper vindicate the hype over the last few months. P.S. I''ll resist the urge to bump the posts from a few months back claiming Celtic would be begging for £2-3m or that he''s not good enough for you anyway. ;-) Hindsight is a great thing. [/quote]
Thanks for the good wishes, fond of Celtic myself (and not because of the friendlies).
You are missing the point with McNally though, which is not that he got the better of your guy, but rather that he did a job on QPR. 
What he has managed to do is avoid a bidding war with QPR. We were quoted a price of £5m for QPR, we refused to pay it (our last offer was £4m).
If we had agreed to pay £5m then all that would have happened is that Redknapp would have come in with £5.5m, then the price for us would have been £6m, and so on and so forth.
What McNally has done has feigned a complete lack of interest, allowed QPR to have an offer of £5m accepted, let them sit down and talk with Hooper, and then come in at £5.2m at the last minute to hijack the deal a couple of days after Redknapp pretty much announced that it was a done deal.
McNally has done a job on QPR by letting them do the hard work and to determine the price, instead of getting involved in a silly little war which would have seen the price get silly. You lot would of course have wanted to play both clubs against eachother. They didn''t get that option. So McNally has done excellently for that reason. 
£5.2m is a great price for a player with one year on his deal (from your perspective), but it is also a good price from our point of view when competing against a club who paid £12m for Chris Samba and £8m for Loic Remy last January.

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[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Difficult to see how a buying party can be truly "beaten" in a deal like this as, ultimately, we did not have to go ahead with any deal unless we were happy with the price. If it was considered too much, we would not have paid.

The only exception to this is where the buying party has very obviously overpaid, e.g. Torres and Carroll.[/quote]

 

No. McNally doesn''t come out of this badly, but a few posters were trying to perpetuate the idea of him as this genius poker-playing negotiator who had pulled off another bargain coup and saved us millions. As the Celtic fan says, we ended up paying a fair price. In that sense the Celtic CEO (who knew they couldn''t hold on to Hooper) got what he wanted. We got what we wanted (Hooper) but not at the price we were trying for. We had to pay the going rate.As to the post from The New Boy claiming we somehow outfoxed QPR, that is nonsense. Hooper had not intention of going to QPR, even though they offered him more money. He was determined to move to the Premier League and all parties knew that. There was never a serious chance of a bidding war with QPR pushing up the price beyond the very reasonable £5m or so. What might have done that was a bidding war with another PL club, but luckily no one stayed in the race.

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Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.

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[quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Difficult to see how a buying party can be truly "beaten" in a deal like this as, ultimately, we did not have to go ahead with any deal unless we were happy with the price. If it was considered too much, we would not have paid.

The only exception to this is where the buying party has very obviously overpaid, e.g. Torres and Carroll.[/quote]

As to the post from The New Boy claiming we somehow outfoxed QPR, that is nonsense. Hooper had not intention of going to QPR, even though they offered him more money. 

[/quote]
At one point they were the only option open to him. If he was 100% unopen to moving to QPR he wouldn''t have gone down to QPR, discussed terms with Redknapp, and left with Harry having the impression that the deal was as good as done.
He may well have been desperate for Norwich to reenter with an offer, but that offer wasn''t on the table at the time and if we hadn''t have come in then he''d probably be a QPR player right now. The situation was nowhere near as clear cut as you are making out. 

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And to add to that, you have no reason to assert as fact what Hooper''s intentions were or were not, nor what QPR were offering relative to us.

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Whatever you think about QPR Nd hooper, McNally has done an outstanding job to pinch him under their noses. Yes we''ve paid a fair price but if someone else''s interested in a player that''s unavoidable

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Fail to see how Celtic got the better of us here, they spunked £3m down the toilet just to lose a cup game that they would have lost anyway and to win a league that they would have won anyway.

Yeah, that sure showed us.

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[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.[/quote]

 

Sorry, Alan, it wasn''t at all clear. It was meant to be"No"  meaning "No, you''re right, I agree, but just to add..."

 

 

As to what was in Hooper''s mind about wanting to play in the PL and what QPR were offering I am going on this interview from Lennon, someone with no reason to spin the situation either way:

Lennon admitted he knew during pre-season in Germany that Hooper was desperate to go to England. And the striker opted for a move to the top flight despite being offered more money by Championship side QPR. “His ambition is to break into the England squad and he has an opportunity to play in the Premier League and maybe be more in touch with the England manager now."

 

 

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Still pretty sure we paid about 3 million less and only missed out on having him for 15 games or so... Sounds a good deal to me.

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[quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.[/quote]

 

Sorry, Alan, it wasn''t at all clear. It was meant to be"No"  meaning "No, you''re right, I agree, but just to add..."

 

 

As to what was in Hooper''s mind about wanting to play in the PL and what QPR were offering I am going on this interview from Lennon, someone with no reason to spin the situation either way:

Lennon admitted he knew during pre-season in Germany that Hooper was desperate to go to England. And the striker opted for a move to the top flight despite being offered more money by Championship side QPR. “His ambition is to break into the England squad and he has an opportunity to play in the Premier League and maybe be more in touch with the England manager now."

[/quote]
Nobody is disputing the fact that he chose us over QPR because we are a Premier League club.
We are disputing your assertion that Hooper never had any intention of joining QPR and wouldn''t have joined QPR if no Premier League club (in other words, us) came in for him at the last minute.
Hooper went to talk to QPR because it was the only offer on the table at the time, I''m not sure what part of this you are attempting to dispute or don''t understand.

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[quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.[/quote]

 

Sorry, Alan, it wasn''t at all clear. It was meant to be"No"  meaning "No, you''re right, I agree, but just to add..."

 

 

As to what was in Hooper''s mind about wanting to play in the PL and what QPR were offering I am going on this interview from Lennon, someone with no reason to spin the situation either way:

Lennon admitted he knew during pre-season in Germany that Hooper was desperate to go to England. And the striker opted for a move to the top flight despite being offered more money by Championship side QPR. “His ambition is to break into the England squad and he has an opportunity to play in the Premier League and maybe be more in touch with the England manager now."

 

 

[/quote]

Cheers for clarifying that :)

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[quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.[/quote]

 

Sorry, Alan, it wasn''t at all clear. It was meant to be"No"  meaning "No, you''re right, I agree, but just to add..."

 

 

As to what was in Hooper''s mind about wanting to play in the PL and what QPR were offering I am going on this interview from Lennon, someone with no reason to spin the situation either way:

Lennon admitted he knew during pre-season in Germany that Hooper was desperate to go to England. And the striker opted for a move to the top flight despite being offered more money by Championship side QPR. “His ambition is to break into the England squad and he has an opportunity to play in the Premier League and maybe be more in touch with the England manager now."

[/quote]
Nobody is disputing the fact that he chose us over QPR because we are a Premier League club.
We are disputing your assertion that Hooper never had any intention of joining QPR and wouldn''t have joined QPR if no Premier League club (in other words, us) came in for him at the last minute.
Hooper went to talk to QPR because it was the only offer on the table at the time, I''m not sure what part of this you are attempting to dispute or don''t understand.

[/quote]

 

What I am disputing is your idea that we picked him up for a bargain price.. We didn''t. As to whether he might have gone to QPR if we hadn''t shown an interest, who knows. Entirely hypothetical.But if you want to argue that he actually might have, then I would throw Bethnal''s argument at you, which is that we were playing for time until the price dropped  but suddenly realised Hooper might choose QPR and so were forced to bid earlier - and higher - than we had hoped to.To be clear, I am not anti-McNally but he is not always pulling off acts of genius. If you want an example of where he has really earned his money summer I would suggest it is not the Hooper deal but persuading Leroy Fer to come to Carrow Road, and for less than £5m. That looks more like genius to me.

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I think there''s always more scope for punching above your weight, or pulling off a coup, where it''s the player who needs convincing and not where the biggest hurdle is the fee to be paid, which will more often than not be relatively easy for the selling club to keep a grip on.

Having said that.... Nathan Redmond for a fee apparently rising to £3.2 million? Considering the transfer market rates for young English players, he won''t have to turn out to be that good before we can comfortably call that a bargain!

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Actually, I think McNally did do a fair job on this deal. He may not have got one over on Celtic per se but he did a far better job than his Celtic counterpart.

Celtic demanded too much for him in January. If rumours at that time were to be believed we had bid up to and around £7-8million right up to the last hour in the transfer window with a private jet on standby.

Two things then happened. Hooper knew there was firm Premiership interest in him, whether he moved in January or the summer wasn''t going to be a massive issue to him.

Celtic decided to keep him, but for what end? With only a couple of months left before the close season. By holding on to him they effectively lost out on £2-3million.

Then they played a rather questionable game at the beginning of this transfer window. First denying that he was available at all, then Lennon announcing that the player might leave. It appears to me that they were still battling to keep the player.

They had already rejected whatever offer it was we had put in by that point, which was rumoured to be £4million plus a player.

QPR then stepped in and did the leg work.

From my position it looks like Celtic were trying to stoke up a bidding war, we backed out and then swooped back in when all but his signature was needed to complete.

Do I think it was a fair price - yes. Do I think Celtic wanted more for him - yes.

So it very much depends on how you look at it.

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[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.[/quote]

 

Sorry, Alan, it wasn''t at all clear. It was meant to be"No"  meaning "No, you''re right, I agree, but just to add..."

As to what was in Hooper''s mind about wanting to play in the PL and what QPR were offering I am going on this interview from Lennon, someone with no reason to spin the situation either way:

Lennon admitted he knew during pre-season in Germany that Hooper was desperate to go to England. And the striker opted for a move to the top flight despite being offered more money by Championship side QPR. “His ambition is to break into the England squad and he has an opportunity to play in the Premier League and maybe be more in touch with the England manager now."

[/quote]
Nobody is disputing the fact that he chose us over QPR because we are a Premier League club.
We are disputing your assertion that Hooper never had any intention of joining QPR and wouldn''t have joined QPR if no Premier League club (in other words, us) came in for him at the last minute.
Hooper went to talk to QPR because it was the only offer on the table at the time, I''m not sure what part of this you are attempting to dispute or don''t understand.

[/quote]

What I am disputing is your idea that we picked him up for a bargain price.. We didn''t. As to whether he might have gone to QPR if we hadn''t shown an interest, who knows. Entirely hypothetical.But if you want to argue that he actually might have, then I would throw Bethnal''s argument at you, which is that we were playing for time until the price dropped  but suddenly realised Hooper might choose QPR and so were forced to bid earlier - and higher - than we had hoped to.To be clear, I am not anti-McNally but he is not always pulling off acts of genius. If you want an example of where he has really earned his money summer I would suggest it is not the Hooper deal but persuading Leroy Fer to come to Carrow Road, and for less than £5m. That looks more like genius to me.

[/quote]
Well for arguments sake, I think the price was about right for a player of his ability and the length of his Celtic contract, in a market where Jordan Rhodes goes for £8m and Jay Rodriquez £7m. We haven''t really paid over or under the odds for him, probably the market rate. 
Perhaps Bethnal''s argument has some credibility, but your argument and his is no more hypothetical than mine. I could for example offer an alternative twist, which is that we didn''t meet Celtic''s £5m asking price initially because he was our second choice and not first. We have no idea really, do we?
I''m by no means claiming McNally to be a ''genius'' and some of the pandering that people do is a little cringeworthy, he is a very capable football CEO who is likely remunerated very well in accordance with his abilities. He is only human and probably makes some mistakes. No big ones yet, but I can think of a few:
1. The copyright claim over a few casks of local ale.
2. Pricing a midweek league cup game at £35. 
3. Being far too heavyhanded over a kid who stumbled across a kit design on the official website, despite this clearly being an internal issue rather than an external one.
But at the same time, I enjoy praising McNally, because he has played an imperative role in our rise in status and continues to do so. He is actively encouraging the signing of players who will take us to the next level, his ambition and drive is invaluable, he well justifies his continued employment and his salary. If anything he should praised for the transfer window as a whole, one in which we have been very proactive in seeking out and signing players which have the potential to drastically improve our performance on the pitch. 
I suspect that we probably think along similar lines. 

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[quote user="chicken"] From my position it looks like Celtic were trying to stoke up a bidding war, we backed out and then swooped back in when all but his signature was needed to complete.

Do I think it was a fair price - yes. Do I think Celtic wanted more for him - yes.

So it very much depends on how you look at it.[/quote]
Exactly, pretty much this. QPR have shown their willingness to pay well over the odds for players in the past and probably would have done again. 
We avoided a bidding war, whether it was by design we won''t know, but it would have been easy for the price to creep up a million or two if two parties were seen to be fighting it out for his signature.

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Certainly £5 million looks good business when you consider the prices of Jay Rodriguez and Jordan Rhodes, but when several clubs are interested you can''t really drive the price down. Given Hooper played in the Champions League, and Rhodes hasn''t played top-flight football, it looks a snip.But as Purple points out, McNally''s masterstroke has been convincing RVW and Fer that we''re an ambitious up-and-coming club that they want to play for. He''s not a genius, he''s a hard-nosed ruthless businessman, who gets it right most of the time.

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[quote user="The New Boy"]
I''m by no means claiming McNally to be a ''genius'' and some of the pandering that people do is a little cringeworthy, he is a very capable football CEO who is likely remunerated very well in accordance with his abilities. He is only human and probably makes some mistakes. No big ones yet, but I can think of a few:
1. The copyright claim over a few casks of local ale.
2. Pricing a midweek league cup game at £35. 
3. Being far too heavyhanded over a kid who stumbled across a kit design on the official website, despite this clearly being an internal issue rather than an external one.
But at the same time, I enjoy praising McNally, because he has played an imperative role in our rise in status and continues to do so. He is actively encouraging the signing of players who will take us to the next level, his ambition and drive is invaluable, he well justifies his continued employment and his salary. If anything he should praised for the transfer window as a whole, one in which we have been very proactive in seeking out and signing players which have the potential to drastically improve our performance on the pitch. 
I suspect that we probably think along similar lines. 

[/quote]

Yes, I think the above is fair. Let''s leave it at that.

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It''s totally subjective to say that Celtic got the price they wanted. They would have ideally liked what was floating around in Jan, but of course that wasn''t going to happen. They were in grave danger of having a player on their hands who wanted to go and play in the PL ( that we know) and who knew people were interested in.

Celtic got the price that a Club was happy to pay, no more.

IrishCelt- I would be intrigued to here your views on the Southampton CEO and the Wanyama money, if you felt you had done a job on McNally.

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Nice one IrishCelt. It seems to me that the most reasonable body of opinion on both sides was that it was a fair price for a fair player... eventually. All''s well that ends well, despite sour grapes from sections of both clubs'' support at various times throughout this dental extraction. If both clubs truly think they''ve ''got one over'' on the other club it must be happy times.

 

Reading the ding-dong that is the relevant BBC article''s comments, peppered by many sensible assessments and mutual good will, there''s an amount of self-satisfied triumphalism and outraged pride going around. Norwich fans who can''t think of anything better to say than to scorn the relative the lack of quality in your club''s SPL opposition, Celtic fans saying much the same about our club specifically. You also experienced some of this rancour on here. Personally I feel this is all an excellent reason to continue with some fruity friendlies, and hopefully in the long term for Norwich to aim to contend with the available European qualifying places, and test our mettle in real competition one day! "On the Hail, City!" etc.

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[quote user="IrishCelt67"]Was away enjoying the Italian sunshine last week so was unable to post and wish you/him the best for the new season. An excellent signing and a player I really liked at Celtic. Could be a lazy sod at times but part of that was down to the lack of competitiveness of the SPL. Guy has a cracking touch and a goalscorer''s instinct. He''ll score goals for you. On the other side, delighted to see that Celtic stood their ground and got good money. Many posters here seem to laud this McNally chap as some kind of ace negotiator. I think it''s fair to say he''s been somewhat outdone by Celtic''s Peter Lawwell on this deal - Norwich eventually just had to step up and pay the bill. A good deal all round really as he was not going to sign a new deal with us. Enjoy the new season. Hope to see Hooper vindicate the hype over the last few months. P.S. I''ll resist the urge to bump the posts from a few months back claiming Celtic would be begging for £2-3m or that he''s not good enough for you anyway. ;-) Hindsight is a great thing. [/quote]

cheers... the lure of playing for a bigger club against world class opposition was what did it....

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[quote user="IrishCelt67"]Was away enjoying the Italian sunshine last week so was unable to post and wish you/him the best for the new season.

An excellent signing and a player I really liked at Celtic. Could be a lazy sod at times but part of that was down to the lack of competitiveness of the SPL. Guy has a cracking touch and a goalscorer''s instinct. He''ll score goals for you.

On the other side, delighted to see that Celtic stood their ground and got good money. Many posters here seem to laud this McNally chap as some kind of ace negotiator. I think it''s fair to say he''s been somewhat outdone by Celtic''s Peter Lawwell on this deal - Norwich eventually just had to step up and pay the bill. A good deal all round really as he was not going to sign a new deal with us.

Enjoy the new season. Hope to see Hooper vindicate the hype over the last few months.

P.S. I''ll resist the urge to bump the posts from a few months back claiming Celtic would be begging for £2-3m or that he''s not good enough for you anyway. ;-) Hindsight is a great thing.
[/quote]

 

Thanks IrishCelt, in return I''d like to congratulate you on winning the 2013-14 SPL title.

 

 

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[quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.[/quote]

 

Sorry, Alan, it wasn''t at all clear. It was meant to be"No"  meaning "No, you''re right, I agree, but just to add..."

As to what was in Hooper''s mind about wanting to play in the PL and what QPR were offering I am going on this interview from Lennon, someone with no reason to spin the situation either way:

Lennon admitted he knew during pre-season in Germany that Hooper was desperate to go to England. And the striker opted for a move to the top flight despite being offered more money by Championship side QPR. “His ambition is to break into the England squad and he has an opportunity to play in the Premier League and maybe be more in touch with the England manager now."

[/quote]
Nobody is disputing the fact that he chose us over QPR because we are a Premier League club.
We are disputing your assertion that Hooper never had any intention of joining QPR and wouldn''t have joined QPR if no Premier League club (in other words, us) came in for him at the last minute.
Hooper went to talk to QPR because it was the only offer on the table at the time, I''m not sure what part of this you are attempting to dispute or don''t understand.

[/quote]

What I am disputing is your idea that we picked him up for a bargain price.. We didn''t. As to whether he might have gone to QPR if we hadn''t shown an interest, who knows. Entirely hypothetical.But if you want to argue that he actually might have, then I would throw Bethnal''s argument at you, which is that we were playing for time until the price dropped  but suddenly realised Hooper might choose QPR and so were forced to bid earlier - and higher - than we had hoped to.To be clear, I am not anti-McNally but he is not always pulling off acts of genius. If you want an example of where he has really earned his money summer I would suggest it is not the Hooper deal but persuading Leroy Fer to come to Carrow Road, and for less than £5m. That looks more like genius to me.

[/quote]
Well for arguments sake, I think the price was about right for a player of his ability and the length of his Celtic contract, in a market where Jordan Rhodes goes for £8m and Jay Rodriquez £7m. We haven''t really paid over or under the odds for him, probably the market rate. 
Perhaps Bethnal''s argument has some credibility, but your argument and his is no more hypothetical than mine. I could for example offer an alternative twist, which is that we didn''t meet Celtic''s £5m asking price initially because he was our second choice and not first. We have no idea really, do we?
I''m by no means claiming McNally to be a ''genius'' and some of the pandering that people do is a little cringeworthy, he is a very capable football CEO who is likely remunerated very well in accordance with his abilities. He is only human and probably makes some mistakes. No big ones yet, but I can think of a few:
1. The copyright claim over a few casks of local ale.
2. Pricing a midweek league cup game at £35. 
3. Being far too heavyhanded over a kid who stumbled across a kit design on the official website, despite this clearly being an internal issue rather than an external one.
But at the same time, I enjoy praising McNally, because he has played an imperative role in our rise in status and continues to do so. He is actively encouraging the signing of players who will take us to the next level, his ambition and drive is invaluable, he well justifies his continued employment and his salary. If anything he should praised for the transfer window as a whole, one in which we have been very proactive in seeking out and signing players which have the potential to drastically improve our performance on the pitch. 
I suspect that we probably think along similar lines. 

[/quote]

I think it is also worth mentioning the work that Ewan Chester is doing behind the scenes. As the Chief Scout he must be the one doing all the initial legwork in spotting not only talented players but identifying those who might be persuaded to come to Carrow Road. I guess McNally swings into action only after Chester has prepared the groundwork.

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[quote user="Rock The Boat"][quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="The New Boy"][quote user="PurpleCanary"]

[quote user="Alan_Grey"]Nothing you''ve said there contradicts anything I said, PurpleCanary, so I don''t know what the "no" was about.[/quote]

 

Sorry, Alan, it wasn''t at all clear. It was meant to be"No"  meaning "No, you''re right, I agree, but just to add..."

As to what was in Hooper''s mind about wanting to play in the PL and what QPR were offering I am going on this interview from Lennon, someone with no reason to spin the situation either way:

Lennon admitted he knew during pre-season in Germany that Hooper was desperate to go to England. And the striker opted for a move to the top flight despite being offered more money by Championship side QPR. “His ambition is to break into the England squad and he has an opportunity to play in the Premier League and maybe be more in touch with the England manager now."

[/quote]
Nobody is disputing the fact that he chose us over QPR because we are a Premier League club.
We are disputing your assertion that Hooper never had any intention of joining QPR and wouldn''t have joined QPR if no Premier League club (in other words, us) came in for him at the last minute.
Hooper went to talk to QPR because it was the only offer on the table at the time, I''m not sure what part of this you are attempting to dispute or don''t understand.

[/quote]

What I am disputing is your idea that we picked him up for a bargain price.. We didn''t. As to whether he might have gone to QPR if we hadn''t shown an interest, who knows. Entirely hypothetical.But if you want to argue that he actually might have, then I would throw Bethnal''s argument at you, which is that we were playing for time until the price dropped  but suddenly realised Hooper might choose QPR and so were forced to bid earlier - and higher - than we had hoped to.To be clear, I am not anti-McNally but he is not always pulling off acts of genius. If you want an example of where he has really earned his money summer I would suggest it is not the Hooper deal but persuading Leroy Fer to come to Carrow Road, and for less than £5m. That looks more like genius to me.

[/quote]
Well for arguments sake, I think the price was about right for a player of his ability and the length of his Celtic contract, in a market where Jordan Rhodes goes for £8m and Jay Rodriquez £7m. We haven''t really paid over or under the odds for him, probably the market rate. 
Perhaps Bethnal''s argument has some credibility, but your argument and his is no more hypothetical than mine. I could for example offer an alternative twist, which is that we didn''t meet Celtic''s £5m asking price initially because he was our second choice and not first. We have no idea really, do we?
I''m by no means claiming McNally to be a ''genius'' and some of the pandering that people do is a little cringeworthy, he is a very capable football CEO who is likely remunerated very well in accordance with his abilities. He is only human and probably makes some mistakes. No big ones yet, but I can think of a few:
1. The copyright claim over a few casks of local ale.
2. Pricing a midweek league cup game at £35. 
3. Being far too heavyhanded over a kid who stumbled across a kit design on the official website, despite this clearly being an internal issue rather than an external one.
But at the same time, I enjoy praising McNally, because he has played an imperative role in our rise in status and continues to do so. He is actively encouraging the signing of players who will take us to the next level, his ambition and drive is invaluable, he well justifies his continued employment and his salary. If anything he should praised for the transfer window as a whole, one in which we have been very proactive in seeking out and signing players which have the potential to drastically improve our performance on the pitch. 
I suspect that we probably think along similar lines. 

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I think it is also worth mentioning the work that Ewan Chester is doing behind the scenes. As the Chief Scout he must be the one doing all the initial legwork in spotting not only talented players but identifying those who might be persuaded to come to Carrow Road. I guess McNally swings into action only after Chester has prepared the groundwork.

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I have done, on some other thread, but he is probably earning his money just as much as is McNally this summer. The only worry is whether we are having to be too generous with wages to attract some of these players, but if the reports are true that Hooper would have got more with QPR then perhaps not.

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[quote user="PurpleCanary"]

But if you want to argue that he actually might have, then I would throw Bethnal''s argument at you, which is that we were playing for time until the price dropped  but suddenly realised Hooper might choose QPR and so were forced to bid earlier - and higher - than we had hoped to.

[/quote]

I think thats  a reasonable argument.

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[quote user="PurpleCanary"]

..... If you want an example of where he [McNally] has really earned his money summer I would suggest it is not the Hooper deal but persuading Leroy Fer to come to Carrow Road, and for less than £5m. That looks more like genius to me.

[/quote]

Signing Fer was a good bit of business.

However I was under the impression that the basic fee was £4.2m and there is £2.5m of add ons.

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