I'll come over and introduce myself next time mate.I was trying to persuade the bookie in the Premier bar to re open the till so I could put a tenner on Man Utd winning 2-3, this was at half time, when I clocked you. I have a very good memory for faces and thought it was you but thought I'd look a bit of a dick if it wasn't and came across and introduced myself. I normally only pass through the Premier en route to the Whiteley but will keep an eye out in future. I'll even buy you a Guiness.
Make sure you do, there's very few on here that I've actually met and you obviously know who I am if you know my tipple.
I can't stand James Harper, but I agree that booing him off the pitch is un-called for, then on the other hand I would rather him not play anyway. I thought yesterday was one of his better games, he does have a lot of critics and gets scapegoated but there are games when you watch him and just think how, just how has he got in the team. I'm always a fan of youngsters getting a chance, although experience is needed to balance this but what has happened to Tom Cairney. You hear rumours of him getting to big for his boots etc, but was he not one of your most promising youngsters last year? fair enough if he feels a bit pleased with himself and is a bit smug, knock him down a peg but don't shun him completely. He hasn't performed well when i've seen him so far but that was two games coming on as a sub. Harper has played terrible in more than two games I can think of. I feel he deserves another run in the team.
Why has he not been introduced earlier though? I did hear he was ill before the game, but you never know what to believe sometimes. I get the feeling sometimes Pearson tries not to play players from the old regime (with Dawson and Barmby being the exception, although I feel this is due to age and experience) which may at times of held the team back. I'm not Pearson bashing, I think he has done wonders for this club but every manager has their flaws.
I have 2 friends who have a season pass in the east stand and they say that they pay money to watch them so if they want to boo the team/players they will and no one else cna moan if they do it, I disagree i think booing your own team or players is disgraceful and what will that do to there confidence
Ironically I thought Harper had 1 of his better games 4 us @ weekend, apart from not being goal side for their goal! Seems he is our scapegoat, wonder if Evans would have got booed if he had been taken off? we all know the answer to that 1 but in my opinion, he is playing no better than Harper so 4 me the boos are unjustified. However, i thought the team performance was very poor on saturday, considering what was at stake!
I agree Harper had one of his better games, also that booing isn't the best way of going about things in regards to singling people out. The reason Evans would not have been booed is because he is 20 and still growing as a player, yet has performed better this season than Harper I feel, whereas Harper is 30 and supposed to be the experienced player guiding and leading the way in our midfield, which he in my opinion has not done this season and should be/have been dropped.
Most people will agree Harper should be dropped and hopefully next season he will be, but for the time being, please get off his back people!
I have never booed a player, and seen simon walton play , in all seriousness it is disgraceful to hear fans boo their own player off the pitch. Anyway i thought Harper didn't have a bad game, Evans looked really poor and should have come off
I hate the fact that people who 'support' the team will single out someone and boo them constantly. Fact is, it was a terrible team performance and the blame got shifted on harper despite the fact he a) is probably one of the most committed players we have b) was the best city player on the pitch and c) wears his socks ridiculously low (ok thats a gripe I have). I'd never boo any player and I too have seen the likes of simon walton and junior lewis play in a city shirt. Why can't people like harper, garcia, fagan and mcshane have the full backing from the stands instead of being booed for a poor team performance? Its not their fault they lack ability, but at least they put their bloody hearts into it!
Really well said TommyTiger. The reason most people on here don't admit to booing I believe is because they don't do it. I sit just off the half way line in the east stand and when Harper came off the boos clearly came from my right hand side towards E1 and E2 (the chavs who haven't yet mastered the concept of online forums.) Harper isn't a star by any means and honestly I don't really rate him, I think Ash did a far better job in DM. However booing him is absolutely disgraceful and I genuinely think it gets to him as he no longer bothers to applaud the fans and just jogs off. Harper was not the worst player on the pitch yesterday, in fact it was probably Evans, Chester, Hobbs or Guzan but I somewhat doubt that they would be booed off. Harper is being made a scapegoat and it infuriates me, because as long as he pulls on our jersey he should receive our support unconditionally.
I agree with this a lot, I've tried to defend Harper but fans want a scapegoat regardless of anything don't understand tactics and so on and what Harpers doing in the team. We were on a great run and he was a full part of it, but it hasn't stopped the picking and it must have affected him as Pearson spoke out about it. He will be gone in the summer but I feel sorry for the lad. (forgot to do the quote but this is in reply to Tigers Piss on weeds comment)
Sitting in E5 I can assure you the ironic cheering was coming from both sides of me so I'd say it's fair to say it was pretty widespread rather than just the moron corner. I've got to disagree about Harper putting his heart into it. My biggest complaint with him all season has been the fact he never seems to be going anywhere or doing anything but point. As with other players there's been a complete lack of urgency from him and I'd yet to be present when I could honestly say I thought he'd contributed anything to the side what so ever, so I still want NP to explain what he's offering us. Saturday though he was my MOTM. Alright it doesn't take much to be the best of that lot but he was the only midfielder looking to get the ball at every opportunity and play it forward. He was always the first one making himself available for the defence to give the ball to him, he played a few good forward passes including one long forward ball to the left winger (might have been Fryatt going wide) that was Steven Gerrardesque.
When a player is paid as much as Harper and plays as bad as he does i think since i pay his wages i can show my angry and boo! Its not just one mistake he makes its his whole game which is terrible! He cant pass he cant tackle he cant read the game! Hes always on the wrong side of players and he cant tap a ball in the net from 4 yards out! If an employee made this many mistakes at work they would be sacked by now!
