[Albertbaggie]

Coached by Big Dave from a young age, given first team chance by him ... chances of signing a contract now?

[KYA]

Coached by Big Dave from a young age, given first team chance by him ... chances of signing a contract now?

Fully agree no chance now he will sign for us.

[baggie82]

Fully agree no chance now he will sign for us.

He wasn't signing a contract when Moore was in charge so I don't see how sacking the manager has changed much.

[cads_ap_albion]

Nothing to do with Moore. Chelsea have been after him since before u16 but he had signed pre contract agreement before u16 so Chelsea couldn't get him despite a few shenanigans that went on.

Nothing Albion can do, except offer him a lot of money to match what is being offered elsewhere.

[Wigmore]

He wasn't signing a contract when Moore was in charge so I don't see how sacking the manager has changed much.

Unless you are ITK, how can you be so dogmatic about his intentions?
Certainly the last 24 hours will have taught him a harsh lesson about 'loyalty'.

[frazzle]

To be honest Harper signing is the least of our worries.

[Pureade1]

Ridiculous to suggest Harper wont stay just because Big Dave has gone. Not one of us know what is going on in Harpwrs head or what discussions have gone on. Whether he stays or not will be down to what he wants and not whether big dave was sacked or not.

[johnny Cash]

Nothing to do with Moore. Chelsea have been after him since before u16 but he had signed pre contract agreement before u16 so Chelsea couldn't get him despite a few shenanigans that went on.

Nothing Albion can do, except offer him a lot of money to match what is being offered elsewhere.

Well it won’t be Chelsea since they are going to be banned from registering players. I think they are capping the number of players you can loan out too, so on a different note we should be taking a look at their young players. 

In terms of Harper, I think he will wait to speak with any new head coach and see how much he plays in the final 10 games. He’ll genuinely be better off here with a sensible buy out in my opinion.

[The Joust]

Anyone who thinks Harper won’t sign a contract because DM has gone is on the moon.

[BalisPen]

Sick and tired of all this stuff around someone who is essentially hold the club who has nurtured his talent from a very young age to ransom.

Sign or don't sign RH, WBA Fc were here before you and will be here long after you.

But, remember your contemporaries who also thought the grass was greener elsewhere.

Personally, I don't like the way he and his representatives have let this drag on. We have obviously offered him a contract and instead of signing it and concentrating on getting better and playing more and then getting another better contract these young players like him know now that one contract elsewhere could make them for life financially if not on the pitch.

[tuamigos]

Sick and tired of all this stuff around someone who is essentially hold the club who has nurtured his talent from a very young age to ransom.

Sign or don't sign RH, WBA Fc were here before you and will be here long after you.

But, remember your contemporaries who also thought the grass was greener elsewhere.

Personally, I don't like the way he and his representatives have let this drag on. We have obviously offered him a contract and instead of signing it and concentrating on getting better and playing more and then getting another better contract these young players like him know now that one contract elsewhere could make them for life financially if not on the pitch.

[/b]

He's doing what any of us with half a brain cell would do.
Maximise the amount income for the least amount of effort

[boinging_along]

You can't blame him for his approach, it's his career and life he's thinking about.  Why jump at what he's offered when there's question marks about what division we'll be in next season?  And now question marks about a new manager.

[BalisPen]

[/b]

He's doing what any of us with half a brain cell would do.
Maximise the amount income for the least amount of effort

But, it is not what of our other youth players do.

Field and Leko have signed long term deals and shown their commitment and gratitude to the club who have honed and nurtured their talent and then you get the likes of him and Roberts who want an immediate payout rather steadily earn better contracts with us.

[tuamigos]

But, it is not what of our other youth players do.

Field and Leko have signed long term deals and shown their commitment and gratitude to the club who have honed and nurtured their talent and then you get the likes of him and Roberts who want an immediate payout rather steadily earn better contracts with us.

Only time will tell if they have made the correct decision.

[BalisPen]

Only time will tell if they have made the correct decision.

Time has already told us that sinclair made the wrong choice but as long as he got the signing on bonus from Watford I suppose he is happy.

If Harper goes and we don't get a significant tribunal fee and sell on I would be more sympathetic to others clubs who I previously thought were stupid for shutting down their systems.

[elkiellis]

Anyone who thinks Harper won’t sign a contract because DM has gone is on the moon.

Exactly Dave only started playing him by default,as we had lots of injuries,a lot of fans were saying he should have been given a chance way before

[Droitwich Baggie]

He tried..Not the end of the world.
Has to accept what he has done and what his future is.
His agent must bring him into the real world, and just not think about his agent's fees.

[colinmax]

Hopefully he signs a contract to stay with us and he may have a good career but at the moment he is not
anything more than promising and not worth a nailed on place in a team hoping to play in the Premiership or be an automatic promotion candidate.
Three obvious shortcomings
1)stamina A lot of younger players lack this
2)Seems slow to react to happenings around him
3)Seems powder puff in challenges particularly given his size and to me seems to avoid physicality if possible.

[mulliganstired]

Hopefully he signs a contract to stay with us and he may have a good career but at the moment he is not
anything more than promising and not worth a nailed on place in a team hoping to play in the Premiership or be an automatic promotion candidate.
Three obvious shortcomings
1)stamina A lot of younger players lack this
2)Seems slow to react to happenings around him
3)Seems powder puff in challenges particularly given his size and to me seems to avoid physicality if possible.

4)Stops for 1.5 seconds when it goes wrong and waves his arms like Brunt.  Can't be doing this.

[GREGMT]

Miles better than Livermore.  Where would our midfield be without him?  I dread to think.

[TiptonThrostle]

Miles better than Livermore.  Where would our midfield be without him?  I dread to think.

Harper is a great prospect and that is the thing about football, different opinions, i actually thought Harper was average last night. He did a few good runs with the ball but when it didnt come off he tended to throw his arms in the air and sulk a bit when he should of perhaps let the ball go a bit sooner. i would keep him in the team for saturday though.

[tuamigos]

Harper is a great prospect and that is the thing about football, different opinions, i actually thought Harper was average last night. He did a few good runs with the ball but when it didnt come off he tended to throw his arms in the air and sulk a bit when he should of perhaps let the ball go a bit sooner. i would keep him in the team for saturday though.

My feelings as well more or less, I'd also add that if he loses the ball it's not often he tries to win it back.

[Mister AT]

He's been a breath of fresh air coming in to the team and being part of our academy.

The one question I do find myself asking is what type of midfielder is he?

I'm not sure hes able to deliver that 'killer' pass in the final third, I haven't seen enough evidence from him to see him hitting 8-10 goals a season either.

Defensively I couldn't imagine him sitting in a holding role as he likes to get forward, so it's a bit of a confusing one to be honest.

Starting to get the feeling he wont sign the contract, or he will let it run down to the summer and keep us on hold.

[lewisant]

He's been a breath of fresh air coming in to the team and being part of our academy.

The one question I do find myself asking is what type of midfielder is he?

I'm not sure hes able to deliver that 'killer' pass in the final third, I haven't seen enough evidence from him to see him hitting 8-10 goals a season either.

Defensively I couldn't imagine him sitting in a holding role as he likes to get forward, so it's a bit of a confusing one to be honest.

Starting to get the feeling he wont sign the contract, or he will let it run down to the summer and keep us on hold.

A good point. Asides from one incredible effort that hit the bar all his shots have been miss hits or weak at best. I don't see what kind of midfielder he is either. He's certainly good at carrying the ball forward and turning defence into attack and if he can learn when to make that killer pass then we can probably call him a bit of a playmaker. At the moment though he's guilty of holding on to the ball for too long, but most young players are guilty of that.

I guess thinking of high profile players he may be able to develop like he potentially could be a Pogba kind of player but i have him in the "great potential" category and i think his game needs a lot of work.

[baggiejohn]

He's been a breath of fresh air coming in to the team and being part of our academy.

The one question I do find myself asking is what type of midfielder is he?

I'm not sure hes able to deliver that 'killer' pass in the final third, I haven't seen enough evidence from him to see him hitting 8-10 goals a season either.

Defensively I couldn't imagine him sitting in a holding role as he likes to get forward, so it's a bit of a confusing one to be honest.

Starting to get the feeling he wont sign the contract, or he will let it run down to the summer and keep us on hold.

Got to admit, I'm a bit confused with Rakeem, he does show flashes of brilliance, but I think he's far from the finished article.

I think Sam Field is better suited to the sitting role, & I've yet to see any consistency from Rakeem in an attacking role.

Pretty sure he's capable, but he seems to lack self confidence.