RUMOUR - Harper to Middlesborough

[West Stand Man]

Our stars are Shorey, Bikey, Matejovsky and our strikers - anyone else is dispensible as far as I'm concerned, especially when they can't tackle, can't find their own team-mates and have the positional sense of a retard.

Exams over then? Will you still be stretching your over-worked intellect at the University of the South Coast again next year or have you graduated/ ploughed the exams?

Where you get this rather incredible version of Harper's play I am not sure. He is, was and would always be the playmaker in this team. If you spent some time watching the whole game you would note that as soon as any other player gets into difficulties they all look to use him as a safety route. Why? Because he can hold the ball under pressure, and he can manufacture the pass that gets it all going again for us. Is he a Sidwell type tackler - no; but then not many are.

[Platypuss]

If you spent some time watching the whole game you would note that as soon as any other player gets into difficulties they all look to use him as a safety route. Why?

Beacuse they can always rely on him being stood on the toes of the back four?

[Vision]

If you spent some time watching the whole game you would note that as soon as any other player gets into difficulties they all look to use him as a safety route. Why?

Beacuse they can always rely on him being stood on the toes of the back four?

Except of course when he's scoring last minute winners in crucial games as he did last season.

To be fair 6 goals from open play last season isn't a bad return and would suggest he offers a little more than merely standing on the toes of the back four.

I'd have to agree though that 4m would be a very good price for us and that its probably time for Harper to move on. He's been an integral part of the most successful sustained period of success this club has ever had but feel that of all the players here he might well be the one affected the most by our relegation.

[Fezza]

If you spent some time watching the whole game you would note that as soon as any other player gets into difficulties they all look to use him as a safety route. Why?

Beacuse they can always rely on him being stood on the toes of the back four?

Except of course when he's scoring last minute winners in crucial games as he did last season.

To be fair 6 goals from open play last season isn't a bad return and would suggest he offers a little more than merely standing on the toes of the back four.

I'd have to agree though that 4m would be a very good price for us and that its probably time for Harper to move on. He's been an integral part of the most successful sustained period of success this club has ever had but feel that of all the players here he might well be the one affected the most by our relegation.

The fact is we got relegated and failed to create anything for our strikers for 8 very important games at a crucial time of the season, added to this we let in the second most number of goals last year.

Whilst Harper isn't the only player at fault I really don't understand why anyone would be singing the praises of any of our toothless midfield from last season. They all scored at some point (haven't bothered to check this) but were generally all crap.

Thankyou for the memories James - cheerio...

[Vision]

Except of course when he's scoring last minute winners in crucial games as he did last season.

To be fair 6 goals from open play last season isn't a bad return and would suggest he offers a little more than merely standing on the toes of the back four.

I'd have to agree though that 4m would be a very good price for us and that its probably time for Harper to move on. He's been an integral part of the most successful sustained period of success this club has ever had but feel that of all the players here he might well be the one affected the most by our relegation.

The fact is we got relegated and failed to create anything for our strikers for 8 very important games at a crucial time of the season, added to this we let in the second most number of goals last year.

Whilst Harper isn't the only player at fault I really don't understand why anyone would be singing the praises of any of our toothless midfield from last season. They all scored at some point (haven't bothered to check this) but were generally all crap.

Thankyou for the memories James - cheerio...

There's a slight difference between "singing his praises" and completely dismissing his contribution altogether.

Personally I fall somewhere inbetween and am merely pointing out that he offered a bit more than simply sitting on the toes of the back four. You'd be hard pressed to find many deep lying central midfielders that contributed 6 goals from open play in the Premiership last season, let alone one that did it in a struggling side.

We'd miss Harper but 4m would certainly represent good value.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Whilst Harper isn't the only player at fault I really don't understand why anyone would be singing the praises of any of our toothless midfield from last season.

Because one man can't do the job of 4?

Because a run of form where the whole club, let alone the squad or the team, seemed stuck in a rut and incapable of pulling out a performance isn't the best period of time to judge a player.

I quite like Harper. I think he's played an important role in the way the club had developed over his 7 years at the club. He's done a job for the team, and I would presume that the manager has been happy with the way he's done that job.

He might lack that little bit extra to command a game, but he is the only midfielder we've had in the last 7 years that has consistently made the team tick. He has his strengths and weaknesses, his limitations, but he's been an excellent player in our most successful period as a club.

I think it's probably time for him to move on though, but I won't discount everything good he's done (and that includes being one of our few shining lights last season) on the back of a couple of bad months form of the TEAM.

[Royalee]

Our stars are Shorey, Bikey, Matejovsky and our strikers - anyone else is dispensible as far as I'm concerned, especially when they can't tackle, can't find their own team-mates and have the positional sense of a retard.

Exams over then? Will you still be stretching your over-worked intellect at the University of the South Coast again next year or have you graduated/ ploughed the exams?

Where you get this rather incredible version of Harper's play I am not sure. He is, was and would always be the playmaker in this team. If you spent some time watching the whole game you would note that as soon as any other player gets into difficulties they all look to use him as a safety route. Why? Because he can hold the ball under pressure, and he can manufacture the pass that gets it all going again for us. Is he a Sidwell type tackler - no; but then not many are.

You really aren't the brightest are you? A playmaker is supposed to create chances and push forward, not sit waving his arms 5 yards behind our centre backs. Hahnemann can pass the ball five yards to Rosenior and Shorey - I suppose he's another one who 'gets things going'. Tard.

[brendywendy]

we were very crap for 8 games......

all of us...

all players, management, crowd, and we got relegated
none of that makes harps a bad player, none of it over rides all the good stuff he did last season, the season before that, and the season before that, and the rest of the 8 years he was an integral part of the team.

he offered so much more than just sideways passes and waving his arms about-in fact the people saying he didnt simply confirm themselves as either stoopid, biased, or on a wind up.

the fact he scored 6 goals, set up more in the midfield of a struggling team, and that people in football with experience and knowledge are willing to fork out 3-4 million for him says more to me than some no mark on a website throwing a harper based wobbly

good luck james-apart from your rock/con air views you are a legend-i will miss your eyebrows around the place

[Southbank Old Boy]

You really aren't the brightest are you? A playmaker is supposed to create chances and push forward, not sit waving his arms 5 yards behind our centre backs. Hahnemann can pass the ball five yards to Rosenior and Shorey - I suppose he's another one who 'gets things going'. Tard.

lol

Who has suddenly defined this magical "playmaker" then.

In Coppell and Pardew's Reading teams Harper has been the man to start things off and make the team tick. He's the one who brings the full backs and wingers into play, which anyone who's watched Reading for the last few years will tell you is the key to out game, and he's the one who will demand the ball and switch play if we're hitting a dead end on one side of the pitch.

You don't have to be a silky number 10 like Zidane, Zola, Sneider or Platini to be a sides playmaker!

[brendywendy]

royalee spouts rubbish shocker

[Royalee]

You really aren't the brightest are you? A playmaker is supposed to create chances and push forward, not sit waving his arms 5 yards behind our centre backs. Hahnemann can pass the ball five yards to Rosenior and Shorey - I suppose he's another one who 'gets things going'. Tard.

lol

Who has suddenly defined this magical "playmaker" then.

In Coppell and Pardew's Reading teams Harper has been the man to start things off and make the team tick. He's the one who brings the full backs and wingers into play, which anyone who's watched Reading for the last few years will tell you is the key to out game, and he's the one who will demand the ball and switch play if we're hitting a dead end on one side of the pitch.

You don't have to be a silky number 10 like Zidane, Zola, Sneider or Platini to be a sides playmaker!

I think you'll find there are a lot of midfielders who can pass the ball sideways - it's the ones capable of actually creating things themselves which are worth anything. Care to explain why our pass completion rate was by far the lowest in the league given how effective Harper was?

[Thaumagurist*]

.

[Royalee]

Harper has never considered himself as a play-maker. He thinks he's a defensive midfielder!

Indeed, and he's even less effective at that!

[Southbank Old Boy]

You really aren't the brightest are you? A playmaker is supposed to create chances and push forward, not sit waving his arms 5 yards behind our centre backs. Hahnemann can pass the ball five yards to Rosenior and Shorey - I suppose he's another one who 'gets things going'. Tard.

lol

Who has suddenly defined this magical "playmaker" then.

In Coppell and Pardew's Reading teams Harper has been the man to start things off and make the team tick. He's the one who brings the full backs and wingers into play, which anyone who's watched Reading for the last few years will tell you is the key to out game, and he's the one who will demand the ball and switch play if we're hitting a dead end on one side of the pitch.

You don't have to be a silky number 10 like Zidane, Zola, Sneider or Platini to be a sides playmaker!

I think you'll find there are a lot of midfielders who can pass the ball sideways - it's the ones capable of actually creating things themselves which are worth anything. Care to explain why our pass completion rate was by far the lowest in the league given how effective Harper was?

Everytime Harper passed it left Hunt gave it away.

Everytime Harper passed it right Oster gave it away.

Both times Harper passed it forward the forwards gave it away.

Harper is 1/11th of the team, he's not soley responsible for our pass completion rate. I think our pass completion was equally poor when we finished 8th wasn't it? We haven't kept the ball well enough in the Premiership, but thats a team thing.

[West Stand Man]

[
You really aren't the brightest are you? A playmaker is supposed to create chances and push forward, not sit waving his arms 5 yards behind our centre backs. Hahnemann can pass the ball five yards to Rosenior and Shorey - I suppose he's another one who 'gets things going'. Tard.

!!! You are not up with this insult stuff really are you. It doesn't work to just bounce back the same one that is used against you.

[winchester_royal]

Harper is not a premiership footballer, but is a quality championship player.

Therefore I will be sad to see him go.

[brendywendy]

Harper is not a premiership footballer, but is a quality championship player.

Therefore I will be sad to see him go.

i think youll find that in two weeks he will be a premiereship footballer and rightly so

could do a job anywhere from midtable downwards

[TFF]

could do a job anywhere from midtable downwards

Maybe that was our problem

[brendywendy]

could do a job anywhere from midtable downwards

Maybe that was our problem

too much downwards?

[winchester_royal]

Perhaps we could get Lee Cattemole in exchange (maybe on loan)

Just a thought.