> > Reading <http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/reading>'s return to the > Premier League is an uplifting tale in its own right, the triumph of a > bright, unsung manager and his squad of industrious players, whose > relentless running, quick tempo and defensive solidity provide the > foundations for their skill to thrive. > > But within the Royals' redemption story there is one that stands out, a > personal renaissance of an established international with 64 caps whose > stock had fallen so dramatically that three years ago he grabbed the > lifeline offered by a League One club and against all expectations has > fought his way back to the top flight at the age of 34. > > Many veterans have been written off before being rescued by a manager's > hunch. Peter Taylor and Brian Clough revived the careers of Larry Lloyd, > John McGovern and Frank Clark so spectacularly, for example, that they > ended up as domestic and European champions. Yet precious few have rebuilt > momentum from the third tier in the manner of Ian Harte. > > In 1999-2000 he was named by his peers as the best left-back in the > Premier League, a decade later received the same accolade in League One and > now has back-to-back positional awards in the Championship. In the > intervening gap, though, he went from the peaks of a Champions League > campaign with Leeds, a World Cup with Ireland and two seasons in Spain's > Primera Liga to a loss of form so miserable that it left him unemployed and > carpet-bagging from trial to trial after his release by Sunderland in 2008. > > The games of great players, in Geoffrey Green's lovely phrase, "have all > the colours of the peacock's tail spread wide". Harte's gifts are more > monochrome, yet as a corner and especially free-kick taker, and as a > crosser of the ball less frequently, he has approached greatness. > > At the beginning of the last decade it was not uncommon for Harte to be > praised as a sinistral David Beckham. At free-kicks from the edge of the > box he could affect a niblick chip into the top corner or a driven > three-wood with draw or fade. > > In Leeds's Champions League 3-0 quarter-final first-leg victory over > Deportivo La Coruña, he smashed the first goal in from a free-kick via the > crossbar Roberto Rivelino style, centred the ball on the run for Alan Smith > to head the second and teed up Rio Ferdinand's third from a corner. > > It was the perfect display yet he could never fully silence the criticism > about the lack of pace that left him vulnerable when faced with a speed > merchant at outside-right. In his defence he looked more exposed because > increasingly Harry Kewell, yearning to be a No10 and indulging himself by > roaming away from the touchline, sometimes abandoned his left-back to fend > for himself. > > It was then that the jibe about him being a "special teams player" gained > currency in the stands, joking that as in American football he should be > wheeled on for set pieces then hooked off again. This fixation with his > weaknesses rather than his strengths took hold but greater positional > discipline from his team-mates was rarely advanced as a remedy and > gradually, as the club imploded under the weight of debt and the best > players departed, his managers lost faith. > > After leaving Elland Road following relegation in 2004 he spent three > years with Levante, played eight games at Sunderland under Roy Keane when > he returned to this country and eventually joined Carlisle after a short > contract with Blackpool. In his only full season with the Cumbrians his > confidence returned and he scored 18 goals from set pieces, the unerring > accuracy that had once brought comparisons with the best left-footed dead > ball specialists of his era such as Alvaro Recoba, Sinisa Mihajlovic, > Rivaldo and Frank de Boer restored. > > It is uncertain, though, that they endured the agonies to which Harte > subjects himself, wearing size six-and-a-half boots on his feet which are > two sizes bigger. "I know I'll have problems when I'm older – and I am > getting on before anybody says it," he said. "But it has always worked with > tight boots to get the ball up and down and try and trouble 'keepers." > > Reading already had their own supreme free-kick exponent but when > Hoffenheim bid £6.5m for Gylfi Sigurdsson after only four games of the > 2009-10 season Brian McDermott had a vacancy and brought in Harte for > £75,000. The Irishman repaid McDermott's gamble with 11 goals as Reading's > late charge took them into the play-off final and though he scored only > four times last season, his belter at the Riverside against Middlesbrough > was as good as any of the century he has bagged for club and country. > > As others derided as supposed one-trick ponies moved towards the latter > stages of their playing days – Rory Delap and his missile throws, Beckham > and Mihajlovic – the focus has been on their one enduring skill. Harte, > though, to his and his manager's credit has been part of a back four that > conceded only one goal per game in a season of crazy scorelines in the > division. Not bad for someone once seen as a defensive liability. > > "Sometimes you have to take a step back, or drop down the leagues, hope > that your quality will shine through and that you will get the rewards at > the end of it," he said last season. But few do it and not the two steps > back Harte took. > > And anyway he has earned enough money not to have bothered, which makes > his return to the Premier League an impressive tribute to his dedication. > Dr Michael Benjamin, Community Psychiatrist ------------------------------- myRay: On-line Self-Help CBT http://www.myRay.com http://www.myRay.org ------------------------------ Mental Health: http//www.MyDoctorExplains.com -------------------------------- Auditing || Quality Control http://www.MyDoctorExplains.com/alamo/ -------------------------------- Blog: http://www.DrMichaelBenjamin.com _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected]
PETE CASS (1962 - 2011) Rest In Peace Mate
