Oh, is he still playing?!

[swafuk]

Oh, is he still playing?!

jw wrote: twenty years after joining from seaham red star, stevie harper is leaving newcastle at the end of the year and is hoping to carry on somewhere (rumour is he will be replacing butland at birmingham)

He was on loan down in Brighton last season and was very popular.

As mentioned, he comes across as a measured, intelligent guy.

At the time it was said that he didn't want to move his family down south because I'm sure he would have been offered at least a season long loan with us.

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Definitely one of the best goalkeepers we've ever had.

[Third rate Leszno]

Oh, is he still playing?!

How did I not notice that David James has signed for IB Vestmannaeyja?

[beak]

Oh, is he still playing?!

hank williams wrote: Is Harper having a testimonial? He could sit on the bench while Shay Given plays in it.

Now that the last game of the season is (unexpectedly) meaningless, and Rob Elliott got himself suspended like an idiot, the Arsenal game this weekend has been dubbed the Steve Harper Testimonial by internet wags.

Rumours going about he'll be managing Hartlepool next season.

[Ray de Galles]

Oh, is he still playing?!

In related news, James Beattie has just been appointed manager (or player-manager, I presume) of Accrington Stanley.

I don't know why but this strikes me as even more of a "Crumbs, aren't policeman getting younger?!" moment than the usual player becoming manager news.

[blameless]

Oh, is he still playing?!

And on a similar note, 32-year-old former Hibs and Rangers player (and ex-Scotland international) Ian Murray is currently player-manager at Dumbarton. And making a bloody good job of it, too: before he took over in November, Dumbarton looked certs for relegation - but he's won 50% of his games and got them up to mid-table.

[Jimmy Bignutz]

Oh, is he still playing?!

50%? That's gotta be almost half.

[via vicaria]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Harry Truscott wrote: In related news, James Beattie has just been appointed manager (or player-manager, I presume) of Accrington Stanley.

I don't know why but this strikes me as even more of a "Crumbs, aren't policeman getting younger?!" moment than the usual player becoming manager news.

Player-manager's are OK, it's when you're older than plain, straight-up managers that you feel truly old (well, I'd imagine so, and I certainly think I'll be like that come the day it happens).

Eddie Howe doesn't play, so he's still the benchmark I think. He's 7 years older than me, so I've got a while to go, but the clock's ticking.

[Ray de Galles]

Oh, is he still playing?!

I'm 44, there's a whole raft of former player, proper suited-up managers I'm older than.

I think Beattie seems strange because he there was seemingly an infinitesimal gap between him being a promising young tyro and clapped out old has-been.

.

[beak]

Oh, is he still playing?!

jw wrote: Now that the last game of the season is (unexpectedly) meaningless, and Rob Elliott got himself suspended like an idiot, the Arsenal game this weekend has been dubbed the Steve Harper Testimonial by internet wags.

Rumours going about he'll be managing Hartlepool next season.

Interesting interview with Harper in the Mirror, talking about 20 years at NUFC, and being compelled into a depression by the Souness years (like most of the city, to be honest).

Seems a smart, and nice chap.

[beak]

Oh, is he still playing?!

As mentioned in this week's football thread, the bloke cried during the game when the fans give a minute's standing ovation:



It's bloody making my lip wobble, man. The archetypal model pro.

[Ibn Pickthall]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Craig Fagan, once a Next Big Thing, has been released by Bury. Was it at Hull he had a purple patch?

[Patrick Thistle]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Yes but he was crippled by Danny Guthrie in a game at Newcastle and never got back to his former best. Horrific tackle IIRC.

[Ibn Pickthall]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Well remembered

[scratchmonkey]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Overseas, add David Albelda, who's still turning out for Valencia, although he's only 35, seems like he's been around forever.

[dalliance]

Oh, is he still playing?!

It's bloody making my lip wobble, man. The archetypal model pro.

I struggled with the Harper thing to be honest, especially as his retiral was lumped together with those of Carragher and Scholes etc.

I personally don't think it's especially laudable to be thought of as nothing but a second-choice keeper for two whole decades and play only 150 odd games in that time. It's a horrible lack of ambition to me: he could have easily moved and played as first-choice at a decent level but he was willing to spend most of his career sitting on the bench and picking up his paycheque.

People criticise Mathew Le Tissier because he didn't test himself by moving to a team where he would be surrounded by more like-minded talent. I get that but then again he played every week and at least had a regular showcase for his abilities. What does Harper have to look back on? He's an English John Fallon.

[Seven Saxon Kings]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Le Tissier did a talk and Q&A thingy at Ks not long ago, where he swore he didn't have any regrets about not leaving Southampton. I don't believe it for a minute, quite apart from being so overlooked by England and never winning a trophy or playing in Europe, how can you not regret having to do the after dinner speaker circuit rather than making enough money in your career to sort you out for life as he surely would have if he'd joined (say) Chelsea or Spurs? He even made a joke about that but many a true word said in jest.

[That Night In Barcelona]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Seven Saxon Kings wrote: Le Tissier did a talk and Q&A thingy at Ks not long ago, where he swore he didn't have any regrets about not leaving Southampton. I don't believe it for a minute, quite apart from being so overlooked by England and never winning a trophy or playing in Europe, how can you not regret having to do the after dinner speaker circuit rather than making enough money in your career to sort you out for life as he surely would have if he'd joined (say) Chelsea or Spurs? He even made a joke about that but many a true word said in jest.

Well to be fair, he did retire before player salaries went stratospheric. I think he also lost quite a sum of money investing in a bar with one of his celebrity friends in the mid 90s, which folded not too long after launching.

Like dalliance said, I don't think he has much to regret other than the lack of England caps. He played every week for 10-15 years, and was a big fish in a small pond. I don't think being squeezed into a squad rotation system and being made to up his fitness levels at a bigger club would have made him happy.

[Crusoe]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Pascal Chimbonda is to turn out for Market Drayton Town (also featuring Andy Cooke up front and Chris Hutchings as assistant manager, apparently).

[Patrick Thistle]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Crusoe wrote: Pascal Chimbonda is to turn out for Market Drayton Town (also featuring Andy Cooke up front and Chris Hutchings as assistant manager, apparently).

Damn I was just about to post that.

Link

[KGR]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Heurelho Gomes playing for Tottenham in a pre-season friendly out in Hong Kong against Sunderland now.

[Ray de Galles]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Stalwart of this thread Frank Sinclair makes a fantastic signing to fill the player/coach role for Colwyn Bay...

...Ade Akinbiyi!

[Ray de Galles]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Colwyn Bay is also the next stop on Chimbonda's summer tour.

[EIM]

Oh, is he still playing?!

He's signing for FC United. I'm fucking telling you.

[treibeis]

Oh, is he still playing?!

Former Werder, Schalke and HSV hot-shot Ailton (40) is still causing trouble down near Wiesbaden, for Hassia Bingen in the Landesliga Südwest Staffel Ost (6th tier).