Current Player Thread Mark Harris

[Carpy]

9.Mark Harris

Position: Forward

Nationality: Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Signed: 11 Jul 2023

Departed: DATE

Previous Clubs: Cardiff City

Stats: TransferMarkt

Instagram: markharris7

 

[isibuko]

Statistically, the worst player in the Championship. That new contract is ageing like a bottle of breast milk in the summer sun. Loved him in L1, but he's absolutely miles off it at this level. He came on last night and touched the ball 5 times. He deserves to play football, so for his sake, I hope that he's move on in January.

Don't think Harris is immune from criticism but he wasn't the problem last night, and I think we have to manage our expectations a bit for players coming into that team performance. It's not like Prelec/Lankshear were all over it until Harris came on and things slowed down... we were useless in midfield and ineffective on the wing so the forward line had absolute scraps to feed off. Not sure what more we can expect of Harris in that situation.

 

[LeftSideBoy]

Don't think Harris is immune from criticism but he wasn't the problem last night, and I think we have to manage our expectations a bit for players coming into that team performance. It's not like Prelec/Lankshear were all over it until Harris came on and things slowed down... we were useless in midfield and ineffective on the wing so the forward line had absolute scraps to feed off. Not sure what more we can expect of Harris in that situation.

I'm not suggesting he was the problem last night, but 5 touches of the ball in 25 minutes, against 10 men, is atrocious. He's been miles off it for months, this isn't a recent thing with Mark Harris. Like I said, I was a big fan at L1 level, but he's not a Championship player. The decision to offer him a new contract is baffling..

 

[Basham Wonderland]

I'm not suggesting he was the problem last night, but 5 touches of the ball in 25 minutes, against 10 men, is atrocious. He's been miles off it for months, this isn't a recent thing with Mark Harris. Like I said, I was a big fan at L1 level, but he's not a Championship player. The decision to offer him a new contract is baffling..

I'd say he was also poor in League 1.

 

[isibuko]

I'm not suggesting he was the problem last night, but 5 touches of the ball in 25 minutes, against 10 men, is atrocious.

What do you want him to do, come deep and get involved in midfield battles rather than do the job he's told to do? Run around like a headless chicken to get his touch numbers up? One of the big stories of the game yesterday was that we were utterly toothless not only in the final third but in progressing the ball in any useful way to the final third. Mark Harris' 5 touches is a product of that, not a symptom.

 

[holdsteady]

Of all the problems we have had recently not really sure Harris is one of them, few cameo appearances and that's about it.

 

[Carpy]

Mark Harris used to be famed for his work rate but I thought today he looked like he couldn’t be arsed, and the less said about that miss, the better.

Does make you wonder if we made a mistake offering him an extension. Think I’d rather chuck Ole Romney on the bench instead of M Harris

 

[Osleroad]

Mark Harris used to be famed for his work rate but I thought today he looked like he couldn’t be arsed, and the less said about that miss, the better.

Does make you wonder if we made a mistake offering him an extension. Think I’d rather chuck Ole Romney on the bench instead of M Harris

Think of it as a mercenary tactic if another club wants to take him on.

 

[Vancouver Yellow]

I’ve been a defender of Marris and think he was decent for us in LG1, but he is truly out of his depth in this league. That miss today was embarrassing. Looked like he was aiming for the corner flag.

 

[ECYellow]

Mark Harris used to be famed for his work rate but I thought today he looked like he couldn’t be arsed, and the less said about that miss, the better.

Does make you wonder if we made a mistake offering him an extension. Think I’d rather chuck Ole Romney on the bench instead of M Harris

Harris will almost certainly be farmed out in January for two main reasons:

1) OUFC will look to upgrade in that area, from a guy that hasn't found the net for 8 months.
2) If Wales secure a play-off place for the World Cup, Harris will need to be playing football you'd imagine, to be in contention for a place in the squad for the play-offs in March and WC in the Summer (if they qualify).

Based on current form and minutes played, who on earth is going to take Mark Harris on a permanent basis in January, when you consider the bloke has not scored for months? No, it will almost certainly be OUFC subsidising a loan move that suits Harris for the second half of the season, and it will then be a summer of touting him around to potential suitors that would be willing to take him on a permanent deal, on terms that get somewhere near the substantial salary that we are paying him.

Was it a mistake to offer Harris a new deal, off the back of him scoring 6 goals in 46 games last season? Absolutely, and it may come back to cost us for some time yet. See Stuart Findlay for comparable evidence.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Let’s see if we could tempt Salech away from Cardiff in January by using Harris as part of the deal - would suit all parties, we get a striker who’s been effective in the championship and they get a player who we know can produce in L1.

 

[Chippy]

Let’s see if we could tempt Salech away from Cardiff in January by using Harris as part of the deal - would suit all parties, we get a striker who’s been effective in the championship and they get a player who we know can produce in L1.

I have a feeling that suggestion would be laughed out of Cardiff, and probably laughed out of Wales!

A deal whereby we get a quality proven Championship standard striker who’s probably being touted by some of the bigger Championship clubs and swap him as part of deal for someone who hasn’t scored for a year or more and can’t hit a barn door from a few yards!!

 

[NorthWestOx]

I have a feeling that suggestion would be laughed out of Cardiff, and probably laughed out of Wales!

A deal whereby we get a quality proven Championship standard striker who’s probably being touted by some of the bigger Championship clubs and swap him as part of deal for someone who hasn’t scored for a year or more and can’t hit a barn door from a few yards!!

Not to mention that we signed him after Cardiff didn't offer him a new contract.
Still, stranger things have happened, and I wouldn't say no to Salech.

 

[Bigdwoolly]

Harris will almost certainly be farmed out in January for two main reasons:

1) OUFC will look to upgrade in that area, from a guy that hasn't found the net for 8 months.
2) If Wales secure a play-off place for the World Cup, Harris will need to be playing football you'd imagine, to be in contention for a place in the squad for the play-offs in March and WC in the Summer (if they qualify).

Based on current form and minutes played, who on earth is going to take Mark Harris on a permanent basis in January, when you consider the bloke has not scored for months? No, it will almost certainly be OUFC subsidising a loan move that suits Harris for the second half of the season, and it will then be a summer of touting him around to potential suitors that would be willing to take him on a permanent deal, on terms that get somewhere near the substantial salary that we are paying him.

Was it a mistake to offer Harris a new deal, off the back of him scoring 6 goals in 46 games last season? Absolutely, and it may come back to cost us for some time yet. See Stuart Findlay for comparable evidence.

Pretty sure a number of League One clubs would be interested, 19 goals in a full season at that level, rarely injured and very good fitness levels.

Not comparable to Stuart Findlay really, given he barely played for us and we never offered him a new contract, just a 4 year one at the start.

 

[ECYellow]

Pretty sure a number of League One clubs would be interested, 19 goals in a full season at that level, rarely injured and very good fitness levels.

Not comparable to Stuart Findlay really, given he barely played for us and we never offered him a new contract, just a 4 year one at the start.

Comparable in the sense that i think we may well end up in a similar position where a player is given a long term contract, but we don't benefit from the player for that contract length, rather we end up subsidising their removal from the club for a period of time - thus influencing our bottom line.

 

[Bigdwoolly]

Comparable in the sense that i think we may well end up in a similar position where a player is given a long term contract, but we don't benefit from the player for that contract length, rather we end up subsidising their removal from the club for a period of time - thus influencing our bottom line.

Feels different to me, I think Harris has a much higher value as a proven successful League One striker and a Champ squad player than Findlay (who couldn't cut it in League One or anywhere other than Scotland).

 

[Teacher]

Harris will not be short of suitors. There are lots of L1 clubs (attractive sizeable ones) that will need a forward.

While I wasn’t a fan, even in league one, 15 goals is a decent return at any level.

 

[ECYellow]

Harris will not be short of suitors. There are lots of L1 clubs (attractive sizeable ones) that will need a forward.

While I wasn’t a fan, even in league one, 15 goals is a decent return at any level.

Suitors that will pay him the salary that we are, without the need for us to make up any shortfall? I'm not so sure.

 

[Teacher]

Suitors that will pay him the salary that we are, without the need for us to make up any shortfall? I'm not so sure.

I wouldn’t know about his wages and what we are paying him. You’re alluding to them being naturally quite high…..that may not put off some of the big boys in league one who are desperate come January.

I would suggest they would go a long way to getting near his wages, leaving the shortfall minimised. Fair assumption @ECYellow?

 

[greatunclekip]

A league 1 loan move is exactly what he needs, his confidence is absolutely through the floor, abd he just looks like he isn’t enjoying playing for us at all.

 

[Sutton Yellow]

I suspect some are underestimating the difference between league one and Championship wages, even for a player not banging the goals in. League One clubs would expect a negotiation greatly weighted in their favour for a loan (as we did in league one) and a permanent move (more likely next summer) would probably need the wheels to be greased considerably to account for the change in contract value for the player.

 

[Kamal]

Did we offer an extension because we were protecting an "asset"? Yes he scored 6 goals last season (our joint top scorer), but he scored 19 goals the year before in League One. From a business point of view, maybe the club offered an extension in hopes they would one day receive a fee? 19 goals, International, possibly going to the World Cup. Maybe we think/thought a L1 club would offer money.

 

[SteMerritt]

Did we offer an extension because we were protecting an "asset"? Yes he scored 6 goals last season (our joint top scorer), but he scored 19 goals the year before in League One. From a business point of view, maybe the club offered an extension in hopes they would one day receive a fee? 19 goals, International, possibly going to the World Cup. Maybe we think/thought a L1 club would offer money.

How much money would they need to offer so that doing this would make financial sense though? Let's put some random numbers in, say the MH is on 10K per week. If we extend his deal by a year that is £520K in just basic wage alone. How much would we be expecting to make from a transfer bid, rather than let his current contract expire?

It wouldn't take long for the cost in wages to outstrip any potential transfer fee received.

 

[Stanford yellow]

How much money would they need to offer so that doing this would make financial sense though? Let's put some random numbers in, say the MH is on 10K per week. If we extend his deal by a year that is £520K in just basic wage alone. How much would we be expecting to make from a transfer bid, rather than let his current contract expire?

It wouldn't take long for any cost in wages to outstrip any potential transfer fee received.

Least we aren't paying him a goal bonus

 

[Jason N]

I could see Wrexham making an offer for Mark Harris, when in the pub, I couldn't help but laugh to myself how a couple of their fans were complaining that they needed to have signed a striker in the summer!!! 10mill + for Broadbent and Moore, plus the likes of Smith, Rodriguez et al in the squad, what a joke.

Deadpool and Macca seem to want to collect as many Welsh internationals as possible, Bellamy obviously likes Harris, so that would be a big win for us. They seem happy to pay over the odds.

 

[QR]

Least we aren't paying him a goal bonus

At least we are paying him a win bonus.

 

[Old Man]

Harris will not be short of suitors. There are lots of L1 clubs (attractive sizeable ones) that will need a forward.

While I wasn’t a fan, even in league one, 15 goals is a decent return at any level.

Bristle Rovers would be just right for Harris .

 

[OxfordBoy]

This is a disgraceful thread, it’s not Harris fault he doesn’t get any service and no striker would score or touch the ball in our system

 

[Carpy]

This is a disgraceful thread, it’s not Harris fault he doesn’t get any service and no striker would score or touch the ball in our system

Might be worth just letting Will know, he's clearly doing something wrong.

 

[OxfordBoy]

Might be worth just letting Will know, he's clearly doing something wrong.

View attachment 31663

I was joking, that was the kind of response I got all last year when I criticised Harris

 

[The Voice Of Reason]

Think Harris has just been found out our team and the championship keep improving and he isn't - simples really!