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Marcus Haber


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On 8/12/2016 at 11:03 AM, Vince193 said:

He's not that good. It's as simple as that. He could barely find the back of the net in Scotland and has been at best a serviceable player in League One. At the end of the day Haber is representative of the kind of player we hope Canada can get away from eventually. Making the world cup isn't any easier when you rely on players playing in third divisions (And aren't even doing exceedingly well).

Yup.  His career reminds me of the guys we followed in the 90s.  Like a less-likeable Garret Kusch, but with a EU passport

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Haber is a journeyman, at best, and you are right, we need better quality than what he provides in order to be an upper echelon presence in the region.  My point, however, goes back to an old expression of "Hard work beats talent...until talent works hard."  There are have been too many guys in our program over the many years who didn't make the most of their talent and the opportunities afforded to them:  "me" guys interested in playing the blame game when things didn't go right for them.  Those are the guys who need much more scrutiny instead of people making punchlines out of the guys who actually did the work needed to make a pro career in this demanding sport, away from their homeland.

 

Edited by BearcatSA
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Article from The Courier

Q&A: What type of a striker have Dundee signed in Marcus Haber?

by Eric Nicolson

October 24 2016, 2.27pm

So what type of striker are Dundee getting in Marcus Haber?

A big one.

And?

An athletic and direct one. Powerful, tall and quick, Haber was a striker with huge potential in his younger days with West Brom.

“Potential”? By that, do you mean he hasn’t fulfilled it?

He’s played for Canada at every level, including the senior team more than 20 times, so that is an achievement in itself. But, yes, his club career hasn’t caught fire.

What do you remember of him as a St Johnstone player?

That Derek McInnes was a big fan. He got him on loan at first from his old club, West Brom, and then McInnes signed him on a permanent deal after that loan was cut short by a bad knee injury. You could see why he got a second stint. Haber has a lot of the attributes you look for in a centre forward in the modern game. He was able to play up front on his own – I can remember a match against Celtic when he was excellent in that role by the time Steve Lomas was in charge – and was used out wide on occasion as well, as I recall.

But he didn’t become a regular at McDiarmid Park, did he?

Not really. International call-ups made it a stop-start experience for Haber. Canada were trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympics and Haber was a big part of that team. There were times when he looked like he was on the verge of holding down a place with Saints then he would be back on his travels.

Who was he trying to keep out of the team?   

That’s another big part of the story. About the same time that Haber signed his permanent contract, so too did Fran Sandaza and Cillian Sheridan. They formed an excellent partnership and Haber wasn’t alone in not being able to dislodge them. Sean Higgins, Carl Finnigan, Sam Parkin and a certain Stevie May were also at the club.

So what about after he left Saints?

He signed for Stevenage, playing 45 times but only scoring seven. A loan at Notts County didn’t work out but there were 16 goals in two seasons at Crewe.

Didn’t his name come up in the summer?

It did indeed. He had a short trial at Dundee United but Ray McKinnon didn’t offer him terms.

The 64 thousand dollar question then…..how will he do at Dundee?

He isn’t Kane Hemmings and is highly unlikely to hit double figures. His career stats tell you that. But he’ll more than likely be better equipped to lead the line at present than Yordi Teijsse and will win more than his share of headers. If Paul Hartley can get his midfield runners close to Haber – or give him a strike-partner – there’s no doubt he will be able to bring them into the game. Haber is as good a player as you’re likely to pick up between transfer windows but I would still think that Hartley will be keeping his eye out for a penalty box poacher when January comes.

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BBC article with some quotes from Marcus:
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/37776995?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

New signing Marcus Haber feels fit and ready to make his Dundee debut as they look for the goals needed to lift them off the foot of the Premiership table.

And he believes he is a better player now than the one that scored four times in 48 games for St Johnstone.

"St Johnstone was a while ago, about four year ago," said the 27-year-old, who has signed until the end of the season after leaving Crewe Alexandra.

"And I am a slightly different player now - a bit more experienced."

Striker Haber, who joined Crewe from Stevenage in 2014, scored 10 times in 50 appearances last season as the Railwaymen were relegated from England's League One.

He had already earned the first of his 26 caps for Canada before joining St Johnstone in 2010 after leaving West Bromwich Albion.

"That was my first real taste of first-team football for a prolonged period of time in the UK," said Haber, who has also found the net three times for his country.

"I was still learning the game, so I definitely feel a lot different now."

Dundee manager Paul Hartley lost his two top scorers this summer, when Kane Hemmings and Greg Stewart were sold to Oxford United and Birmingham City respectively.

Faissal El Bakhtaoui arrived with a goalscoring reputation after helping Dunfermline Athletic win League One last season, while Yordi Teijsse had been prolific with Quick Boys in Netherlands' fourth tier.

However, Hartley has earmarked the striking department as a problem as his side have gone nine games without a victory - and lost their last five - with El Bakhtaoui also sidelined through injury for the next three weeks.

The manager is looking for Haber, who impressed on a week's trial after being released by Crewe, to make a difference.

"He will add height and strength and he is someone who stays in the box," said Hartley.

"The majority of his goals have come from inside the box, so hopefully that gives us a different dimension."

Haber scored for Canada in a 4-0 victory over Mauritania earlier this month.

"He has played two games for Canada recently, so his fitness looks okay," added Hartley ahead of Wednesday's visit to Dens Park by second-bottom Partick Thistle.

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46 minutes ago, Fifth Official said:

http://dundeefc.co.uk/news/we-really-wanted-that/

Gaffer's comments after two games...

From the Article: 

New signing Marcus Haber has had to come up to speed quickly with two matches in short succession since putting pent to paper. Paul gave his thoughts on the strikers performance “I thought he was terrific today, he hasn’t played a lot of football but he took it in well and was up for the challenge. He won a lot of flick ons and I thought him and Wighton worked well together.”

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Thats great on his progress and everything, but I personally think he's a player that needs to be left alone with NT ball. He's been great, committed, but as we all know his best days are behind him. So why not give someone else a deserving chance.

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8 hours ago, Complete Homer said:

He's only 27, his best days may still be ahead

I do agree he's not a huge goalscoring threat for us, but until we change tactics or find another target man to come on for Larin/fill his spot when Larin is unavailable, Haber will get call ups

He allows you to change play, if necessary. Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but he has a role on this team. Also, a class act who'll always show up and leaves it all on the pitch. 

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