Joe Hart (joined Torino on season long loan - Official)

[Terra Passenger]

you are missing the principal of the whole thing. It was a pre-season game. The result was not important. What was important was that the players got the chance to play the new system. None more importantly than Joe. But Joe decided to do what he wanted and lump it long rather than pass out. Willy was in the same situation and followed instructions and passed it out consistently. Joe not only robbed himself of the chance to get a grip on the system, he wasted 45 minutes of the whole teams time, the manager and even the fans who paid in. He thought he knew better. He clearly didn't and that was there for all to see with those kicks.

Like I've said, I'm a huge Joe fan but he has shown it is definitely time to move on, for him and for us.

+1
This!

 

[Phil1]

whilst I get the fact that some supporters want to defend Joe and feel that he is being treated badly, the fact is that there is little sentiment in professional football, and players are now paid astronomical sums of money for carrying out their chosen profession.

If Pep doesn't fancy Joe, for whatever reason ( I do not know anything about his alledged issues with the club, previous managers etc ), then Joe, and supporters, are going to have to accept the fact that he is no longer the no 1 choice at City, and do whatever is necessary to preserve the rest of his career, be that moving to a PL club or abroad.

Sorry is this is too simplistic and harsh for some, but I don't see an alternative.

I don't mind fans having sentiment for players. These days there's not many around long enough to deserve it but we happen to have a core group of them who are all in their twilight years with us. Over the coming seasons I'm going to be gutted on a few occasions as I see the likes of Zaba, Silva,Kompany leave. The sentiment should be left to the fans though and management left to make the tough desicions without it.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

you are missing the principal of the whole thing. It was a pre-season game. The result was not important. What was important was that the players got the chance to play the new system. None more importantly than Joe. But Joe decided to do what he wanted and lump it long rather than pass out. Willy was in the same situation and followed instructions and passed it out consistently. Joe not only robbed himself of the chance to get a grip on the system, he wasted 45 minutes of the whole teams time, the manager and even the fans who paid in. He thought he knew better. He clearly didn't and that was there for all to see with those kicks.

Like I've said, I'm a huge Joe fan but he has shown it is definitely time to move on, for him and for us.

no I'm not. i just dont think you can judge a player on 45 minutes in a friendly.

 

[mosssideblue]

cityisOURS has perfectly expressed my thoughts. Joe has been one of the top keepers, not only in the Premier League but in World football, for several seasons, and has more golden gloves than any 'keeper presently playing. It would be like turning against Kun or David in my opinion.

You are happy we have got Pep though aren't you. Not being funny btw,

Pep has been brought in to take us fwd and he has decreed he needs a better keeper

 

[MP71]

Fans need to stop thinking that professional footballers feel the same we do about the club.
I have no doubt some have fantastic feelings for City, because they've made many great memories with us, but it's not the same crazy and blind and yes often stupid sort of love that we have.

So he's been with us 10 years. It's a long time by many footballers standards, it's sod all by fan standards.
If we we were relegated, and Liverpool came in for Joe, have absolutely no illusions that he'd stay with us - he'd be off in a shot. You and I wouldn't though, we truly are too emotionally attached. These lads aren't.

If anybody's been made redundant from a long standing job - it can really hurt, you do get 'attached' even to a damn workplace, but it's not love, it's not lifetime bonding love like we have as fans.

There is no 'deserve' - not really. Players sell their services to us, and we buy those services. When the deal no longer suits either one, we part company.

This will sound harsh too - but the club will drop you / us as a fan too without the blink of an eye. Can't quite afford your season ticket? no problem, we'll sell it to someone who can. Your 50 year loyalty counts for nothing. So let's not start with 'he deserves', it's nonsense.

Great fucking post , especially about getting relegated. Most of our players would be off without a second backward glance. I do however remember a certain Georgian wizard....

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

I don't mind fans having sentiment for players. These days there's not many around long enough to deserve it but we happen to have a core group of them who are all in their twilight years with us. Over the coming seasons I'm going to be gutted on a few occasions as I see the likes of Zaba, Silva,Kompany leave. The sentiment should be left to the fans though and management left to make the tough desicions without it.

Exactly so.

 

[mosssideblue]

If the owner said to Pep 'You have 20 years - make us great' - then Pep's plan might be very different.
If the owner said 'You have a 3 year deal, the goal is to win CL in that time' - then it's a different matter.

If Pep thinks there are 5 players that need to be upgraded, and 5 key tactical capabilities we to grasp AND become experts at carrying out - then 3 years isn't long. Can he afford to spend 6 months on Joe, and 6 months on Sterling, and 6 months on Clichy etc? sooner or later, he has to say 'ok, I can fix Sterling or Hart, but not both in the timeframe available' - therefore he chooses Sterling. Is that wrong? I don't think so. He could just have easily chosen Joe and ditched Sterling (it's a hypothetical scenario by the way!).

We can all look in isolation and say 'but he could have given Joe another year', but when you combine that with many other issues he has to fix, and some point, something has to give. He can't give everybody another year to adapt / improve and some of his decisions can be based on what's available in the market at any given time.
He could think to himself, I can find another keeper with less issues for me to fix - one is available now, but I can't find another Sterling quite as quickly, and there are no great left-backs at the moment, so I am forced to work with what I have in that position.... when you look at things like that, then Joe just drew the short straw, but again, that's life.

mate you have been spot on all afternoon.

 

[Thaksinssoldier]

no I'm not. i just dont think you can judge a player on 45 minutes in a friendly.

We dont have to. We can judge him in about 3 seconds. However long the decision took for him to ignore what he was coached to do.

 

[TFC]

We already have 5 HG players in our squad who are not club-trained, which means that in order to register all of them, one would have to be listed into a foreigner spot, given that you only name 4 HG players maximum (+17 foreigners and +4 club trained players optionally).

So basically, replacing Hart with Bravo wouldn't effect our plannings towards the next season, unless we replace another of the HG-eligible players and buy a foreigner, but it's highly unlikely this season that either Clich, Delph, Sterling or Stones will leave. :)

Appreciate that blue, thank you :)

 

[goalmole]

cityisOURS has perfectly expressed my thoughts. Joe has been one of the top keepers, not only in the Premier League but in World football, for several seasons, and has more golden gloves than any 'keeper presently playing. It would be like turning against Kun or David in my opinion.

It's not about turning on anybody. It's about players outliving their usefulness. If you have had a car from new but you decide to go into the furniture removals business, you are not going to keep the car just because you like it and it's never broken down. You're going to buy a van because that is the tool you need. I don't get this trying to hang on to players just because they have been good servants to the club in the past and some fans feel we owe them some kind of debt of gratitude even though they may not be fit for purpose any longer.