Harte swaps Bernabeu for Brentford but has no regrets

Aug 2 2009 by Mark Douglas, Sunday Sun

IAN HARTE has swapped the Bernabeu for Brentford as he aims to relaunch his career at Carlisle this season – but the veteran defender insists he has no regrets about the way things have turned out.

He might have missed a chunk of the last two years through injury and spent most of last year without a club, but there will be no-one in the third tier with a better footballing CV than the 31-year-old from Drogheda.

A World Cup, a Champions League semi-final, 64 caps for Ireland, a three-year spell in Spanish football and more than 200 top-flight appearances mark him out as one of the most effective defenders of his generation.

But there are no regrets and there is no sense of easing off the throttle as he prepares for his first full season among the muck and nettles in League One.

“I haven’t come here to wind down my career,” Harte told The Sunday Sun.

“I’m only 31 and I know that I can definitely play at least Championship football again. What I’ve seen in pre-season, against teams like Hull: that confirms to me that I am good enough.

“I think I did well in the Hull and Middlesbrough games against players that were playing top flight last season. I felt comfortable.

“I don’t necessarily feel any more pressure on me because I’m a senior man in the dressing room. I have just come in to the dressing room and I’m one of the lads.

“It doesn’t matter what I did in the past – it’s all about what I do now. It doesn’t matter what might have happened or might not have happened. You’ve got to deal with it.

“I just hope I can come in and help them, and hopefully they can help me along too.”

Last season was a difficult one for Harte, who had to win over doubters after his short and unsuccessful spell at Sunderland.

Things didn’t work out for him under Roy Keane but his old boss Mick McCarthy saw enough in him to offer him a month-to-month deal at Molineux – which he turned down in the hope of getting something longer term.

After several months of inactivity he eventually took up a similar offer at Blackpool – only to be released because the club already had two left-backs.