Steve Harper is set to leave his role as Newcastle United Under-23s’ goalkeeping coach, according to Lee Ryder.
The Newcastle Chronicle journalist claimed via his personal Twitter account on Tuesday that Harper, 44, will leave St James’ Park in a bid to pursue other opportunities.
Breaking news: Steve Harper set to leave role as goalkeeper coach with #nufc . Harper will now pursue other opportunities. The former United keeper has played a big part in the U23s excellent season after helping guide them to two major finals.
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) May 14, 2019
This news breaks just a couple of months after Harper was announced as the new head goalkeeping coach of the Northern Ireland international side.
In his playing career, the 44-year-old stayed at Newcastle United for 20 years of his career.
OPINION
As mentioned by Lee Ryder, Steve Harper has enjoyed a successful stint as the goalkeeping coach of Newcastle’s youngsters leading them too two impressive major finals in his spell. When Maik Taylor left the Northern Irish set up, Harper was quickly announced as his replacement after the Englishman had impressed at his two years up at Newcastle. The news also breaks the day after Newcastle’s academy suffered heartbreak at the hands of Southampton when they lost their Premier League play-off final. They also lost in the Premier League cup final at the hands of Everton but the two major finals highlighted just how much of a step they have made in the previous couple of years. There can not be time for disappointment with Harper’s decision to quit the club to pursue opportunities elsewhere and Newcastle as a club must replace him with the right candidate who can take the success this year and keep on building it in the years to come.
