[madsteve]

Gary Hooper - Super Hooper?

There is still a lot of ill feeling towards our loanee striker from Norwich despite much improvement on the pitch when he is involved. He wasn't fit at first but over the last month he has been much improved and while FF has rightly grabbed the headlines, it can't have escaped the attention of many that Hooper's running off the ball has created so much space for FF.

Actually, that isn't true judging from some of the comments I heard yesterday. I heard some fans calling him "lazy" "big time charlie" and "only half the player Nuhiu is."

Wednesday fans have a reputation for attacking their own players going back years. I can remember the abuse given to Phil Henson, Ian Porterfield & John Sheridan before he became a hero by scoring that goal.

Usually this abuse is set early & fans refuse to accept what is happening on the pitch and continue to go with their preconceived idea that a player is rubbish, lazy or clumsy.

I had already noticed that we struggled to score in matches until we brought on Hooper then we seemed to score. While he wasn't prolific himself, his running seemed to create opportunities for others so I thought I would look at the facts since the last International break.
Here are the minutes without Hooper on the pitch & the goals scored:

Huddersfield - 72 minutes 0 goals
Blackburn - 45 (1)
Derby - 76 (0)
Cardiff - 45 (0)
MK Dons - 56 (0)

That is one goal in 294 minutes without Hooper on the pitch.
Here are the minutes with Hooper on the pitch & the goals scored:

Huddersfield - 18 (3)
Blackburn - 45 (1)
Derby 14 (0)
Cardiff - 45 (2)
MK Dons - 34 (1)
Wolves - 90 (4)
Birmingham - 90 (3)

That is 14 goals in 336 minutes with Hooper on the pitch.

So we score every 294 minutes without Hooper on the pitch yet score every 24 minutes with Hooper on the pitch. That is quite staggering & maybe explains why we have suddenly started scoring for fun. Whilst we won't continue to score at that rate, it does show what an important role that Hooper has played in our recent results.

I understand that some fans don't like players who are alleged to be on big wages but it really is irrelevant to us. It is all about getting to the PL and paying whatever it costs to get there.

We don't need any new signings in January. We need to keep everyone that we currently have and look to secure longer contracts for players like Hutchinson & Bannan. Equally important in my eyes is extending Hooper's loan until the end of the season because his improvement in form is very much coinciding with the team's improvement in form and his two home starts have brought our two biggest home wins in two years.

Let's get behind the fellow. He might just get us back to the PL!