Matt Taylor Assistant

[iscalad]

If you seriously think he's the "cleverest footballer at the club" then you clearly don't equate intelligence with impact....

Each to their own....

 

[IndoMike]

I no longer stand anywhere. I don't understand what your 2nd line question has to do with anything at all!!

I was curious as I sit in the IP and have no doubt that Harley is one of the best passers of the ball seen at SJP for many a long year. I wondered IF you stood on the BB whether you had a different perspective.

Don't get me wrong Harley frustrates the hell out of me at times, but he is the cleverest footballer at the club.

He has never been the same since his homecoming. When he plays well he plays very well, but if you include time out with injuries and underwhelming performances (sometimes due to the Tizzer playing him on the left wing or too deep) then Harley's total number of good performances per season might add up to 10..

 

[malcolms]

Each to their own....

As you say....

In my opinion, Harley is a the reflection of PT's times at the club....'flatters to deceive' 'style above substance' 'rarely around when you really need him' and a whole string of other descriptive clichés.....

 

[STURTZ]

Scored some of the best and most important goals ever seen at City, composed and intelligent in midfield, an excellent trainer by all accounts. Harley deserves the tag legend and when it's all over it will be a sad day.


There will always those that prefer the blood and snotters type players but Harley, for me, has been a joy to watch. Bit like Peter Hatch in some ways.

 

[IndoMike]

Scored some of the best and most important goals ever seen at City, composed and intelligent in midfield, an excellent trainer by all accounts. Harley deserves the tag legend and when it's all over it will be a sad day.


There will always those that prefer the blood and snotters type players but Harley, for me, has been a joy to watch. Bit like Peter Hatch in some ways.

Just not consistently good in enough games or unavailable. The choice isn't "blood and snotters" versus Harley. Agree with Malcoms' point.

 

[Alistair20000]

Scored some of the best and most important goals ever seen at City, composed and intelligent in midfield, an excellent trainer by all accounts. Harley deserves the tag legend and when it's all over it will be a sad day.


There will always those that prefer the blood and snotters type players but Harley, for me, has been a joy to watch. Bit like Peter Hatch in some ways.

Tend to agree and of course most legends are flawed.

Trouble with Harley is that the good days are now sadly too infrequent

 

[malcolms]

Calling Harley a "legend" is a bit like comparing Graham Norton to Bruce Forsyth

 

[ExeterCityLad]

Harley was a decent player, pretty bang average now. Not a 'legend' or 'coach' material by any means though.

 

[richard_portland]

I think Harley was very influential in his first spell. He had an attacking often free role and for a time our attack revolved around him. Had we got him on a two year deal we would have sold him for a relatively big fee imo, although he didn’t do well elsewhere. He seemed to have a good fit with us. Second time around he has played too deep or wide and hasn’t had enough good games although he has occasionally had flashes of quality.

The only thing I will be interested to see is with a fresh manager how Taylor uses him. A potential opportunity for Harley, if he has a similar season to this one then he might get released when he is out of contract.

 

[Red Bill]

I think Harley was very influential in his first spell. He had an attacking often free role and for a time our attack revolved around him. Had we got him on a two year deal we would have sold him for a relatively big fee imo, although he didn’t do well elsewhere. He seemed to have a good fit with us. Second time around he has played too deep or wide and hasn’t had enough good games although he has occasionally had flashes of quality.

The only thing I will be interested to see is with a fresh manager how Taylor uses him. A potential opportunity for Harley, if he has a similar season to this one then he might get released when he is out of contract.

I think the answer to this one is there in your post Richard, "been played too wide or too deep". It used to frustrate the he'll out of me seeing him played in those positions, where he was either too far behind the play or too isolated to make the most of his qualities, however when he's played further forward and more centrally, IMO he's still the one player we have who can come up with that little bit of magic or produce the pass that opens up the opposition.

Unfortunately there are still plenty of people who don't seem to realise that sometimes a backward pass is the best option. I remember a game recently where a bloke near me snagged Harley off every time he passed backwards despite the fact that each one had enabled a team mate to drive forward and attack, and that had he tried to take or pass the ball forward, he would have almost certainly lost possession or at best turned possession into a 50/50.

IMO when played in the right position he still has a huge amount to offer, but as a coach i'm not sure, as I think what he does is perhaps too instinctive to translate to others.