Harte deal off!

Last updated : 06 February 2009 By Stuart Gillespie
harte's agent Willie McKay claimed yesterday that Harte wasn't after much money as he'd had earned a huge amount in his career. Now it seems he was being offered a deal that would have made him the highest paid player in the club's history - but he wanted more. He's also used some nonsense about wanting to find another club in England.

It is absolutely bizarre. Harte is in today's papers talking about using his time at Saints as a chance to win a move to boyhood idols Celtic. It's not what we wanted to hear - but at least it showed he would be putting in some fine performances to win his big move. However, in an interview with Sky Sports News today he has revealed that he only had a chat with Saints boss Gus MacPherson and had not agreed to anything.

His agent mentioned yesterday that there were other clubs interested, so it seems we may have been "played" in an attempt to boost Harte's profile.

This is a terrible blow as many Saints fans were delighted at the signing. We'll now have to recover from this - and make do without a leftback. It is also extremely embarrassing for the club.