Gary Hooper

Should he be in england squad ?

Debate i always have with people . I always think he should cos he scores goals at high level (champions leauge ) and the er ..spl .
However peoples argument is he's only ever done it at championship level or spl.

But surley it cant do any harm to call him up even if just for a friendly ? , Fraser forster has been called up so why not Hooper ? . Plus surley the longer they leave it they run the risk on missing out on him ? .

Dunno if this is right but if hes played in Scotland for so many years cant he play for scotland so if they keep leaving it can he not play for scotland eventually if he chose to do so ?.

So would it not be worth a punt in a friendly ? or does he not match up to ronney defoe and erm wellbeck or caroll

Its a better reflection on clean sheets in the spl then how many goals a striker can score, being in Celtic he would have to score stupid amounts to get considered as the spl is dog shit standard, where only Celtic could even be considered for an premier league team standard, the rest are championship standard. Hooper was a decent championship striker when he played in this division.

He should get a call-up, just to have a look at him in a more competitive squad, if nothing else.

Look at some of the other strikers who have been called up over the years, he's no worse than Jay Boothroyd, Fraiser Campbell... Wellbeck isn;t playing much for Man Yoo, Carroll's injured...

give him a shot, I say!

No harm in calling him up for a few friendlies.

This is exactly my argument he should be given a chance in a few friendlies for reasons grecian just said they try other players who turn out to be pelt.

And hes experienced in champions leauge which is more than you can say for fraizer or boothroyd

I didn't want to see either Campbell or Boothroyd near the end team when they were picked though.

At the moment I would rather see Grant Holt or Rickie Lambert (Gas scum!) picked before Hooper for an England place.

should be given the chance and see how he handles it he's banging goals in for celtic see if he can do the same for england.

No.

hodge13 wrote:

At the moment I would rather see Grant Holt or Rickie Lambert (Gas scum!) picked before Hooper for an England place.

Both are one season wonders - the new versions of Michael Ricketts!

Holt's done nothing this season, lambert hasn't been in the top flight long enough to see if he's actually that good. If he scores over 15 this season and at least 10 next, then he's worth a shot.

And what has Hooper done in the premier league? as said opposition for celtic in the spl isnt premier league standard, and a few games in the champions league isnt enough, i'd rather take a man in form.

I always think to some extent that certain skills are transferable, so I'd give someone a chance who scores alot. Not seen enough of him playing to actually comment on strengths and weaknesses, but i'd be scouting him (and I'm sure there will be an england scout assigned to him)

Rickie Lambert isn't a one season wonder imo. He has scored the same amount of goals in every league. He is a prime example of transferable skill. He hits the ball so purely and so hard that it doesn't really matter what level he is at, if he gets the chances to shoot, he will score. Plus he is the main man, so therefore the opposition will have a plan for him, yet he still scores alot.

Grant holt however is painfully slow and relies on easier chances imo. (norwich supposedly after hooper though )

IMO before Gary Hooper are:-

Rooney
Bent
Crouch
Lambert
Carroll
Welbeck
Defoe

On par with Hooper i'd say is Conor Wickham. OK, he isnt playing regulary for Sunderland but his goals for the under 21's cant go un-noticed.

bent doesn't play, carroll doesn't play, so for now give him a chance in squad surely then? Especially for any friendly situation when you can experiment.

Sexton Hardcastle wrote:

Rickie Lambert isn't a one season wonder imo. He has scored the same amount of goals in every league. He is a prime example of transferable skill. He hits the ball so purely and so hard that it doesn't really matter what level he is at, if he gets the chances to shoot, he will score. Plus he is the main man, so therefore the opposition will have a plan for him, yet he still scores alot.

So why hasn't he played top flight football before? Why has every Premier League ignored signing him, and only now at the age of 30-ish has he finally done it? A lot of his goals are penalties and free-kicks, not sure of the actual stats but I don;t remember him scoring all that many from free play.

Hooper's young, scoring for fun in Scotland which puts him in the 'in-form' bracket, regardless of his division, and deseves to be looked at in a friendly squad, if nothing else.

exactly about hooper, scoring in competitive football is better than most benched england strikers, only a few of which are poaching strikers, one who actually plays, in defoe.

No one would buy lambert as he's been good the past few years and is already old and who would have bought an old league one striker, regardless of good reports. Then his one reason in the championship he's good straight up. He is at least good enough for a low prem team. And in terms of internationals, i'd rather we had a team of work hard old muckers the last few tournenents lol. The future is bright in terms of technical skill though, and alot of people who get call ups in the next few years will be quickly over taken by youth anyway. d

i'm not saying pick lambert though lol, but defending his status and saying he is more than a one season wonder. Bit late for him to have too many seasons though, but he could have probably done okay in the prem earlier. We must remember teams like wolves with players like karl henry were shitting up the premier league for too long.

I'm probably only defending him as he's in my fantasy team haha. And he gets some good assists too, not heskey lump assists, but quality passes or crosses.

I'm just not convinced by Lambert at all. Every year, there's one promoted striker who scores goals, everyone raves about them, then they get found out to be a bit shit. Andy Johnson, MIchael Ricketts, Grant Holt... mostly because the majority of defenders have never played them, and they have the element of surprise. Defenders then work out how to play them, and they sink back to their natural levels.

If Lambert is in double figures again next season, then I'll retract everything I've ever said about him. Until then, I'm really not convinced by him at all.

this year the striker who scores alot but is shit is luis suarez though