Saint-Armstrong Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 (edited) Dan Harding upon signing with the Spitfires... "Early on I had a few offers from different clubs, one being Portsmouth. "Don’t get me wrong Portsmouth is a big club and I would imagine they are going to do very well this season, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. "I had the best three years of my life at Saints and I still consider myself a fan. It would not have felt right for me to sign for them. "I will never forget the career I have had and I am really proud of it. My memories of two promotions with Southampton were stuff dreams are made of. "Not only for the whole experience but the squad of players we had over those years. As a player you couldn’t have asked for more and I am still close with lots of them now." Full comments: http://www.eastleighfc.com/2015/08/06/eastleigh-sign-dan-harding/ (Pretty interesting comments on football, his career and his life - FWIW) Edited 6 August, 2015 by Saint-Armstrong
Isla Wight Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Good luck to him at Eastleigh. Fully played his part in two promotions..
captainchris Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Good luck to him at Eastleigh. Fully played his part in two promotions.. A good player who was around ten times the player that D Fox was....
saintmatt Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 get him on the banner! in all seriousness, great servant to the club and only just pipped by franny into my fondly remembered saints XI
Mattio Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 ""I had the best three years of my life at Saints and I still consider myself a fan. It would not have felt right for me to sign for them." Brighton fans must be livid! (Just showed my boss (ex Brighton Employee) and he's fuming hahaha!)
VectisSaint Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Good man. If only a few more players looked to play for enjoyment rather than just chasing the money and also respect for turning down the Skates.
Saint Charlie Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Good bloke and will be a cracking player for Eastleigh.
Saint Mikey Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 A good player who was around ten times the player that D Fox was.... He really wasn't. Harding was brilliant in Lge 1, but couldn't get in the team past Fox in our C'ship season. No need to re-write history... Kudos for flaming the Skates though!
buctootim Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 My best memory of him was making a fantastic run down the wing against Man United in the cup when we were in Lg1. We lost 2-1 but from that game on it was clear we were on the way back.
Foxstone Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 He scored the only goal of the game when we played Leeds at home in Div 1 - He promptly ran in front of the Leeds fans giving it large to a rather "warm" reaction... A fantastic moment I thought.. Good bloke, good player and I'm sure he will do great at Eastleigh
VectisSaint Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 He really wasn't. Harding was brilliant in Lge 1, but couldn't get in the team past Fox in our C'ship season. No need to re-write history... Kept Fox out of the team at Forest though. Played 20 times during our Championship season (Fox played 41). Was miles better as a defender than Danny Fox would ever be. Its not re-writing history.
ErwinK1961 Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 A good player who was around ten times the player that D Fox was.... Lol turn it in pal
Saint Mikey Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Kept Fox out of the team at Forest though. Played 20 times during our Championship season (Fox played 41). Was miles better as a defender than Danny Fox would ever be. Its not re-writing history. We bought Fox to replace Harding in the 1st team, which he duly did and kept his place. Fox wasn't up to Premier League standard, but that seems to mean people forget how good he was in the C'ship.
Shandy_Top_89 Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Was great for us in league one, has to be said that is a brilliant signing for Eastleigh too.
Toadhall Saint Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Got a lot of time for him. Was good for us and will be good for Eastleigh. So glad he didn't go to that lot down the road. [emoji106]
davefizzy14 Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 I always liked Harding, was class in L1 for us. Good pro. What a signing for Eastleigh & good on him for turning down the skates
Baird of the land Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Very surprised he's dropped that far down. Surely he should at least still be attractive to league 1 teams at 31. Vastly preferred him to fox as he could defend.
BotleySaint Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Very surprised he's dropped that far down. Surely he should at least still be attractive to league 1 teams at 31. Vastly preferred him to fox as he could defend. As he says in the article, family reasons and wants to settle. No lack of offers. A set of circumstances for Eastleigh to benefit from. Tough time for him.
Jonnyboy Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Someone posted that he was in the League 1 team of the season. Was thinking about that today.
Whitey Grandad Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 get him on the banner! in all seriousness, great servant to the club and only just pipped by franny into my fondly remembered saints XI On the banner? A statue, surely.
SuperSAINT Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Fair play to him for being so candid in that interview. Best of luck to him.
dronskisaint Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Played his part in the rise and never shirked a challenge...great that he loved his time enough to say fukyew to the evil-smellers down the road :-)
Ohio Saint Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Um....Don't forget he signed for the better team!! No brainer IMO.
Saints Warrior Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Great player and watched him at the game Eastleigh vs oxford, will see him during the Conference season.
doddisalegend Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 We bought Fox to replace Harding in the 1st team, which he duly did and kept his place. Fox wasn't up to Premier League standard, but that seems to mean people forget how good he was in the C'ship. Fox was **** in the championship for a full back he couldn't defend for toffee. He was better than Harding on the offense but you could drive a train through the gaps Fox used to leave down the wing in the champ.
doddisalegend Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Always liked Harding good player for us in league 1 never gave less than 100%
Wiggles31 Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Harding was a huge player in our recent success.
SNSUN Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Dedicated player and a hard worker, loved his passion and was my favourite player in League One. He showed his class by playing out of position at right back in the JPT final and not putting a foot wrong. One of our best free transfers. Nice touch not signing for the Skates too. He must really feel passionate about Saints.
St Chalet Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 (edited) Harding was the first signing of the Liebherr era. Always game us his best and was a solid performer. good luck to him. Edited 6 August, 2015 by St Chalet doh!
Lazlo78 Posted 6 August, 2015 Posted 6 August, 2015 Harding was the first signing of the Liebherr error. No need to be so harsh - it turned out ok!
lloydie Posted 7 August, 2015 Posted 7 August, 2015 Fair play Harding. I know fox played more games than him in the championship - but Harding was better defensively. Love him turning down the skates and its hard to argue that the Adkins era wasn't a brilliant time for players and fans alike.
Golden Balls Posted 7 August, 2015 Posted 7 August, 2015 What a great signing of Eastleigh. Obviously wanted to stay in the area. Fair play to him.
tpbury Posted 7 August, 2015 Posted 7 August, 2015 What kind of money would he get at eastleigh?. I'm guessing ' normal' wages , about 40k. Per annum, of course. Portsmouth's still fairly local, so perhaps they didn't offer much more.
Saint_clark Posted 7 August, 2015 Posted 7 August, 2015 What kind of money would he get at eastleigh?. I'm guessing ' normal' wages , about 40k. Per annum, of course. Portsmouth's still fairly local, so perhaps they didn't offer much more. I'd be amazed if it's even that much in all honesty.
The9 Posted 8 August, 2015 Posted 8 August, 2015 Great player and watched him at the game Eastleigh vs oxford, will see him during the Conference season. ...and Newport!
VectisSaint Posted 8 August, 2015 Posted 8 August, 2015 Looking good for Harding (and Poke), 3-0 up at Southport, will be top of the league if all games stay as they are.
Huffton Posted 10 August, 2015 Posted 10 August, 2015 What kind of money would he get at eastleigh?. I'm guessing ' normal' wages , about 40k. Per annum, of course. Portsmouth's still fairly local, so perhaps they didn't offer much more. The thing is what pompey offer and what they actually pay are two different things!
Pamplemousse Posted 12 October, 2015 Posted 12 October, 2015 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34509064 Harding shunned interest from a host of Football League clubs including League Two side Portsmouth in favour of a switch to Eastleigh. "We are from the area and my kids go to school locally," he said. "We plan to spend the rest of our lives here - it was a move I wanted to make and one that will hopefully pay off." A former England Under-21 international, Harding still has a fondness for Saints and tries to attend matches where possible. "I am always looking out for their results," said the defender. "My boy still goes to the games and my best mate is Kelvin Davis (the Southampton goalkeeper) and I get to the games when I can."
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now