Greg Halford fires Wolves rocket

Greg Halford today branded Portsmouth "bigger than Wolves" as he launched an astonishing broadside at his old club and manager Mick McCarthy.

The 26-year-old utility man, who was sold to Pompey for £1m after a nightmare two years, revealed he clashed with McCarthy and claimed the Wolves boss didn't speak to him.

Halford also claims he is as good as £4.5m signing Roger Johnson.

"I see Portsmouth probably as a bigger club than Wolves, but have taken a step back from there," he said.

Halford believes McCarthy misunderstood him and saw him as arrogant.

"As soon as I went back to Wolves after my first loan finished, the manager didn't say two words to me," he said.

"It was disappointing because it seemed like he was never going to give me the chance I needed purely because our personalities clashed.

"I'm not a complex character; I get bored very easily and find from talking to other managers they think I sometimes find it too easy and go into the comfort zone.

"Maybe that's why myself and Mick (McCarthy) fell out a couple of times, because he thought I was over-confident and arrogant.

"Sometimes that is perceived, but if you really get to know me, I'm a laid-back, down-to-earth kind of guy. But it staggers and baffles me because I got on well with all the players there.

"Other managers don't know how to man-manage me and don't know how to get the best out of me. They don't really want to work with me on a one-on-one basis."

Halford has played mostly centre-back for Pompey during his loan spell and reckons he's as good as Johnson, who has never missed a game since arriving in the Premier League two years ago and has been made captain by McCarthy.

"Wolves wanted to get some money in from me to sign Roger Johnson, which is baffling," he said.

"He had an outstanding season with Birmingham last year but I still don't see him as a better player than I am."

It's not the first time Halford has clashed with a manager after he was booted out of Sunderland following a falling-out with Roy Keane.

"Me and the gaffer here (Steve Cotterill) have clashed but he knows I'm going to give 100 per cent and be able to make the team better," he said.