The countdown to Ian Harte scoring 10+ league goals

[Ian Royal]

POTS? Ranks as one of the stupidest suggestions on here ever... even as a wind up.

Long & Leigterwood are complete shoe ins ahead of him. And I'd argue that Federici, Karacan, McAnuff & Kebe are all ahead too.

Yes (agree) Ian

But would you not consider Harte for Motm yesterday at least?

2 goals and an assist? Obvious candidate, but I'd need to watch the game to feel happy offering up a MOTM.

[AthleticoSpizz]

he was ok in defence too

whilst HRK had his best game for us
whilst Shlong worked his nuts off as did Hunty#2
and whilst JTabb was beavering away in midfield

Harte was not the obvious candidate (and despite the NOTW ratings) he was the blatent candidate yesterday.

Hats off to Harty


give into it folks

[Woodcote Royal]

32 Games 35 Goals Conceded = 1.09 goals per game conceded with Harte playing. Also scored 7 Goals.
08 Games 10 Goals Conceded = 1.25 goals per game conceded without Harte. Replacement LB scored ZERO goals.

The guy is our second-top scorer fer Chrissakes, and we concede LESS when he plays than when he doesn't.

Harte's figures are more interesting when you realise that such a high proportion of conceded goals came in so few games

1-3 Boro (Goal after 24 seconds)
4-3 Doncaster (Defence went AWOL)
3-3 Norwich (Defence went AWOL)
1-3 QPR (Outplayed, bad pen given away by Howard
3-3 Palace (Goal in first couple of minutes)
2-2 Cardiff (Fedders gift to Bothroyd)
5-2 Boro (Another gift and a dumb penalty given away by Mills)

07 Games 19 Goals Conceded
25 Games 16 Goals Conceded, less than two-thirds of a goal per game

No mention of Bristol City away in that list.

As one of the few away games I've attended this season, I can assure you no one was more to blame for our loss to a club in the relegation zone that night than the pedestrian Ian Harte, whose lack of pace on our left flank was mercilessly exposed. This cost us just one goal but three points.

Even if he ends up with 20 goals it won't compensate for the loss of points should we miss out on the play offs.

If Harte's attributes beyond defending are deemed indispensable, centre back is the only position he should play these days and whilst I was delighted with the first success in months with his dead ball delivery, the day he plays his last game at left back can't come soon enough for me.

[Snowball]

Gylfi got 20 Goals last season, Betrand got 1, Total 21. Strikers got 12+9+2 = 23 Total 44

Long has 19, Harte has 7, total 26 with 12 games to go. Add Strikers 12 = 38/44 with 12 games to go


We are currently 56-41 having scored 9 more goals and conceded 9 less compared to the 35-game position last season 47-50


So not only have we replaced Gylfi's goals, but we have a much better defence and a
GD EIGHTEEN goals better, that's better than half a goal a game, 23 per season.

So how come we are only in 10th position?

Have we at any time been lower than the corresponding game last season?

[Snowball]

No mention of Bristol City away in that list.

Could that be because I was listing 3 goal defeats and 2-goal defeats?

As one of the few away games I've attended this season, I can assure you no one was more to blame for our loss to a club in the relegation zone that night than the pedestrian Ian Harte, whose lack of pace on our left flank was mercilessly exposed. This cost us just one goal but three points.

You can "assure me" as much as you like, but I remember at the time that at least 3 RFC players were culpable. RB allowed an easy cross, Harte allowed his man to head back accross goal, Mills failed to close down the man who received the ball. Can't remember now if Feds should've done better.

THREE players, but that doesn't suit the agenda, right?

And, away at Bristol we had twice as many chances as them, 11 on target and 4 off target, so maybe the strikers and midfield were at fault, too, eh?

[Woodcote Royal]

In a word, no.

The whole tone of the match was set by our inability to defend our left flank because Harte was the slowest player on the pitch and BC had clearly set out to exposure this weakness.

As has happened in countless games this season, our attempts to compensate for this weakness effects other parts of the team, not least turning McAnuff into a second left back thus nullifying his effect as an attacking force. In effect, for much of the game we end up with 2 left backs rather than a winger plus an over lapping full back.

I know why this fixture wasn't on your list......................the selective use of data to prove your point.

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, it's the loss of points and not the number of goals conceded that has the greatest effect on our season and having one of the slowest left backs in the division has cost us far more points than his goals from set pieces could ever compensate for.

[Snowball]

For the second time, actually the third time


Harte's figures are more interesting when you realise that such a high proportion of conceded goals came in so few games

1-3 Boro (Goal after 24 seconds)
3-3 Palace (Goal in first couple of minutes)
2-2 Cardiff (Fedders gift to Bothroyd)
5-2 Boro (Another gift and a dumb penalty given away by Mills)

4-3 Doncaster (Defence went AWOL)
3-3 Norwich (Defence went AWOL)
1-3 QPR (Outplayed, bad pen given away by Howard

Those games were the games in which we conceded a lot of goals EACH GAME.

Doncaster-Norwich-QPR came in a four game spell in two weeks
when clearly McDermott changed things to try and get us SCORING goals

Selective data my ass.

That is why they were selected AND NOT FOR ANY OTHER REASON

[Snowball]

In a word, no.

When strikers miss 15 chances they are not at fault. CHECK.

The whole tone of the match was set by our inability to defend our left flank because Harte
was the slowest player on the pitch and BC had clearly set out to exposure this weakness.

Absolute classic blinkerism combined with agenda. Standard Hob-Nob thinking.
Pick one player to be scapegoat as if replacing him gets rid of 95% of our problems.

Why don't people like you THINK. If Bristol City, that genius team run by a genius
manager, thought, "Let's target Left Back Harte because he is slow" why doesn't
EVERY club and why are we not shipping a stunning number of goals from the left

and how did Harte manage to play in TWENTY-FIVE games shipping just 16 goals?

I await your explanation

[Big Foot]

Ian Harte has got to be player of the season

After one good game?
How about HRK being runner up for showing that he MIGHT have a future as a footballer?

That wasn't his first good game of the season, where do you watch the games from? The same house as Ian Royal?

[BR2]

Ian Harte has got to be player of the season

After one good game?
How about HRK being runner up for showing that he MIGHT have a future as a footballer?

That wasn't his first good game of the season, where do you watch the games from? The same house as Ian Royal?

I actually (like some earlier posters)don't think he was even that good on Saturday.
I think Stevenage away showed that he and Church are at about that level and I think that international caps for Wales are so easy to come by these days that Pearcey should clean his boots in case he gets the call.

[Snowball]

I think it's spot on, Harte is a liability.

[/quote\


Of course. Defensive liability in a defence that lets in 16 goals in 25 games... ten clean sheets.

Why does not every team? Perhaps they are not very smart.

There are feeble arguments, but to say that there's is a manager or a right winger
in this league and every other league who doesn't know that Harte is slow, was slow,
will be slow and always has been slow is just plain ridiculous.

Of course Harte is slow. But he has played 400 League games for a fair few managers
all of whom knew about his lack of speed, all of whom must have looked at the player as a whole,
his nous, his passing, his ability going forward, his heading, his shooting, his penalties,
his free-kicks, the way he gets other players to play, his talking on the pitch.

And they make judgments rather than stupid knee-jerks and base their reputations
and their livelihoods on what they think the player can bring to the team positively

[Mr Angry]

One of Harte's strengths defensively, is in the air; its amazing how many teams (like Boro on Saturday) think that the way to get past him is aerial. He rarely, if ever, misses a header. As WR says, Centre half (where he played for Carlisle) would be the logical place for him to play.

However, isn't this thread about him SCORING goals rather than conceding them? 7 League goals in 3/4's of a season for an aging and pedestrian left back is a pretty good return imho. HOWEVER, that doesn't get rid of the fact that left back is a position we need to strengthen in the close season.

[Snowball]

One of Harte's strengths defensively, is in the air; its amazing how many teams (like Boro on Saturday) think that the way to get past him is aerial. He rarely, if ever, misses a header. As WR says, Centre half (where he played for Carlisle) would be the logical place for him to play.

However, isn't this thread about him SCORING goals rather than conceding them? 7 League goals in 3/4's of a season for an aging and pedestrian left back is a pretty good return imho. HOWEVER, that doesn't get rid of the fact that left back is a position we need to strengthen in the close season.

AND find a player who can get ten goals to replace Harte's goals (9 Goals this season so far with at least 12 games to go)

The Young God that was Bertrand managed ONE in a season.

[SLAMMED]

Bertrand > Harte

[Wycombe Royal]

One of Harte's strengths defensively, is in the air; its amazing how many teams (like Boro on Saturday) think that the way to get past him is aerial. He rarely, if ever, misses a header. As WR says, Centre half (where he played for Carlisle) would be the logical place for him to play.

However, isn't this thread about him SCORING goals rather than conceding them? 7 League goals in 3/4's of a season for an aging and pedestrian left back is a pretty good return imho. HOWEVER, that doesn't get rid of the fact that left back is a position we need to strengthen in the close season.

AND find a player who can get ten goals to replace Harte's goals (9 Goals this season so far with at least 12 games to go)

The Young God that was Bertrand managed ONE in a season.

We don't NEED to replace them at left back though.

[West Stand Man]

We don't NEED to replace them at left back though.

And just remind me, how much more is a striker's goal worth than a left back's? Isn't goal a goal regardless of where you get it from?

[Ian Royal]

Indeed. Keep Long and have Hunt stay fit and in form and we've got plenty of goals upfront. Karacan, Legs, Howard, McAnuff, Kebe, Pearce & Mills can all chip in with a few.

We can definitely find a defender who will improve the defence as a unit, which means we only miss his freekicks. And his only real contribution from them is goals, which as above any from left back would be a bonus.

Harte is a good player and offers us a quite a lot of positives. But that doesn't mean we can't do better. And as for Bertrand, he may not have scored as many but he offered a hell of a lot more going forward and overlapping. It's just less quantifiable.

[Mr Angry]

One of Harte's strengths defensively, is in the air; its amazing how many teams (like Boro on Saturday) think that the way to get past him is aerial. He rarely, if ever, misses a header. As WR says, Centre half (where he played for Carlisle) would be the logical place for him to play.

However, isn't this thread about him SCORING goals rather than conceding them? 7 League goals in 3/4's of a season for an aging and pedestrian left back is a pretty good return imho. HOWEVER, that doesn't get rid of the fact that left back is a position we need to strengthen in the close season.

AND find a player who can get ten goals to replace Harte's goals (9 Goals this season so far with at least 12 games to go)

The Young God that was Bertrand managed ONE in a season.

This thread is about League goals; thats 7.

[Z175]

The extra goals have somewhat replaced the Sig!

[royalhaven]

The extra goals have somewhat replaced the Sig!

Not if Gylfi scored 20 last season