Gary Hooper

i will be gutted if this is true,got nothing against him wanting to go and good luck if and when he does,but aslong as he does not force the club to sell at the cheapest price due to contract running down

 

Longs he got left on the contract he's on just now???

 

I'll probably get a lot of people having a go for me saying this but I really don't rate Hooper as highly as a lot of other fans do.

When he first came to the club I absolutely loved him but more recently his work rate just hasn't been good enough for me.

I often sit and watch Hooper during games and the amount of times he doesn't challenge for headers really annoys me. Okay I know the lad isn't exactly the tallest but neither was Henrik and he would challenge for every ball.

I also think he could just make a little bit more effort to get back into the box sometimes after he's dropped back to help out the midfield.

His touch can be immense then can also be poor at times.

Don't get me wrong this isn't a Hooper bashing, but I feel there's so much more he can improve on, especially for the amount of money he is obviously wanting to stay at the club.

No doubt about it, he's come in with some extremely important goals and I will give him credit for that. But I think he is capable of so much more. Just a wee bit more effort from time to time and he would easily be beating the rest of the SPL for the top goalscorer position.

I would actually like to see Hooper and Watt up front a lot more as I think they can both learn a lot from one another.

 

No real shock his agent will be telling him to sit tight and sign * all . If he wanted to have signed it would have been done well before now these talks have been going on for * ages.

 

I agree tbh. I think he is a good player. But I think he is a bit overrated, he does have some wonderful matches, Spartak away for example, but he just doesnt turn it on enough for me. I like Hooper and as I said I think he's good, just not as good as others rate him

 

I agree with all of that, i dont doubt him and would start him every game if i had the choice, but during the games you can tell hes either going to have a really good game, or a frustrating game!

The main fault with Hooper imo is he sometimes watches the game go by just waiting for a through ball, makes no effort to head the ball, chase after a defender after loosing the ball or win the ball for himself

I dont believe the paper at all, think that storys what one person thinks he should do, just to sell papers!
Hear noise of Juventus wanting Hooper, Celtic want him to sign a new contract.. "Hooper turns down contract for Juventus move"
Load of *!

 

The majority of Hooper's first season, he was consistently paired with Stokes. Both players had a great playing relationship with each other and Hooper had plenty of service from chances created.

Since Stokes, Hooper has not played regularly with a front partner - much due to the formation evolving slightly in the celtic team. What we have seen with Hooper is a player who has had to alter his footballing awareness i.e. coming deeper to create chances for himself, do the dirty work on the defence, as well as being the lone talisman up front for us at times. On occasions, I have seen Hooper become * of by the lack of support and lack of service from midfield/wide to him. I've seen a few times his match sharpness has not been there, but on the whole you can still see that he is a very determined player for us - especially this year in the CL where he has had to run his socks off.

For me, there is no question that Hooper would be banging in a lot more goals were he to develop a natural partnership with another forward (hopefully be re-united with Stokes), but other than that, he is an extremely competent and much loved player in the Hoops

 

Fair point about Stokes Padmill and yes i agree support could be better by a lot of players going forward.

But not jumping for headers? Defenders must love getting a free header knowing they arent going to even be challenged.

Like i said i wasnt slating him just saying theres a lot he can improve on.

He is a good player but he can be even better. I think if he improves on a lot of those things he could easily be in the England squad.

Its similar to Forster, he was always a good shot stopper but needed to improve other aspects of his game. Hes made such an effort to do that and its paying off for him big time.

 

Just done a wee quick comparison of hOOper and Sally (like him or not a great striker)

Total for Ally and so far for hOOper

Ally games played 777, 1 goal in 1.9
Hooper games played 363, 1 in 2.2

Both around the same age when they signed for Celtic and rangers.

Before their moves to Glasgow

Ally games played 133, 1 in 5.5
Gary games played 252, 1 in 2.7

First 2 seasons in Glasgow

Ally games played 96 1 in 2.2
Gary games played 86, 1 in 1.7

Ridiculous how young hOOper started playing senior football and banging in the goals. If he can maintain his form so far then he will have an unbelievable record when he chucks it.

Can't believe no English team was in for him when we got him for £2m LOL

 

Neither do I. He is clearly a good striker but everyone has that one player who they don't rate as much as others do and it's him for me.

 

Your opinion on Hooper imo has it's credibility and everyone is entitled to an opinion I think he has had to adjust (like I say) for various reasons, but once he gets a decent pairing with another striker, I think his game will up just that extra bit again.

 

I don't think he'll leave in january, but I do think he'll go in the summer along with wanyama...

I don't get why he would reject a contract though if he has every intention of leaving anyway, it wouldn't have any benefit to him as he still has 18 months left. Surely it would be better for him to take the extra cash until he's sold in the summer.. The only reason he would have to reject the offer is if he actually did want to stay long term and wanted the best possible deal.

 

I really hope so. I think we all know what he is capable of.

Maybe once Stokes and Forrest come into the squad we will see him top of the goals table!

 

The pessimist in me thinks it is a ploy to keep his transfer price as low as possible as not to scare off potential English suitors..........

 

I think that's actually quite fair, and I would agree with most of it. My biggest issue with Hooper is his work rate, commitment and attitude. I sometimes think he looks lazy and a bit too slack.

Having said that he always seems to produce a great performance or a match winning moment in really big games, which is obviously a brilliant knack to have.

 

His injuries have * up his momentum as well as changing formations and partners. Still got an excellent goalscoring record this season.

He's a goalscorer, more than every other game. He has more to his game and that but he's not Lionel Messi. He is however, a still uoung, very good striker, who has scored at every level he has played.

 

And what's that to do with his contract? :icon_mrgreen:

 

That could be the case.. Would be a shame if it was, Because I think he's a better man than that... Then again I suppose the bigger the pay packet the smaller the man these days

 

I know the realism of our current situation means that our best players will be leaving eventually. But the thought of it actually happening makes me sad.

I still feel upset about losing Ki, and I didn't even like him that much. However, I love Hooper and Kayal and when I see them playing for Celtic I get a strange feeling in my trousers. The thought of either of them leaving makes me want to cry and possibly turn to drugs and cheap hookers.

 

any old excuse eh? :smiley-laughing002: