Author Topic: Rekeem Harper Joins Ipswich Town  (Read 215953 times)

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LiamTheBaggie

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #650 on: June 27, 2019, 01:18:40 PM »
To play devils advocate:

Before I get started, this is probably more an observation on the way we handle our youth player in general rather than Harper.

There are complaints from the fanbase over the perceived attitude of Harper, Leko and sometime Field. I don't recall seeing any over Edwards. At times have felt a certain degree of sympathy for these players in the way the club have handled them.

Instead of putting faith in them, the club bought in loan rangers or old-timers on short-term contracts. I'll say that Barnes, Gayle, Holgate and Johansen were worth it. But if you're a youngster on the fringes of the squad, I can imagine seeing Tyrone Mears or Wes Hoolahan or even Jacob Murphy and Tosin sat on the bench or getting minutes on the pitch instead of you must be disheartening. And then when things go wrong they're expected to spring on that pitch and give it their all? I know an argument will be about the money they are on, but all the money in the world won't shift a feeling of "f*cks sake, what is the bloody point" that I imagine is running through these kids heads at those points.

I think the club have, at stages, failed these young players and could have handled them an awul lot better and if I were in their position, I would certainly be looking at options presented to me.

Totally agree - and its why if I was in their shoes I would consider leaving.

Sam Field is another who we have messed around - he should have been out playing first team football and instead we've had him in the stands on a match-day watching.

Harper was a breath of fresh air and only burst onto the scene because of injuries. Had we not been suffering injuries then he too would not have had a chance last year.

And if Jacob Muprhy was playing ahead of me then I'd give up football altogether. I have no idea why Kyle Edwards wasn't involved following his successful run out against Brentford.
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Atomic

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #651 on: June 27, 2019, 01:31:43 PM »
Totally agree - and its why if I was in their shoes I would consider leaving.

Sam Field is another who we have messed around - he should have been out playing first team football and instead we've had him in the stands on a match-day watching.

Harper was a breath of fresh air and only burst onto the scene because of injuries. Had we not been suffering injuries then he too would not have had a chance last year.

And if Jacob Muprhy was playing ahead of me then I'd give up football altogether. I have no idea why Kyle Edwards wasn't involved following his successful run out against Brentford.


I agree. Our handing of the kids last season was awful.

Sam Field at Reading was excellent, left out thereafter.

Oli Burke scored his first goal for the club in the league cup tie, never got a look in again.

Kyle Edwards played well and scored a fantastic goal at Brentford, rarely seen after.

This sort of thing is bad for kids progression mentally. When they do well you give them a run of games 5/6/7 then yes by all means bring them out again and re-introduce them when the time is right and you explain to them why they're being looked after. To just kick them aside after good performances is a right kick in the teeth, their hearts must sink when they're not included and it's hard to keep picking yourself up if you feel no matter what you do you're not going to be picked.

Slaven has a history of playing and trusting kids to an extent so hopefully this coming season we will see a change of attitude towards our youngsters.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #652 on: June 27, 2019, 01:33:45 PM »
Edwards was superb as a sub in a game against Reading last year, then wasn't seen again until the Brentford game. But I think there have been less complaints for him because he has been out on loan and got some football under his belt, albeit in League 2.

Leko has had one unsuccessful loan; Harper the same. Field hasn't been sent out on loan at all. So I think part of the frustration is that they haven't been sent out to learn more and gain more experience, but what's the point in keeping them here if we aren't going to use them?

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #653 on: June 27, 2019, 03:37:49 PM »
I posted during the season imagining Jones and Moore sitting in the office on a Thursday or whenever and going "oooh, its Boro/Forest/Wigan, they can be tough, maybe this isn't the week for the youngsters" time after time after time, understandable maybe in one way but basically chicken.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #654 on: June 27, 2019, 04:06:38 PM »
Brim mail reporting he is staying (possibly)
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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #655 on: June 27, 2019, 04:30:13 PM »
I wonder, if he does stay will that officially make him a decent prospect again or will he still be an overrated up himself no hoper? ...... hmmm.
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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #656 on: June 27, 2019, 04:33:04 PM »
I wonder, if he does stay will that officially make him a decent prospect again or will he still be an overrated up himself no hoper? ...... hmmm.


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TiptonThrostle

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #657 on: June 27, 2019, 04:33:14 PM »
I wonder, if he does stay will that officially make him a decent prospect again or will he still be an overrated up himself no hoper? ...... hmmm.

signing a nice new big contract or leaving the club will not change my opinion on him.

and in the 20 games or so i have seen him he looks an average player. whether that improves over the years with us or another club remains to be seen but he has plenty of years to improve but i am not convinced.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #658 on: June 27, 2019, 04:38:28 PM »
He should stay. I cant see a better place for him.

He played 16/17 league games last season apparently. You have to fancy him to play in more this year and he will not do that with any other club hes linked with. The experts talk about the importance of first team football and he cannot afford to lose a year or two of his career.

He will also be set for life (bar having a financial melt down or taking poor advice) with this contract regardless of if its here or elsewhere.

I also don't see a Liverpool, Spurs or even Juve putting him on silly money of £40k plus. His agent should be negotiating the best terms he can get with us, and a sensible buy out should he excel over the next few years. 


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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #659 on: June 27, 2019, 04:59:09 PM »
Monday will be the watershed moment. Won't be under contract with us any more.
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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #660 on: June 27, 2019, 05:00:47 PM »
signing a nice new big contract or leaving the club will not change my opinion on him.

and in the 20 games or so i have seen him he looks an average player. whether that improves over the years with us or another club remains to be seen but he has plenty of years to improve but i am not convinced.

I agree entirely. The signing of a contract or not was NEVER the issue in the eyes of those of us who either don't rate him overly highly or don't think he has the best of attitudes. He might be a decent prospect but I just cant see it happening for him either at the Albion or elsewhere.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #661 on: June 28, 2019, 12:37:47 PM »
If this 'article' on birmingham live is right - https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/rekeem-harper-tottenham-spurs-transfer-16501301 - then something is really wrong.

If our player walks away and signs for Spurs for an insulting compensation fee (can that happen with another English club?) then why would we loan him back and continue to develop him for Spud's benefit?

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #662 on: June 28, 2019, 12:38:58 PM »
I'm not one to drop in things like 'I know someone who knows someone' etc.... because those comments can be taken with a pinch of salt.

But in this instance I do have it on good authority that unless something dramatic happens over the weekend, he will sign an extension on Monday.

After speaking with Bilic and the Club Heirachy, Harper will sign it to protect the club from losing money to a tribunal fee (verses a potential higher fee), getting a higher wage and has been promised more game time. Given WBA's time and training given to him it's fair all round and done out of respect. This doesn't rule out a future move, but protects all parties.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #663 on: June 28, 2019, 12:44:21 PM »
If this 'article' on birmingham live is right - https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/rekeem-harper-tottenham-spurs-transfer-16501301 - then something is really wrong.

If our player walks away and signs for Spurs for an insulting compensation fee (can that happen with another English club?) then why would we loan him back and continue to develop him for Spud's benefit?


This would be a scandalous arrangement. I hope it is not true. If he won't sign for the club that has developed him so far then we should forget all about him. I wouldn't want him loaned back under any circumstances

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #664 on: June 28, 2019, 01:10:35 PM »
He's not good enough for us to waste a loan on for next season.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #665 on: June 28, 2019, 01:50:14 PM »

This would be a scandalous arrangement. I hope it is not true. If he won't sign for the club that has developed him so far then we should forget all about him. I wouldn't want him loaned back under any circumstances

Can't exactly imagine him being a fan favourite if this was to happen either

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #666 on: June 28, 2019, 02:12:40 PM »

This would be a scandalous arrangement. I hope it is not true. If he won't sign for the club that has developed him so far then we should forget all about him. I wouldn't want him loaned back under any circumstances
Its actually a fairly common practice, in fact off the top of my head we loaned Dawson immediately back to Rochdale when we bought him.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #667 on: June 28, 2019, 02:33:07 PM »
Its actually a fairly common practice, in fact off the top of my head we loaned Dawson immediately back to Rochdale when we bought him.

I think the point would be if they signed him on a free/minimal compo and then expecting us to maintain his development. If he was going to come and be a vital/key player then we have a reason to want him back but otherwise it is a waste of loan recruitment and game time for other young players in the squad

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #668 on: June 28, 2019, 03:05:12 PM »
I know I’ll get pelters but in terms of natural ability I think he’s better than Field. While he may have an attitude problem (rumours) there is a reason the likes of spurs and Liverpool are looking at him.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #669 on: June 28, 2019, 03:23:22 PM »
I know I’ll get pelters but in terms of natural ability I think he’s better than Field. While he may have an attitude problem (rumours) there is a reason the likes of spurs and Liverpool are looking at him.


Not sure why you would? He's a far better player than Field.
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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #670 on: June 28, 2019, 04:02:27 PM »
I know I’ll get pelters but in terms of natural ability I think he’s better than Field. While he may have an attitude problem (rumours) there is a reason the likes of spurs and Liverpool are looking at him.

Two totally different players, Field can sit in front of the back four doing the dirty work and Harper can get forward. I don't buy the attitude problems stuff to be honest. I think he lacks basic coaching at times and his fitness needs work in particular stamina as he seems to struggle late on in games and people choose the easy option of labeling him lazy, maybe he is but in his first season i'm happy to give the benefit of the doubt and lets see what the future brings
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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #671 on: June 28, 2019, 06:54:49 PM »
The defensive side of his game needs an absolute tonne of work and he needs to make himself available for the ball a lot more but the raw talent is there with him. His ball retention is very good and he's very calm on the ball and his dribbling ability to power away from opponents is already very impressive at 19. How much defensive nous he can add will dictate how far his career goes, but the ceiling is high for him if he can improve that.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #672 on: June 30, 2019, 02:45:01 PM »
Noticed in an article from Matt Wilson on Filip Krovinovic  that Harper might be having a U turn on signing the new contract following his meeting with Bilic and training with the Group last week.
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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #673 on: July 01, 2019, 03:15:24 AM »
Excuse me for being lazy, but a U turn in which direction? Both the suggestions of him staying and leaving have been claimed at times
He should sign today, does not stop chance of being sold later but gives us an ability to name a price.

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Re: Rekeem Harper
« Reply #674 on: July 01, 2019, 01:45:10 PM »
Two totally different players, Field can sit in front of the back four doing the dirty work and Harper can get forward. I don't buy the attitude problems stuff to be honest. I think he lacks basic coaching at times and his fitness needs work in particular stamina as he seems to struggle late on in games and people choose the easy option of labeling him lazy, maybe he is but in his first season i'm happy to give the benefit of the doubt and lets see what the future brings

I agree he does look tired later in the games and that should improve with him training with and playing in the first team instead of the u23s.

I just hope he signs as it makes having a youth set up pointless if we keep on losing the best prospects.