Harte goes to chase a longer deal

Mick McCarthy believes Ian Harte turned down a contract at Wolves because the deal wasn't long enough.

Former Republic of Ireland defender Harte was offered a month-to-month contract with the incentive of winning a longer deal if he impressed.

But the 30-year-old ex-Leeds and Sunderland man turned down the offer from Wolves boss McCarthy in the hope of securing longer terms elsewhere.

"Hartey isn't coming back," said McCarthy. "He settled in really well but he'd like a longer term deal somewhere, which is fair enough.

"Perhaps taking a short term deal can cause problems – if I decided not to carry it on in either September or October, he'd be left in limbo because of the transfer window.

"At the moment he's a free agent and when the window shuts he can still go somewhere because he's out of contract.

"I guess this leaves him with a few more options in terms of trying to get a longer contract. I told him the option was there to win a longer deal."

McCarthy insists there are no hard feelings about Harte's decision.

"If he didn't want to do it then fine, we said we'd shake hands and walk away," he added.

"'Hartey' is great – I gave him about 50 caps, but George Elokobi is my number one left back.

"It was just an opportunity for us to have a look at Hartey and him to have a look at us.

"But he remains a free agent – even when the window shuts – and he can still look for first team football."

McCarthy is happy with his options at left-back – despite Harte's decision.

The Wolves chief has also rejected the chance to sign Ben Thatcher after a one-match trial.

"Neill Collins can play left back and has done for a few games, Richard Stearman can play there," said McCarthy.