Top target Harris’ as a Bluebird was
tom.coleman@walesonline.co.uk
IT’S pretty safe to say that if he’s confirmed as the new man in the Cardiff City hot seat, Neil Harris will likely face far more scrutiny than he did when he first came to the Welsh capital.
Most Cardiff fans will probably struggle in trying to muster up memories of Harris’ last stint, and will instead remember the circumstances of his departure.
Harris started just one game during a loan spell that lasted just three matches back in December 2004.
Nevertheless, he managed to make a strong impression, netting in the 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United.
Coincidentally, the man in the Blades dugout that day? None other than Neil Warnock.
Funny how these things pan out. Lennie Lawrence, who was Cardiff’s boss at the time, was clearly impressed.
But just three days after scoring for the Bluebirds, and halfway through a month-long loan, Harris was announced as a Nottingham Forest player, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal at the City Ground.
Cardiff tried to swoop in with an 18-month offer of their own, but it was never going to stand up.
Given the player’s pedigree of 93 league goals in 233 appearances for Millwall, it felt like Cardiff had lost out on a big opportunity.
City boss Lawrence found himself on the end of stinging criticism at his perceived failure to keep hold of the 27-year-old, although at the time he insisted the club simply could not compete with the package being offered by Forest, who were fighting relegation to League One at the time.
Lawrence said at the time: “I’ve been a manager a long time and I’ve never had a player who, while he was on loan with me, has been offered a two-and-half year contract by another club.