Hooper - RANT

I don't like singling out players for fear of making a scapegoat of them BUT Grimsby Town Football Club is a football club that cannot afford to effectively have 10 men on the pitch. I'm not party to what goes on on the training pitch but the Mighty Mariner without a human inside could have done more tonight. Lack of talent with effort is more acceptable than lack of effort however talented you think you are.

I've not seen him yet but it sounds like he's not really fit, did he have a full pre season do we know or might he be playing catch up? I know he was training with us for a while but he was only with us at the end of pre season wasn't he?

Give over. What a hysterical overreaction.

He didn't see a great deal of the ball against a championship defence on his 2nd start for us.

How about we give him a chance?

We support a division 4 side that is run on a bargain bin budget. We have to get the best out of players that have sometimes failed elsewhere and at this level most players are flawed. He didn't even do anything bad tonight and there wasn't a lack of effort. Each striker that has played that role for us this season has looked isolated and hasn't produced a shot on target.

Not wishing to defend Hooper too much after an unimpressive performance, but he didn't achieve any less than Cardwell during his time on the pitch. He didn't win much in the air but did get some (minor) success in standing his ground to them at times and basically obstructing them to stop them getting the ball. A very languid running-style and doesn't look to be a player with LJL levels of application, that's for sure! Truth be told, it didn't look to me as though he really knew what he was doing when challenging in the air. Too easily pinned down and didn't manage to knock his opponents off balance enough. You don't expect him to win much in the air against bigger and better players, but you'd hope he'd cause a few more problems. Perhaps Wilkinson will be able to help in this area.

Luckily, we won't be facing international defenders very often this season so hopefully Hooper will do better when playing League Two teams.

He wasn't great by any stretch but like others have mentioned he was up against a championship defence and left isolated without a partner. He's clearly not a target man. He did produce a nice bit of play for Dembele's chance though. Looking forward to seeing what Wilkinson can do with him, I'm not writing him off by any stretch and if he reads some of the drivel on here and twitter his confidence will be shot before he even has chance to get going.

Quoted from gtfc98

He wasn't great by any stretch but like others have mentioned he was up against a championship defence and left isolated without a partner. He's clearly not a target man. He did produce a nice bit of play for Dembele's chance though. Looking forward to seeing what Wilkinson can do with him, I'm not writing him off by any stretch and if he reads some of the drivel on here and twitter his confidence will be shot before he even has chance to get going.

It's the lack of a challenge even. I'm not saying Cardwell is better - he probably isn't - but we've given a 2 year deal to a striker who doesn't seem to give a excrement.

I don't like singling out players..................

He's played a 100 minutes and he's already deemed not good enough.

Having a moan after a defeat about who had a good game and who didn't: fair enough, it's a game of opinions.

What we can't have though, is sustained targeting of individual players week in, week out when they need confidence and support.  I doubt any of our players go out and "not try" or not put effort in.  

Also, talk of players being "excrement", or my personal pet peeve, that they're "stealing a living" are completely unacceptable.  At our level, players are making similar levels of money to the fans (the tens of thousands a year, not per week) and don't deserve that sort of abuse.

Looked poor again to me, and what I cannot stand is lack of effort, there were a couple of times when he could have closed a Derby player down but looked like he couldn't be arsed.

To be fair to Cardwell at least he chased after the ball.

Quoted from HackneyHaddock

At our level, players are making similar levels of money to the fans (the tens of thousands a year, not per week) and don't deserve that sort of abuse.

Disagreed here, League 2 and above - Wages for some players are massive, some unsustainable for teams.

Players make very good money week in, week out.

Where-as fans will work hard at doing jobs they hate to watch their team at the end of the week, and if players aren't putting a shift in - Then I would say fans are entitled to let them know this.

Don't blame the player, blame the poor tactics and formation.

I will defend the lad, he will improve, did Hearn not go 10/11 games without producing too much? Was Bogle an instant hit? Did LJL set the world on fire in his first few games? I don,t seem to recall any of them being superb to start with. Lets give him a chance, as playing as a lone striker in this awful hoofball period under Slade is going to take a while to get use to, I know I am struggling with it.
UTMM

Maybe they weren't an instant hit but they always looked like they were giving their all. LJL didn't convince all the fans even by the time he left but he was never accused of giving less than 100%

Hearn didn't score for several games but never looked crap, that's a bizarre comparison, and LJL for his faults is one of the hardest working players we've had in years.  Perhaps Laurens Ten Huevel would be  a better comparison.

I think it's the lack of any obvious attributes from the lad. I can't work out what type of striker he is. He doesn't get off the ground well so isn't a threat in the air and I haven't seen him use his body to shield the ball to hold it up so I can't see him as the lone target man. There was no work rate or pace to be seen last night so I don't think he's a Vardy type who will harass defenders. I didn't see any quality link up play with the wingers or midfielders, neither did I see any darting runs from him to get in behind.

Having said all that, Derby did have a very experienced back 4 with 3 internationals so it's unfair to fully judge him on last night, or even last Saturday on a day when nobody played well. Maybe when we can get Dembele and Sam Jones on form around him we'll see what he's all about. Hopefully this Saturday will be a fairer test for him.

Gotta give the lad a fair crack of the whip but he hasn't impressed me one bit.

I dare say him and Kelly as the attacking two last night was the most lethargic front line I've seen for GTFC and I've seen some excrement before too!

The long balls aren't helping anyone but the lack of interest shown by Kelly and Hooper was shocking. Cardwell, whilst produced absolutely nothing, at least tried to create something from nothing.

I don't like to look back too much but I can't help but wonder if the lad Brandon Robinson was worth a punt. He looked lively and, as a trialist eager to impress and earn a contract looked worth a short term contract.
No fault of Hoopers but he didn't get that chance, but without pre-season showings, a not-too-great history and handing him the No 9 shirt just days before the season begins...it's not going to end well, is my gut feeling.
Towns major failing for the last 15 years or so is failing to convert chances. Unless we get serious and get a like-for-like Bogle type striker in it will continue.

Hooper would probably do better playing off another striker as he doesn't seem to have the attributes to lead the line. Problem is that we're not set up to play in this way this season, which makes the signing all the stranger!

Brandon Robinson looked more of an LJL-alike in terms of effort so he might well have been worth a punt. I can only imagine that Slade had somebody else in his sights at the time but that move fell through.

It is unfair to compare Hooper to when Hearn joined us.  Hearn always looked lively, dangerous and worked hard in his first 10 games.He had a good attitude and tried his best.

Hearn was unlucky not to score on several occasions in his first 10 games. It was clearly a matter of time before the goals were going to come frequently.  (As they did).

You've gotta be fair to the lad. He hasn't had a full pre-season with his team mates, and whilst Vernon is out he's probably being asked to do his role, which, it seems, is not where his attributes lie.

You've gotta be fair to the lad. He hasn't had a full pre-season with his team mates, and whilst Vernon is out he's probably being asked to do his role, which, it seems, is not where his attributes lie.

What jimgtfc said.

I couldn't make the game last night, so am yet to see him play, but i asked my brother today what his impressions were and he said " i'll sum him up in two words- Jimmy Gilligan".  

Don't want to get on his back too soon,but if after searching all close season for a striker this is the best Slade could come up for as his main striker,it is very worrying.

I just get the impression that he is a compromise or 'make do' signing, which worries me. Almost as much as the unanimous panning he got from the Port Vale fans in their assessment of him worried me. Admittedly its harsh to judge him on a game and a sub appearance but like jimgtfc, I'm struggling to see what assets he has.

I'm sick of the way that players at our Club are getting slagged off on here and on social media after just a few weeks.  It's shameful and embarrassing.  Can you imagine starting a new job and while you are still getting to learn the ropes and getting to know your colleagues, everyone else tells you that you are doing sxcrement?  Give the guy (and the rest of the team) a break, get behind them and give them some confidence.  

Quoted from LondonMariner43

I'm sick of the way that players at our Club are getting slagged off on here and on social media after just a few weeks.  It's shameful and embarrassing.  Can you imagine starting a new job and while you are still getting to learn the ropes and getting to know your colleagues, everyone else tells you that you are doing sxcrement?  Give the guy (and the rest of the team) a break, get behind them and give them some confidence.  

OK - if I accept your point but he continues as he's started, what then? In many ways, I don't have a problem with the player but the manner in which he has been brought in and the more than slightly desperate manner of his signing. On what I've seen, I would far rather we'd signed another Callum Dyson than a player who seems to be 'doing the rounds'.

Whether he's a first, fifth or tenth choice signing isn't so much the issue for me - it's clear we missed key targets.
However, as an absolute minimum he has to be better than Yussuf who we didn't need to let go - if he proves not to be then Slade has proper messed up.
Time will tell....

It's pretty much common knowledge that we came VERY close to signing Maynard but he decided against it last minute.

Quoted from sam gy

It's pretty much common knowledge that we came VERY close to signing Maynard but he decided against it last minute.

But we didn't sign him, seems like a world of difference between the capabilities of Hooper and Maynard.

Maynard's quick and has got pedigree. He's scored goals at a higher level and everyone holds him in high regard wherever he's been. Hooper is the complete opposite on the evidence we have so far, maybe he'll change when he gets fitter and settled.

We are where we are and it's for the manager and his team to make things work. Fans pay their salaries and are quite entitled to complain if they don't feel they are receiving value for the money they spend. However, I dislike personal abuse and any criticism should refer to deficiences fans see on the pitch. Sadly, I have long given up hope that we live in a particularly civilised society.

Quoted from Mariner_09

Maynard's quick and has got pedigree. He's scored goals at a higher level and everyone holds him in high regard wherever he's been. Hooper is the complete opposite on the evidence we have so far, maybe he'll change when he gets fitter and settled.

I doubt it very much lets be honest Hooper is not good enough.

When Vernon is fit he will take the holding role,

Hooper then will be given time to get up to speed as several posters have said he has not had any pre season training .

He will then be back and be a much improved player, I hope,

So I will give him that time to prove himself instead of making an instant decision ,

Give the lad a break.

jamille Matt also turned us down, we were in for Walker from forest, so theres 3 already who we couldnt get

Suspect we tried to get Revell as well, hardly surprising he's struggling as he's clearly No. 5 or 6 on the list.

For all those with longer memories - and I'm doing this from the perspective of not having seen Hopper play btw - Nottingham Forest had a striker who scored goals for fun with them, Gary Birtles. This persuaded Manchester United to splash out over £1 million for him - a huge sum in those days - and he didn't score in his first season with them. He ended up[ with just 11 goals in 59 appearances before heading back to the City Ground for much less than he was sold for, where he scored goals for fun again.

He ended up having a great couple of seasons for us of course. That one season with United though could possibly have finished his career if the keyborad warriors had been around in those days? Have a go at the team collectively if they underperform by all means, especially if they're playing to orders, but let's not single out individuals for what's tantamount to bullying. It does nobody any favours and it can only damage the individual concerned.

Hooper hasn't scored goals for fun but perhaps he should have resigned for Havant instead of us then he may have another 13 in a season for them.

Quoted from Hertsmariner

We are where we are and it's for the manager and his team to make things work. Fans pay their salaries and are quite entitled to complain if they don't feel they are receiving value for the money they spend. However, I dislike personal abuse and any criticism should refer to deficiences fans see on the pitch. Sadly, I have long given up hope that we live in a particularly civilised society.

Has there been that much personal abuse, most comments and certainly mine are based on a couldn't be arsed 45 minutes at Stevenage at not much improvement against Derby.

If we hadn't read all the stuff about him the vale fans said I doubt he'd be getting the abuse from town fans . Pre conceived doubts soon becomes reality when he doesn't immediately look like the new bogle . Give him 10 games to settle in and being played in his natural position before we crucify him . Give the lad a break ffs .

Quoted from Hagrid

jamille Matt also turned us down, we were in for Walker from forest, so theres 3 already who we couldnt get

Try telling that to paddythebadger.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

If we hadn't read all the stuff about him the vale fans said I doubt he'd be getting the abuse from town fans . Pre conceived doubts soon becomes reality when he doesn't immediately look like the new bogle . Give him 10 games to settle in and being played in his natural position before we crucify him . Give the lad a break ffs .

I thought striker is his natural position!