Jack Harper

[waterhouse]

Is anyone else chomping at the bit to see Jack Harper pull on the blue and white stripes for the first time?
I know he won't be fit till sometime in October, but I first read up on this guy way before we signed him and saw how highly rated he is. This season is gonna be amazing!

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Chopping or champing?

 

[martin tyler]

Think you maybe waiting a while. He is still very young and currently would have to work very hard to make the match day 18. Personally if we see him this season I suspect it will be after christmas

 

[Pavilionaire]

Definitely.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Yep, next season most certainly.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Don't expect to see him until FA Cup 3 in early January.

 

[waterhouse]

Really? If that's the case then why didn't he stay in Real Madrid's reserves? Why would he choose to sit in our reserves?

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Yes, cant wait.
Also Crofts coming back although the midfield is bang on at the moment.
I want to see Bobby start, but Sam and Tomer doing well.
Will Lua Lua get back in?
Dunk,Goldson.
Starting to feel sorry for some of these players who may not get much game time.
Football should be 15 a side.
What the hell is going on at Brighton this is not the club I support, I am not used to it and I cant handle it, I mean I am even slightly confident that we will win before kick off for christs sake.

 

[sdmartin1]

Really? If that's the case then why didn't he stay in Real Madrid's reserves? Why would he choose to sit in our reserves?

The Real Madrid C team was disbanded so he had no choice.

Fit in 2 weeks, then a couple of months with the U21s to get back up to speed I'd imagine.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

He's got a #21 shirt waiting for him, but he's got to get over his injury before a few weeks in the Dev Squad. I reckon he'll be near the subs bench sometime in December with the FA Cup in January a great opportunity for a start.

 

[waterhouse]

Yes, cant wait.
Also Crofts coming back although the midfield is bang on at the moment.
I want to see Bobby start, but Sam and Tomer doing well.
Will Lua Lua get back in?
Dunk,Goldson.
Starting to feel sorry for some of these players who may not get much game time.
Football should be 15 a side.
What the hell is going on at Brighton this is not the club I support, I am not used to it and I cant handle it, I mean I am even slightly confident that we will win before kick off for christs sake.

This! Exactly why I put down a bet on us to win this league weeks before a ball was kicked.

 

[waterhouse]

The Real Madrid C team was disbanded so he had no choice.

Fit in 2 weeks, then a couple of months with the U21s to get back up to speed I'd imagine.

What I read somewhere was that he could of signed a contract with there B team this season. But chose to come to us.

 

[Foolg]

Sense of perspective, he's never actually seemingly played a game in a professional/competitive league.

The Real Madrid C team played in the 4th (or arguably 6th) tier of Spanish football (it's actually the 6th tier, as the 3rd is split into 3 divisions.), which is split into 18 regional leagues. Jack Harper played in one of those 18 regional divisions, that's it.

I'm not saying he's shit, but there seems to be a lot of expectation on his shoulders, for someone who was playing against part time teams last year, and reserve sides from 2nd tier clubs.

 

[AZ Gull]

There has certainly been a lot of hype surrounding his signature, presumably because he has moved to us from Real Madrid. The fact remains that he is 19 years of age and has yet to kick a ball in senior men's football - anywhere.

People were (correctly) expressing doubts about Tomer Hemed when he signed, because there was no way to know whether, and how quickly, he would adapt to the Championship. And this for a proven goalscorer who had made over 250 appearances in a number of different leagues and had more than 15 senior international caps.

My expectations for what Harper will contribute to the first team this season are just about zero - if he starts to knock on the door for inclusion in the first team squad at any point this campaign, I'll be delighted.

Let's give the lad a chance to play some football and do some developing on these shores before we expect to see the new Messi.

 

[Mancgull]

At present I'm more excited about seeing a Murphy / Lua Lua wing partnership. I thought Murphy had a storming game last night.

 

[Baldseagull]

What I read somewhere was that he could of signed a contract with there B team this season. But chose to come to us.

He was expected to be loaned out if he remained with Real.

 

[waterhouse]

Sense of perspective, he's never actually seemingly played a game in a professional/competitive league.

The Real Madrid C team played in the 4th (or arguably 6th) tier of Spanish football (it's actually the 6th tier, as the 3rd is split into 3 divisions.), which is split into 18 regional leagues. Jack Harper played in one of those 18 regional divisions, that's it.

I'm not saying he's shit, but there seems to be a lot of expectation on his shoulders, for someone who was playing against part time teams last year, and reserve sides from 2nd tier clubs.

Didn't he play in the UEFA youth league against some of the best youngsters in the world?

 

[Munkfish]

I cant wait to see if this lad is going to be any good. Seems

If March's performances continue to be similar to last night then there may be a space on that bench sooner rather than later.

My only question really is where does he fit into a 442 formation? Second striker replacing baldock or will he be able to fill in on the wing?

 

[Foolg]

Didn't he play in the UEFA youth league against some of the best youngsters in the world?

Probably.

But the fact he was in the C team, which as I say is the 6th Tier, and had not made an appearance for the Castilla (B team) - who are in 1 of the 3 third tier divisions, suggests he's not somebody i'd think will massively impact our first team for some time. Many on here seem to think he's the next Zidane, which sets unrealistic expectations.

 

[GT49er]

I don't go with all this, 'He hasn't played a proper senior game so he's not going to be good enough for us for ages' stuff. He was highly rated at Real Madrid - that's got to be worth something - and if he's good enough, he's old enough.
He may or may not be the new Messi (probably not - he'd have probably had a run with the Real Madrid first team by now if he was) but Hughton seemed pretty enthusiastic about getting him on board - wasn't there something said about pushing for a first team place around Christmas?
If that's what CH reckons, OK, I'm happy to see how that pans out!