Dan Harding is a good young player

[oapdodge]

Yes he makes mistakes, yes he has been caught out this season, yes he could have been at fault for yesterdays goals and a few more this season. However he is a Brighton player, is very young, Played very well last season when coming into the team at a hard time in the season. He still has a lot to learn but I think he is capable. I would rather keep him then lose him. He is Brighton through and through, but worries about his future. All the time he wears the blue and white stripes he will get my backing. When he scored against Rotherham how many of you knockers sat in your seats ? Or did you rise to your feet and acclaim our England under 21 left back ? Dan Harding ? Yes he will be caught out at times but would you rather have Kerry Mayo or Nathan Jones ? Until he goes he is OK by me.
No disrespect to Mayo or Jones but they have had their chance and Harding is only just starting out on his football career.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

This is stupid.

Of course his knockers jumped up and celebrated his goal. Nobod wants to see him or the team do badly.

Also, he does not get anywhere near the same abuse as Knight gets at games.

I do not see what the problem is with people, myself included, saying that they simply do not think he is up to it.

Nobody (apart from Fatboy) ralied to David Lee's defence when everyone said he was shit.

I hope Harding gets better and I would love him to improve whilst playing for Albion but in our current financial state I do not think we could afford to turn down a decent bid for a player who, at the moment, is not cutting it at this level.

Nothing wrong with thinking that.

I actually thought he looked pretty good in the run up to the play offs last year but this year he has not looked a shadow of that player and been at fault for a fair few goals.

 

[oapdodge]

Richie you might think this is stupid. However I think the young lad has a lot of ability. It is about opinions. I can also go back to when Guy Butters got loads of stick and I kept saying he would do a good job for us. I suggested that NSC sponsored him, not in jest. Darren Currie took loads of stick on here. Dan Harding IS a good footballer. You have to accept we all have difference of opinions and you and others are wrong in the Dan Harding one. He is young and will prove to be a very able player. Some players can't play at the lower levels but give them more time and better players around them then they improve,as playing for England under 21 proves. Darren Currie steps up a level and his game improves,with better players around him. In your opinion Dan Harding isn't up to it. In lots of WHU and Spurs fans Bobby Zamora isn't up to it.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

I did not mean your opinion was stupid I meant the comment about his knockers not celebating the goal.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Is Harding better than Mayo or Jones? That's what it boils down to. Jones can't make up his mind if he's a left sided midfielder, left-wing back or left back whilst Mayo's lack of pace is a real worry in this league.

The truth is that none of them look very comfortable in the "Championship" do they? But our priority is getting a striker in so we're going to have to get on with what we've got in that position. Harding was poor yesterday but I think he'll have got the message by now.

 

[Yorkie]

Harding plays a lot better with the under 21's than he does with Brighton. He seems to be backing off at the moment - maybe because he is worried that he may not be transferred in January if he is injured?

He had a poor game at Millwall but has played well for us.

 

[Bwian]

Harding plays a lot better with the under 21's than he does with Brighton. He seems to be backing off at the moment - maybe because he is worried that he may not be transferred in January if he is injured?

Ah...the old 'Zamora Syndrome'?

If he isn't willing to put in the effort in case he gets injured then he should just ask for a frigging transfer and forego any bonuses he might have been entitled to.

 

[Silent Bob]

Wether he's a good young player or not he is costing us goals and points, so should be dropped.

 

[mona]

Wether he's a good young player or not he is costing us goals and points, so should be dropped.

He makes more mistakes than certain other players because he is faster than them, covers more ground and does not hide.
OK Dobie and Ifill turned him over yesterday but they could have done that to many others in our team.

 

[London Irish]

He makes more mistakes than certain other players because he is faster than them, covers more ground and does not hide.
OK Dobie and Ifill turned him over yesterday but they could have done that to many others in our team.

Exactly. When the Crewe winger crucified Alexis Nicolas and crossed for the second killer goal at Withdean a few weeks ago, how many people criticised Alexis on NSC?

Answer? None.

For some reason any perceived mistake that Dan makes gets magnified 100 times, while any mistake a "popular" player makes gets totally ignored.

We mustn't have double standards. All young players will make mistakes (and the old ones will too!) and Dan and Alexis are two fine young players we should be proud to have in our team.

The nature of our relegation fight is that we are bound to lose far more games than we win as classier opponents expose our guys. That won't matter as long as we get the 9 wins along the way.

As to who is the best left-back at the club, you will see the answer on the team-sheet against Stoke on Friday. I'm pretty confident who that name will be.

 

[Turkey]

I'm not convinced Harding is a better option than Mayo.

Yes Mayo isn't the quickest but niether is Guy Butters or Darren Currie when he was here.

They make up for it in different ways. Mayo is expirienced and pretty solid.

I, personally, would feel a little bit more confident with Kerry at left back.

Do you remember who had a really good season last time we were playing at this level? Wasn't he second in player of the season?

I'm not saying Harding isn't a good player or a good prospect. We should do everything we can to keep him.

I think it's a tough call between the two for a starting place though. We've got to hold onto Harding though. We're bringing all these young players through and to lose them would be gutting. After all the work Dean Wilkins and Martin Hinshelwood have put in.

 

[Pevenseagull]

Harding has shown that when he has a good team around him he looks the part (U21s).

There are many instances of players who look great at this level or lower but don't seem to cut it at a higher level e.g. Zamora, the lad who went to Ipswich from Hartlepool (Tommy Miller?), Brett Ormerod hasn't really convinced and I don't remember hearing much about John Stead of late (after a cracking start).

Similarly some very accomplished top flight players struggle in the headless chicken divisions - OK they may be past their best but players like Keown don't lose it overnight. Even Peter Beardsely struggled to make an impact during his last little fling at Hartlepool - the players around him were poor and the games frantic and scrappy.

Whilst wages might have been a factor when Wycombe allowed Currie to go on a free they didn't seem to fight to keep him so he can't have been contributing that much to them, at a higher level he looks excellent.

If Harding had better players around him some of the panic would be out of his game he would have more options when he's got the ball and wouldn't have to cover as much ground.

I assume that Hull have got some money behind them and Taylor clearly rates Harding - if he were to raid the Albion for a star for the future I guess Harding would have been top of his list and he would have made a move for him before putting him into the U21 spotlight ........ IF he thought he would cut it in the lower divisions.

There are clearly a few very knowledgable people in the game that rate Harding and if a small proportion of the rumours of interest in him are true I'll take that as testimony of his potential.

He's clearly made too many mistakes to avoid criticism this season but if we were playing teams that had to treat us with more respect (i.e. if we were capable of scoring a few more goals) he would be under a lot less pressure.

It seems highly likely that he will move on and in a few seasons we will be able to take pride in the achievements of a product of our youth academy (q.v. Gareth Barry)

 

[Harry Lime]

Sub-consciously or not, I think Harding is being judged by higher standards than some of our other players simply because hes got in the England under 21s, a decision that surprised many of us including me. Yes hes made mistakes this season, certainly more than he or we would have liked, but he is still young and learning.

I dont think it is fair to say his attitude has changed since all the speculation about his future. If anything, that ought to make him try even harder. I know people who know him very well and they tell me he is a very long way from being arrogant. I think the stuff about other clubs is being stirred up by his agent who does appear to have ideas possibly beyond Dans station at this point in his career. Hopefully Dan will be big enough to stand up to his agent, stay with us and prove the doubters wrong.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Harding has shown that when he has a good team around him he looks the part (U21s).

and I don't remember hearing much about John Stead of late (after a cracking start).

Hughes wont play Steadinhio as he thinks that the scottish dwarf is better....hence Rovers lack of scoring at the moment.

 

[Albion Dan]

Harding has cost us many points this season, thats all I care about. Hes a liability at the moment, far more than Kerry was for us a couple of seasons ago.

My theory is Mcghee is playing him as he actually wants to improve his price, but if their were any scouts there on saturday then it will be having the opposite effect!

 

[Lokki 7]

NSC is for airing your views. If people comment that Dan Harding has been shit this season, that is their right. They are not attacking the guy, nor are they in some way not supporting their club. They are making a comment based on half a seasons worth of observation.

Sub-consciously or not, I think Harding is being judged by higher standards than some of our other players simply because hes got in the England under 21s

Do not agree at all. DH is being judged harshly because he is making so many costly mistakes!! LI, to compare Dan to Nicolas is apples and oranges. Of course all players are going to make some mistakes, we all except that. But Dan's occur on a regular basis and often cost us goals/points. Is no one suppossed to mention this? We are not picketing the blokes house for godsake, merely commenting on a BHA internet forum that one of our players is under-performing. We DO have alternatives to try.

 

[king Wombat]

all this stuff about mayo is complete bollocks.

Mayo is a f*cking liability.

He was absolutely dreadful last year, and every game I have seen him play in the last few years he has made at least one howling error, so I fail to see how he provides the 'safe option'.

jones is not a left back, he has no sense of defending at all and the only thing he can do in my opinion is tear aimlessly down the wing.

yes harding is young, and yes he has made mistakes but give the guy a break ffs. once he's played 100+ games then is the time to start saying hes crap.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Harding plays a lot better with the under 21's than he does with Brighton. He seems to be backing off at the moment - maybe because he is worried that he may not be transferred in January if he is injured?

He had a poor game at Millwall but has played well for us.

he has been dire for most of the season

 

[binary]

jones is not a left back, he has no sense of defending at all and the only thing he can do in my opinion is tear aimlessly down the wing.

yes harding is young, and yes he has made mistakes but give the guy a break ffs.

Jones plays more on the right wing than anywhere down the left. He is a complete headless chicken. I hope someone gives him a map so he can find Le Havre.

Harding makes TOO many mistakes regardless of his age. He's a professional and if I made the same mistakes week in, week out in my job I would be fired. Plain and simple part of management is dealing with poor performance.

Let's hope Taylor splashes the cash and takes him to Hull as no Premiership team will want him in this vein of form.

Mind you none of the money will go anywhere but the IR so it will just reduce the squad by another one!

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

jones i a decent lb didwell last time in this league