The Importance of Jr. Hoilett

[Watchmen]

Once Hoillet joined the CMNT, he seemed to be all in.  But it's those first few years that hold him back from achieving Hutchinson status - the talent who played high level football abroad and ALWAYS showed up, through good and bad, for the CMNT.

[MtlMario]

We were still not his first choice after all is said and done.

[ahmedou]

⚽🇨🇦🇬🇧

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, MtlMario said:

We were still not his first choice after all is said and done.

How do you figure? He was only eligible for Jamaica and Canada and he chose Canada.

Remember that his so-called eligibility for England was murky and unclear. In the end he was never eligible for them, so can we say that England was his first choice? I don't think so. It's not like Jebbision who genuinely has an option for England. 

[MtlMario]

36 minutes ago, Obinna said:

How do you figure? He was only eligible for Jamaica and Canada and he chose Canada.

Remember that his so-called eligibility for England was murky and unclear. In the end he was never eligible for them, so can we say that England was his first choice? I don't think so. It's not like Jebbision who genuinely has an option for England. 

I just seem to remember him waiting to see if England would call him. So what was his excuse for waiting till 25 to join us? An ex Cdn  coach told me the same thing. Anyhow I'm still glad he joined us.

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, MtlMario said:

I just seem to remember him waiting to see if England would call him. So what was his excuse for waiting till 25 to join us? An ex Cdn  coach told me the same thing. Anyhow I'm still glad he joined us.

I guess to be fair to your point, we were his 2nd choice until it became clear he was ineligible for England, at which point we became his 1st choice.  

[InglewoodJack]

5 hours ago, MtlMario said:

We were still not his first choice after all is said and done.

Same goes for Stephen Eustaquio, among others. This is a business seclusion above all else. We can just hope they’re happy with their choice to come home once they make it. 

[Bison44]

Funny that Eustaqiuo had just turned 23 when he chose canada....only 2 years younger Junior, but he doesnt get the same "shade" as Junior gets, me included.  

[CanadaFan123]

16 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Funny that Eustaqiuo had just turned 23 when he chose canada....only 2 years younger Junior, but he doesnt get the same "shade" as Junior gets, me included.  

Eustaquio had just turned 22*. Neither gets any shade from me - we were the first choice for both. Hoilett waited but when he did commit he quickly became our best player and is now a Canada legend. They didn’t dick us around like JDG2. 

[Obinna]

19 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Funny that Eustaqiuo had just turned 23 when he chose canada....only 2 years younger Junior, but he doesnt get the same "shade" as Junior gets, me included.  

Agreed. I think the 2 years make a big difference, funny enough. 

Also, the best of Eustaquio was yet to come, whereas Junior had already reached his peak and was already descending when he joined Canada in 2015. He was still an excellent player at 25, but that final season at Blackburn (21 years old?) he was just on another level. 

[Kadenge]

The diff btw Jnr & Staq is that Jnr was a top player as a teen with the quality we badly needed. I bet most people didn't know about Staq until he started to move up the Portugese tiers and then played for their youth team. Thx to @SpecialKfor posting the first videos. As I understand it, when JH approached him he said he was obligated to finish the Euro competition  first which JH respected.. Then he got the transfer to Mexico, the injury and the announcement re CMNT. I'm not sure he "delayed" his decision to join us....but who knows if he got the call for the senior Portugal team. Looking at the age when the 2 committed to Canada is deceiving as Jnr was way ahead of Staq as a teen and early 20s. Regardless I'm delighted that they are/ were both part of the CMNT and have made significant contributions. 

[InglewoodJack]

Eustaquio doesn’t get “the hate” because he made his national team preferences known outside of the media, but also, he’s said over and over again how much he loves playing for us. He was also quicker to commit to us, that much is true, but I think Hoilett was one of this extended generation’s first high potential European players in our pool, and unfortunately we didn’t get the best of him, even if he’s given us a lot of really good performances.

I think it’ll be the same if Jebbison eventually commits to us. We’ll all be super happy that he is repping his home country and he’ll be as Canadian as any other player, but we’ll also remember how long he delayed his decision, and how he had his eyes set on England for a really long time.

Ultimately, none of this matters. I guarantee some of our frequent call ups wish they could crack another national team, just like some of our dual nats bleed the red and white. You have to get into the player’s personal motivation and since we don’t know any of these guys personally (mostly), we’re all just speculating on how these guys feel.

[Kadenge]

Pretty sure that Jnr would have come on board at 19/20 if we had a squad like we have now and what the team has achieved over the past 2+ yrs. Jebbo needs to get on board soon.

[Watchmen]

The thing I like about him being at Hibs vs being in England's L1 or the Championship is that he's got a better chance to contend for meaningful silverware. Is Hibs going to win the Scottish Cup or League Cup? Unlikely, but always possible. Where as in L1 or the Championship it would be hopefully contending for promotion, which is still cool but not the same.

[Cheeta]

^ Silverware?  Ha!  We'll just see about that.

Celtic at Easter Road this Sunday in league play and Hibs at Celtic Park the Sunday after for League Cup.  

Good luck, Jr.  You're going to need it, pal.

[Watchmen]

1 hour ago, Cheeta said:

^ Silverware?  Ha!  We'll just see about that.

Celtic at Easter Road this Sunday in league play and Hibs at Celtic Park the Sunday after for League Cup.  

Good luck, Jr.  You're going to need it, pal.

I mean, I made sure not to include the league. And they're unlikely to win either Cup. But the odds are still better than winning the FA Cup from L1. 😉

Edited August 8 by Watchmen

[Obinna]

24 minutes ago, Watchmen said:

I mean, I made sure not to include the league. And they're unlikely to win either Cup. But the odds are still better than winning the FA Cup from L1. 😉

Stranger things have happened....

like Wotherspoon winning a Cup double with St. Johnstone

[Cheeta]

1 hour ago, Watchmen said:

I mean, I made sure not to include the league. And they're unlikely to win either Cup. But the odds are still better than winning the FA Cup from L1. 😉

Oh for sure.  Every other year or so there's a surprise in one of the competitions but not this year for Hibs.  Just wanted to point out Jr. is opening his career for Hibs by going straight into the fire.  Quite a welcome aboard.  

[Obinna]

I may be getting ahead of myself, but is there a world where Junior balls out for His to the point where Celtic or Rangers pick him up as a veteran depth piece? He'd be 35/36 next season, but he's got a ton of experience and has played at the highest level. Technically he still has it and he proved in a half season with Aberdeen how good he can still be at this level.

Just wondering for those who know SPL better than I, are there any examples of Celtic or Rangers picking up late-stage veterans for bench presence, or would that just be unnecessary? Maybe he could slot in during some of the domestic games to give the main guys a rest? Or am I way off here...

[JamboAl]

27 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I may be getting ahead of myself, but is there a world where Junior balls out for His to the point where Celtic or Rangers pick him up as a veteran depth piece? He'd be 35/36 next season, but he's got a ton of experience and has played at the highest level. Technically he still has it and he proved in a half season with Aberdeen how good he can still be at this level.

Just wondering for those who know SPL better than I, are there any examples of Celtic or Rangers picking up late-stage veterans for bench presence, or would that just be unnecessary? Maybe he could slot in during some of the domestic games to give the main guys a rest? Or am I way off here...

I’m going to say no.  In spite of being a big club, Celtic still has a buying young talent (Schmeichel and Joe Hart before excepted) and selling them on philosophy.  Hoilett is at his best playing at a club like Aberdeen or Hibs.  I would even argue with Aberdeen, they were looking to get younger with their new manager.  I don’t even know if my club, Hearts, would have any interest in him as we are looking for young, speedier players these days as that is one of those things that we were missing.  We now have 2 Japanese and 2 Costa Ricans on the team and all four are faster than the majority of our Scottish ones.

[74 Whitecap]

Late night thought - 128 pages in this thread and I don't think I've ever posted in it before, and I know some people still hold a grudge over the early years (which I get), but Hoilett put in a shift through some pretty lean years with Canada - I think my favourite moment will always be the throw-in off (a completely oblivious) Kaye's back against French Guiana, and then scoring after a 1-2 with Hutchinson (weaving through and megging the Americans in Hamilton and setting up Adekugbe is maybe 2nd). If we have seen the last of Hoilett in a Canada jersey (seems plausible), then I hope they put together a ceremony or something nice to honour him, he deserves it.

 

Edited to add: It wasn't his prettiest play by any means, but the penalty he won in the opening 2022 WCQ game against Honduras, and his general performance in that 2nd half was immense, just from an overall impact perspective, things could have been so different if we lost that opener....

Edited Thursday at 06:47 AM by 74 Whitecap

[CanadaFan123]

If he can get back in form then he should be in the squad in October. I think we’ve missed him the past 8 games. Such a great player to bring on - so smart, versatile and always makes a difference for Canada. Certainly one of the best to ever wear the shirt. 
 

[DeRo_Is_King]

30 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

If he can get back in form then he should be in the squad in October. I think we’ve missed him the past 8 games. Such a great player to bring on - so smart, versatile and always makes a difference for Canada. Certainly one of the best to ever wear the shirt. 
 

Certainly would have been a good option off the bench vs Mexico to provide a spark. 

[ahmedou]

The Importance of Junior Hoilett, that's right! 

I'd liked that he be commited to CAN MNT since Blackburn Rovers. But his performances with the CAN MNT and his leadership with the CAN MNT makes me forget about that. 

[Addona]

6 hours ago, 74 Whitecap said:

Late night thought - 128 pages in this thread and I don't think I've ever posted in it before, and I know some people still hold a grudge over the early years (which I get), but Hoilett put in a shift through some pretty lean years with Canada - I think my favourite moment will always be the throw-in off (a completely oblivious) Kaye's back against French Guiana, and then scoring after a 1-2 with Hutchinson (weaving through and megging the Americans in Hamilton and setting up Adekugbe is maybe 2nd). If we have seen the last of Hoilett in a Canada jersey (seems plausible), then I hope they put together a ceremony or something nice to honour him, he deserves it.

 

Edited to add: It wasn't his prettiest play by any means, but the penalty he won in the opening 2022 WCQ game against Honduras, and his general performance in that 2nd half was immense, just from an overall impact perspective, things could have been so different if we lost that opener....

The goal vs. Jamaica in a GC quarters several years back, I think, is up there for me …