Gary Hooper has scored once in his last 23 appearances for Norwich City, an ultimately meaningless goal as his team lost that day. Prior to that, he scored five in eight in games in which Norwich collected 10 points, while he opened his account for them with a brace in the League Cup against Watford. The latter stages of that 23 game desolate run has been marred by an injury he collected preseason, returning to league duty this month.
This is not the player you or I will recognise. Gary was more than capable of going through a dry patch, but he was an undisputed penalty box finisher, who seemed to perform better, the better the competition. Now he has to sit alongside Jos Hooiveld on the Norwich bench, as his in-form club, with in-form players, occupy a play-off place. Think of that for a moment, Hooper and Hooiveld, largely indistinguishable on form for Norwich.
It’s no surprise that Neil Lennon wanted him at Bolton, he knows Gary is a better player than probably anyone in Norwich realise. Norwich rejected the bid, as they were reluctant to weaken their squad, but already this season is looking unlikely to add much to the end of career Gary Hooper Highlights DVD.
Celtic are already on the case to sign John Guidetti on a permanent deal, he’s looked the part since he first touched the ball in a Celtic shirt, but by contrast, Stefan Scepovic has looked awkward. The early goals didn’t come, he looked short of a game plan and when a header missed the target on Thursday night, one guy behind me bellowed the kind of comment you hope a player looking for confidence doesn’t hear.
I don’t know any more about Stefan than you, but I absolutely know we’ve not seen the best of him, just as Norwich haven’t seen the best of Gary. This guy has the background we want in a new recruit, scoring well in the Spanish second tier and wanted by top tier club.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Celtic player as happy to score as Stefan was against Astra. The finish against Kilmarnock will have built on whatever confidence boost he received. The project is back on course. He needs to continue to find the net, and we need to remember how to support a player as he settles into a new life.
We’ve had a great run of momentum with the help of Magners in recent weeks. The club sponsor have offered a couple of premium match tickets, on the back of which we’ve asked for donations from £1 to Mary’s Meals.
It’s been great to see this in action. We get lots of £1 and £2 donations, but plenty of people chip in with a lot more. It’s been a great way of ensuring prizes are open to everyone.
Today we formally launch the bid to build a fourth school kitchen in Malawi for Mary’s Meals. During 2014 you funded the construction of three kitchens, which feed close to 2000 of the world’s poorest children each day. All of them live below the UN measure of absolute poverty.
Over the last 20 years the number of people living below $1.25 per day has halved. Organisations like Mary’s Meals are making enormous inroads. Those kids aren’t just getting a meal, more of them are able to attend school (up 30%) as they don’t need to work for food. This improves their academic achievements and gives them skills which will be with them throughout their lives, increasing personal, regional and national productivity.
93% of the money raised by Mary’s Meals reaches those on the ground. It costs around $12 to feed a child for an entire year. It’s almost incalculable what your money does.
Magners have kindly offered two debenture hospitality seats for The Celtic Suite, including buffet lunch, for the Inverness game on Saturday, which are available for auction here on ebay. The journey we had last year in building those three kitchens was remarkable, I know we’ll enjoy the new project.
Current bid is £1 to get in quick!
Big thanks to Magners, b.t.w. This help goes a long, long, way.
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Celtic supporters are just like any other clubs supporters, they like a whipping bhoy, and Stefan Scepovic was getting before his very first dodgy first touch against Aberdeen. If you recall the circs of Scepovic on/off transfer, some fans didn’t like him before he’d headed his first Bangura, by the post. I quote CQN “ He jist looks as if he disnae want tae be here “ *repeat for VVD or yada yada*
Mind Gerry Creaney got subbed at CP and nearly came to blows with a guy in the front stand, good job it was before the internets, or the supporter might have been tweeted in the Royal, given the look of anger of Creaney’s coupon, as he was shuffled into the Celtic dug out.
Gary Hooper made a natural return darn sarf, looks like he picked the wrong club, I’d bet he still wears his lucky Number 88 Hooped Hooper shirt to bed at night.
Stefen Scepovic of the Glasgow Celtic CSC
Wages apart………I was speaking to a good friend of mine last night who stays about 6 or 7 miles from Celtic park……..I asked if he had went to the game on Sunday as I knew he has a season ticket…..
No he says…….I just watched it in the pub !!!!!!………..I honestly believe our crowds are low because people are able to watch in the comfort of their local….or nearby friendly pub……..This really has to be weeded out…….and I would presume crowds would increase…
timbhoy2
Had to give my seat up on Thursday and ended up behind the dug-out, guy behind me jumping up and booing every five minutes, he pissed off with twenty to go obviously annoyed that we’d taken the lead.I’m so lucky I had many years watching from the Jungle, wasnt tolerated back then
HH
bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers
You drinking in the Winchester club ;)))
HH
Much as it distresses me to disagree with the erudite forward-looker Dontbrattbakk, I think Scepovic will turn out to be a good signing.
I suppose it’s the Gazebo naughty step for me on Saturday.
Naughty step or otherwise, looking forward to watching the Hoops live for the first time in two months.
Timaloy
“The thing about people writing off Scepovic is we’ve seen it all before.”
How so very true. It’s becoming embarrassing.
Bsr,
Regarding a whipping boy.
Bang on the money again. Id bet anything that if SS scores in each of the next 4 games and JG doesn’t score any there’ll be guidetti GTF posts.
WEETWEETWEET
Starting to wonder,bud. I always thought a bloke’s pint was sacrosanct.
As is becoming increasingly clear in a Swindon,btw.
Just plain ignorance.
vinniethedog
The UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit arrested a man yesterday believed to have operated streaming sites that provided illegal access to subscription-only sports TV services. The arrest marks the third carried out by PIPCU in the streaming sector.
cityoflondonpoliceSet up in the summer of 2013, the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit has quickly grown to become one of the world’s most active anti-piracy operations.
The unit employs a wide range of strategies, from writing to domain registrars and threatening them, to working with advertisers in order to strangle the revenues of ‘pirate’ sites.
PIPCU also relies on old-fashioned police work to deal with sites that fail to heed their warnings to tow the line. This has resulted in several arrests in the UK and the closure of dozens of domains, torrent site proxies in particular.
With key partner the Federation Against Copyright Theft and its members including the Premier League and BSkyB, piracy of TV-destined content has become an area of interest to PIPCU, particularly that involving live sports.
Early Monday, more than 200 miles away from their London base, officers from PIPCU arrested a man in Manchester in the north of England. Police say the 27-year-old is believed to have operated a series of websites which offered access to subscription-only TV services.
PIPCU say that the domains were sports-focused, so given the premium pay TV landscape in the UK it seems probable that they infringed the rights of BSkyB and possibly the Premier League. Police are yet to confirm the details.
While there are no figures available on site visitor numbers, police are using the term “industrial” to explain the size of the operation they shut down yesterday. A reported 12 computer servers streaming global sports were reportedly seized and their operator taken to a local police station for questioning.
“Today’s operation is the unit’s third arrest in relation to online streaming and sends out a strong message that we are homing in on those who knowingly commit or facilitate online copyright infringement,” said PIPCU chief DCI Danny Medlycott last evening.
“Not only is there a significant loss to industry with this particular operation but it is also unfair that millions of people work hard to be able to afford to pay for their subscription-only TV services when others cheat the system.”
PIPCU have not released the names of the sites in question so it’s impossible to assess their significance at this point. However, police are often quick to seize the domains of sites they close down so it’s expected that signs of that will begin to surface during the next few days enabling a more detailed assessment of the shutdown.
As pointed out by DCI Medlycott, yesterday’s arrest is the third involving a streaming site operator in the UK. Although the sites were not revealed by police at the time, TorrentFreak previously revealed that the operator of BoxingGuru.co.uk, boxingguru.eu, boxingguru.tv and nutjob.eu was arrested during April in the north of England.
In May, PIPCU had the domain of the Cricfree.tv streaming portal suspended but its operator was able to bring the site back under a new domain.
Yesterday’s arrest appears to be PIPCU’s first since the arrest of a UK-based torrent site proxy operator in early August.
.
Bourne..
‘Gary Hooper made a natural return darn sarf, looks like he picked the wrong club, I’d bet he still wears his lucky Number 88 Hooped Hooper shirt to bed at night’.
Hooper reminds me of Ole EuroChamps69..A Guid Golfer against guys that Dress guid as Golfers..and l know he wears His Lucky Number 69 Shirt tae Bed at Night..
Summa
Bsr
I think if we play with two up front on a regular basis then there wont be any credence in them shouting for whipping boys, the goals will flow
HH
@BobbyMurdoch
After Karagandy away yes. People were saying we should have kept Wilson instead.
TIMALOY29
I stand corrected if your memory is correct-which I don’t doubt.
I certainly don’t recall it. He donned the Hoops and became a favourite right away,AFAIK.
However,heyho…
So here’s my problem.
Down in London tomorrow and want to watch the Celtic v Thistle game. It’s not on the usual footy channels.
Celtic TV say that it will not be available to customers in UK and Ireland which seems to suggest it will be to those out with.
I therefore need to find a boozer (preferably around the Russell Sq 5 mile radius) that will show the game through a t’internet feed.
I’m presuming only real Celtic pubs would do that (as opposed to run of the mill Irish bars).
Any suggestions?
Ps my first port of call is always Celtic bars site.
Pps the best bet was the cock tavern where I have frequented a couple of times in the past but this seems to be shut down now following a tenancy issue
Changing the subject as I hit my cot.
Best cover versions. You won’t believe which one came out on top.
Comments section is excellent,as you might expect on such a subjective topic.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2014/oct/28/50-best-covers-of-all-time-do-you-agree
The Exiled Tim.
Institutional Investors make mistakes too. And the money involved wasn’t even as much as pocket change to them.
A well run club might well have seen they’re investment have grown on the way up the leagues, and that’s probably what they expected to happen. They wouldn’t have realised that the new club would be as much of a basket case as the old one. How could they? There was no history to go on.
If they are the benefactors of the onerous contracts, which we’re told are cast iron unless liquidation occurs, they’ve nothing to lose by letting Ashley take control. Better his two million going in than theirs.
Tom McLaughlin – Saw the carry on with the ball boy from JS lower, brightened up my day. I watch that ball boy during the warm up, good entertainment.
There’s a guy sits in front of me who just dishes out constant abuse to Emelio. When he plays a good pass or cross he sits and fumes, you can almost see smoke coming out of his ears. Next time he misplaces a pass or over hits a cross, he’s right up on his feet shouting shocking abuse at him, looking around at people to agree with him. Spoils his day if Emelio plays well…..go figure…
Geordie
Pre goal “Heid like a thruppney bit” ” This years Balde” ” A Serbian Daryll Murphy ”
” Two left feet ” ” Can play Hee Haw ” other cliches of choice widely available
After goal “Leapt like a salmon, to smash the ball beyond the helpless keeper”
BMCUW 14, 19
Hi mate
True about piling them high etc and trashing their reputation in the process, I know both you and I scratch our heads wondering how they can be trashed more, but it will :-)
The thing is he makes it profitable and that makes him a pin up boy in the city.i take your point about the sweating but the delicious point here is they are defunct if they dont. Interesting times ahead(yawns again lol)
Was listenin to radio there and Gok Mc Squint, leaderaff o sunzastrooff said he met Douglas Lambias once,previously when he was advising them on naming rights for the dump MA now owns the rights to.;-)
Coming to mind is johnnie rottens statement coming of stage in san fran at sex pistols last gig.Made for sunzastroof
‘Ever get the feeling youv been conned’
Hope your well mhate
HH
BMCUW
Heard the winner on the radio driving to work this morning
A worthy winner!
B-)
The best cover of all time was Pinball Wizard by McFly.
There, I said it…
Bsr,
Lol. Too true.
I’m not claiming he’s the new henke likes. Just giving the lad a chance. :)
Summa
Ole EuroChamps was always a very sartorially elegant Celt, he used to wear the only cravat in Hamilton.
twentyfirstofmay
I think that penny finally dropped for Ronny as well.
Fair play to Hearts for becoming a Living Wage employer.
It really annoys me that Celtic isn’t.
BHOYLO83
I was gutted Lulu didnae make it with The Man Who Sold The World. Though Nirvana did,admittedly.
IMO,a great cover is one which makes you forget the original. They are few and far between.
This one does that for me.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Ccd4V31Yw
John Clark Lisbon Lion, and Celtic sweeper earned him the nickname “The Brush”
Weefra & ger57
You two realise that it’s the living wage for players that hearts are proposing?? ;p
Best cover version? Every song that Maria Callas sang that had been sung by anyone else before her.
JJ
IGC
You can have my stock answer of Wimbledon CSC for the game tomorrow night, however that is outside of your 5 mile radius!
Jimmy Johnstone and Jim Kerr ——– Dirty ole Town
Geordie
Excellent !! 0:-)
JJ
lies damn lies and statistics
Hooper has only started 1 match this season in the league cup, he only started 12 games last season. His Norwich career has been frustrated largely due to
– injury
– need for games to recover match fitness (same metabolism as Commons)
– Chris Hughton’s negative tactics
– a desire to ship out top earners following relegation
– new manager wanting to shape his own team
Hooper would have been sold in the summer, if he had been fit. Recent noises from Adam’s about his importance to team would not prevent them accepting any offer in January that gave them a return on their outlay to us.
Hopper has been scoring for fun in the U21’s, the Norwich fans are keen to see him given a run of games, particularly on the back of 4 or 5 games without a win.
If he gets a run of games, I predict he will be sold in January to QPR or West Ham. If he is still in the wilderness, a loan deal to cash strapped Bolton will suit both parties.
Hoops went for the money and to be closer to home. He will occasionally have regrets but will be made for life while giving 90%.
yet againt
the Embrocation’s cover of ‘ Paddy Mcginty’s Goat’ is shamefully overlooked.
Ta j. :)
Money going on the new club….
St johnstone drifting out to 21/5 Hmmmmm.
Tom
Men get the blame for everything!
How can you be sure this person was a man?
MWD said AYE
“It’s been a good year for the roses” – Declan Patrick Aloysius Macmanus
TBB- I await the pleasure of bein’ proved wrong [again].
I suspect he may turn out to be another flat track bully [like Stokovic]
On the other paw I think J.Guedetti is hintin’ he may be able to fill the giant shorts of hoopslegend John Hartson.