He scored yet again last night against Belarus taking his tally to 17 in 50 caps. If he out scores Rooney at Euro 2016 do you think he will be given a chance by Alex Neil next season ? This is one criticism that worries me ,Jerome scored 3 and kept on getting games but Hooper or Lafferty were not given a chance to score the vital goals needed to keep us up. Hooper may possibly fire Wednesday back up today and Lafferty clearly knows where the net is so why did those two get completely frozen out? . At least try them .
Just guessing here but it's probably down to what they showed on the training ground and neither Hooper or Lafferty showed Alex the right amount of effort in training. I may be talking a load of squit but that's the only reason I can think of as to why neither were given a chance.
That is probably true but on the pitch away from Colney the two strikers have proven their potency and Jerome has been flaccid. The great managers call on a super sub like Robbins Rashford etc and chuck on a striker to see if they can grab a goal. Neil stubbornly in my opinion just wrote Lafferty and Hooper off for reasons unknown. This backfired because he could have at least been given the benefit of doubt having given them the chance to prove his distrust in them to be correct. With game time surely they could have matched Jerome 3 goals , when Neil did throw the sink at a losing game and go 2 up top it was Dave and Jerome.
As much as I like Alex Neil and still want him as our manager, his loyalty to Jerome is just bizarre. I think Jerome will do well again in the Championship but clearly can't cut it in the PL. Didn't Hooper score 7 goals the last time we were in the Premier League? and he didn't really play a lot of games either. I'm rooting for Sheffield Wednesday today because I just want to see how well Hooper will do with more games in the PL.
Lafferty is obviously not that good, O'Neil is not taking him to the Euros! http://www.uptheclarets.com/lafferty-set-to-miss-out-on-the-euros?
I think you have confused your Laffertys Dave , I was referring to Kyle who plays for Norwich City. You're welcome
The form of jerome was sympomatic of our last 2 seasons. I hope that he recovers his mojo for next season. Re: Lafferty that is an enigma and it was surprising that he wasn't tried more often (or at all). I really liked Hooper and I think we could and should have made more use of him, to our benefit!
I would have given him a run of a few games when he was doing so well in Qualifying. He's proven he's a finisher. As I said on the General Football Thread, him in the Championship, would surely be a player worth starting! If we sell him this window, I'll be mystified. Even if he continues to impress in the Euros, I'd still hold on to him rather than take the money. He would score goals, and if he did shine on that stage, and stays, would be a great recruitment tool.
I think he did. And missed the first four months of the season because of an injury in pre-season. I thought he was the club's most natural finisher. When you look at Jerome's misses, it makes you wonder.
Alex Neil wanted a lone striker scenario with the striker tracking back and defending, Hooper is far to lazy to play either rolls, that's why, watched the play off game Hooper was anonymous same as he was with us! Lafferty on the other hand could do both those jobs but it seems a personality clash is the reason there!
Where as, desperate for a goal in the final stages.... No thought of a plan B, when plan A goes down the loo. As it often did.
