Local hacks such as Mark Douglas and Lee Ryder seem to suggest that Harper is on the verge of joining Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on a temporary one month loan deal.
To me it’s one of the more believable rumours as I’m fairly certain that Steve Harper will want to be playing football in the twilight of his career, especially when you consider that he has spent many years sat on the bench at NUFC. Whether or not there is any truth in this remains to be seen however and hopefully we’ll hear something definitive either way later on today.
You have to feel for Harper. The guy has been with us for 18 years having signed on as a starry eyed 18-year-old from Seaham Red Star and has had to play second, and sometimes third, fiddle behind a string of top goalkeepers who have graced the goalframes of St James’ Park. First there was Srnicek, then Hislop, then Given that he had to wait behind before finally getting a sustained run of games in goal in our relegation season.
In truth he never let us down when called upon and it was mainly other factors that came into play when it came to relegation. Put simply, I can’t remember Harper putting a foot wrong. That theme continued the next season when he took over the No1 jersey for our Championship winning campaign before retaining it in our return to the Premier League.
A shoulder injury against Everton last season opened the door for Tim Krul and the Dutchman has never looked back leaving Harper yet again playing second fiddle, or third fiddle if you include new boy Rob Elliot in the equation.
Personally I’d much prefer to have Harper as the backup goalkeeper. If it was a straight shootout between bringing him or Elliot off the bench it would be Harper everytime. While I’d be happy with that I very much doubt Harper will be which is part of the reason for him seemingly heading out on loan. In short, he wants to be playing games.
Some will say that Harper has lacked ambition throughout his career as he has been happy to sit on the bench, but to me he has been a great servant, a consummate professional who has rarely kicked up a fuss and has done a job when called upon. Can you really ask for any more than that?
If it is true it’s worth remembering that it’s not the end for Steve Harper at Newcastle and that it’s only supposed to be for a month so he can get some match sharpness. He’ll be back, in much the same way he returned from loan spells at Bradford, Huddersfield, Gateshead, Stockport and Hartlepool earlier on in his career.
First things first though, let’s see if the rumour has any substance to it!
Love Steve Harper and hope he retires here maybe even a coaching role. The fact Krul took his place at no.1 is a testament to how good Krul is, Harper could walk into atleast 10 other teams in the PL.
Icke(Quote)
People are still awake 😯
I agree.Would love him to become a coach as he knows the club inside out. I think he has a role lined up for him if/when he decides to call it a day.
Very under-rated IMO
toonsy(Quote)
Love him but krul is correctly number 1 these days and you cant blame harps for not wanting to bench warm again. Elliot though needs to do alot to convince me he is gOodenough. Either way good luck stevie
marktoon(Quote)
Yeah im watching WWE Vengeance 😆
Harper may come back but how long has he got on his contract? I cant see it being too long left. I would rather have harper as back up keeper but perhaps Elliot is cheaper to keep maybe?
The 59 sound(Quote)
Elliot is guff pal
marktoon(Quote)
I would feel better with him on the bench than elliot, he had a shocker against forest but hope he is better than that, i hope if harper does move on then we keep forster as vack up to krul
Irish_al(Quote)
I’m surprised you lot are up, i’m in wellington at the mpment, atmosphere was great here last night but still think rugby is cack
Irish_al(Quote)
While not necessarily the end of the road for Harper here, this does mean that another senior player close to Chris Hughton who made their feelings known when he was relieved of his duties has now gone. Out of interest, Brighton travel to Hughton’s Birmingham on Saturday.
Nolan, Barton, Harper – only Alan Smith now remains of the “old guard”.
😎
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Whereas Krul rightly holds the no 1 position at the moment, I reckon Harper is a better than goalie than Elliot by miles. Looks like Harper isn’t willing to sit and warm the bench, rightly so I suppose. I hope there is a call-back quick clause written into the loan contract, cos I wouldn’t like to see Elliot step in if something happened to Timmy. 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
what the what? Harper out on loan? Must be a recall option in there surely…. starting fatboy Elliot in the Prem would be suicide
M(Quote)
AOD – Or……..If it gets done in time for tonight, Harper could come up against Nolan 😉
toonsy(Quote)
So that bit of news from the club is season tickets for 50% off? Not a bad deal at all…
toonsy(Quote)
Aye good deal that Toonsy – less than £15 a match for an adult and less than £3 for a kid. Good initiative from the club on top of the 10 year deal.
3hourswasted(Quote)
3HW- yes, it’s a cracking deal and i’s churlish to moan about it, but…….. What if you’ve not long paid full price? You’d be pretty pissed off
toonsy(Quote)
Churl 😉 Same as when anything goes on sale I guess. I can’t see them backdating it, they probably intentionally waited until after these two games. May or may not have been spontaneous to capitalise on our good start
Dubtoon(Quote)
Aye but it’s a reward for people that have paid full price – they can get a half price deal for another member of the family or friend. Really can’t see a problem. I bought 4 tickets for my family on the 10 year deal and don’t feel miffed at all. Get yourself signed up Toonsy 🙂
3hourswasted(Quote)
3HW – Would love to, but I work most weekends nowadays so it’s pointless 🙁
I’ll stick to picking and choosing 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Mind you, Mark might get one now which is nice 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Shame that Toonsy – if you were able to get to more than half the remaining home games you would be in pocket taking up the deal but maybe that’s a stretch with your work like 🙁
3hourswasted(Quote)
3HW – That’s why I just buy one off tickets as and when I can like. It’s more expensive but…… I still mainly go to away games anyway 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Its a shame that harps doesnt want to bench warm now even though he has for so long. I can understand it though.
Just gutted really elliott looks pony
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Haha – some of our fans have really surpassed themselves with this Elliot bloke – written off after 1 first team game.
Well done lads! 😆
Toon Chicken(Quote)
Shola oot for 6 weeks with a hammy
Toon Chicken(Quote)
TC – To be fair he was ***** thoiugh 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Also TC seen him at charlton live and was average at best
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Well, seems as though Harper is indeed off to Brighton now that Pardew has put a quote on it.
AP on Harper: “Steve wants to play and it is a real coup for Brighton.”
toonsy(Quote)
Real shame that. At least he can keep an eye on lua lua for us
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
It seems to me that the club (Ashley/Llambias??) just want Harper out. Probably since the post Hughton thing. Would explain why such a rush to bring Elliott in.
We’ll just have to trust the coaches to improve his fitness and ability, because he does look overweight and not exactly dazzling between the posts.
TBH the whole keeper saga hasn’t been handled very well by the club.
We have gone from 3 good keepers to 1 class keeper and Elliott.
Typical of this regime.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see Elliott on wednesday either.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Dont think we will be seeing Kazenga back here again. He is out of contract at the end of the season.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB – I would say Elliot will be nailed on to start on Wednesday.
It should be a good opportunity for the fans to let him know exactly what they think of him. 😆
Toon Chicken(Quote)
You’ll never get three good goalkeepers for a sustained period of time. It’s borderline deluded madness to think that.
The fact that they are “good” keepers instantly mean they will command a spot elsewhere. We’ve just been spoilt by having Harper sat around for so long as it seldom happens anywhere else.
toonsy(Quote)
TC – Nah mate, if he is in the starting 11 on wednesday then he will get the backing of the fans. We’re not that bad you kna 😕
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Toonsy have you given up reporting on the fantasy football ?
😆
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB – Pretty much. I put the link in to get to the site that you wanted so it’s all there 🙂
Rather than one a week I’ll just do sporadic ones. Tried the one a week and it’s hard to flannel on enough 😆
toonsy(Quote)
🙄 aye reet nay bother 😉
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Good luck to Harper, he has served us well so he’s getting a month gardening leave.
As for some of the comments about Elliot I really cant see the club getting him if they dont think he is good enough.
Big Dave(Quote)
Ya on the wrong thread Dave 🙄
richietoon(Quote)