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Muffles

Grabban or Hooper

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With the return to fitness of Hooper, and assuming he can find the form we know he''s capable of, would you continue with Grabban partnering Jerome (who, let''s face, is a must have)?

For me, I''d go with Hooper, I felt last season he needed a decent strike partner and this season alongside Jerome I think we could have a really deadly strike force.

Lafferty looks OK, creates problems for defences and Grabban, while he''s scored several already always looks lacking a little something, especially missing more than he''s scored - a decent ''third'' striker, but not up to the class of Hooper or Jerome... what''s the feeling out there?

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[quote user="Muffles"]With the return to fitness of Hooper, and assuming he can find the form we know he''s capable of, would you continue with Grabban partnering Jerome (who, let''s face, is a must have)?

For me, I''d go with Hooper, I felt last season he needed a decent strike partner and this season alongside Jerome I think we could have a really deadly strike force.

Lafferty looks OK, creates problems for defences and Grabban, while he''s scored several already always looks lacking a little something, especially missing more than he''s scored - a decent ''third'' striker, but not up to the class of Hooper or Jerome... what''s the feeling out there?[/quote]Hooper has to play his way into the team yet, and is only just coming back to fitness.I find it a bit hard to criticise Grabban, given the goals he has scored so far.Its a long season though, its nice to have options.

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^^^^^^^ what he said

How on earth can anyone say they would go with Hoops without him kicking a ball this season v a striker who hit the ground running.

Hoops will score plenty this season I''m sure, we didnt see enough of him last season to be able to have a proper opinion due to the well documented issues with the team shape etc etc

I have faith in NA to rotate as and when required

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Remarkably, I find myself agreeing with Morty although to be fair it is a “no brainer”. It will be interesting to see how Hooper performs tonight. I wonder if Adams will play Grabban alongside him. It would also be valid to try 20/30 minutes of Hooper and Jerome together but the risk of injury could be prohibitive.

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A difficult one - see how well Hooper does at Shrewsbury, before making a decision. I was very impressed by Grabban''s scoring early on, but more recently I have become concerned about a lack of clinical finishing and poor touch. In Grabban''s favour is the work he gets through, and the ability to run with the ball.

If Hooper can demonstrate that he can finish very clinically, something he couldn''t show last year because of poor service, then he must be worth a little run.

Currently, however, Jerome seems streets ahead of any other of our strikers.

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Hooper is a much more polished forward, with better decision making and first touch. He is clinical in comparison.

However I expect grabban to continue, hooper will come on as sub and work his way back in, grabban has scored and made- meal of some of them and missed chances that in the league above you only get once a game and have to take. But we are in the champ and he is doing well. I do expect hooper to reclaim that position but if grabban gets scoring again then it will be hard.

I do think we need to take note of the Bournemouth fans who said that he does go in and out of form and is a confidence player. He will dip in and out. Over the course of the season we have depth and I also think the cream will rise to the top. Hooper will be our number one choice at the end of the season.

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Although Grabban has gone off the boil since Jerome has come into form.

Agree with Morty, nice to have problems fitting in players who can do a job, long old season and I''m pretty sure the front two will change a few times through form & injury.

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[quote user="thegali"]I would like to see Lafferty and Hooper up front for tonights game. [/quote]

This. No need to risk Jerome. Sure he''s red hot and would probably win us the game, but equally, he could get crocked by a cr*p challenge or something. We need him for league games and Hooper needs game time.

Lafferty has done absolutely nothing wrong and would probably have scored plenty as well if he had been playing where Grabban was at the start of the season, so would like to see him given a central role.

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I think Hooper and Grabban are quite similar in standings, but I suspect Hoopers performances will be more evenly balanced throughout the season with regards to goalscoring. Grabban seem to be more on/off.

As for the Shrews game tonight, it is a perfect opportunity to give Lafferty some confidence, and let him start up top, and see if he can get a goal or two.

Loza should be in for some game time as well.

Grabban and Cameron are pretty sure to be rested, as Hopper, Laffs, Loza are more than enough up front.

Josh Murphy, E Bennett, and Jacob Murphy, Howson and VOO will also play.

Miquel sure to start alongside Cuellar, I suspect.

Garrido and Whitts the fullbacks.

Rudd in goal.

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[quote user="Cheap Cheap Canaries"]Hooper is a class and more above Grabban , its a no brainer you start your best striker every match when fit and thats Hooper .[/quote]

To tell the truth we have seen no real evidence here that Hooper is all you lot crack him up to be. Grabban and him look very much on a par except Hooper has the great PU advantage of getting better and better the less he plays. As for Grabban''s dip in form, really?

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Depends on the formation Neil goes with if 4231 Grabbs can play wide Hooper cannot. If 442 Try Hooper and Jerome most probably if chasing the game Hoops to be on bench until proves fitness/ability.

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haha this is an easy debate, i used to be a fan of hooper but-

hooper- 5(?) goals in the premiership and cant score against shrewsbury

or grabban - scores for fun, paid a lot less.

simple math(s)

sell hooper.

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First and foremost, Hooper needs to show he deserves a place, something he most certainly didn''t do tonight - Grabbs has done nothing wrong and should keep his place until that is otherwise. Such a surprise to see cheapshot thinking the opposite to what makes most sense...

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hooper is rubbish!!!! nothing but a short fat goal hanger who wants it on a plate, i havent seen anything in his time here to suggest any different and  it will be a huge injury crisis before we see this waste of space in the team again.

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Well tonight answers that question. Hooper needs to get on the treadmill and get match fit, as he wasn''t at the races tonight. I''d be tempted to get him on the bench on Saturday.

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Hooper is a cut above Grabban, but same as ever, our midfield is the weak link. Whoever is manager when the window re-opens will need to be given a warchest to put things right.

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Personally I think they''re both likely to be quite evenly matched. I didn''t see much from Grabban and Jerome on Saturday to suggest they''d work as a partnership nor from Lafferty and Grabban as a pair. Grabban can play as a lone striker which Hooper is too short and slow to handle so I would imagine Hooper''s continuation in the team would depend on whether he can play up front with Jerome or Lafferty.However, as accommodating Hooper in a 2 man strike system would requires dropping Wes from his favoured free-role and losing his creativity Hooper is likely going to need to be scoring at a rate of above a goal every other game to really warrant a starting place in the team this season. I''m not sure whether Hooper could play on either wing in a 4-3-3 or be capable of interchanging across a front 3 as Grabban, Lafferty, Redmond, Jerome and Josh Murphy are capable of doing either. These factors may all limit his opportunities this season.

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[quote user="Boss Drum"]Hooper is a cut above Grabban, but same as ever, our midfield is the weak link. Whoever is manager when the window re-opens will need to be given a warchest to put things right.[/quote]

Hooper isn''t a "cut above" anyone that is playing in a league better than 9th division..

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[quote user="im spartacus"]hooper is rubbish!!!! nothing but a short fat goal hanger who wants it on a plate, i havent seen anything in his time here to suggest any different and  it will be a huge injury crisis before we see this waste of space in the team again.[/quote]

EXACTLY this.

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Hooper made no effort to stake a place in the first team, he looks well short of match fitness and did not look interested last night.

He is at least two weeks away from fitness that is assuming he can be bothered which last night makes me doubt!

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That guy who said Hooper is a waste of space is a complete idiot and is talking nonsense. Hooper scored 8 goals for us in the premier league. So he did well for us last season considering the fact we only scored 28 goals - no other team scored less than 28 goals - that is how poor we were.

I agree with some of the points made. Grabban should keep his place in the team - he has scored 5 goals and got 2 assists - which is far more than Hooper has done. Yes Hooper can score goals - there is no doubt about that. But last night he was poor - I read the match report and he had no headers or shots on goal for the 61 minutes he played.

Part of the reason - he didn''t have any chances - was because players like Howson, E. Bennett, Ojida Ofoe, Garrido - nobody gave him the ball hardly to have an attempt on goal. But then if you want to receive the ball - you have to get into good positions and make runs to receive the ball. So his work off the ball - probably wasn''t good enough.

The fact that Neil Adams took him off on 61 minutes - probably means he is not fully fit - and maybe because Hooper was having a poor game. I am sure though there is more to come from Hooper. Last night he had his chance to score a goal or two and he blew it. Now he will be relying on coming off the bench and scoring to prove himself to Neil Adams.

I just can''t see Neil Adams dropping Grabban - 5 goals and 2 assists. Any manager who drops a player who has done that would be nuts.

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My observations (based on Hooper last season and Grabban this) are:

Hooper: Over-weight, looks like a pub-team player, minimal off-the-ball movement, practically no tracking back, low contribution to team spirit, great first touch, wastes little, clinical finisher. Does little to create his own goal-scoring chances, prefers to rely on others. General desire: Low.

Grabban: Fit, looks like a pro-footballer, lots of off-the-ball running, frequently tracks back and tackles, high contribution to team spirit, poor first touch, misses more than he scores, usually gets the rub-of-the-green because he creates his own good fortune. Usually scores - and when he does, the team wins. General desire: Very High.

 

Two totally different players - and given Neil Adams is creating an offensive team with spirit I agree with Craig Brown; Grabban has a firm hold on his starting place right now!

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[quote user="Craig Brown"]That guy who said Hooper is a waste of space is a complete idiot and is talking nonsense. Hooper scored 8 goals for us in the premier league. So he did well for us last season considering the fact we only scored 28 goals - no other team scored less than 28 goals - that is how poor we were.

I agree with some of the points made. Grabban should keep his place in the team - he has scored 5 goals and got 2 assists - which is far more than Hooper has done. Yes Hooper can score goals - there is no doubt about that. But last night he was poor - I read the match report and he had no headers or shots on goal for the 61 minutes he played.

Part of the reason - he didn''t have any chances - was because players like Howson, E. Bennett, Ojida Ofoe, Garrido - nobody gave him the ball hardly to have an attempt on goal. But then if you want to receive the ball - you have to get into good positions and make runs to receive the ball. So his work off the ball - probably wasn''t good enough.

The fact that Neil Adams took him off on 61 minutes - probably means he is not fully fit - and maybe because Hooper was having a poor game. I am sure though there is more to come from Hooper. Last night he had his chance to score a goal or two and he blew it. Now he will be relying on coming off the bench and scoring to prove himself to Neil Adams.

I just can''t see Neil Adams dropping Grabban - 5 goals and 2 assists. Any manager who drops a player who has done that would be nuts.[/quote]

Before you call someone an idiot, you might want to be factually correct, moron. HE DID NOT SCORE 8 PREMIER LEAGUE GOALS FOR US LAST YEAR. He scored 6 PREMIER LEAGUE GOALS in 32 games, 24 of which were starts and only 3 of those were from run of play HE SCORED 2 CUP GAMES THAT WERE NOT PREMIER LEAGUE GAMES. This isn''t difficult. HE DIDN''T SCORE 8 PREMIER LEAGUE GAMES, the ONLY reason he even had 6 was because 3 of them were PKs or fluke deflections

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Grabban and Jerome should be out 2 main strikers with Wes/Redmond in the hole behind them.

Lafferty is going to be on a ban soon as he''s collecting yellows like it a competition!

Hooper/Howson are only just coming back to match fitness and shouldn''t really have played last night IMO.

The team we put out clearly showed the cup wasn''t as important as promotion (as it should be) and I think we''ll see the same tactics in the FA Cup however far we get.

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I don''t think we should give up on Hooper, he''s clearly got the pedigree to potentially be the best striker in this league.

I think coming back from injury, it can go either way. Sometimes players come roaring back and it''s as if they never went away, other times it takes time for them to find their rhythm, particularly if they are injured at the start of a season. It''s kind of to do with the natural fitness of a player.

Hooper looks like he isn''t one that has the natural fitness that some players have and to get back to peak fitness, it''s going to take time and match practice.

It was worth a go giving him 90 minutes last night in case he burst on to the scene. He''d have given Grabban a kick up the bum and Adams a headache. As it is, he''s not seemingly up to match fitness, hopefully that will come soon. I''d give him a go off the bench on Saturday depending on how it''s going. For him now, his career could go either way. If he gets back in our side and starts putting the goals in as he''s capable of, he''ll be a premiership striker with one eye on the England fringes. If he fails to get back to full fitness and has a year being a bit part player with us, he''ll amount to nothing more than the lower championship.

As our coach said last night the old cliche "you''re only as good as your last game." He can''t live off past glories for much longer.

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[quote user="BarclayUpperCut"]

Hooper/Howson are only just coming back to match fitness and shouldn''t really have played last night IMO.

[/quote]

When should they have made their comebacks?

I think we''ll see the benefits of Howson playing last night. He looked 95% there and Wes'' form will fluctuate with the grueling schedule of games ahead.

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