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The Importance of Jr. Hoilett


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4 hours ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Wow. Interesting. Sounds like it was planned, though. Great to go out on a high. Good for Neil. 

Given he was only there 32 days (and a record of 2W - 2D - 4L) "high" would be a relative term.  Let's hope Junior sticks a lot longer than that.   

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6 minutes ago, GasPed said:

Given he was only there 32 days (and a record of 2W - 2D - 4L) "high" would be a relative term.  Let's hope Junior sticks a lot longer than that.   

Yeah. Noticed his record afterward. Sounds like it was more of an interim replacement, anyway. 

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On 3/9/2024 at 10:09 AM, Alex said:

Hoilett got some praise on Twitter, looks like he had a solid 82 minutes 

Indeed, his recent post has loads of positive comments. Clearly the Aberdeen fans like what they've seen. To be honest I'd hoped he would be in the Canada squad but it seems we're all about the new and shiny toys. Which I totally get. I still think he deserves to play in the Copa🤞, if his stint at Aberdeen continues in the same vein of course. Still so much quality at 33.

 

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I was surprised to see him dropped. Prior to 2018 he was probably the best attacking player Canada had ever produced (and still is amongst them). Always class for us on the pitch and quietly goes about his business. Able to play multiple roles too. 
 

I hope it’s more about him just getting his legs and we’ll see him in the summer. 

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I'll chime in here to say I hope it's not the last we've seen of Hoilett. I don't know if he'll make it to 2026 and he could be done entirely depending on how things shake out, but I'd like to think he finds a way onto the Copa squad. 

The question is who do we drop?

It feels like Osorio is most likely, given the similarities.

Both are good at controlling the ball and the tempo of play, but we're probably past the point of needing both in any given selection. Hoilett has more of a winger profile than Oso and can play wingback as well, but our depth is such that he's not really needed in those roles, barring some emergency situation. 

My prediction should we make it is that we see either Osorio or Hoilett or neither for the Copa, but not both, and that's fine. We have Choniere and Ahmed coming into their own. Piette the defensive bulldog, Staq and Kone the locked in starters. There's might be one more spot left between: Hoilett, Osorio, or someone else forcing their way into the picture.

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5 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I was surprised to see him dropped. Prior to 2018 he was probably the best attacking player Canada had ever produced (and still is amongst them).

This is true. But it's also true that we are 6 years past that in the year 2024 and he is probably not even in the top 5.

5 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Always class for us on the pitch and quietly goes about his business. Able to play multiple roles too. 
I hope it’s more about him just getting his legs and we’ll see him in the summer. 

I agree. But again, let the CMNT call-ups be based on your current form and not what you could potentially do or have done in the past.
As an attacking player it should be based on are you scoring? are you assisting? are you creating chances and when I look at the guys in the squad today who aren't in top leagues you see Bair assisting and scoring, Millar assisting and scoring, Shaffelburg creating and scoring, Ugbo creating and scoring, and JRR creating and scoring. 

I won't write any player off, but you gotta earn it. Made it hard for the coach, but right now it was easy for Biello IMO with those 4 vets not in great situations at their clubs.

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57 minutes ago, Shway said:

This is true. But it's also true that we are 6 years past that in the year 2024 and he is probably not even in the top 5.

I agree. But again, let the CMNT call-ups be based on your current form and not what you could potentially do or have done in the past.
As an attacking player it should be based on are you scoring? are you assisting? are you creating chances and when I look at the guys in the squad today who aren't in top leagues you see Bair assisting and scoring, Millar assisting and scoring, Shaffelburg creating and scoring, Ugbo creating and scoring, and JRR creating and scoring. 

I won't write any player off, but you gotta earn it. Made it hard for the coach, but right now it was easy for Biello IMO with those 4 vets not in great situations at their clubs.

I agree but theres also roles for players. Giroud doesnt create or score for france (at least in 2018) but was vital. Luuk de jong usually did nothing for club but was kept with the netherlands for his heading ability. 

Millar and shaf are in form but stylistically more similar than a hoilett. Hoiletts type of creativity is a skill we lack on our roster, so I wouldnt hate including him for shaf. 

At current form and minutes played, I fully agree with dropping him for shaf tho. Just sayinf that a guy like bair could be more important than brym regardless of stats because of his hold up play etc. 

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Change is never easy,  but  when was the last time Borjan, Hoilett, Vitoria & Cav came up with a big game or made a difference coming on as a sub after WCQ? I'm excluding GC 2023 as we fielded a B/C team. The first 3 all had incredible moments during WCQ but has Borjan made a game changing save since WCQ? Has Hoilett made a diff off the bench? Same for Cav who, other than the GC has played very few mins. You could make a case for the leadership of Vitoria in marshalling the CBs, but his individual  performance  hasn't been great either. It's time. We have no choice but to move to the next group of players.

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3 hours ago, Kadenge said:

Change is never easy,  but  when was the last time Borjan, Hoilett, Vitoria & Cav came up with a big game or made a difference coming on as a sub after WCQ? I'm excluding GC 2023 as we fielded a B/C team. The first 3 all had incredible moments during WCQ but has Borjan made a game changing save since WCQ? Has Hoilett made a diff off the bench? Same for Cav who, other than the GC has played very few mins. You could make a case for the leadership of Vitoria in marshalling the CBs, but his individual  performance  hasn't been great either. It's time. We have no choice but to move to the next group of players.

What would the squad being B/C have anything to do with assessing performances individually? Nonetheless Hoilett came on against Japan in October and was one of our best players that day. Certainly hasn’t had standout poor performances.

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In Vancouver, I had hoped that he would have been an impact player off the bench but in the end I felt he was a nonfactor out there, in small part because he never seemed in sync with the other key attacking guys on the club.  They decided not to re-sign him and he probably wanted to explore other options back in Britain:  fair enough.

Maybe he has a great run at Aberdeen to close out the year and gets into the Copa picture, who knows?  But if the younger competitors for his place continue to impress at club level after we get by our next opponent (assuming!), it might be harder for him to get back into the mix for the Copa unless he is putting in gamechanging performances in Scotland.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looks like he got the start in his game against Ross County. Assisted on the first goal and was subbed out at 67'. He still makes an impact in short stints. Lets face it, he plays a position of need and may still have something to offer, especially as a sub. Does he make the Copa roster?

 

 

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2 hours ago, pod818 said:

Lets face it, he plays a position of need and may still have something to offer, especially as a sub. Does he make the Copa roster?

I wonder what his thoughts are about it and about Biello's team meeting presentation prior to the Copa playoff match?  It sure seems like (this current) coaching staff has moved on.

The question for me is:  who are you dropping for him?  A forward?  That will leave you with three guys whose best position is at left wing.  

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
12 minutes ago, PegCityCam said:

Hoilett's left and then right footed crosses find their marks against Celtic. Beautiful to see.

 

Junior played on the left and was up against Alistair Johnston, according to those clips.

Can be seen more clearly in the highlight pack below.

Johnston assisted on Celtic's go-ahead goal in extra time and probably should have had one in normal time as well.

EDIT: Watching the full YouTube highlights. Junior should've drawn a penalty in extra time after being blatantly kicked by Carter-Vickers inside the area, but he was judged to have fouled Johnston seconds earlier to nullify the play.

Wild match and our two Canadians were heavily involved.

Edited by RS
Noticed more stuff
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20 minutes ago, PegCityCam said:

Hoilett's left and then right footed crosses find their marks against Celtic. Beautiful to see.

I see apart from tying late both times, it went to penalties, Hoillet shot 4th and hit his, then Alistair put his in. Really, Celtic should not have to go that far vs. Aberdeen, they have been inconsistent and may only win the league and Cup because Rangers have been worse. 

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52 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I see apart from tying late both times, it went to penalties, Hoillet shot 4th and hit his, then Alistair put his in. Really, Celtic should not have to go that far vs. Aberdeen, they have been inconsistent and may only win the league and Cup because Rangers have been worse. 

Brendan Rodgers is a poor manager, and Celtic should look to move on from him this summer.

Wonder if Hoillet has done enough to stay on at Aberdeen next year, or if he wants to.

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7 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

He's one of the few guys we have who transitions well from mid to attack. Not just crosses but hold up, distribution. As long as he's fit his experience and little technical details are useful.

Agreed. Junior offers something that we don’t have in buckets. He’s been very useful for us and watching those highlights certainly makes me miss him.

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4 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Don’t think one game should make us reverse the idea of retiring our older players. Think we should just appreciate a cool little matchup that starred two Canadians who both helped push this one to the wire. He still only has one assist and no goals over his last 17 (MLS + SPFL) league games.

This is just ageism 😀.

Seriously - he has a skillset that no one else in our pool has, and he can still deliver.  I would want him as an option in the 23.

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