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Joe Hart Should Be GIVEN A Chance!

Above, on the bench due to the arrival of Given, next to my best friend!

Due to the arrival of Shay Given from Newcastle in January, Joe Hart has been left as nothing more than a bench warmer, at least for the remainder of the season. He hasn’t been as impressive this season but who can blame him when he surely must have been unsettled for months at the prospect of losing his place to any of the big name keepers that were linked with City, not to mention the indifferent form of his teammates. Why would City throw away such a good talent?

I am still ticked off at Manchester City for hiring Shay Given. I have always said that Hart is the future of English goalkeeping. Turns out that Fabio Capello did agree with me and seems to believe that Hart will keep showing up on the England bench; but I don’t know if I agree with that. Not because I don’t want Joe Hart to play, but mostly because I think that unless he leaves us, he won’t get to play and consequently if you don’t get to play for your club team, chances are you’re not going to get to play for England. Which pretty much implies that his role on England’s national team is slipping away.

I know the rumor is that Tottenham want him, but I have to disagree that this is a good idea. Ignoring the fact that I hate Spurs and would hate a player I like being signed by them AGAIN (after the Corluka fiasco), the fact that Spurs signed Gomes, who is a decent keeper on his day, as well as Cudicini, makes it seem like it is not the best place for Hart to go. I’m pretty sure there are plenty of other teams who need a strong first-team keeper. I still hate the fact that City didn’t and still don’t think he was good enough, I mean, it’s not his fault that our defense is not the best?!

At least Capello realises this lad’s potential.

Sorry everyone who wants to buy him, but you have no chance of signing Joe Hart for half a million or some cheap price. He’s an excellent young keeper with real potential. Believe me, this lad is excellent. If you get the chance, take in a Manchester City reserve game and I’m sure you will be convinced.  Joe played a number of times last season and I can say he looked a very confident performer. He commands his area well, with good authority, imposing his will on the team. That said, he is an intelligent, quick witted player, who exploits breaks well. He is good with high and low crosses, his punching is sublime, he has quick reflex saves and is certainly brave enough to take on the most dnagerous balls in the box. In short he is true quality and I am extremely dissapointed with Hughes’ decision to play Given from day one.

However, he needs to build on this by reinforcing his skills with regular competitive football, which he is simply not gaining at Manchester City. This lad is young and will go on to suceed at the very highest level, no doubt for a team like Villa if he gets the chance after Friedel. The problem is that young, inexperienced keepers will rapidly turn into old inexperienced keepers if they are not given a shot, and for that reason I feel really sorry for him.

What a brave young goalkeeper!

Hart could learn a lot from someone like Shay Given who is extremely experienced and more importantly, someone who has been a brilliant keeper for at least a decade now. However, any mentoring from the Irishman would only go so far, as the best way for any player to learn is to be playing. The more games he accumulates at the tender of age of 21, the better he’ll be for it. There are also longer term repercussions for Hart too.

It has been well documented that Fabio Capello does not select players for the England squad that have not been playing regularly. It is difficult to see how Hart will gain a place in the squad for qualifiers if he is not playing regular club football. There are a number of English keepers who play every game for their club and dare I say, would be more deserving of a place in the squad( for example Kirkland).

David James currently has the England number one jersey locked down for now, but at his age Capello must also be looking towards the future as I doubt James will be around for the Euro 2012 campaign. Therefore, if Joe Hart has any aspirations of claiming the position, he needs to be playing week in week out, just to give himself the chance of being noticed. Yes, time is more than on his side but I feel that he is England’s most promising keeper and would personally have no objections to throwing him in as number one now. If he responded well to the challenge (unlike Scott Carson has previously), you could then easily have a keeper who would be first choice for his country for the next fifteen years.

It would be in Hart’s best interests to move on and find regular football elsewhere come the summer. There would be no shortage of Premiership clubs that would be interested in his services and could get him for a decent price. Even if he was to move to a smaller club, impressive form there wouldn’t hinder his international chances and could even land him a move to a side that regularly competes in Europe (with the smaller club making good profit on their investment). I hope that Hart has the ambition to be more than a number two and can go on to realise his potential, if not at City, then elsewhere.

In action earlier this year, how times have changed.

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