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Gary Harkins Signs 2 Year Deal


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quote name="Herdo" post="1148747" timestamp="1390854243"]

Maybe not Oldham but if he continues to play well he may attract attention from othe clubs in the league that do have money. Even if it winds up that we tear up his contract and get him off the books, it would work out well for us.

If he continues to play well then that would perhaps suggest he is playing for a manager that uses a system which utilises Harkins abilities more effectively than we were able to. In saying that, he played left wing on Saturday.

With no guarantee that DL will still be in charge come pre-season and a high likelihood that Gowser will not be here for the new season, I would say that it is possible Harkins could still have a successful future with us.

Tbh it would be a lot of personel changes to fit harkins back into the team, to play a system that suits him. Hes a luxury player (stop laughing), the difference between him and gowser is tht gowser tracks back, chases down everything and can win a tackle, harkins cant/wont do this. Im afraid were not in a position to have this type of player in the starting 11.

My original point was that if we get offered a deal that takes harkins off our hands (when hes 1 year left on his contract) that wont cost us money(i.e compo for releasing him early) wed be daft not to take it.

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Have I missed something again ?

Is there a queue of clubs waiting to sign a player who only needs to fart in the wrong location to end up in the clink ?

The way I see it is hes had plenty of opportunities to go elsewhere since he first joined us, maybe he likes it here. Hes on decent money at a club with good facilities, plays every week, is a fans favourite and has got silverware with us. His family life might be more suited to him staying put aswell as his troubles with the law. I don't doubt that there will be interest from other clubs right enough but would love to see him stay.

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You were the one naming players initially. I was just wondering why you hadn't named these utterly shite ones who had embarrassed themselves in the SPL? You appear to now realise how stupid that argument was though, so fair enough.

Those teams you mentioned would win League One.

I am coming into this discussion a bit late, however what a load of nonsense .......

Outside of Celtic not a single SPFL side would most likely make the play-off spots.

I was a season ticket holder at Saints till I moved south with work in 2006 and have been a season ticket holder at London Road (Peterborough) ever since - support my local team and all that.

Posh's defence this season is fairly honking, however their attack would wipe the floor with every SPFL side and would give Celtic's defence a stern test.

Brentford, Leyton Orient, Wolves, Preston, Peterborough (despite the pish they have been churning out recently), Rotherham, Walsall, Swindon .....all of these would survive comfortably in a regular SPFL season (as in one where no-one starts on minus 15!!)

And to say Harkins is playing at a lower level is also nonsense ......he was non-existent first half in the game v's Peterborough by all accounts and was allowed to be a world-beater by the pishest 45mins Peterborough have produced in years.

This hasn't made him into Pele but do not doubt the quality he is playing in and with - sadly better than when he was with us - however an Oldham fan I know says "quality footballer but a workshy lazy fecker too" .........I think from what I have read on here and elsewhere that pretty much sums the guy up

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  • 4 weeks later...

Brentford, Leyton Orient, Wolves, Preston, Peterborough (despite the pish they have been churning out recently), Rotherham, Walsall, Swindon .....all of these would survive comfortably in a regular SPFL season (as in one where no-one starts on minus 15!!)

Not if they were receiving the same TV money as the rest of the SPFL they wouldn't.

Maybe Wolves would though because they have higher crowds but the rest would be the same as everyone else.

Equally if SPFL teams had access to the same cash as those teams you mention they'd be abloe to compete down South.

You can only compare like for like and you are not doing that.

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Having watched top level football recently such as champions league, top 4 premiership, it has struck me how little running the best teams do. It has become a fixation in Scotland that if you're not buzzing around like a blue arsed fly then you're lazy! What this in fact does is makes you knackered and ineffectual. The coaching in other countries is to make the ball do the work. Just watch yaya toure, iniesta, even some of the Celtic midfield and they don't do that much frantic running around. That's where Harkins got shot down when he was with us, hve cause he wasn't running around like a McGinn or McGowan he was seen as lazy when in another league he turns out to be a superstar. I think it's got more to do with our attitude towards how footballers should play than Harkins himself. This attitude is the reason Scotland can never qualify for a major championship, the opposition turn up and just let us do the running then pick us off at the vital moment, usually nearer the end when we're knackered. Our support put pressure on players to keep running constantly otherwise they're tagged lazy. We've lost a talented player in Harkins IMO

Edited by Big Yards
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Living in Gillingham, I get to watch it quite often.

Take away Celtic, and there isn't a huge difference between the two leagues. The average attendences are about the same (not counting Celtic again). Gillingham are a side that, year on year, are either near the top of league 2 or in a relegation battle in league 1. Yet they get about one and a half times the average attendence that we do and have no local derbies (no other side within about 30 miles), so they have more money available for players and a much bigger squad than us. In a 2 leg game between us and Gillingham, I think we'd probably draw at home and lose by a couple of goals away.

Hmmm. That'll teach me. Harkins - not good enough for St Mirren, but good enough to score a peach of a winner against the Gills.

Football eh? sad.png

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Having watched top level football recently such as champions league, top 4 premiership, it has struck me how little running the best teams do. It has become a fixation in Scotland that if you're not buzzing around like a blue arsed fly then you're lazy! What this in fact does is makes you knackered and ineffectual. The coaching in other countries is to make the ball do the work. Just watch yaya toure, iniesta, even some of the Celtic midfield and they don't do that much frantic running around. That's where Harkins got shot down when he was with us, hve cause he wasn't running around like a McGinn or McGowan he was seen as lazy when in another league he turns out to be a superstar. I think it's got more to do with our attitude towards how footballers should play than Harkins himself. This attitude is the reason Scotland can never qualify for a major championship, the opposition turn up and just let us do the running then pick us off at the vital moment, usually nearer the end when we're knackered. Our support put pressure on players to keep running constantly otherwise they're tagged lazy. We've lost a talented player in Harkins IMO

We haven't "lost him" he will still be contracted to us next season when Danny probably wont be so unless we get money for him then there is every chance next seasons manager will get a chance to get the best out of him, and if he does then all the Danny Out brigade or Kendo's Class 1 guys will say, look what a good manager can do told you we should have binned him years ago.

However I'm sure our support (and Scotlands too) would appreciate Harkins if he could do what Yaya Toure or Iniesta could do.

Personally my main frustation with Harkins was that he didn't really ever pass to players in his own team and would be caught in possession while trying to dribble with the ball and then not try to get the ball back, I don't think this something that you could attribute to Yaya Toure or Iniesta though understand others may have a different opinion from me, though not Faraway as he's not allowed one.

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Not if they were receiving the same TV money as the rest of the SPFL they wouldn't.

Maybe Wolves would though because they have higher crowds but the rest would be the same as everyone else.

Equally if SPFL teams had access to the same cash as those teams you mention they'd be abloe to compete down South.

You can only compare like for like and you are not doing that.

Deary me.

Yet again, you have completely misunderstood the point! :1eye

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  • 2 weeks later...

If it was possible to restructure the way we play in the SPL around Harkins we would have some player. Unfortunately we need players that run until they drop to cope with the demands of this league. Harkins is a quality player but that doesn't suit the Scottish game.

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