Harte scores on debut

andyman

Ian Harte began life in Spain with Levantes first goal of the new campaign in the 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad.

Big Nelly

Free kick???? tis is gud for the Republic!! anyone has a vid clip or know when SKy do Spanish highlights??

KdjaCL

neilbrady79 wrote:

Free kick???? tis is gud for the Republic!! anyone has a vid clip or know when SKy do Spanish highlights??

Decent goal should have had 2, they played well.
Check sky during week for highlights usually on in evenings.

kdjac

impr0v

So they'll like him for one or two extra weeks, it's only a matter of time before his every touch of the ball is booed. If I was him I wouldn't learn Spanish, a) because he probably won't be there long enough to use it, and b) because unlike Leeds it will take a while before he is painfully aware of what the fans think of him.

Owen set up Ronaldo for the only goal in Real's win. Mallorca had left the grass overly long so as to stop the galaticos, but to no avail, although it made the match scrappy. Casillas kept them in it, they're still a defensive mess.

StickyMcGinty

bit harsh improv, on harte and mallorca?

i dont see a problem with harte, sure i dont think he's international uality, but i do wish him the best of luck in spain.

any team would do whatever they can to beat a very good team, just like shels marked landsdown to make it a smaller pitch for the arrival of depor, its all fair game!

i thought madrid were very scrappy anyway, it looks like owen has got that hunger back that he was lacking at liverpool. madrid were very rusty, with figo, zidane and owen booting balls in to the stand for 3 VERY good chances. i thought barca looked the better team yesterday to be honest.

KdjaCL

Without Casillias they would be royally screwed, 17 shots on goal for Mallorca all saved :eek:

Harte will do well over there ,Spanish footie is great cos everyone can beat everyone a a left back with a decent pass and cracking free kick will do well there.

kdjac

The Rooster

Delighted for Harte. Hope he beats Roberto Carlos to the coveted spot of highest scoring left back in Spain!

Great play by Owen to set up the Ronaldo goal.
I wonder what he would have done had he been in a red shirt and had Baros screaming at the back post?
No need to ask I know the answer - he would have shot without the slightest hesitation!

Tellox

impr0v wrote:

So they'll like him for one or two extra weeks, it's only a matter of time before his every touch of the ball is booed. If I was him I wouldn't learn Spanish, a) because he probably won't be there long enough to use it, and b) because unlike Leeds it will take a while before he is painfully aware of what the fans think of him.

A bit harsh? Youre out of line is what you are.
Harte's an attacking left-back. He flopped in the premiership after so long because he was required to actually defend. The spanish league caters much better for his style of play, and Im delighted he got the goal.

The lads just moved from a club he's been with most of his life, and trying to get his career back on track in a foreign country. Lets try not slate him before he's even settled, yeah?

impr0v

Not harsh, bitter (Leeds fan). I've seen Harte's lack of pace and defensive frailties exposed too many times to say anything remotely nice about him. Fair enough his dead ball skills are good, but in my view they don't compensate sufficiently for his faults. You may be right, in that La Liga football will suit him better, but I'm not so sure. Look at international football, three goals scored against us from open play during the 2002 world cup, two (Morientes and Mboma) came from the right side, which was under the watchful eye of our friend Hartey, and the third came from Klose, who had the same player jogging alongside him at the exact time he headed the ball to score. That's not mentioning a missed penalty. Surely a good attacking left-back should have the pace to get up the line and provide decent crosses or support, and then back to make some effort at defense?

I have to confess to laughing when I saw Levante had come in for him during the Elland road fire sale, worse I remember seeing a fifa vote for the best left-back in Europe back during the halcyon days of Leeds in the Champions League, the three options were Roberto Carlos, Lizerazu and the Drogheda Steam Train himself! What a joke to hear that himself and uncle Gary were on 35k a week (still are in Gary's case afaik).

The Rooster

Harte does his best in every game he plays. Not his fault if he's overplayed or overpaid. Blame manager and chairman......

impr0v

The Rooster wrote:

Harte does his best in every game he plays. Not his fault if he's overplayed or overpaid. Blame manager and chairman......

I don't dispute that, give me anything like that money and a regular start in the Premiership or La Liga and I'll try my best every minute I'm on the pitch, that dosen't mean I'm good enough to be there. And you're right, it's definitely the manager and the chairman who are to blame for paying him that kind of money, the club is now, and will be for a long time, reaping the results of their mis-management as everyone knows.

My essential point is that Harte is a charlatan who has habit of getting goals from dead ball situation which gets him headlines and papers over his lack of ability as a defender. I'm not questioning his effort or dedication and best of luck to him, long may it last. There have been a hell of a lot of more talented players who have made a lot less from the game and have not gotten as far.

KdjaCL

Harte isnt that bad i mean ofr ireland we had better options ,and during Leeds high point he was a decent player in a DECENT defence who helped a lotwith dead balls and some actual defending.

problem with leeds and Ireland was when the Leeds team started playing badly and O Leary was sacked his form dropped as the defence wasnt playing as well.
All in all Leeds ruined him like they did so many players in last 4 years, glad he got away shame it took so long. Good player who when on form is an asset to any team (esp ireland)

kdjac

Big Ears

Harte was injured for the World Cup (a toe injury) and suffered because of that , it wasn't just lack of talent that had him playing so poor .

source of him having an injury : the new FAI site .

Davey Devil

I hate to see bitter supporters like imprOv. Ok sure Harte was never the best player in the world but he owes you nothing. As long as he goes out and gives 100%, that's as much as anyone can expect. If he continues to play badly it's up to the manager to drop him. The way some people go on you'd swear some players go out and play badly delibratly. I was delighted to see Ian score and hope he has a great season in Spain.

smemon

impr0v wrote:

Not harsh, bitter (Leeds fan). I've seen Harte's lack of pace and defensive frailties exposed too many times to say anything remotely nice about him. Fair enough his dead ball skills are good, but in my view they don't compensate sufficiently for his faults. You may be right, in that La Liga football will suit him better, but I'm not so sure. Look at international football, three goals scored against us from open play during the 2002 world cup, two (Morientes and Mboma) came from the right side, which was under the watchful eye of our friend Hartey, and the third came from Klose, who had the same player jogging alongside him at the exact time he headed the ball to score. That's not mentioning a missed penalty. Surely a good attacking left-back should have the pace to get up the line and provide decent crosses or support, and then back to make some effort at defense?

I have to confess to laughing when I saw Levante had come in for him during the Elland road fire sale, worse I remember seeing a fifa vote for the best left-back in Europe back during the halcyon days of Leeds in the Champions League, the three options were Roberto Carlos, Lizerazu and the Drogheda Steam Train himself! What a joke to hear that himself and uncle Gary were on 35k a week (still are in Gary's case afaik).

totally agree, he's a poor left back and a poor player. end of story, he had his chances with ireland and leeds and failed to impress (well, failed to impress everyone apart from mccarthy).

plus some of his set pieces are absolutely dreadful at times, hes not even consistent with them. people moan about o'shea at left back, they have short memorys as harte was 100 times worse. another phill babb that cant hack it with the big boys and looks totally out of place.

cournioni

Saw it on SSN there today. Good goal. I hope he does well and hopefully he'll get into the team of the year over there.

Dewey

I'm delighted Harte scored. i was going to put him down for first goal but i forgot :rolleyes:
I hope he does well. but lets not talk about Harte and the World Cup because he was bad.......REALLY Bad. i hope he gets him Career back on track in Spain.

StickyMcGinty

i dont like it, but can understand his bitterness. i'm still a little bitter over owen. although, harte didnt do anything wrong at leeds as a reason for the fans to hate him?

smemon

VinnyL wrote:

although, harte didnt do anything wrong at leeds as a reason for the fans to hate him?

he didnt do anything right either. as imprOv points out his bad points by far outweigh his good ones which is basically free-kicks only.

poor left back in general that was found out and humiliated on the biggest stage of all, something most of us irish fans knew already but mccarthy failed to notice.

he's playing with a relegation contender la liga side in a league with poor sides outside the top 5/6. nobody can defend so that will suit him, he'll blend in fine, sooner or later his inconsistency will show and he will no longer be an asset going forward.

cant pass, beat a man, defend, tackle, lead or motivate anyone around him.

Big Ears

smemon wrote:

poor left back in general that was found out , something most of us irish fans knew already

Are you talking about John O'Shea or Ian Harte .

KdjaCL

smemon wrote:

cant pass, beat a man, defend, tackle, lead or motivate anyone around him.

And yet hes a professional footballer on 40k a week and has been picked for teams at internationa,l premier league, La liga and champions league level.
Wow your spot on with your judgement all those managers (7) were wrong you should send a CV to Jobs@newcastleFC.co.uk

Im sure you would be a shoe in.

kdjac

smemon

KdjaC wrote:

And yet hes a professional footballer on 40k a week and has been picked for teams at internationa,l premier league, La liga and champions league level.
Wow your spot on with your judgement all those managers (7) were wrong you should send a CV to Jobs@newcastleFC.co.uk

Im sure you would be a shoe in.

kdjac

quite remarkable i know, i cant see how your impressed by him so much to start defending him.

im pretty sure every 2nd goal ireland and leeds conceded harte was in some way responsible, thats how poor he is.

if harte were put back in the irish side for next year im sure you wouldnt be so quick to defend him.

if he's so great why is he in spain with a newly promoted side having left a div1 side plus being frozen out of the international scene.

impr0v

KdjaC wrote:

And yet hes a professional footballer on 40k a week and has been picked for teams at internationa,l premier league, La liga and champions league level.
Wow your spot on with your judgement all those managers (7) were wrong you should send a CV to Jobs@newcastleFC.co.uk

Im sure you would be a shoe in.

kdjac

He's a professional footballer who's career was in a mess before a newly promoted La Liga side saw him in the free transfer bargain bin and rescued him. Doubtless Harte still has a fairly decent image in Spain, as he was in the team that made it through a champions league group with Real Madrid, then knocked out La Coruna in a quarter final, with Harte scoring, before losing to Valencia. Levante is the same team that was very close to buying Diego Forlan off Utd before their injury situation meant Utd had to call it off, which will tell you how concerned the Levante manager is about quality control. I suppose you'll say that Forlan trys his best too, but this is professional football and not the community games.

On promotion they obviously looked around the discount bins and tried to snap up a few players with decent experience, which Harte has got (I think they signed Mjallby too at 39), Harte will do a job for them, but it won't be a defensive one. When Leeds played in Europe it was clear that opposing teams had been briefed to run as much of the play as possible down the right hand side and attack the left-back.

O'Leary got away with picking him as a regular starter because he depended on the threat Harte posed from frees and corners, and he knew his centre halfs (Rio/Woodgate/Matteo/Radebe at different times) were good enough to cover for his godawful defending. Venables favoured Raul Bravo over Harte when he arrived, and he's suspect too, he more than likely won't make the Real team, a club not exactly famed for it's defensive strengths, once Woodgate and Samuel are both starting. Reid blustered in and restored Harte to full back, before dropping him to the bench, and then to the reserves. He got back on when Eddie Grey started his disaster management shift, but we all know how that ended up.

And using McCarthy's selection of him as proof of his quality? That argument makes itself.

If Harte wasn't Irish would everyone still be so blind to his ineptitude?

And perhaps you'd care to elaborate on your sweeping statement about leeds ruining him like 'so many players'.

KdjaCL

And perhaps you'd care to elaborate on your sweeping statement about leeds ruining him like 'so many players'.

Easier to just to to any website with transfers and look at leeds OUT pile, pretty much a lot of decent players who joined a club with high expectations but were left ruined by well i think best word would be retarded club management.

Few years ago Man Utd played Leeds in Leeds game finshed 1-1 (viduka had a goal offiside which wasnt Wes brown played him on). In that game Harte was superb his defending kept back Neville and Beckham one of the most formidable and industrious right sides in England for many a year, in that game they got nothing Harte was awesome as a fullback , not one decent chance was created down the right Utds usual route to goal. Another thing about Harte in that game he had 5 free kicks from around the box every single one of them the keeper saved, think one he didnt save That imo was Hartes best game for Leeds at the time he was on fire.

I know youa bitter Leeds fan i been to Elland road a good few times ,theres about 40K of you, almost all of the Leeds fans i know in Leeds loved Harte and think of him as a great servant and although a bit dodgy at times. He stil gets respect for his service and most fans hav good memories of him.
Odd its only Irish Leeds fans who hate him?


kdjac

eirebhoy

impr0v wrote:

If Harte wasn't Irish would everyone still be so blind to his ineptitude?

I'd be pretty sure you'd find a higher percentage of British people rate Harte than Irish do. Even his premiership colleagues voted him as the best left back for 2 years running. :eek: My opinion is, he can have his good games (remember he came on against Australia when we were 1-0 down and set the 2 goals up?) but suffers badly from confidence. Kevin Kilbane went through a couple of years low in confidence playing shít in every game but since his move to Everton I can't see him dropping in confidence ever again. McCarthy obviously saw (in training) they had a certain amount of ability and it probably was only a matter of time before they had a good game and confidence rose.

I have to say, if I was a manager in La Liga I would have also paid the ¬2m for Forlan. He scored on his debut for Villereall AFAIK. Levante have made some good buys this season. BTW Mjallby is 32, his legs are fecked though.

andyman

I think Harte is a good player. He was in Leeds Champions League squad and has a lot of expierence.He did well in the World Cup apart from the penalty.
After that penalty people started saying he was rubbish and he lost his place at Leeds and lost form and now he must have found his game.

He was a good player on a bad spell, not a bad player on a good spell.

smemon

impr0v wrote:

On promotion they obviously looked around the discount bins and tried to snap up a few players with decent experience, which Harte has got (I think they signed Mjallby too at 39),

lol 39! 33.

eirebhoy

andyman wrote:

He did well in the World Cup apart from the penalty.

No he didn't, he was shít at the WC.

He has just been interviewed on Newstalk (literally 15mins which is a coincidence) and he admitted himself he had a poor World Cup. Although he did say that he was playing with a toe (nail) injury as big ears said earlier.

He said he was suprised and disappointed not to be called up to the Ireland squad. Him and Mjallby are best of buddies at Levante and the team are aiming for a top 10 finish ( :eek: ). He also said he didn't watch any of the 4 Ireland summer friendlies which I was suprised he admitted.

Thats pretty much all I can remember from the interview.

impr0v

KdjaC wrote:

Easier to just to to any website with transfers and look at leeds OUT pile, pretty much a lot of decent players who joined a club with high expectations but were left ruined by well i think best word would be retarded club management.

Left ruined? This still dosen't make sense to me, what players were ruined?

Martyn/Robinson, Mills, Ferdinand, Matteo, Bowyer, Kewell, Viduka, Fowler, Smith, All playing first team Premiership football when they aren't suspended or injured, Milner playing most of the time for the toon, Dacourt playing for Roma and Woodgate just gone to the biggest club in the world, not to mention Harte. Most of the above in or about their repective national sides? Ruined, like so many others.

KdjaC wrote:

I know youa bitter Leeds fan i been to Elland road a good few times ,theres about 40K of you, almost all of the Leeds fans i know in Leeds loved Harte and think of him as a great servant and although a bit dodgy at times. He stil gets respect for his service and most fans hav good memories of him.
Odd its only Irish Leeds fans who hate him?

Since I don't know all the Leeds fan you know that point is untouchable. Every football watching person I know holds pretty much the same opinion of him as I do, that's similarly useless information, but I assure you they aren't all Leeds fans.

I don't remember the detail of that particular game, but I'm sure you're correct. Even Harte is capable of having a good day, and I'm sure there are one or two more that could be also be highlighted. I'd call them exceptions rather than the rule.

eirebhoy wrote:

I'd be pretty sure you'd find a higher percentage of British people rate Harte than Irish do. Even his premiership colleagues voted him as the best left back for 2 years running.

Even more amazing the fact that no manager wanted him when he was going free then, isn't it? I agree with you regarding his confidence, it plays a big part in his game.

Andyman, to say he played well in the world cup, even ignoring the penalty, is something that even his family would probably have difficulty doing.

kmart6

The Rooster wrote:

I wonder what he would have done had he been in a red shirt and had Baros screaming at the back post?
No need to ask I know the answer - he would have shot without the slightest hesitation!

He was shoting,he just f**ked it up,he was lucky Ronaldo was there to chest it in!!!

eirebhoy

impr0v wrote:

Even more amazing the fact that no manager wanted him when he was going free then, isn't it? I agree with you regarding his confidence, it plays a big part in his game.

Harry Redknapp did, didn't he? I'm sure there was at least one more bid also.

impr0v

eirebhoy wrote:

Harry Redknapp did, didn't he? I'm sure there was at least one more bid also.

That was the year before afaik, and I'm not sure there was a bid made, just some lip-service.

Jivin Turkey

Who should have Ireland played instead at left back impr0v? Terry Phelan?

impr0v

I'm not making an argument for someone's else selection over him, I'm simply stating and re-stating my opinion that Ian Harte is a poor defender with some dead ball skills.

Personally, for the World Cup, I would have played Kilbane at left back.

StickyMcGinty

and beckham is a poor midfielder with dead ball skills.

harte is good at attacking, not the best defender, but a very good wing back. the way mccarthy told him to play in the ireland team (flat 4-4-2) didnt suit harte, but the attacking style of spainsh footy will suit him.

he'll score more than bob carlos i reckon!

impr0v

VinnyL wrote:

and beckham is a poor midfielder with dead ball skills.

harte is good at attacking, not the best defender, but a very good wing back. the way mccarthy told him to play in the ireland team (flat 4-4-2) didnt suit harte, but the attacking style of spainsh footy will suit him.

he'll score more than bob carlos i reckon!

No, Beckham has pace, occasionally shows an ability to tackle well, has leadership skills, and can also pass a ball at any range with exceptional accuracy. You're attempting to dilute my argument with inaccurate comparisons.

Again, the argument about spanish football suiting him better may well be right, it's something that will soon either be proved or disproved, and I'll again state my opinion that he's not a good attacker either.

That's two different Harte apologists offering their opinions why first the premiership didn't suit him, and then McCarthy's formation didn't suit him.

cournioni

impr0v wrote:

That's two different Harte apologists offering their opinions why first the premiership didn't suit him, and then McCarthy's formation didn't suit him.

There is less pace involved in La Liga so therefore he will be a success.

Big Ears

impr0v wrote:

No, Beckham has pace, occasionally shows an ability to tackle well, has leadership skills, and can also pass a ball at any range with exceptional accuracy. You're attempting to dilute my argument with inaccurate comparisons.

Beckham does not have pace , as when he first went to Spain proved .
He tried to outrun people and kept having to turn back because he couldn't get by them , you're right about the tackling , his leadership skills are questionable though , they didn't seem to show at Euro 2004 , yes he can pass a ball at long range with exceptional accuracy , but the same goes with Harte .

StickyMcGinty

Big Ears wrote:

Beckham does not have pace , as when he first went to Spain proved .
He tried to outrun people and kept having to turn back because he couldn't get by them , you're right about the tackling , his leadership skills are questionable though , they didn't seem to show at Euro 2004 , yes he can pass a ball at long range with exceptional accuracy , but the same goes with Harte .

ex-feckin-actly bigears, where have you seen beckham using his pace? to out run paparazzi?

leadership skills? you cant compare his leadership skills to that of roy keane, Patrick Viera, Lampard, Hierro or any other great club captain. oh wait, he isnt even his club captain, just a token english captaincy.

harte has everything beckham has, except the size 6 wife, but the problem is he's a LEFT BACK! Beckham can get away with defensive frailties because he usually has a superb right back to cover for him.

i wish harte the best of luck anyway, dont you just hate be-grudgers?

impr0v

Sigh.

This is my last post on the topic, the phrase 'pissing against the wind' comes to mind. We'll see how much Harte features in the World Cup campaign, and how Levante and Harte do in La Liga. I get the feeling however, that if he dosen't perform as well as his loyal fans (fundamentalists) expect, another excuse will be wheeled out to explain it away, leaving his stellar reputation intact. Ahh good ol' Ian, he tried hard, the way the wind was blowing didn't suit him.

Again you persevere with your disingenuous Beckham comparison. This isn't an argument about his merits compared to his peers, it's about Ian Harte, and my comments about Beckham were in that context since you falsely compared the two. Compared to Harte, Beckham HAS pace, compared to Harte, Beckham HAS leadership skills, to say Harte has everything Beckham has is a joke. Not being captain of Real is hardly a snub to his abilities given the calibre of players also on the team, and you mention Lampard as an example of a great leader, yet he isn't club captain either, nor national captain. Again, your logic is faultless.

'Be-grudger'? Please spare me the condescension.

smemon

VinnyL wrote:

harte has everything beckham has, except the size 6 wife, but the problem is he's a LEFT BACK! Beckham can get away with defensive frailties because he usually has a superb right back to cover for him.

i wish harte the best of luck anyway, dont you just hate be-grudgers?

this is ridiculous saying harte is as good as beckham. beckham is one of the finest right-sided midfielders in the world and has the trophies to back it up. he cant run, beat a man or tackle (cleanly) but his passing is the best in the world, pin point accurate along with his set pieces, id much rather beckham taking a free kick on the edge of the area rather than harte.

harte is not one of the best left backs in the world, sure even o'shea outplayed him to claim irelands lb slot.

Big Ears

smemon wrote:

this is ridiculous saying harte is as good as beckham. beckham is one of the finest right-sided midfielders in the world and has the trophies to back it up. he cant run, beat a man or tackle (cleanly) but his passing is the best in the world, pin point accurate along with his set pieces, id much rather beckham taking a free kick on the edge of the area rather than harte.

harte is not one of the best left backs in the world, sure even o'shea outplayed him to claim irelands lb slot.

:rolleyes: .

Roque Junior won the World Cup , and started for Brazil .
That dosen't stop him from being crap .

Trophy don't mean **** , about how good a player is .
What did Le Tissier ever win ?

StickyMcGinty

frank lampard was captain of the england u21 team for all 16 games he played, and he is Vice-captain for chelsea!

beckham wasnt captain at united, madrid only at international level, with absolutly NO influence, he admitted this himself here

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=298&id=950292004

you'll need to register though, sorry!

anyway, i'm not hartes biggest fan.

from http://www.unison.ie/polls/index.php3?ident=SportsDesk&mypollid=821

Damn right he's over-rated. True afficionados of the game will know that his cultivation of the media (especially the British tabloids) have given the less expert among us the impression that he's something special. He isn't. He is a fine free-kick taker but his ability to influence things during general play is extremely limited and he hasn't the vaguest idea how to tackle. In short, he's just Ian Harte with a tragic haircut.

what i'm saying too is, that ian harte isnt the best left back in the world, but doesnt deserve the criticism he gets.

am i right in saying that ian harte has a better dead ball average than beckham?

Big Ears

VinnyL wrote:

am i right in saying that ian harte has a better dead ball average than beckham?

I would agree .
While I think Beckham is the best crosser of a ball in the world , he is certainly not the best free-kick taker , whatever his fans may think .