Top bloke !

[James]

Just something about Harper and England which is worth considering:

 

How many England No.2s have been called upon at the last minute only to have a howler. I put this down to the typical sub keeper for England being so used to being No. 1 that they haven't developed that mentality to be ready as back-up.

 

Steve Harper has that mentality to perfection and could make him more useful to have around the place than other keepers.

 

Clever thinking !

 

 

Surely if you were looking for an England No. 2 you would want someone who's used to playing every week, not someone who is a specialist at sitting on the bench?!

 

His point was that someone that's playing every week isn't used to being called on at the last minute, and so doesn't perform. Harper would be used to that and would be more able to play at his best on short notice.

 

But they're used to playing, so they'll be able to play!

 

Peter Bonetti. Ian Walker. Nigel Martyn.

 

A sub keeper needs to be warm and sharp and ready and waiting when called upon. There has in the past been huge problems with typically first choice keepers finding that they are on the bench, and not properly approaching the game pre-match or during match, and therefore aren't at their best when called upon.

[OzzieMandias]

Good read, great to read about him knocking on the managers door as well.

I love a good story about people knocking on other people's doors. It's the suspense thing. It's a will they let them in or won't they. Great, edge of the seat, British Isles, thriller.

 

[thewellander]

Can't get my head round him having a mortgage.

 

Not every footballer can pay a few million upfront for there gaffs.

 

It's still strange, though, especially since he's apparently so tight with his money.

 

Anyway, he's top class and I'm happy he's finally getting his chance.

[EthiGeordie]

  Nice article,  George Calkuin is the only jornalist who cares for this club and its heritage.

[Yorkie]

Good read, great to read about him knocking on the managers door as well.

I love a good story about people knocking on other people's doors. It's the suspense thing. It's a will they let them in or won't they. Great, edge of the seat, British Isles, thriller.

 

I like this poster.

[olliemort]

Really hope he pushes on and makes the no1 spot his own.Shay who?

[Guest Alan Shearer 9]

Alan Smith is a cunt. Anyone that doesn't question his attitude has obviously never watched him play for us.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2009/02/28/i-felt-as-though-i-wasting-career-on-bench-harper-61634-23030780/

 

I felt as though I wasting career on bench – Harper

 

Feb 28 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

 

Steve Harper’s patience has finally paid off at Newcastle United, but he also knows he came dangerously close to wasting his career at St James’s Park.

 

WHEN Shay Given left Newcastle United last month, Steve Harper mourned the departure of his closest friend at the club and celebrated the exit of a rival who had brought him so much misery and regret.

 

Harper would possibly have been reluctant to admit it while Given remained on Tyneside, but there were times when he viewed the Irishman with little more than resentment.

 

Having spent the majority of his career living and working in Given’s shadow, there was a festering bitterness between them which should have soured the relationship between friends who ultimately knew they would always be enemies.

 

That it did not is testimony to the strength of the bond between the two goalkeepers, who spent the best part of a decade competing for the number one slot at St James’s Park – but do not make the mistake of assuming Harper was ever happy to be in the background or on the bench. “It feels good to be number one at last and long may it continue,” said Harper, who was speaking at the launch of the Marie Curie Daffodil fund-raising appeal in Newcastle. “To say it’s been a long wait would be one of the biggest under-statements of all time.

 

“Working day in, day out with someone for 11 years, Shay and I were good friends and rivals. It’s actually strange not having him around, I miss him, but I’ve waited for this opportunity for a long time so I’m loving it at the moment.

 

“It was only 2pm on a Saturday when the adrenaline kicked in that it felt different. My wife would tell you, until 7pm on a Saturday, if I hadn’t played, I was like a bear with a sore head. That was virtually every game, year after a year. If they had won, I was happy for them, but I also felt as though I’d missed out, I felt on the periphery of things. If they had lost it was just as frustrating, I’ve sat on the bench and seen us lose by five or six and you just want to be out there helping.”

 

Harper has been perceived as the ideal back-up goalkeeper – loyal, reliable and content to remain close to his roots in the County Durham mining village of Easington Colliery. That, at least, was the image successive Newcastle managers were keen to portray ever since Sir Bobby Robson made Given his first choice just under nine years ago. “It was tough, but I didn’t leave because I was stuck,” admits Harper, who will make his 106th start for Newcastle in 16 years against Bolton tomorrow.

 

“I’m a local lad, I wanted to play here and it was also a case of being out of sight out of mind.

 

“When you’re playing every week, people take notice of you, but when you’re out of the team for three or four years people forget about you.

 

“Not up here, but out in the football world. I hadn’t played a lot of football and given the money it would have taken to take me away from Newcastle, it made people hesitant. People looking in would have thought I was happy, but if you ask the 85 managers I’ve had since I’ve been here, they’d tell you something different.

 

“I asked every single one of them to let me play football, either on loan or whatever.

 

“Those three or four years were incredibly tough for me, incredibly hard – and they are not something I would wish to repeat.”

 

If patience is a virtue, Harper has received his reward this year, succeeding Given as first-choice goalkeeper shortly after agreeing a new three-and-half-year contract.

 

Contentment at last, but even now he does not know for certain if he has made the right choices.

 

He added: “I don’t know what I would say to a goalkeeper in that position.

 

“Now I feel as though I made the right choice, but at the time I felt as though I was wasting my career.

 

“You know, people forget, but in 2000 we were neck and neck, in and out of the side. But then Shay went on this remarkable run when he was injury free and did extremely well. It was only the Marlon Harewood thing (when Shay suffered a nasty stomach injury) that my career turned around.

 

“I wish it had happened in different circumstances because it was awful, but if Shay hadn’t got injured then I don’t know where I’d be. I played 25 games in that season and it was a massive lift. Last season I played 21 games and really enjoyed it because I played at the start of the season when we did well, and at the end when we played well.

 

“To be honest, I was really disappointed not to be in the team at the start of this season. It seemed like I was back to square one. I was twiddling my thumbs again, but come December there was a lot of speculation about Shay.

 

“I was offered a new contract before Christmas, but I wanted to wait and see what happened. Spurs bid £500,000 for me which was a very good offer, but it was turned down and Shay left.

 

“I feel as though I’ve made the right decision now, but only time will tell. I’m 35 in a few weeks, but I think there are a few seasons left in the tank and I want to play them here, in the first team.”

[James]

85 managers

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Sort of tackles the 'lack of ambition' accusation by saying he wanted to be loaned out or sold but Newcastle valued him highly both in money (more than other clubs were willing to pay for a keeper who rarely played) and as a keeper.

[Mistle17]

Great guy, he deserves to have the No.1 shirt his own.

 

We're very lucky to have him. I always loved Given when he was here, and thought he was fantastic for us, but I do remember a time when he got restless after being left out for a couple of games because Harps was doing so well. He should've taken a leaf out of Harpers book.

 

Harper's good enough to play for England, easily. If the likes of Joe Hart and Scott Carson can get the call up, then so can Steve.