| People writing off Marcus Harness 11:50 - Jul 15 with 6841 views | GlasgowBlue |
One of the standout players in the first half of last season before his injury and he's started pre season like a man on a mission. |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:21 - Jul 15 with 2120 views | DJR |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:11 - Jul 15 by Herbivore |
Your description of him holding on to the ball and playing clever passes is totally at odds with what he actually did when he came on in games after his injury though. It's basically the opposite of what he did, which is why he received a lot of criticism. He missed some chances as well, which was probably the big difference compared to the start of the season, but it's his lack of quality in possession at times which is the main issue people have with him and is why many doubt whether he's a good enough squad player at this level. |
We can obviously agree to disagree!
The only thing I would say is that I stood up for Jackson around the time McKenna took over when my friends and virtually everyone else took a completely different view. [Post edited 15 Jul 2023 14:25]
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:36 - Jul 15 with 2073 views | SE1blue |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:09 - Jul 15 by DJR |
I'm obviously in the minority! |
I dunno, different people see different things.
My only other comment is I don’t think the things you described seeing are even what Harness is put in the team to do. He’s not a hold up and spread passes player. He’s a constantly harass the opposition, break at top speed, and his best skill, the uncanny knack of being in exactly the right place at the right time kid of guy. Those seem to be his skill set to me and when he’s firing on those, he’s very good.
To judge him on the skills you described probably isn’t even being fair to the guy. |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:58 - Jul 15 with 2017 views | Swansea_Blue |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:21 - Jul 15 by DJR |
We can obviously agree to disagree!
The only thing I would say is that I stood up for Jackson around the time McKenna took over when my friends and virtually everyone else took a completely different view. [Post edited 15 Jul 2023 14:25]
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With you on Jackson, not with you on Harness. He was like a new born calf in wellies after his layoff!
But who cares, sounds like he’s re-finding some form/confidence, which can only be good (assuming people are bright enough to give him a break). |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 15:48 - Jul 15 with 1971 views | DJR |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:36 - Jul 15 by SE1blue |
I dunno, different people see different things.
My only other comment is I don’t think the things you described seeing are even what Harness is put in the team to do. He’s not a hold up and spread passes player. He’s a constantly harass the opposition, break at top speed, and his best skill, the uncanny knack of being in exactly the right place at the right time kid of guy. Those seem to be his skill set to me and when he’s firing on those, he’s very good.
To judge him on the skills you described probably isn’t even being fair to the guy. |
Maybe I'm only remembering some away games towards the end of the season (he came on against Derby, Bolton, Peterborough and Barnsley, for example) when he had got more up to speed, but I certainly got the sense he played in a different role to earlier in the season, perhaps slightly deeper, and helped us retain the initiative. Indeed, at Derby he came on at 70 minutes when we were only 1-0 up, and against Bolton at 61 minutes when we were only 1-0 up.
But, as with Jackson, we shall see whether McKenna thinks he is capable of being a Championship player.
For what it is worth, I wouldn't be surprised if he hangs on to both, in Jackson's case because he did well last season against Millwall and Burnley. But I think they will mainly be squad players. [Post edited 15 Jul 2023 16:01]
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 16:21 - Jul 15 with 1936 views | readtheleaguetable |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 14:58 - Jul 15 by Swansea_Blue |
With you on Jackson, not with you on Harness. He was like a new born calf in wellies after his layoff!
But who cares, sounds like he’s re-finding some form/confidence, which can only be good (assuming people are bright enough to give him a break). |
He’ll be fine. All we have to do is harness his ability, and other teams will find it impossible to marc us all. |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 16:30 - Jul 15 with 1908 views | ibbleobble |
Until he sorts a consistent first touch out, he’ll never guarantee regular starts ahead of others in the squad at this level. |  | | |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 16:38 - Jul 15 with 1904 views | Lesta_Tractor |
I like him but I think he's going to be one of those players who is slightly too good for league one but not quite good enough for the championship, hope he proves me wrong though |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 17:11 - Jul 15 with 1848 views | BlueandTruesince82 |
I reckon defenders get so lost in his eyes that he's passed them before they even realise |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 17:42 - Jul 15 with 1813 views | J2BLUE |
Who is writing him off?
Most people seem fairly balanced.
We need to create some space in the squad and on that basis he looks to be one of the few options to cut. It's not that he isn't good. More that we have a lot of good players and the desire to constantly improve the squad might mean there are some difficult decisions to make. |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 21:39 - Jul 15 with 1711 views | The_Realist_09 |
Ahadme scored 8 times in 4 pre-season matches for Pompey the other year.. | | | |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 07:26 - Jul 16 with 1608 views | Churchman |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 12:42 - Jul 15 by JDB23 |
I do wince a bit when seeing some of the comments targeted at him, he seems like he genuinely loves being at this football club. Hope he can find some form this season and play a big part. |
I agree, he seems to love being part of it and gets on well with the other players. He is a good age, character, knows where the goal is and I think a useful squad member. |  | | |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 07:34 - Jul 16 with 1596 views | itfcjoe |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 07:26 - Jul 16 by Churchman |
I agree, he seems to love being part of it and gets on well with the other players. He is a good age, character, knows where the goal is and I think a useful squad member. |
He was also a £600k signing made when the whole recruitment team was in place and not just either a leftover player from a previous era or a panic buy in Cooks summer - only way he goes this summer if being sold for a profit which isn’t particularly likely |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 07:39 - Jul 16 with 1594 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
My additional observation is that in the first part of last season we played a very aggressive high press, and he and Freddie were key to that.
This was moderated as the season continued, and results were better in the second half of the season, obviously.
So my conclusion is: if KMcK identifies a weakness on the ball in the opposition defence, or lack of pace amongst their defenders, then a front three of Harness-Ladappo-Jackson may be possible (barring further squad changes in or out). | | | |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 07:48 - Jul 16 with 1582 views | Mullet |
I really like him and hope he does well like anyone else. Perhaps he can get firing like any player who stays away from injury this season, maybe since then he's been refined and coached to do more. It'll be interesting to see.
My only guess is that if he was to go it might be a makeweight to get someone in they think will play at the top level eventually. |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 09:22 - Jul 16 with 1514 views | Steve_M |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 07:48 - Jul 16 by Mullet |
I really like him and hope he does well like anyone else. Perhaps he can get firing like any player who stays away from injury this season, maybe since then he's been refined and coached to do more. It'll be interesting to see.
My only guess is that if he was to go it might be a makeweight to get someone in they think will play at the top level eventually. |
I think his early season goals are underrated when people look back on the season, getting points on the board early was important. Really inconsistent after his injury, Oxford at home he was very good, too many other matches far less so. It was notable how hard he worked off the ball in matches like Barnsley away when he came on a sub. |  |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 09:26 - Jul 16 with 1501 views | Mullet |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 09:22 - Jul 16 by Steve_M |
I think his early season goals are underrated when people look back on the season, getting points on the board early was important. Really inconsistent after his injury, Oxford at home he was very good, too many other matches far less so. It was notable how hard he worked off the ball in matches like Barnsley away when he came on a sub. |
Yep, he's the kind of player you don't enjoy being up against because he is tireless. He also has that sort of dynamite factor when he will just get a shot off or send something in the middle that upsets a defence.
Also, Chaplin by his own admission is streaky but when he hit form last season there was no stopping him because there was no stopping the team. If we carry on getting goals from across the squad into the Championship you'd expect Harness to contribute to that. | |
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| People writing off Marcus Harness on 11:10 - Jul 16 with 1408 views | BigCommon |
Think he got player of the month early in the season. So in that respect, he was a stand out player at the time.
Personally , I don't think we always play to his strengths. He was predominantly a right sided player at Pompey, when he forged a pretty good relationship with Hirst.
Pinging balls into his feet in deeper positions, I don't think suits his game. Looks a lot more lively, receiving on the half turn 40 yards from goal. Where he is more explosive, when he's in confident mood..
For me, players like Harness and Jackson are useful to have in the building. If they are working hard and have a good professional attitude and can contribute in a squad role, and are happy with their roles and still feel valued by the manager. Then there's a place for that kind of player, imo.
If we had 25 top Championship players as our squad. There'd most likely be a dozen of them, moaning about not getting minutes. And causing problems for the manager, imo. |  | | |
| People writing off Marcus Harness on 11:29 - Jul 16 with 1389 views | franz_tyson |
Not writing Harness off, but he's one where we probably have to improve upon to get ourselves at the top of the Championship. Look at the impact Broadhead made in the samp position of Harness. Obvious improvement which translated to far better results.
Not sure he has it in him to improve thst greatly to be a top Championship player. So if someone came on our radar who'd be an improvement on Harness- then I wouldn't be surprised to see him go. At his age he's still a saleable asset which could bring in a few quid. Aluko isn't and maybe that's why we're hanging onto Aluko as he could be a handy squad player, but has no sell-on value.
It's not a case of writing him off but if we can do a bit of business whereupon he still has value and we can buy someone with better pedigree - then that seems reasonable. Maybe he stays - and is a useful squad player coming off the bench every so often - but can't see him getting lots of minutes. | | | |
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