Harte descibes Trap as "clown"

suicide_circus

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/international/2013/0205/366284-harte-describes-trap-as-a-clown/

Ian Harte has claimed Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni did not know he was eligible for selection and described the veteran Italian as "a clown".
The Reading left-back, who played a part in their two goals against Sunderland at the weekend, said on Twitter that he has not retired from international duty and the Italian was unaware he was Irish.
Harte said: “To all the people asking if I have retired from international football.no I haven't trap didn't even know I was Irish #whataclown.”
This is the second time that Harte has spoken out against Trapattoni for ignoring his claims for a recall to the Irish squad.
Harte initially made the claim that Trapattoni did not know he was an Ireland player in 2011 until he was informed by a member of the squad.
"I was speaking to a few of the players and they said he did not realise I was Irish, even though I have played 67 times, scored 11 goals and am the second leading scorer in the squad,” the Reading defender said.
When questioned on the issue, Trapattoni hit back: "Harte? We know Harte. (Stephen) Ward for me now is better. He can improve. Harte is 33. I already said that we look to improve this squad."

I don't think this it the way for Ian Harte to get back in the squad! I think he can consider his bridges burnt.

Any thoughts?

Esse85

I think he's right.

keano_afc

Footballers really should not be allowed anywhere near Twitter.

gosplan

I'd be surprised if Harte, at his age, would want to start playing international football again given he's just cemented a starting place for reading.

Kristopherus

I think Harte is blinded by the Reading success story. When he did play for Ireland, ant time a ball was lobbed in behind him, he did'nt have the ability to turn and often got caught in no man's land. He's definitely deluded if he think he has something to offer. And its a long time since I read he was 33:rolleyes:

Renn

keano_afc wrote: »

Footballers really should not be allowed anywhere near Twitter.

And Trapattoni should not be allowed anywhere near the Irish team.

bucketybuck

Its pretty clear that Harte knows he won't be getting a call up again, and as such he can now say what he wants. Fair play to him.

roanoke

Why do players do this? Contrary to consensus I don't believe it's just a slip of the tongue or an attempt to let off some steam. Is it some kind of deliberate maneuver to help boost their profile during a quiet week? Then again maybe I'm just giving players too much credit.

Renn

Pretty sure it's just him knowing he's zero chance of playing international football again and his opportunity to give the manager a dig while he's still over the team. He's gone past the profile boosting stage of his career imo.

TheDoc

roanoke wrote: »

Why do players do this? Contrary to consensus I don't believe it's just a slip of the tongue or an attempt to let off some steam. Is it some kind of deliberate maneuver to help boost their profile during a quiet week? Then again maybe I'm just giving players too much credit.

Or maybe its a left-back who has had a strong career and always been a decent defender, being consistently overlooked by poorer players coming in.

I'd be just as annoyed, Harte has always talked about his pride in playing for Ireland, and clearly isn't happy being put aside for clowns like Ward.

and I 100% agree.

super_furry

For his deadballs alone Harte is worth a place in the squad.

RayCon

Jaysus ... who next - Gary Kelly ?

Renn

Gary Doherty?

celt262

super_furry wrote: »

For his deadballs alone Harte is worth a place in the squad.

He wont be much danger in the dug out.

GavRedKing

If it was American football I'd be all for Harte playing, take the odd free kick here and there and go off but in the real world he has more short comings in his game then any one positive can make up for IMO.

Pawwed Rig

TheDoc wrote: »

Or maybe its a left-back who has had a strong career and always been a decent defender, being consistently overlooked by poorer players coming in.

Are you being serious? His career went into terminal decline once he left Leeds. At one stage there was talk of him moving to St Pat's and until recently he was at Carlisle.
Liked him when he was younger as he looked to have alot of promise but unfortunately for whatever reason he never really lived up to the potential. Looks useful for Reading now but I don't think there is a place for him on the international stage. He is 35 now. Too late for him unfortunately. Had a great free kick back in the day

Bounty Hunter

Harte knows he wont be picked again for Ireland and I would imagine he is speaking out using his example to help others as in his mind (and many others) Trap isn't the best ("a clown") with regards his personal skills with players and his call ups so he would think Ireland are better off without him in charge at this stage. I dont think anyone is going to argue against line about Harte not being what you would look to to improve the squad but he is meerly an example of someone being overlooked and perhaps mistreated by the Irish management who at this time should be pro actively looking at other options to improve the squad and dealing with players in a much better way (be it Harte, Gibson or whoever).

Bounty Hunter

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Are you being serious? His career went into terminal decline once he left Leeds. At one stage there was talk of him moving to St Pat's and until recently he was at Carlisle.
Liked him when he was younger as he looked to have alot of promise but unfortunately for whatever reason he never really lived up to the potential. Looks useful for Reading now but I don't think there is a place for him on the international stage. He is 35 now.[/b[] Too late for him unfortunately. Had a great free kick back in the day

trap says he is 33 now in the OP.

dont think his inclusion now is the point though more so as said above him being an example of a player not just overlooked but perhaps not considerd at all by management that dont seem to be the best with player relations.

Kristopherus

He'll be 36 in August.

Thecon21

Agree with the Trap stuff.. Harte definitely finished with Ireland, looks to be just making the point that the management aren't treating the available players correctly, going as far as not knowing who is actually available for the team.

Don't know how it took so long for Wes Hoolahan to start getting into contention with him..

Nice to see Pilkington in there also, good addition to the squad.

Liam O

Harte cost us the World Cup in 2002 sure. Maybe he's the clown

Bounty Hunter

Liam O wrote: »

Harte cost us the World Cup in 2002 sure. Maybe he's the clown

ha I used to unintentionally assign blame to him for 02, but tbh just think this is kinda indictive of the type of stories we tend to get about Traps dealing with players and do think that when (sad im saying when as I def expect it atm) we are no longer in contention in our WC qualifying group Trap needs to be swiftly moved on so that a new squad can develop unhindered by such issues which could arise with players who are not in their mid thirties.

GavRedKing

Liam O wrote: »

Harte cost us the World Cup in 2002 sure. Maybe he's the clown

I blame Kilbane for missing the rebound from the penalty when Casillas was on arse.

Renn

Liam O wrote: »

Harte cost us the World Cup in 2002 sure. Maybe he's the clown

Only clown to emerge from the 2002 WC was Keane.

Saw Harte whipping in a few nice frees at the weekend but tbh that's not really enough to justify a place in the squad. Though that's not me saying that Ward should be there - who else is available to play LB?

justshane

Wilson when fit, meanist defense in England.

roanoke

When will Wilson be back playing?

MaxPower89

Renn wrote: »

Saw Harte whipping in a few nice frees at the weekend but tbh that's not really enough to justify a place in the squad. Though that's me not saying that Ward should be there - who else is available to play LB?

I think he is about the best in the PL from the dead ball, could have had 3 assists but for the post at the weekend. But definitely not enough to warrant a place.

MaxPower89

roanoke wrote: »

When will Wilson be back playing?

I think he was pencilled in for a reserve game recently and is down as 4 days on physioroom, probably 2 weeks or so for 1st team action.

Max Power

Steven Ward is a liability at left back the sooner the better Marc Wilson returns.

BraziliaNZ

I loved Ian Harte as an Ireland and Leeds player back in the day. I was very proud watching him at the weekend, set up a couple of goals. He can't really be any worse than the shower that played at Euro 2012 but yeah he's too old for the squad really. I'm delighted he got another season in the Premiership though.

SantryRed

GavRedKing wrote: »

If it was American football I'd be all for Harte playing, take the odd free kick here and there and go off but in the real world he has more short comings in his game then any one positive can make up for IMO.

Have you actually seen Stephen Ward play for Ireland in the past year? Harte can do no worse, and at least we'd have someone who could whip in a quality free and corner.

BraziliaNZ

SantryRed wrote: »

Have you actually seen Stephen Ward play for Ireland in the past year? Harte can do no worse, and at least we'd have someone who could whip in a quality free and corner.

When it comes to poor old Wardy, his appearances have definitely been some of the worst performances I've ever seen from an Ireland player

GavRedKing

Unfortunately yes, including going to the home qualifer and a friendly.

While I agree there's probably little between Ward and Harte that's not to say either are the best option for LB that we have to choose from.

aidan24326

Harte is over the hill now as far an international recall but he has a point about the way that Trap has been operating, especially in his first couple of years in the job when he wasn't even attending games. Harte might have been worth considering a couple of years ago but there would be no point bringing him back now.

BraziliaNZ

Well the way we play, dependant on long balls and set pieces, what harm would it be to have him starting actually? He offers more than Ward

Gringo180

Enda Stevens is a good bet for left back while Wilson is out injured, pretty sure Stevens is injured himself but should be back playing in next few weeks, he looks a lot safer than Ward who is absolutely atrocious at defending.

Is there any players in the LOI that could get a call up or are good enough for a call up?

aidan24326

Gringo180 wrote: »

Is there any players in the LOI that could get a call up or are good enough for a call up?

Hard to imagine there is. Big step up from LOI to international football. If a guy was good enough to play for Ireland then realistically he'd probably be playing in England already, at least at Championship level.

GLaDOS

aidan24326 wrote: »

If a guy was good enough to play for Ireland then realistically he'd probably be playing in England already, at least at Championship level.

To be fair we've seen some players go LOI -> England -> Ireland Call Up in about 12 months or so (McClean and Fahey spring to mind), so it's not an outrageous suggestion.

That said I wouldn't have any Lbs from the LOI ahead of Ward.

Nailz

Renn wrote: »

Gary Doherty?

Super-sub.

CSF

Whether or not he's right in his choice to say it, he's definitely right in what he says.

dd972

Could have been a great player if he didn't lack pace

SantryRed

GavRedKing wrote: »

Unfortunately yes, including going to the home qualifer and a friendly.

While I agree there's probably little between Ward and Harte that's not to say either are the best option for LB that we have to choose from.

At least Harte knows how to play LB, something I've been wondering if Ward has this past couple of years :pac:

Pawwed Rig

Did Ciaran Clarke play left back at some stage? Also john O'Shea could do the job if he wasn't required elsewhere

eagle eye

I dread the thought of the Irish team under somebody else other than Trapp but at least I can have some enjoyment by reminding all the Trapp haters how dumb they were to want him gone.

SantryRed

eagle eye wrote: »

I dread the thought of the Irish team under somebody else other than Trapp but at least I can have some enjoyment by reminding all the Trapp haters how dumb they were to want him gone.

Do you watch the games? Trappatoni offers us nothing more than an average manager would offer us. He only qualified for Euro 2012 through sheer luck. We clearly had no gameplan over there, regardless of the quality of opposition we were playing, and we got absolutely destroyed, one of the worst European Championship performances ever.

roanoke

eagle eye wrote: »

I dread the thought of the Irish team under somebody else other than Trapp but at least I can have some enjoyment by reminding all the Trapp haters how dumb they were to want him gone.

Fair enough if you think that but I wouldn't be in 100% agreement with you.

Granted the next guy could do worse and reasonably speaking we can't expect too much more from these players. However it's not exactly as though Trap has performed any miracles with this squad or managed to get the maximum out of them. I could honestly see it going either way with the next manager.

Winston Payne

SantryRed wrote: »

Do you watch the games? Trappatoni offers us nothing more than an average manager would offer us. He only qualified for Euro 2012 through sheer luck. We clearly had no gameplan over there, regardless of the quality of opposition we were playing, and we got absolutely destroyed, one of the worst European Championship performances ever.

That's because we were one of the worst teams to ever appear at the European Championships. An aging goalkeeper who's reflexes were declining, a declining right full back, a declining centre half next to a Championship one, Ward at LB, Duff at LM who doesn't have the capacity to do anything bar win some cheap frees here and there. Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews in CM. McGeady who isn't near a top five for players in his position. A hustle bustle merchant next to a declining forward. And no world-beaters to replace any of them. We performed to our level, and our level isn't anything special.

RandolphEsq

Ward is absolutely appalling. He just hoofs the ball long anytime he gets it. Has no football brain. Harte isn't an option. He should've moaned 5 years ago that he wasn't getting a call up, not now when he is this age.

inmyday

eagle eye wrote: »

I dread the thought of the Irish team under somebody else other than Trapp but at least I can have some enjoyment by reminding all the Trapp haters how dumb they were to want him gone.

I think its the worst squad Ireland have had for the last 30 years. Im not saying they are bad players. But we have had better.

And Trap haters. Does anyone remember what happened in 2006-2007?

BraziliaNZ

inmyday wrote: »

I think its the worst squad Ireland have had for the last 30 years. Im not saying they are bad players. But we have had better.

And Trap haters. Does anyone remember what happened in 2006-2007?

We had an even worse manager. A mean feat but come on, anyone would have been an improvement on Stan.

eagle eye

SantryRed wrote: »

Do you watch the games? Trappatoni offers us nothing more than an average manager would offer us. He only qualified for Euro 2012 through sheer luck. We clearly had no gameplan over there, regardless of the quality of opposition we were playing, and we got absolutely destroyed, one of the worst European Championship performances ever.

You never once mentioned the players that we have in that post. We have an awful squad at the moment. Any average manager would not have gotten close to qualifying for the Euros. McGeady is the only one starting for a Champion's League side and thats because he is playing in Russia.