Harte glad to be pulling the strings again

ENGLISH FA CUP QUARTER FINAL Manchester City v Reading: CIARÁN CRONINtalks to the former Ireland defender who, at 34, is back in the limelight with Reading

IT’S BEEN so long now since Ian Harte has registered on football’s fickle consciousness it’s difficult to pinpoint when he last popped up. Sure, we can all remember his days at Leeds United as a full back with a mercurial left boot, when the club briefly threatened to take over the world under the stewardship of David O’Leary and Peter Ridsdale, before the entire folly ultimately consumed itself.

But since then? Harte’s three-year spell at Spanish side Levante passed successfully, if a little quietly, and his return to English football with Sunderland in 2008 got somewhat lost in the flurry of players, particularly Irish players, Roy Keane shepherded through the front door at the Stadium of Light, and out the back.

Harte popped up next at Carlisle United in March 2009, but a man would need to score a hat-trick and then set himself on fire to get noticed in League One. Now at Reading, following a €115,000 deadline-day move last August, it’s high time to get re-acquainted.

And, as it turns out, Harte is doing just fine. Speaking in advance of tomorrow’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City, the one thing that stands out more than anything else is the player’s delight at still being able to play the game he loves, even after 15 years as a professional. Footballers, so the modern stereotype goes, care more about lining their pockets than doing their job, but Harte’s recent career moves point to the contrary. “Do I still have my appetite for the game?” he responds to one query. “Obviously, when I went to somewhere like Carlisle and there’s a man and his dog there, a couple of thousand people, watching you. I love the game and the most important thing for me was to go out week-in, week-out and play football. That’s the most important bit. It’s not about the money side of things. The clubs in League One, unless you’re a big club like Leeds when they were in the division or Southampton, can’t pay big wages. The smaller ones just can’t afford it. It’s all about the love of the game, and I am where I am now and I’m enjoying it.”

Playing for love, not money, seems to suit him. A couple of months after Harte’s arrival at Carlisle, he helped the club to stay in English football’s third tier, while last term he scored 18 goals from centre back and was voted onto the PFA League One team of the season. That’s when Reading manager Brian McDermott came calling. “Bizarrely, I bought him for his goals,” says McDermott. “I knew he had great experience but I thought he could be a big asset to us with his set-pieces. Since he’s arrived, he’s got better and better.”

So is he getting better and better? "No, I wouldn't say I'm getting better," laughs Harte. "When you're younger you make silly mistakes, but I'm a lot older now and you kind of have to grow out of that kind of thing. I've got my own family now and those nights of going out on a Tuesday night, and then again on a Saturday night, are over. I'm glued to the television with my children watching X-Factoror Ant and Dec. It's a lot more relaxed."

Some things haven’t changed. On Tuesday night at Portman Road he curled, with that cultured left foot of his, as good a free-kick as you’re likely to see past Ipswich’s Martin Fulop from a full 25 yards. The goalkeeper didn’t stand a chance. Harte also delivered a series of whipped dead balls into the Ipswich area that created absolute pandemonium. All this, surely, must be the fruits of hours of practice on the training ground?

“Today’s the first time in months I’ve actually practised,” he confesses. “And that’s only because the Umbro balls being used in the cup are different to the Mitre ones we use in the Championship. And even at that I only spent about five minutes after training. I suppose I’m just lucky. All I do is put the ball down and focus because it might be the only chance you have in the game. You try to get it over the wall and work the keeper and if you do that, you’ve got a chance.”

Heading into tomorrow’s game, he can remember being in Manchester City’s boots, even if it might seem like a lifetime ago.

“You’re expected to win games like this,” he observes. “Particularly against the teams in the Championship or League One and that’s not being disrespectful to those sides. They’re decent teams, but when you’re playing with Leeds, Manchester United or City now, you should win the game with the quality you have. The pressure is on them, everybody is expecting them to win. For us, there’s no fear.”

Harte wouldn’t mind another trip to Wembley, having lost to Southampton there with Carlisle last season’s Football League Trophy final, but in terms of his ambitions, pulling on an Ireland shirt again isn’t exactly on his list of priorities. “If it comes, it comes but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. I’m not getting any younger, I’m almost 34 and the most important things for me now is playing my best football with Reading and seeing my family day in, day out. If I go away for 10 days I don’t get to see my two little girls. For me, that’s the most important thing. If I get a call, I do, if not, I’m not really bothered.”

Venue: City of Manchester Stadium Kick-off: Tomorrow, 4pm On TV: ESPN