Hughes ponders Hart donation

Chris Bailey

June 03, 2009

Joe Hart

CITY boss Mark Hughes has admitted for the first time that he will consider allowing Joe Hart to spend next season out on loan.

The England goalkeeper has become increasingly frustrated since losing his place to Republic of Ireland No 1 Shay Given in January.

After playing in the opening 33 league and cup games, 22-year-old Hart has had to be content with a place on the bench and sporadic appearances in the second team.

Action

But the former Shrewsbury man has a World Cup spot in his sights and would jump at the chance of first team action next season.

Birmingham City could be the most likely destination for a player that cost Stuart Pearce £750,000 and has made 67 starts for City after initially fighting off Swedish international Andreas Isaksson for a place in the Blues side.

City chief Mark Hughes said: "I think the key for Joe is that he is a young player who is frustrated and he obviously wants to play - it is the same situation for Kasper Schmeichel too.

"We will look at Joe's situation in the coming weeks and it might be to both Joe's benefit and our own in as much as that, if he did go out on loan, he'd be playing on a regular basis.

"Given his ability, he would no doubt improve his standing in the game and help his development and value to the club so a loan is something that we will seriously be thinking about."

There are plenty of precedents for top club's loaning out their keepers to Premier League rivals with Hart's immediate competition for an England slot Scott Carson and Ben Foster both finding themselves temporarily moved from their parent club.

Hart will put himself in the shop window this month when he will be England Under-21s' first choice in the European Championships being held in Sweden.

Capped once by the senior side, against Trinidad and Tobago at Port of Spain in June last year, Hart is hoping to force his way into Fabio Capello's plans for the World Cup in South Africa next summer.

Sense

With David James reaching the veteran stage and needing an operation, former No 1 Paul Robinson seemingly out of favour and other young pretenders not sure to command regular spots in their first teams, Hart can sense that there will be a slot for a young hopeful, possibly as third choice, when the World Cup party is named.

It doesn't harm his case that Pearce - the man who brought him to City - is in charge of the Three Lions Under-21 side and has Capello's ear.

Hart is set to play for the Under-21s in their final warm-up match for the forthcoming championships against Azerbaijan at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes next Monday. City team-mates Nedum Onuoha and Micah Richards are also in the party.

What do you think? Have your say.

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Rick, Glos (03/06/2009 at 11:42)

A newly promoted side, such as Brum would be ideal - no challenge to us and he'll get plenty of shot stopping practice! 2 stipulations should be made on any loan deal - 1 - an immediate clause whereby we can re-call the lad back to City. 2 - He cannot play against us in any competition.

Blue Moon..., Manchester (03/06/2009 at 11:44)

sell him, dont rate him at all.

stonkin' blue boy (03/06/2009 at 11:54)

although its a strange old situation to be in and quite a harsh one, of you loan hart out to a newly promoted side or a team in the bottom half the guarantees him a start week in week out, this is not only brilliant for his development but good for us too, he would then not be able to play against us for 2 games of the season, this would involve the opposition putting a 2nd string keeper in goal, employ a shoot on sight policy against them with a deep hard working midfield and to me that smells like 6 points !?

the same would apply for kasper if any of the new or struggling clubs would like to give him a chance to prove himself.

ps, barry had one year left on his contract yes, this meant his fee was cut by around a third from what was reported, eto'o is now in the same boat, he too with 12 months remaining, surely his fee must come down for fear of losing him on a free? there's no way the signing of eto'o could exceed 20m. this then poses the question, RSC or Eto'o for 17-19m ... actually there isn't really a question ;) why would we want roque santa crock anaway?

Stephen Irelands Bald Head, Hyde (03/06/2009 at 12:18)

Blue Moon..., Manchester
3/06/2009 at 11:44

Just proves how much you know - as usual

In KAM, GC&MH We TRUST. CTID

Tommy "Chopper" C, Oz. (03/06/2009 at 12:21)

Joe will benefit, we will benefit and Birmingham also. Win,win,win!!!

TBETT (03/06/2009 at 12:23)

Problem we have here is Given will be number 1 for the next 3-4 years at least. Is Hart going to be happy being loaned out or number 2 for that time?

I don't think so. A really good keeper but think we should let him go

Portsmouth Blue (03/06/2009 at 12:33)

This would be a good move for him,England are desperate for a keeper lets face it the currant crop are pants this would give hart the oppertunity to prove his worth and claim a spot in the england squad.

But who do we gat as back up ?

Tolmie's Tash! (03/06/2009 at 13:14)

Erm, so who'll be our number 2 then? The friendly ghost?

You've got to be careful with these things as our anticipated progress could be undermined if SG gets injured and we have only got Schmikes as back up.
Fair enough, JH wants first team football, but CITY's interests must come first, before the player.

54 & a Blue , Ramsbottom (03/06/2009 at 13:25)

Apart from Blue Moon eveyone else is of one mind - Hart will be the best English keeper in the Premier Leaugue within 3 seasons, then he must command our No 1 shirt - Shay is absolutely fantastic and has certainly done better than Joe would have done, but Joe has been wonderful for our club and we should make sure he is kept happy and signs a very long contract, when Shay comes to the end of his time, Joe needs to be ready, experienced and eager to step up.

And no we dont want RSC! and Bentley was offside in Dec 07 so the two of them can go soemwhere else in short jerky movements.

Rick Jenks, Bury (03/06/2009 at 14:11)

MUST NOT BE SOLD. He is the future for both City and England!!!!

BlueMoon_Kenilworth, Warwickshire (03/06/2009 at 14:26)

Good idea! All Joe needs is experience, a full season in the prem organising a dodgy defence like brum and Joe will be ready for our 1st team and engalnd again..

ENGLANDS No. 1 "2010"

Peter Beagrie`s beagle (03/06/2009 at 15:14)

Rick, Glos
3/06/2009 at 11:42

Agree with your post entirely, just what is needed. CTID

gerry crainey is a legend!!! (03/06/2009 at 15:40)

Blue Moon..., Manchester
3/06/2009 at 11:44

i wondered how long it would be before you were back on this website with your negative dribble!!! go on surprise us and tell us next you want dunne out!!!

CTID

The Devil's Advocate, M11 born and bred, East Stand Lower 104 (03/06/2009 at 15:43)

Not sure I agree with you all. Being the keeper in a newly promoted team into the EPL might have the oppposite effect. Look at Gordon, Foster and our own Nicky Weaver; all promising international keepers. However, they all lost confidence due to playing behind poor defences. Going out on loan is probably the best scenario for him, but may not pan out as we wish.

Pivo, Manchester (03/06/2009 at 15:56)

There's no chance he'd displace Given in the near future unless Shay was injured so it makes sense to loan him out to gain regular game time. The problem is that goalies tend not to become really good at their profession until they hit their mid to late 20's, which means that Hart will probably have to do a Ben Foster (when at Watford) and spend a few seasons with a club. If Hart does go out on loan we're then faced with sourcing another quality keeper, because Schmeichel will react the same as Hart and request either a permanent move or a loan.

Alex, Huddersfield (03/06/2009 at 16:54)

What will we do in way of cover, if Joe's out on loan. Don't think Kasper is good enough and if someone else is brought in, won't it push Joe further down the pecking order? I'm not wholly convinced about Given, his relatively small height means he stays on the line more than is ideal. A keeper who commands his area more would have less shots to save

Chris in London (03/06/2009 at 17:03)

Not sure I'm saying anything very different to most other people on this thread, but here goes.

Its widely recognised that 'Keepers tend to be at their peak later in life than outfield players. It you think back to the golden era of English goalkeepers, when we had Shilton Clements and Big Joe vying for the No 1 spot, they were in their late 20s and 30s. Shilton did a job for England until he was 40 - likewise Zoff for Italy, Sepp Maier, Schmiecal for the Rags and so on. Even Seaman and James reached their peaks in their early-mid 30s.

When you look at what's available now, and more importantly what's coming through, there's not a lot of competition for Joe. It is quite possible that in 5 years time Joe Hart will be one of the top (say) five goalkeepers in England and by the time he is 30 he may well be in the top 5 in the world - and likely to remain there for a good 5-8 years.

Do we want a piece of that at our club? You bet we do. He isn't going to displace Shay any time soon, he will learn from the U21 championships later this month, and he would learn even more from going to South Africa next year (even England can't blow it from here - can they?). Loaning him out so he gets regular 1st team football in the EPL in the season before the world cup finals makes a lot of sense to me - we all remember SWP didn't get chosen for the 2006 world cup squad because he didn't feature for Chelsea in the season leading up to the tournament, and we all know that if he'd stayed at City he'd have been a shoe-in.

Would Joe's confidence get slaughtered by going to a club that leaked goals behind a poor defence? No. It is not as though he has never had a shot at the big time. He was been our No 1 keeper for a good 11 months until Shay arrived, and was there or thereabouts for a year before that. He knows that behind a solid defence (think Micah & Dunnie in 07-08) he can do a job.

I think it would be absolutely brilliant for us as a club to keep hold of Kasper as well as Joe Hart. If Joe goes out on loan, Kasper will be on the bench week in week out, and will play the odd Carling Cup game etc. Play our cards tight, and in a few years time we could be as well equipped as Chelsea were a couple of years ago when they had Cech and Cudicini.

In the meantime, we have got Shay who of course has been outstanding - and the prospect of an even better Hart to come.

And let's face it - City fans have got a soft spot for big goalkeepers called Joe.

Chris (03/06/2009 at 17:16)

joe Hart is one of the best buys ever made by City. With a couple of years more experience he will not only cement his place at City but also in the England team.

No problem with sending him out on loan for a year. But do not sell him.

Eduardo Anton (03/06/2009 at 17:38)

Only on load no selling of a future great keeper! we have to learn by past errors or are we still in a learning stage?

BristolStevefromOldham, bristol (03/06/2009 at 20:41)

gerry crainey is a legend!!!: I agree, some posts are just 'negative drivel'. There are things we might not agree with, and then there things which are just er.... well... negative drivel.

tommybatess, Langley (03/06/2009 at 23:20)

Joe is a Premiership quality Keeper,he is too good to be a splinter man, but any loan must have a instant recall In the event of Given being injured we don't want to be scratching around for some reject keeper,
we've had this problem in the past, with our number one out injured, remember Budgie and Barry Sidall
coming to the "rescue" years back.

betty swollocks, reddish (04/06/2009 at 15:13)

joe hart is going to be a great keeper , no doubt , he also did nothing wrong for city when playing , but you cannot help but see givens experience, i think joe would benefit from a loan , but city should not sell him , unless of course he wants to go , he is of course not going to gain match experience sat on the bench , i hope he sees further than this and sticks with city , and hopefully learn from shay given, a future england keeper not to soon i hope , as i say joe is quality,

BETTY SWOLLOCKS ENGLANDS GREEN AND DUSTY LEVENSHULME

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