QuoteIts amazing how quickly Harte's career has gone downhill. He's only about 31 and seems he can't get a club now.
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He was on the books at Man City for a while, and as far as I know he isn't. The Millwall manager used to be involved in the youth setup at Man City, and signed him when he took the job at The New Den.Originally Posted by EastTerracer
Its amazing how quickly Harte's career has gone downhill. He's only about 31 and seems he can't get a club now.
I'd say he could get a club, it's just that he's being picky about it.
I've no doubt a team in the lower echelons of the Championship would give him a contract, but he's holding out for something bigger, i.e. trials with Wolves, and now with Charlton.
Fair play to him for pushing himself, at this stage he could be forgiven for getting an automatic starting place at a lower side.
Potentially the best free kick taker perhaps, but even at the peak of his career he could be a liability at the back end- I doubt he's improved in this department.
I watched a few games when he was at Levante, and he was by far the worst out of their back four when it came to the defensive side of things.
That said, he took all of their corners and free kicks and looked very dangerous.
If his set piece ability is still there, I'd have in the squad and put him on in the last 15 minutes if we were down a goal in case we got a free kick.
Barring him scoring a bunch of goals from free kicks and being bought by a team that gets promoted, I doubt we'll see him play for Ireland again.
He was definitely one of my favourite players at his peak, but I fear his best days are behind him.
Hopefully he stays fit and can come back into the reckoning. If there's any spot on the field that's up for grabs, it's left back and centre-mid.
he was one of my favourite players too. he may have been defensively dodgy, but so are all the best attacking left backs, he contributed so much to us going forward. hes a left back and has 11 international goals, enough said
Least he has all the attractions there?
Blackpool is a complete kip stuck in a 50's timewarpLeast he has all the attractions there?.......poor ol' Hartey!
Tact is for people who are not witty enough to be sarcastic
...maybe he's into old school rockabilly?Blackpool is a complete kip stuck in a 50's timewarp
It's actually a fairly decent sign even if it is month to month contracts. He was training at Thorp Arch with Leeds United for a while and I think they were trying to agree a deal.
That probably just means Leeds couldn't or wouldn't meet the salary demands but I'm happy enough for Hartey that he got a championship club. If he gets a game he'll get goals there.
" I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die?"
I think Hartey played every game of the 2002 campaign and did very well, chipped in with a few goals, the one at home to Cyprus was quite tasty. He struggled a bit in the WC culminating with the penalty miss in the Spanish game and he never really played well for Ireland since then.
Very talented player at set pieces but his lack of pace exposed him defensively. Dont really see him as an option for Ireland anymore unfortunately. Ive often said if we could as they do in American Football bring on and off a kicker to take free kicks, corners etc he would be very useful.
Good to see him getting a club again however.
Blackpool on a one month contract! So he couldn't hold out any longerFrom the BBC website:
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Blackpool have signed former Leeds United and Sunderland defender Ian Harte on an initial one-month deal.
The 31-year-old Republic of Ireland international was a free agent following his release by Roy Keane from the Stadium of Light in June.
"They're a good bunch of lads here," Harte told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"I knew a few of them here anyway and they have made me feel very welcome and I'm looking forward to the challenge that's ahead."
The Drogheda-born player has been training at Bloomfield Road for the last 10 days after trials at Championship rivals Wolves, Sheffield United and Charlton.
It's been a good career and hopefully I can finish it with a club like Blackpool
He believes it has given Blackpool manager Simon Grayson a decent opportunity to see what he can offer to the Championship club.
"I was due to sign for Charlton before Alan Pardew left, and got a call off Simon asking me to come in for a week and take it from there.
"For someone like me who's not got a team you've got to make sure you keep your fitness levels up, and hopefully when the opportunity does come you hit the ground running.
Harte, who has won 64 international caps, began his career at Leeds and spent nine years at Elland Road after joining them from League of Ireland club Home Farm in 1995.
He helped the Yorkshire club reach the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001, before losing the two-legged tie to Valencia.
After joining Spanish side Levante in 2004, Harte returned to England three years later, but made only eight appearances before being released.
"I'm experienced and I've looked after myself and I just want to play for as long as I can.
"It's been a good career and hopefully I can finish it with a club like Blackpool."
He will be available for selection for Saturday's trip to Nottingham Forest.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
Where did you hear that? Genuinely interested. As far as I know he's been training wih Blackpool the last couple of months?
Why he turned a monthly contrcat from Wolves down in August is beyond me.....
Perhaps he figured he was worthy of a longer deal, then tried elsewhere, only to find Wolves called it right.
Tact is for people who are not witty enough to be sarcastic
I've always been a defender of his but he was being self delusional in the current climte if that was the case. I'd imagine he'd have had a decent craic of teh whip under McCarthy to boot. Still, maybe for the best when you see how Stephen Ward is developing in his position at Wolves now. Harte was originally a forward player as well actually....
Leeds own site. He was training with the squad at Thorp Arch to keep his fitness up and played in at least one reserve team game (behind closed doors according to LUFC.com)
Macca mentioned him directly in an interview too saying they were having a look and hoping they could work something out. He even qualified his expectations on the basis that IH was away having a trial with Charlton that week.
My guess is Leeds were happy enough with his calibre and fitness to offer him some sort of a deal but the finances had to be right from their end. Meanwhile Harte reckoned he'd score a deal with a Championship club sooner or later which he's managed to do.
" I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die?"
Cheers, I was away in Oz for a month so was a bit out of the loop, could've done a job in League one but given how shaky Leeds are at the back at present I doubt he'd have been the answer!
I've great time for Harte. During '02 WC had a nightmare but was still to the forefront of all goal celebrations. A lesser person could have sulked due to their own performances being bad (Hakan Suker and Turkey)
Too funny!!
Funny............I was watching that game and the Ian Harte I saw playing was taken off because Man of the Match Matt Jarvis ran him all over the place!
LESS OF THE BULL NOW!
Ha!! The end of Harte as an actor who's one role was pretending to be a footballer!
LESS OF THE BULL NOW!
That's a bit harsh. I wasn't the greatest fan of Harte but he played for Ireland on 64 occasions, scoring eleven goals, which is an excellent return for a fullback.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
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