by ScottishRoyal »
01 Sep 2009 21:49
SHORT AND CURLY Reckon from what you are saying you have the better deal.
Gutted to lose Harper. Hope he does well for you. He will be sorely missed no matter what the wind up merchants say on this board.
I'd echo those sentiments. Harps has been a fantastic servant to the club, something newer fans that have arrived since our first Premiership season perhaps don't appreciate. Although length of service doesn't equate to a value, he's always been a central player in the plans of Pardew and Coppell from League One through to an eigth place Premiership finish and, in the opinion of most Premiership managers and leading football pundits (not just the fools on TV), has always been a key player in our side. So you can understand why a player who clearly loves the club and has played such a central role can become disenchanted when the new manager doesn't play him and the fans (those more naive) don't appreciate the role he plays in the side. Some of the comments spouted by our fans remind me of the comments made by the Real Madrid President when Makalele was sold. He said 'he was useless, he never passed the ball further than ten yards!'... clueless. I think Harps still has a part to play. Realsitically, though the youngsters coming through are promising great things, I don't think any of the new breed midfielders other than perhaps Karacan could perform over 46 games to the same standard as Harps.
On the proposed deal front I don't see how we benefit if the speculated terms are true. We permanatly lose a player possibly better than the one arriving, and the one arriving leaves in six months at which point we'll be a player short. I wouldn't begrudge Harps a Premiership move if it meant getting in a permanent replacement but these terms will really do us over.
