Football for A Dummy

[Tony Le Mesmer]

James Harper - 300+ games for the club, POTS award and regular in the best side this club will ever have.

Danny Guthrie - Cunt

Thats all you need to know.

[Ian Royal]

I think Mags, Vision and Hoop have it spot on and there's not a lot anyone could add to what they've said.

[melonhead]

Being a bit of a thicko that I is innit and not being able to attend matches due to where I live, I was wondering somthing.

It seems the general opinion on here is that Guthrie, our creative central midfielder, has been our standout player this year, however we are struggling to score from open play. Quite simply, how does that work?

If you can't help with this question, then maybe you could help me with another question posted on AE...Where do babies come from?

Thanks and Big Hugs to everyone.

cos hes not a creative midfielder in the sense of sig, playing in teh hole etc, his hole is much further back
hes more of a quarter back

picks it up from back 4, passes it around, keeps it ticking over, always available
occasionally launches hollywood pass to a winger who then puts a cross in which is a pretty poor percentage option when theres one striker in the box.very occasionally plays a killer through ball

what he does is keep the ball very well, and keep it cycling around, which is why he is key to how adkins is making us play currently

[melonhead]

Wouldn't say Guthrie is a creative central midfielder to be honest. Does a good job of keeping the ball moving, getting it out wide, etc etc but he doesn't do what eg. Sigurdsson did.

I think delivery from wide has been a problem this season. I like McCleary but he needs to just concentrate on going at his man in the last third and putting a decent ball in the box. Same with Drenthe. Same with any wide player.

People used to take the piss out of Pardew because he'd say to Salako "right, your aim today is to provide 15 crosses" but he knew what he was talking about. Salako had excellent delivery and crosses get you goals.

It also doesn't help rotating your strikeforce all the time because there's very little interplay between them. Pog and ALF (for example) seem to just play their own games, doing what they do best as individuals, rather than actively look to work off each other.

or rotating your entire team with every game.

keep your best back 5, and your spine. rotate the rest as required by injury and loss of form, but some of the changes are killing some otherwise good work imo

[melonhead]

He's basically James Harper without the pointing and the gimp shinpads.

gimp hair do to replace the shin pads


and unwarranted berating of team mates for his own failings to replace the pointing

[melonhead]

Ok so it is not Guthrie's fault, could someone please provide me with a scapegoat so I can vent my anger with a thunderous fury on the internet.

gotta be one of the black guys

[melonhead]

I think Mags, Vision and Hoop have it spot on and there's not a lot anyone could add to what they've said.

yet again failed to read rest of thread before replying to OP

[SCIAG]

I don't really like the Guthrie/Harper comparison. Harper was much more like Karacan- excellent tackler, simple passes to directly creative player (Little, Convey, Salako; Kebe, McAnuff, Drenthe), useful on the counter attack. Harper was also a useful goalscorer from open play.

Guthrie is more like a third-rate Pirlo, sitting deep and pinging long passes for others to run onto. Guthrie is also more aggressive in defence, whereas Harper would rarely be booked (maybe because he had Sidwell/Gunnarsson to do his dirty work). The difference in styles means Guthrie's performances fluctuate more simply due to chance. Harper didn't have outstanding matches too often, but, particularly in Division 1 and 2, he rarely had a poor match.

[Royal Biscuitman]

Harper was much more like Karacan- excellent tackler

Can you describe James Harper please, just so we can be sure you're not confusing him with Steve Sidwell.

[bcubed]

James Harper - 300+ games for the club, POTS award and regular in the best side this club will ever have.

Danny Guthrie - Cunt

Thats all you need to know.

+1
loving the pro-Harps senitments - not enough of that on here

[glass half full]

James Harper - 300+ games for the club, POTS award and regular in the best side this club will ever have.

Danny Guthrie - Cunt

Thats all you need to know.

+1
loving the pro-Harps senitments - not enough of that on here

I still miss Harps and his engaging smile and manner.

[wolsey]

Harper was much more like Karacan- excellent tackler

Can you describe James Harper please, just so we can be sure you're not confusing him with Steve Sidwell.

Perhaps you are the confused one: Harper and Sidwell were interchangeable from 2005/6 to 2006/07.

Then Sidwell pissed off and Harper took far too many for the team and ended up a shadow of the player that we signed.

[St. Brynjar]

Let's not kid ourselves, Harper was rarely above average, at least compared to the team he was in which is hardly the worst insult. Had an allergy to passing the ball forward in his last few years. Formed a glorious partnership with Sidwell and was vital for us but he didn't stand out very often.

[leon]

I think Mags, Vision and Hoop have it spot on and there's not a lot anyone could add to what they've said.

yet again failed to read rest of thread before replying to OP

What about my contribution? I didn't even call anyone a cunt.....

[melonhead]

Let's not kid ourselves, Harper was rarely above average, at least compared to the team he was in which is hardly the worst insult. Had an allergy to passing the ball forward in his last few years. Formed a glorious partnership with Sidwell and was vital for us but he didn't stand out very often.

pfft

remember some great through ball(s) from him in his last season or two

[Millsy]

To me Guthrie is a combination of Kevin Doyle and Andy Bernal with hint of Keith McPherson.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

Let's not kid ourselves, Harper was rarely above average, at least compared to the team he was in which is hardly the worst insult. Had an allergy to passing the ball forward in his last few years. Formed a glorious partnership with Sidwell and was vital for us but he didn't stand out very often.

That's the epitome of a class holding midfielder, that they don't stand out very often.

It's all about the work they put in closing people down, filling spaces, winning the ball and preventing the other team from taking advantage of anything in midfield. It's not all about making killer passes.

People never notice them, but what they do is absolutely vital to the team, because they create the platform for others to be creative and make killer passes.