£5.2m for Hooper

[Juggy 0]

May turn out to be the steal of the season.

At around the time Danny Graham moved to Sunderland for £5m we had people calling for him to be signed.

And to think some people wanted Malky Mackay as manager, a man who spends £8m on a striker for a newly promoted team and then comes out and says of his gross waste of money:

"He is here for the long-term. It''s about him developing his awareness with the first-team"

Well if his £8m striker is here for the "long term", then Cardiff are going to have the joint most expensive striker in the Championship if Jordan Rhodes doesn''t move on. Is it any wonder that Malky is going to get squeezed out, why on earth would you squander your clubs chances of survival by spending £8m on a 20 year old and then making this excuse in December:

"he was never going to be ready to hit the ground running"

+

"We paid a club record but £8million is not a lot for a striker in the Premier League"

+

"A striker who is ready to hit the ground running, like Roberto Soldado, would cost more than £20million."

Ask Lambert whether Kozak''s 3 in 10, or Hughton whether Hoopers 4 in 11 required a £20m spend.

It doesn''t look like Dwight Gayle is going to be the new Ian Wright either does it.

If there is any evidence that Hughton is the right man for this club it is the simple fact that we have signed both the best value striker of the season, and the best value centre midfielder of the season, and arguably in Redmond the best value kid of the season.

Malky? No thanks.

[Tetteys Jig 851]

I have to say, our buys are looking good now. There''s still RVW to convince though.

Is this all at the expense of perfectly good alternatives though?

Holt was still good last season and i think still would have been this year and Garrido has been more than capable whenever he played last season.

It''s great to see Hooper is getting going though, looks like this gamble is paying off.

[Juggy 0]

Grant Holt is shot and Olsson is part of a much needed injection of pace into our team (along with Redmond, Murphy, Fer and Hooper).

RVW is a quality player and will come good. If he doesn''t then it probably won''t matter. We relied on one striker last season and if we rely on one striker this season then so be it, but I think RVW will show himself to be at least decent, not sure about the next Van Persie though...... Van Persie always had strength and aggression, RVW seems to lack a bit of physicality.

[MancCanary 0]

I''m not sure Jimmy. I don''t think Holty would''ve scored from all of the chances Hooper has scored from so far. He wasn''t the most clinical god bless him, and whilst he would''ve perhaps created more scoring opportunities for himself over the season, and won us more free kicks in dangerous places, I think he would''ve missed a few of the chances Hooper scored. Hooper just looks like he doesn''t need more than a chance or 2 to put it away.

BUT..

I think Holty would''ve been the perfect partner for Hoops or RVW. Trouble is, he didn''t want to be here, so that''s that.

I''d also disagree about Garrido, I thought he generally looked slow and not up to prem standard. Decent backup though.

[BigFish 2,283]

[quote user="Jimmy Smith"] Holt was still good last season and i think still would have been this year [/quote]

Not really pulling up any trees in the Champs, is he Jimmy?

[Juggy 0]

Holt has 2 in 19 this season in all competitions.

McNally was right all along to say that he was too old for a three year deal.

Rosler has got to Wigan and done a Lambert style rally, talking Holt up to motivate him, but he also said that he needed to work on his fitness and was only willing to play him for 60 minutes due to his fitness in his first game.

So he is 32 and halfway through the season after 18 appearances he is unfit. In other words, he needs to lose some weight.

He will be retired or playing in League One within a year, he is shot.

[KeelansGlove 0]

I don''t think there are many that would question the quality of our signings this summer just our managers ability to get the best out of them, things are looking up on that front although maybe the jury is still out.

If Hughton can take all the credit for the signings then maybe if we were to change managers in the future we should keep him as chief scout or director of football.

[Green and Yellow fellow 0]

You''re forgetting the £4.5m we spent on Fer compared to the 11m they spent on Medal

[Redders Right Foot 22]

The combined 8m spent on Fer and Redmond will be hard for anyone to beat.

[Tetteys Jig 851]

I agree the signings are excellent. Holt for me is there having a last payday now. His heart isn''t in it. I think as soon as he never got a look in at Euro 2012, he''s not been the same. I do think he''d have been more useful to us this season than he''s shown at Wigan though.

As for Garrido, I of course am a fan of Olsson, but Garrido is a perfectly good player himself and is too good to simply be back up.

Fer is easily my favourite buy of the season so far for us. He bosses games like nobody has for us since Gary Holt and Damien Francis.

[The Great Wall Of Tettey 0]

The transition for hooper from Scottish to English football is a much smaller gap in terms of style of football than RvW and I feel pretty sorry for the guy. He''s been carrying an Injury and was asked to play upfront by himself when we pretty much isolated the striker. Think his Everton header proved his finishing ability and i can''t wait t see him cutting defences with hooper! Think they will work well together, and aslong as they make chances they will prove a pretty deadly strike force

[Tetteys Jig 851]

I think he got injured at such a bad time too, he''d just had 2 assists and was starting to connect with the other players a bit better. I really want to see him line up with Hooper at some point soon. They could be our SAS!

[ricardo 8,034]

At the time we missed out on him in January I wasn''t too miffed as I was unsure if he would cut it in the Prem. I freely admit that I was wrong and the powers that be were right. If we only paid £5.2 million then we have got a real bargain.

[The Great Mass Debater 1,202]

Whether you are a Hughton inner or outer I dont think anyone questions just how good his signings have been. Olsson, superb so far (hope he can keep this level up), Bassong (superb last season - where he''s gone this season who knows, but top player when at his best), Fer, undoubted class, getting better with every game, Hooper - beginning to get a chance to show what he can do. The goals he has scored have been real quality in their composure and execution. Redmond, has potential to be absolutely sensational. Think what remains to be seen is whether Chris Hughton is the man to get them playing well because many of these players have underperformed. But the buys have been superb, and the money paid for them great business. The doubt in Hughton perhaps came because they were such great buys but seemed to be underperforming. Hopefully the improvements will continue. Been so impressed with Hooper when he has been given the chances - the sticking point being whether the team can provide these chances for him. He is a goalscorer no doubt, and showing it at this level now. You feel when the ball comes to him he wont fluff it. Hope RvW can find a few goals as well