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Dan Harding joins Eastleigh, saying he couldn't bring himself to sign for Pompey


Saint-Armstrong

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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 by Saint-Armstrong
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""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! :lol:

 

(Just showed my boss (ex Brighton Employee) and he's fuming hahaha!)

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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  • 2 months later...

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."

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