Should Fab look no further than Newcastle for his saviour?
Steve Harper has to go down as one of the most patient men in football. The Newcastle keeper played second fiddle to shot stoppers Pavel Srnicek, Shaka Hislop and Shay Given for almost 16 years at St. James’ Park before finally being given the opportunity to claim the Toon’s number one jersey after Given’s glamour move to billionaires Manchester City. Harper’s career however, looks like it may still be yet to reach its peak as he enters as a shock candidate for the England number one spot.
It is fair to say that the goalkeeping position is one that is still very much up for grabs for South Africa, with no goalkeeper having confirmed their place on the plane. If David James fails to regain fitness before South Africa and Ben Foster continues to warm the bench then Capello will be forced to look elsewhere and regardless of the fact that he plays in the Championship, Harper is undoubtedly one of the most experienced English keepers around.
Harper has a host of fans in the Newcastle region and the Toon Army have been calling for the seasoned professional to be handed an England opportunity for a long time now. When looking for a fan of Steve Harper, you need to look no further than current Newcastle manager Chris Hughton, who has been recently singing Harpers praises. Hughton said:
“It is the England manager’s prerogative to look at all English keepers. He has to pick who he wants but if I look at Steve Harper’s performances for us, I don’t think there are so many better than him. Steve is proving what a good keeper he is. He has shown that we are a team that is four points clear of second spot and ten points clear of third but what we have still needed is quality saves at vital times. Without him, we might not have that. He is a goalkeeper that has matured, and I think he is at his prime at this particular moment, and the types of saves he is making are not easy ones.”
Hughton’s comments are not unfounded. I have watched several Newcastle matches this year and Harper has been excellent. The match at Bramhall Lane springs to mind in which Harper made a fantastic last minute save from a header, keeping the score line at 1-0 and claiming Newcastle 3 points. It is something that Harper has done on a regular basis this season as despite the fact that Newcastle appear to be comfortably sitting atop the table, it could easily be different if it wasn’t for the 34-year-old shot stopper. Harper conceded only 9 goals in his first 15 games, including just one in his first 6 and has been the spine of a solid Newcastle backbone.
Now there is the obvious glaring fact here that Harper plays in the Championship and the question must be asked; can England really take a Championship goalkeeper to the World Cup? The answer in most cases would be no, but Harper is an anomaly. The fact is that he has been a solid Premier League goalkeeper when called upon and an understudy to arguably the best goalkeeper in the league. Harper will bring something that Foster, Hart and even to an extent Green do not have and that is vast experience. There is no reason that he should not be given a chance. I am not saying take him, I am saying consider him.
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Good shout, Harper is as steady as they come. I don’t know how Foster is still in contention, he’s had a poor season and is third choice for his club. Harper and Robinson are the two best performers this year.
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If he was at any other club, he would be Englands number one by now. Unfortunately he was stuck behind the Premierships best ‘keeper for the last 10 years and never got a consistent run of games. He is a must for South Africa
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Harper is a great keeper, but I can’t help but feel he will be overlooked. Wrongly in my opinion.
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Really interesting article again mate. I think there is a severe lack of good English goalkeepers, and I often make jokes with my German friends that they should give us some of theirs, as they seem to have consistent keepers in abundance, even without the late Robert Enke (R.I.P.). Since the retirement of David Seaman, however, the England team have never had a stopper of such quality between the sticks, and not for a lack of trying to find one either! I feel it’s something that we need to try and promote at a grass roots level, so that we have more options in the future.
Personally, I would say that Robert Green still sticks out as one of the obvious choices to go to South Africa. Apart from the red card against the Ukraine, for which he wasn’t really to blame, he has been absolutely solid, and I have often been one of the first to heap praise on him every time he throws an England jersey on. However, it’s the substitute keepers that seem to cause the problem. David James, though a man of experience, is starting to get to the stage where his age is starting to catch up with him, I feel, and the likes of Scott Carson and Ben Foster are still too inexperienced at a high level of football. Therefore, it would make pleasant viewing to see someone as deserving as Steve Harper a try. Hopefully Capello will seriously consider it, and even give the guy a try-out in one of next year’s warm-up friendlies. I would be really interested to see how he does, because he has been great for the Magpies this season, and I hope that he continues his good form for England too, impressing enough for a national selection. It would certainly be a worthy solution to a long-standing problem.
However, I find it a little odd how Paul Robinson is no longer on anyone’s lips. Yes, that horror moment in Zagreb is something that will stay long in the memory, but despite the flak that the media gave him, he’s really made a comeback with Blackburn, enough for me to suggest that he could very much be returning to his pre-Zagreb form, and that maybe he could be thrown into the mix as well. He’s experienced, can pull off some fantastic saves, and, as shown against Chelsea last week, he can save penalties, so I personally wouldn’t rule him out. So long as the media lay off him, then he’d also be one of the keepers I’d take with me to SA.
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In comparison to Spain, England’s keepers are a joke. They have Casillas, Palop, Reina, Valdes and Diego Lopez. Any one of those is better than the current crop of English keepers.
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I agree with you Nick on most of those fronts. As a goalkeeper myself, albeit not brilliant :-p I think there is a huge lack a goalkeeping talent in England, well at least at the level in which we would feel comfortable taking to the world cup. Robinson gets overlooked when he makes brilliant save after brilliant save every week, i’m not saying we should start him but Ben Foster? Come on don’t insult us Fabio, the guy can’t even warm a bench at the moment. I think James should only be taken if he is first choice – he is a great keeper and his experience will help us out hugely but his experience is only really valuable if he is gonna be started, its no use on the bench.
Gawthaman I agree totally, but Spain are like that in every position at the moment! Most England fans would trade about 5 players for the chance to have Reina and he doesn’t even start for Spain. Another reason why they are so hotly tipped to win the World Cup
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Good article. First I would like to point out the rumours that nufc coaches thought Harper was better than Given all along and he just needed first team football to raise form. Realistically I wouldn’t agree. However, I don’t feel Given would of done better or worse this season if still at Newcastle nor if Harper was at Man city. I can remember when Harper took the spot for a few games under sir bobby I think I knew the potential he has like. Really Harper should of moved on earlier in his career and im sure he would of had a few caps by now. But it seems loyalty and Given and now the Championship have stopped him from getting a deserved English cap.
I say take him, I don’t think Harper is included in the world best keepers but he has to closer than James (makes to many mistakes), Green (off-form), Robinson (don’t think Rio and John will too pleased about that), (Foster, surely he can’t be called up, he has no right to be in the squad, playing Championship football is better than playing Wigan’s reserves.) The other only keeper I can think off is Hart but maybe the next one for him, I feel he is to young and inexperienced enough to be handed the pressures of playing at this world cup.
I vaguely remember newspaper stories talking about English world cup goalkeepers for the last world cup and it mentioned why not Harper, the obvious reason been how can you pick someone who plays second fiddle for club, then I realised yes you can if you play for Man u.
If Harper isn’t picked I would be surprised because he is at least the best three keepers in England if not 1st. Even if he is not first choice , I think he is a great sub keeper he has had plenty of practise at this role at Newcastle, this been serious, he will have high mental attributes like concentration gained through this.
So do us a favour Capello, pick Harper. He is clearly the safest pair of hands in England at this present time. Finally my last point is, with Harper you know exactly what you’ll be getting, safe, calm, casual and he make the saves that is expected of your goalkeeper – the thing none of the other English keepers have.
So lets see Harper in goal this summer not some maverick!!!
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…under sir bobby i think HE knew the potential…..
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