I gave Harley

[BUTTERBALL]

Apart from one instance where he gave the ball away and the 50/50 challenge he bottled, he played quite well after coming on and helped ensure we retain possession. People should get off his back and give him a chance to get his confidence up.

 

[beefypigeon]

I used to bottle a challenge and still do, but I am slight of stature compared to most. It doesn't mean I'm not dedicated to the cause though... I still try my hardest even if I may be scared of getting flattened by someone double my size in a 50-50 challenge. I'd usually try and out-wit the opponent and nick the ball away instead of going full-blooded for the ball. Perhaps Harley is the same and it comes across that he isn't bothered and not dedicated?

A good team needs a mixture of your ball-winning hardworking individuals and the more creative players who are always available as an outlet. As a couple have already pointed out, he is the kind of player that we need in order to progress, and I think that when he is chosen in the first eleven its a sign that Gus is thinking positively and pushing for the win rather than sitting deep and holding onto what we have.

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

Complete and utter garbage. OP is a moron as is anyone who agrees with him on this.

 

[7:18]

I used to bottle a challenge and still do, but I am slight of stature compared to most. It doesn't mean I'm not dedicated to the cause though... I still try my hardest even if I may be scared of getting flattened by someone double my size in a 50-50 challenge. I'd usually try and out-wit the opponent and nick the ball away instead of going full-blooded for the ball. Perhaps Harley is the same and it comes across that he isn't bothered and not dedicated?

A good team needs a mixture of your ball-winning hardworking individuals and the more creative players who are always available as an outlet. As a couple have already pointed out, he is the kind of player that we need in order to progress, and I think that when he is chosen in the first eleven its a sign that Gus is thinking positively and pushing for the win rather than sitting deep and holding onto what we have.

I'm the same as you mate, keep it up and don't change the way you play!

 

[sagaman]

Looks a decent player I think

 

[Diego Napier]

THIS. I f***ing LAUNCHED into him after that. "Sadly i was in WSU" so only those around me would have heard me call him a BOTTLING ****.

Don't you mean Luckily? I'm glad you're in WSU so's neither I nor Harley could hear your rabid rant.

Of course, I do feel sorry for those unfortunates that sit near you......

 

[Jimmy Come Lately]

Harley, did ok IMO after a bad start getting caught in possession. didnt do much wrong to get quite as much shit as he's getting but i do agree with some posters that he lacks bottle and courage. This cannot be taught of learnt on the training ground.

He might learn it in cup matches, though.

 

[Medwayseagull]

The same old usual suspects having another go at Harley - how boring and predictable. If he scores another long range free kick they will just say it's a fluke. A pathetic ignorant bunch.

 

[Albion Dan]

He isnt good enough for this division. He needs far too much time to do anything with the ball and cant cope with the pace of this standard . That is a fact and not an insult to the bloke. He will never be good enough for us while we have aspirations of getting out of this division in the right direction. In fact I fully expevt him to be making a move back to Div 1 next year. I think too many people have got rose tinted glasses when it comes to Harley.

 

[BensGrandad]

He has taken a time to get used to the pace of the game but I think that he will be a revelation next season or even possibly towards the end of this as he is very comfortable on the ball. His style of play will always bring out his critics as it did other with a similar style of play like Hoddle. As a nation we have been brought up to expect wing halves or midfielders as we now call them to be all blood and thunder Nobby Horton/Jimmy Case types. How much criticism did Dean Wilkins get at Brighton as a player.

 

[Edgefield]

He isnt good enough for this division. He needs far too much time to do anything with the ball and cant cope with the pace of this standard . That is a fact and not an insult to the bloke. He will never be good enough for us while we have aspirations of getting out of this division in the right direction. In fact I fully expevt him to be making a move back to Div 1 next year. I think too many people have got rose tinted glasses when it comes to Harley.

I think everything Albion is just excellent, at the moment. some people always like to focus on the negative and obsess about players perceived shortcomings. Gus I suspect brought on Harley to hold ball and retain possession, and I reckon his judgement is slightly more meaningful and worthwhile.

For the record I thought Harley mostly did his job (he did all right), although despite JFC's (inability to retain possession) expect JFC to start on tuesday and Sparrow to be man for the advanced midfield role for the present.

PS I'm beginning to like Gus' options

 

[CheeseRolls]

Give Harley a break...

Anyone notice Vokes performance, looked totally disinterested at least a couple of times and he was so slow going past people, well I thought the second half would kick off before he got back to his seat. Time to get rid Gus.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

There's definately a player in there somewhere, just needs the confidence to let it out.

Some players find it hard moving up a level and at clubs where the expectation is greater, hopefully he will settle soon so that we can see the best of him.

 

[Lush]

There's definately a player in there somewhere, just needs the confidence to let it out.

Some players find it hard moving up a level and at clubs where the expectation is greater, hopefully he will settle soon so that we can see the best of him.

He doesn't need to 'settle', he needs someone to teach him about graft with purpose. IMHO.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

There should have been no hesitation in his mind going for that ball. That action pretty much sums Harley up for me. I don't think you can learn courage either.

He could do worse than follow in the footsteps of this character then:-

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I am sure Harley is learning. He doesn't have a huge amount of experience at this level.

For what it is worth, I thought he was pretty decent when he came on. It was a bit of a midfield battle when he was introduced and he didn't do much wrong. We haven't seen the best of him yet. The guy needs a chance. Footballers are not robots. Some will take longer than others to settle, if at all.

 

[Albion Dan]

For the record I thought Harley mostly did his job (he did all right), although despite JFC's (inability to retain possession) expect JFC to start on tuesday and Sparrow to be man for the advanced midfield role for the present.

PS I'm beginning to like Gus' options

Harley was by far our worst player against Palace at home and shouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11 imo, he is a luxury we can ill afford in a derby match.

 

[mona]

I will vouch that he said that as sat next to Marcus!

However, if you look at our goal, it started with Harley, in OUR box, stopping a Toon move with an audacious volleyed backheel to El Abd, and converting defence into attack.

He is not good at tackling, and if you want a team of runners who work their nads off you will never like him, but there is only so far you can go with team full of Alex Revells.

What he does bring is a decent dead ball (our corners were better with him taking them yesterday), the ability to twist pass opposing players, and an eye for a ball inside a defender for the forwards to run onto.

There will be times and matches when he will be a luxury we can do without, but if we want to push on then the likes of Harley are needed to unlock defences.

The OP really wants us to be playing teams like Dagenham and Macclesfield every week, and the type of football that goes with it, some people like artisans, others artists, and Harley is more of the latter.

The trouble is you can't stop idiots from being stupid.
Thankfully the team is picked by Sr Poyet not by the morons who moan at Harley and Barnes who both did well yesterday.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

I am sure Harley is learning. He doesn't have a huge amount of experience at this level.

For what it is worth, I thought he was pretty decent when he came on. It was a bit of a midfield battle when he was introduced and he didn't do much wrong. We haven't seen the best of him yet. The guy needs a chance. Footballers are not robots. Some will take longer than others to settle, if at all.

Well said BoF. It seems some folk ain't happy unless they've got something or someone to moan about innit.

 

[Barnham Seagull]

He doesn't need to 'settle', he needs someone to teach him about graft with purpose. IMHO.

I think you miss my point.

Some players are able to handle the step up and hit the ground running overs don't. He was obviously very comftable at Exeter but the jump up to Swansea then us may be to much for him, not from an ability perspective but a mental one.

Unfortunately he has not done so so far. He needs to soon overwise he will find that he will have missed his opptunity.