Brighton sign Harper

[BigGully]

Im sure the club have previously stated that Harper is initially a DS signing with the expectation he will push for first team THIS season.

Harper himself said by xmas I believe.

Every DS player is pushing for the first team at this moment, but its a difficult pathway and nothing is ever guaranteed, so I would be surprised if the club stated that, even so its just a statement of aspiration.

He is a young kid that has achieved very little in the game, his association with Real Madrid is helpful and I cannot help thinking the Academy engineered this signing to try to show the strength of the recruitment department, closer inspection doesnt really offer an immediate first team contender.

But I wish him well and hopefully he will develop into a good player.

 

[Seagulls1984]

Speaking with him he says he's a no 10 link between midfield and attack. And one of the main reasons for signing was opportunity for first team football , if he takes that opportunity is another story .

 

[shaolinpunk]

We don't have many players that can play behind a striker in a 4-4-1-1 (which I believe has been Hughton's favourite formation over the years) and be effective.

Perhaps Harper can. Certainly gives us another option at least.

 

[KZNSeagull]

I would hope that, if he is a talented as we think, he will not be pigeon-holed into one position and could actually play in several.

 

[Bladders]

We don't have many players that can play behind a striker in a 4-4-1-1 (which I believe has been Hughton's favourite formation over the years) and be effective.

Perhaps Harper can. Certainly gives us another option at least.

Thats where I see him.

 

[NooBHA]

I am dying to meet him. Apparently his accent is as Scottish as Rab C Nesbitt, despite living all his life in Spain. I know his parents are Scottish but look at Sheena Easton, she took on an American accent soon as she stepped off a plane in America

 

[Easy 10]

So from this...

WOW WOW WOW

This is a real shock move. Never even saw that one coming, although the Scotland set up is well known to Ewan Chester our Chief Scout who is Scottish so he has probably seen a lot of this lad.

There is absolutely no way that someone like that has been brought in for the Development Squad. He is a first team starter for sure. CH plays players like that no matter how young they are. He played Nathan Redmond in European matches for Birmingham at the age of 16 because he knew he was good enough to play.

That lat will get times more Scotland caps than Jordan Rhodes will amass in his career and will be worth a lot more than Rhodes in the future - Why pay £14 million when you can get better for Nothing. This is absolutely brilliant business in the transfer market

To this....

I am definitely expecting to see him play - He obviously won't walk straight into the team but I think once they see him in training I think he will be in around the fringes of the team. Apparently he is one the scouting team rate really highly, although I don't think Chris has seen that much of him yet

I'm glad you've tempered your expectations a tad

 

[NooBHA]

So from this...





To this....



I'm glad you've tempered your expectations a tad

hehehheeeeeeeeeeeeee I think they have been tempered a bit, not by my expectation of him but more by the other quality signings which will make it more difficult for him to walk straight into the side. Remember my first quotes were before the signings of Murphy, Manu and the sudden improvement in Lua lua

 

[Triggaaar]

hehehheeeeeeeeeeeeee I think they have been tempered a bit, not by my expectation of him but more by the other quality signings which will make it more difficult for him to walk straight into the side. Remember my first quotes were before the signings of Murphy, Manu and the sudden improvement in Lua lua

Also perhaps before we found we'd be playing 442. If we were playing 451 (or 4411, 4231 etc), maybe we'd see him earlier.

 

[Easy 10]

hehehheeeeeeeeeeeeee I think they have been tempered a bit, not by my expectation of him but more by the other quality signings which will make it more difficult for him to walk straight into the side. Remember my first quotes were before the signings of Murphy, Manu and the sudden improvement in Lua lua

Nowt wrong with a bit of excitement over a new signing, but the hype surrounding him when the news broke was more than a little OTT, I thought. He's a promising prospect, but I don't expect to see him getting much 1st team action this season. Maybe he'll get a couple of appearances from the bench in the League Cu...

....oh.