Mark Harris - joined Oxford United

[Chester40]

1 hour ago, Bald Eagle's Barmy Army said:

The best one so far “he looks like Tom Lawrence”. 🤣🤣

You know that was a joke I presume, some people seem to be taking it seriously.

It made me laugh.. I took his point tbh, annoying haircut, slightly smug look about him. Phil Foden has that same  chavvy, cocky aura that grinds my gears (wouldn't want him either).

But I'm not one to judge a book by its cover - much.

[Van der MoodHoover]

3 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

It’s what Warne wants though 

We've got the league 1 guardiola,

He knows exactly what we need

With eleven at the back

And no scorers in attack

Derby's gonna bore the flipping league.....

[Ram1988]

I know very little about him to be honest. Maybe PW sees him as a versatile foward who can play across the front line (in either a 352 or 343). Then he could be a good sqaud player if we are going for three new forwards.

[jono]

4 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

There's a reason why a side who would have got relegated without other teams getting points deductions is releasing him. He's a CF who is poor in the air, can't dribble, rarely shoots and doesn't create anything for others.

So, you’re not particularly enthused then ? 

[Ambitious]

After looking into his stats a bit further, I became a little more perplexed by our reported interest. He’s a player who struggles to win aerial duels, hold the ball up, finish his chances and create opportunities for others - yet.. Cardiff were willing to give him a new contract and he’s played a reasonable amount of football as well as earning a call up to the Wales squad. When you consider that squad is no joke. 

Wales fans seem to like him, equally get frustrated by the points above, but he definitely seems to have a direct approach and as one of their fans put ‘always has a positive impact off the bench’ which is something we needed. 

It also seems Blackburn had a £700k bid rejected for him in January, according to some posts I read, so maybe he isn’t a player completely without merit - I just don’t like a player where you can’t immediately see an upside in the numbers. By every metric he’s pretty poor, I just hope it’s not a Conor Sammon paradox where because he’s big, relatively quick and has a presence on the pitch that we’re ignoring the fact that it leads to nothing. It would be interesting to see some clips to see how good his technical ability really is to make judgement. 

[Rich3478]

Have literally never heard of him. Blackburn bidding in January suggests some potential though?!

[CapeTownRams]

6 hours ago, Anag Ram said:

The way he ‘spotted’’ Tony Springett?

 

What is Springett doing now ? Wonder if PW will go back in for him. We never really got to see him play long-term ..

[Carnero]

5 hours ago, Ambitious said:

After looking into his stats a bit further, I became a little more perplexed by our reported interest. He’s a player who struggles to win aerial duels, hold the ball up, finish his chances and create opportunities for others - yet.. Cardiff were willing to give him a new contract and he’s played a reasonable amount of football as well as earning a call up to the Wales squad. When you consider that squad is no joke. 

Wales fans seem to like him, equally get frustrated by the points above, but he definitely seems to have a direct approach and as one of their fans put ‘always has a positive impact off the bench’ which is something we needed. 

It also seems Blackburn had a £700k bid rejected for him in January, according to some posts I read, so maybe he isn’t a player completely without merit - I just don’t like a player where you can’t immediately see an upside in the numbers. By every metric he’s pretty poor, I just hope it’s not a Conor Sammon paradox where because he’s big, relatively quick and has a presence on the pitch that we’re ignoring the fact that it leads to nothing. It would be interesting to see some clips to see how good his technical ability really is to make judgement. 

My memory of him was as a lower grade Dan James.

Out of interest do Dan James stats and metrics look equally as uninspiring? I would imagine so, but top flight clubs have continually had interest in him... so.... 🤷‍♂️

[Ghost of Clough]

2 hours ago, Carnero said:

My memory of him was as a lower grade Dan James.

Out of interest do Dan James stats and metrics look equally as uninspiring? I would imagine so, but top flight clubs have continually had interest in him... so.... 🤷‍♂️

James' minutes per goal contribution

Fulham - 202

Leeds - 286

Man Utd - 256

Swansea (Championship) - 193

[IlsonDerby]

This player had a breakout season in league 1 after this run, followed by another big season, followed by a big transfer and eventually an England call up. 
 

I’d BET 👀 not many can guess who it is without the clues. 
 

 

Now obviously I don’t think this kid is the next IT or JCH or whichever other striker posh have bought in but it’s worth remembering that our fans longed for us to be the transfer before the big transfer. That means taking risks on young players. 
 

For a player to have a breakout season with us and be worth a few Bob they need to have been underwhelming before they come to us. 
 

As I say I’m not suggesting he’d be brilliant but a youngster having poor goal returns at this stage might not be reason enough to write them off. 
 

[deanoakaram4life]

I’d be all for it if he’s was to come! Right age, and someone who by all account works his socks off. However like Knight, he’d want to stay in the champ to maintain his international spot. If Blackburn were to offer him a deal, I’d imagine he’d opt to stay in the Championship. 

[hintonsboots]

6 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

James' minutes per goal contribution

Fulham - 202

Leeds - 286

Man Utd - 256

Swansea (Championship) - 193

 

[Reggie Greenwood]

35 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

This player had a breakout season in league 1 after this run, followed by another big season, followed by a big transfer and eventually an England call up. 
 

I’d BET 👀 not many can guess who it is without the clues. 
 

 

Now obviously I don’t think this kid is the next IT or JCH or whichever other striker posh have bought in but it’s worth remembering that our fans longed for us to be the transfer before the big transfer. That means taking risks on young players. 
 

For a player to have a breakout season with us and be worth a few Bob they need to have been underwhelming before they come to us. 
 

As I say I’m not suggesting he’d be brilliant but a youngster having poor goal returns at this stage might not be reason enough to write them off. 
 

I BET it’s Ivan Toney 

[simmoram1995]

13 minutes ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

I BET it’s Ivan Toney 

It is he joined Peterborough in 2019

[Black ('n' White) Sheep]

1 hour ago, IlsonDerby said:

This player had a breakout season in league 1 after this run, followed by another big season, followed by a big transfer and eventually an England call up. 
 

I’d BET 👀 not many can guess who it is without the clues. 
 

 

Now obviously I don’t think this kid is the next IT or JCH or whichever other striker posh have bought in but it’s worth remembering that our fans longed for us to be the transfer before the big transfer. That means taking risks on young players. 
 

For a player to have a breakout season with us and be worth a few Bob they need to have been underwhelming before they come to us. 
 

As I say I’m not suggesting he’d be brilliant but a youngster having poor goal returns at this stage might not be reason enough to write them off. 
 

I'd say a 1 in 3 strike rate at any level in the EFL is enough to show potential (and Toney did around that in 3 of his last 4 loan spells). Harris has 10 over 3 seasons which is pretty dire.

Going on that basis, I'd be asking about Luke Armstrong from Harrogate... 26... just under 1 in 3 in a side that's struggled since getting out of non-league.

[Ghost of Clough]

40 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

This player had a breakout season in league 1 after this run, followed by another big season, followed by a big transfer and eventually an England call up. 
 

I’d BET 👀 not many can guess who it is without the clues. 
 

 

Now obviously I don’t think this kid is the next IT or JCH or whichever other striker posh have bought in but it’s worth remembering that our fans longed for us to be the transfer before the big transfer. That means taking risks on young players. 
 

For a player to have a breakout season with us and be worth a few Bob they need to have been underwhelming before they come to us. 
 

As I say I’m not suggesting he’d be brilliant but a youngster having poor goal returns at this stage might not be reason enough to write them off. 
 

Even ignoring minutes played, that's still 1 in 3 at Shrewsbury, 1 in 2.5 at Scunthorpe (1st loan) and 1 in 2 at Scunthorpe (2nd loan). Hardly the same as Mark Harris' record.

[Macintosh]

Makes sense to me. A current Welsh international with experience. James Collins will know him, as will Curtis Nelson. Also, Ryan Allsop can put in a good word about the training facilities and area. Playing with two wing-backs, a quick one and a tall one alongside Collins ticks the boxes. Downside, he will probably demand a loan move to play at a higher level for his international aspirations!

[IlsonDerby]

33 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Even ignoring minutes played, that's still 1 in 3 at Shrewsbury, 1 in 2.5 at Scunthorpe (1st loan) and 1 in 2 at Scunthorpe (2nd loan). Hardly the same as Mark Harris' record.

Mark Harris has played around 54% of his games as a CF with the rest on the wing or even deeper. 
So I know this is a crude calculation but: 55% of the 3860 minutes he played at Cardiff (in the league) gives 2123 minutes. 9 goals in the league for Cardiff works out at 235 minutes per goal. Better than 1 in 3 if we zone in on time spent as a forward. 
 

Again I’m aware it’s an intricate calculation done using really blunt tools and some debatable assumptions but just showing that if he’s been identified by our recruitment team and he’s liked by our manager then perhaps there’s more to him than his initial goals to appearances stat. 

[IlsonDerby]

54 minutes ago, Black ('n' White) Sheep said:

I'd say a 1 in 3 strike rate at any level in the EFL is enough to show potential (and Toney did around that in 3 of his last 4 loan spells). Harris has 10 over 3 seasons which is pretty dire.

Going on that basis, I'd be asking about Luke Armstrong from Harrogate... 26... just under 1 in 3 in a side that's struggled since getting out of non-league.

Mark Harris has played around 54% of his games as a CF with the rest on the wing or even deeper. 
So I know this is a crude calculation but: 55% of the 3860 minutes he played at Cardiff (in the league) gives 2123 minutes. 9 goals in the league for Cardiff works out at 235 minutes per goal. Better than 1 in 3 if we zone in on time spent as a forward. 
 

Again I’m aware it’s an intricate calculation done using really blunt tools and some debatable assumptions but just showing that if he’s been identified by our recruitment team and he’s liked by our manager then perhaps there’s more to him than his initial goals to appearances stat. 

[Ghost of Clough]

7 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

Mark Harris has played around 54% of his games as a CF with the rest on the wing or even deeper. 
So I know this is a crude calculation but: 55% of the 3860 minutes he played at Cardiff (in the league) gives 2123 minutes. 9 goals in the league for Cardiff works out at 235 minutes per goal. Better than 1 in 3 if we zone in on time spent as a forward. 
 

Again I’m aware it’s an intricate calculation done using really blunt tools and some debatable assumptions but just showing that if he’s been identified by our recruitment team and he’s liked by our manager then perhaps there’s more to him than his initial goals to appearances stat. 

Let's just ignore the fact some of those goals were scored when he wasn't playing as a CF then...

His record is awful.