United team spirit is special says Steve Harper

Oct 9 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

But Harper is confident the team will continue to defy the turmoil in the boardroom because of the characters who have emerged during these troubled times and the fact everyone has vowed to give their all to the cause.

He said: “Relegation was horrendous last season and I did wonder over the summer what people were going to be like when we came back for pre-season, who was going to be committed to getting the club back into the Premier League and who wasn’t.

“That came up in pre-season. We asked everyone what they felt and if they wanted to stay and get this club back into the Premier League. We didn’t want a negative atmosphere.

“When you look back at last season, it wasn’t enjoyable from start to finish. We had to have a positive atmosphere around the place this season and we have managed to create that.”

Several of United big name players have since departed and, while Harper denied there was any bad feeling towards them, he cannot deny he was pleased to see some of them move on.

He said: “We couldn’t afford to have anyone here who didn’t want to be here, or anyone who resented the fact they had been forced to stay. The situation demanded that we had players who would work for each other and fight for each other.

“There were people who didn’t want to be here and that was fine. There isn’t any resentment towards them because they had careers to think of.”

STUART Pearce insists Theo Walcott could force his way into England’s senior squad for next Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier against Belarus with a good performance for his Under-21 side tonight.

Walcott is currently part of Pearce’s a squad which also includes Newcastle striker Andy Carroll preparing to take on Macedonia in a European Championship qualifier at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.