HARPER IS POSSIBLY NOT VERY GOOD.......

[Royalee]

Harper is has many positives, his positional sense is superb,

Positional sense? Jesus I'd hate to see you play if you think he has brilliant positional sense.

People who want Harper out of the team undermine their argument when they choose to criticise absolutely everything about him, including arguably his greatest skill, which is his positioning, availability for the pass etc. He isn't playing great, but he is the team's 'engine' in the sense of his positioning and willingness to take the ball.

His positioning is dogshit! He's always either playing behind the centre backs or caught in between in no man's land being bypassed. His 'pressure' is a waste of time because standing ten yards from an opponent waving your arms isn't going to influence what they're going to do with the ball.

Paula Radcliffe's got a great engine on her, she's still shit at football.

[IMAMATEOFJOVSKY]

Skodas have great engines too---enough said!

[glass half full]

If it is the case that Harper has refused to talk to Tim Dellor, then I am very disappointed in him (and i have always tried to support him.
He should take a leaf out of Graeme Murty's book. Murts has never ducked away and has faced Andrew Peach's mildly mocking comments on the Monday after a bad game with unerring fortitude.

[IMAMATEOFJOVSKY]

If it is the case that Harper has refused to talk to Tim Dellor, then I am very disappointed in him (and i have always tried to support him.
He should take a leaf out of Graeme Murty's book. Murts has never ducked away and has faced Andrew Peach's mildly mocking comments on the Monday after a bad game with unerring fortitude.

Aside from not being prepared to talk to the media, I am really wondering what attributes Harper has to be captain in the first place anyway? Is it now done on length of service ? as beyond that, I am baffled the guy was ever selected

[Victor Meldrew]

Just a few comments.
If the manager of England's current leading club can refuse to speak to the media all season then can't you forgive our captain for doing so once?

Marek did look o.k but bear in mind City were already 2-0 up and for the last half an hour (when Marek was on the pitch) they sat back and protected what they had-it's much easier to play an attacking passing game in those circumstances so Marek now having been with us for over a year may be on the same wavelength as our players.

Mick Gooding,who knows a thing or two about playing in midfield,said that he felt sorry for Harper and Cisse playing so often at home as part of a central two against a central three with so little help from our two wingers.
Now that Coppell has come out and declared that we have been sussed will we get major changes in tactics and players next Saturday?
I'm not holding my breath and as AP said earlier whilst S Hunt is on the pitch Harper will never be our worst player.

[Focher]

stop slagging Harper lets look at the positives:

-he can point
-he can crab
-he can run aimlessly to make it look like he is doing something

lay off him.

[Elm Park Old Boy]

The title of this thread is a shocking thing to see, about a Reading player, on a Reading fan website. You should grow up and get a life and sense of proportion.

Oh, and maybe some loyalty. I saw plenty of players having bad games yesterday. I honestly don't think I saw anyone not trying.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

James Harper is playing pretty much exactly as he has always done, even during the periods when he was being hailed as a very good player by most of the board.

Yes, he isn't a creative player. He very rarely threads a through ball in to the feet of a striker, but he's rarely ever done that.

Harper's ability is in getting the ball and giving it quickly to an attacking player in space. He's not the "final ball" man, but he's always regularly set up those who do play the killer pass/cross.

The problem is that for the last few weeks something has happened which has made both Hunt and Kebe (and Doyle to a lesser extent) completely unable to find space. Previous we'd win the ball and we'd stream forward, and Harper would usually have a couple of option to pass to.

Now, we win the ball, and Hunt and Kebe seem stuck deep on the halfway line, marked out of the game. Simply, Harper can't play a forward pass as there's nobody for him to pass to. The end result is that he ends up looking useless, but the problem isn't really him, it's that as a team we've completely stopped the off the ball movement which was they key to us destroying teams not so long ago. We play a style of play that relies on two wingers flying down the flanks and stretching the back four. When both wingers are completely off form we are stuck as we don't really have a "Plan B". Marek could be an answer on that front as he does have the ability to see a pass that other players won't. Unfortunately none of the rest of the team seem to see his passes either, and they tend to be wasted.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Agree EPOB

some on here seem hell bent on sounding like Birmingham fans sound

Copps knows what he has to do, he has already announced in the press that changes will be made


and we are third with games in hand

[SLAMMED]

Harper isnt shit, he's just choen the wrong career path.

[working class hero]

He was clearly shit yesterday - but which of our players would have rated more than 5 out of 10?

In the first half I reckon Armstrong, Lita and Doyle were the only ones worth a place in the team [and I don't like Lita].

In the second half all of them were pretty pants - even Bryn and Marek made little impact and Nunt was auditioning for a lead in 'the Invisible Man'.

A bad day.
Let us hope we can turn over Forest and Plymouth [who will surely have the impact of a new manager when we play them].

I think we may find points hard to come by at Hillsborough so 5 pints from the next 3 games might be a good return....

[Royal Rother]

Over the Christmas break 21 Championship managers held a secret meeting the key aim of which was to work out how to stop Wolves, Birmingham and Reading running away with the league.

A very productive session it was by the looks of it.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

I think we may find points hard to come by at Hillsborough so 5 pints from the next 3 games might be a good return....

before, during or after the games?

[rg6royal]

Harps is sh!t...replace with Karacan...

[bcubed]

James Harper is playing pretty much exactly as he has always done, even during the periods when he was being hailed as a very good player by most of the board.

Yes, he isn't a creative player. He very rarely threads a through ball in to the feet of a striker, but he's rarely ever done that.

Harper's ability is in getting the ball and giving it quickly to an attacking player in space. He's not the "final ball" man, but he's always regularly set up those who do play the killer pass/cross.

The problem is that for the last few weeks something has happened which has made both Hunt and Kebe (and Doyle to a lesser extent) completely unable to find space. Previous we'd win the ball and we'd stream forward, and Harper would usually have a couple of option to pass to.

Now, we win the ball, and Hunt and Kebe seem stuck deep on the halfway line, marked out of the game. Simply, Harper can't play a forward pass as there's nobody for him to pass to. The end result is that he ends up looking useless, but the problem isn't really him, it's that as a team we've completely stopped the off the ball movement which was they key to us destroying teams not so long ago. We play a style of play that relies on two wingers flying down the flanks and stretching the back four. When both wingers are completely off form we are stuck as we don't really have a "Plan B". Marek could be an answer on that front as he does have the ability to see a pass that other players won't. Unfortunately none of the rest of the team seem to see his passes either, and they tend to be wasted.

Spot on Rev

Could it be the "something that has happened" is the arrival of Lita? Trier though he is his footballing brain is not huge and he rarely seems to be on the same wavelength as his teammates. As I have said a few times, he and Doyle don't gel - I was very surprised that Hunt didn't get his place back after injury.

[loyalroyal4life]

I said this pretty much 6 months ago, if this don't open ones eyes to how shocking this guy is and detrimental to us winning games, nothing will.

[SteveRoyal]

How anyone can say Harper is better than S Hunt is beyond me.

[Jimbo]

Copps knows what he has to do, he has already announced in the press that changes will be made

I don't know why we are not scoring at the minute.
If I knew why we weren't I obviously would have done something about it by now.

Is it not blindly obvious that two defensive midfielders and two out-of-form wingers means no goals scored?

We rely so much on the wingers that when they are marked out of the game we resort to lumping the ball up the pitch.
I'm not having a go at Cisse or Harper (shock horror on HNA) but we have zero creativity through the centre.

[brendywendy]

are hunt and kebe out of form, or were they marked out of the game, often by two players? Are harps and cisse out of form or were they up against 3 at cm again? When these things happen you are supposed to find ways around it, or change the system. And we dont seem able. That stems from the management,tactics,formation, and set up. Though i understand the ruluctance to go one up front from the start at home.
And I expect this to be adressed by next saturday. If not ill be worried,and join in with the general wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[Factfinder]

are hunt and kebe out of form, or were they marked out of the game, often by two players? Are harps and cisse out of form or were they up against 3 at cm again? When these things happen you are supposed to find ways around it, or change the system. And we dont seem able. That stems from the management,tactics,formation, and set up. Though i understand the ruluctance to go one up front from the start at home.
And I expect this to be adressed by next saturday. If not ill be worried,and join in with the general wailing and gnashing of teeth.

I agree with this post.