Obinna Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18738548 Stevenage have agreed to sign St Johnstone striker Marcus Haber, subject to international clearance. The Canadian international, 23, began his career for his hometown club Vancouver Whitecaps, and earned a move to West Bromwich Albion in 2010. Following the Baggies' promotion to the Premier League, Haber moved to St Johnstone on loan before joining permanently last January. Haber played 48 times for the Scottish club before agreeing terms with Boro. Assuming the deal goes through Haber follows Bondz N'Gala to Broadhall Way following the centre-back's recent move from Yeovil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 What was the name of the guy that used play for Stevenage years ago, made it pretty far in the FA Cup one go. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toje Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Kasha Walker? Mark Rogers was also on loan with Stevenage back in 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted July 6, 2012 Author Share Posted July 6, 2012 How do people feel about this move? To me it looks like a lateral move at best. I admit I know little about this club or League one but I would guess the SPL is a better league. On the bright side, if Stevenage can gain promotion with Haber featuring regularly (somthing he never did in scotland), we could see him playing in the Championship. That would certainly make the move worthwhile no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcmurph Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Given the gong show around the Rangers I'd say it is a positive lateral move. Good luck Habs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 How do people feel about this move? To me it looks like a lateral move at best. I admit I know little about this club or League one but I would guess the SPL is a better league. On the bright side, if Stevenage can gain promotion with Haber featuring regularly (somthing he never did in scotland), we could see him playing in the Championship. That would certainly make the move worthwhile no? It is not a lateral move it is a step down both in terms of club and league. That does not mean it is a bad move at this point in Haber's career. Both Jackson and Occean benefited from playing for lower division clubs where they could be a constant starter and score a lot of goals and it eventually brought both to the top division. One advantage of League One though is even though it is of overall poorer quality than SPL it is much more even in quality, ie. scouts can get a better idea of a player's level when he is playing every week against similar teams as opposed to the widely varying level of SPL teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hodgkiss Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 its a no brainer in the sense that even league one sides (if you perform well) get noticed more than spl teams (unless you are rangers or celtic). maybe he feels he can take the simeon jackson route. although he could end up more like hume if he doesn't put on a good show. in any case, playing time says it all. wish him all the best and i really hope he performs well - maybe a move to the championship next year? whether it's promotion or being picked up by another team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 How do people feel about this move? To me it looks like a lateral move at best. I admit I know little about this club or League one but I would guess the SPL is a better league. On the bright side, if Stevenage can gain promotion with Haber featuring regularly (somthing he never did in scotland), we could see him playing in the Championship. That would certainly make the move worthwhile no? It is risky. I wouldn't have done it. With St. Johnstone likely to lose their top scorer Francisco Sandaza it could have been a pretty good opportunity for him to play a larger role. It's a step-down in terms of missing the quality of playing the Old Firm multiple times per year. Fewer teams, easier to stand-out. Scotland always presents the opportunity for Euro competition too. Despite their strong showing this year Stevenage will not keep up that level of momentum/progress in future years. There are many limiting factors to their success - attendance tiny, fan base limited, stadium small, close to tonnes of other clubs, talismanic manager left for PNE mid-season - so I'd bet that they're more likely to drop back down in the next few years rather than move on up. They are not a sleeping giant. They are historically a non-league club. The worry I have for Haber is that he becomes one of these strikers that bounces from club to club yet and doesn't leave a trail of goals-scored behind on his rap sheet. I know he's still youngish and his role is larger than just scoring but one of the responses on a Stevenage fan forum I read was something along the lines of "oh, another striker that doesn't score." That being said, I've read that wages at St Johnstone are pretty terrible - equivalent in some cases to League Two levels - so hopefully he's taken a step-up financially. Anyone know what the length of the contract is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted July 6, 2012 Author Share Posted July 6, 2012 its a no brainer in the sense that even league one sides (if you perform well) get noticed more than spl teams (unless you are rangers or celtic). maybe he feels he can take the simeon jackson route. although he could end up more like hume if he doesn't put on a good show. in any case, playing time says it all. wish him all the best and i really hope he performs well - maybe a move to the championship next year? whether it's promotion or being picked up by another team. Funny you say that since Hume DID put on a good show in league one by all accounts. I guess it shows you can score tons of goals, advance your career, than find yourself back at square one (or in this case...league one). To be fair though hume was derailed by that injury. If that didn't happen he would likely be the leading scorer on a Championship team that pushed for promotion every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deschamp86 Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 I'd rank it as basically a lateral move with a chance for positives. With Rangers dropping out of the SPL the quality has diminished. Stevenage looked like they were pushing for promotion to the Championship last year. So if they manage to get into Championship for next year and Haber is getting playing time, I'd say he's done alright for himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hodgkiss Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 ^ for sure - i didn't want to take anything away from hume. he is a class act and i wish him all the best. i have a feeling that the injury is always in the back of everyone's mind - managers not wnating to "take a chance" on him unfortunately. and although he hasn't been quite the same player as he once was, he has a ton of heart and i would welcome him on my team any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 I don't think it's a bad move, time will tell I suppose! When comparing the two leagues you must remember Scottish Football is in a mess at the present time and there will be no Old Firm matches vs Rangers because they have gone out of business and the "Newco Rangers" will play in the Scottish second tier at best and it's looking more and more likely they will play in Scottish Division 3! League One may be a much better option for Haber right now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboAl Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Would think that Haber makes more at Stevenage this year than what St. Johnstone would have offered with a new contract. I'd even guess that you'd make more at some League Two clubs than at a mid-table SPL club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingback6 Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Hmmm... This is a step down. That being said, he scored 2 goals in over 30 games for the Saints. At that rate, it is basically laughable to call him a striker at all. Not to say he should feel lucky, as I think he is talented, but he needs to find a coach who is going to use him for what he is. Essentially, it would seem, he's been sort of forced into this target man role, but once again, he is more of a winger type. Likes to run at people. Last game out for CMNT looks like he'd beefed up. But asking a young striker from a none football country to score a lot of goals right away is a none starter. Many greats started on the flanks and only moved inside later on. I really think Haber would have benefited from this, as I get the impression, that some of his fundamentals are lacking. It is getting to the point where if he's not put on the right track, that I could see him hanging up the boots before he turns 27. Hope this year goes well for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonte Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Hmmm... This is a step down. That being said, he scored 2 goals in over 30 games for the Saints. At that rate, it is basically laughable to call him a striker at all. Not to say he should feel lucky, as I think he is talented, but he needs to find a coach who is going to use him for what he is. Essentially, it would seem, he's been sort of forced into this target man role, but once again, he is more of a winger type. Likes to run at people. Last game out for CMNT looks like he'd beefed up. But asking a young striker from a none football country to score a lot of goals right away is a none starter. Many greats started on the flanks and only moved inside later on. I really think Haber would have benefited from this, as I get the impression, that some of his fundamentals are lacking. It is getting to the point where if he's not put on the right track, that I could see him hanging up the boots before he turns 27. Hope this year goes well for him. Last few times I watched him both U-23 and St. Johnstone, the irony is I didn't really see him run at all! Kinda looked lackadaisal out there. No offence to Haber, of course...but in soccer, you should learn to run more without the ball than with, a lesson that, if Haber learned, he'd score more than 2 goals in 30 games. I could be wrong, as I've only seen him play 5 games tops, and some of those were with sub time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_twelve Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 I start a job next week in Stevenage so this is great that I have a 'local' boy to root for with my new club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 I start a job next week in Stevenage so this is great the I have a 'local' boy to root for with my new club. Right on, keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingback6 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Last few times I watched him both U-23 and St. Johnstone, the irony is I didn't really see him run at all! Kinda looked lackadaisal out there. No offence to Haber, of course...but in soccer, you should learn to run more without the ball than with, a lesson that, if Haber learned, he'd score more than 2 goals in 30 games. I could be wrong, as I've only seen him play 5 games tops, and some of those were with sub time. Fair enough. This is the impression I got of him from when he played with the Whitecaps, and that's from youtube highlights. Otherwise, he does seem like a little bit of a pylon. At the end of the day, he needs to contribute more, whether through goals, or assists, if he wants his career to be anything more than a slow decline into mediocrity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatest Cockney Rip Off Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Stevenage manager Gary Smith got sacked this week. Hopefully Haber will be in the plans of new manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonte Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Stevenage manager Gary Smith got sacked this week. Hopefully Haber will be in the plans of new manager. Hm. Yeah that's always disconcerting, especially when we can all see this has been such a positive move for Haber so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackTheBlizzard Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 It is not a lateral move it is a step down both in terms of club and league. A few years ago you would have been on firmer ground with that. The ongoing absence of Rangers is going to lead to some major downsizing in financial terms by SPL clubs this summer, once multiyear contracts they committed to prior to last summer's events start to expire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 A few years ago you would have been on firmer ground with that. The ongoing absence of Rangers is going to lead to some major downsizing in financial terms by SPL clubs this summer, once multiyear contracts they committed to prior to last summer's events start to expire. Thanks for partially quoting something from a year ago on a subject that is not really relevant anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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