da premier bet： Joe Hart will go to this summer’s World Cup as third choice keeper’ for the national side, but his situation at club level has been left even murkier than ever as Ben Foster looks set to seal a move to Birmingham for next season.
da bwin： Hart has had an excellent season for Birmingham; it’s not just the fact that he’s kept 11 clean sheets for a much unfancied Brum side, but that he has caught the eye with some excellent performances and game changing saves all whilst being one of the most consistent players in the side. He has the ability to dominate his box; he’s agile and displays a maturity beyond his years. He’s most definitely and England number one in-waiting, but his situation at Man City could mirror Ben Foster’s two seasons ago at Man Utd.
Foster returned after a successful season at Watford in 2006/7, from a personal level at least, and although Watford were soundly relegated he returned to his parent club Man Utd with renewed hope of breaking into the starting eleven after being given assurances by manager Sir Alex Ferguson that he was in his long-term plans. Moving the at times impenetrable Edwin Van Der Sar has proved more difficult than previously anticipated and the evergreen 39 year-old Dutch goalkeeper represents a very similar challenge to the one Hart will face at City with Shay Given.
Foster required surgery on a cruciate ligament injury and was sidelined for the majority of the 2007/8 campaign. Although injuries were a common occurrence for the Englishman, by the next season he had moved ahead of Tomas Kuszczak as the club’s number two goalkeeper, and he remained first in line to Van Der Sar’s throne, as the old custodian’s career began to enter it’s twilight years.
He even started this season as first choice in Van Der Sar’s absence through injury, but upon being given his first full extended run in the first team and a real chance to establish himself, Foster went through some surprisingly poor form and was at fault for some costly, and more importantly, game deciding errors, notably in the Charity Shield against Chelsea and in the 4-3 victory over Man City at Old Trafford at the beginning of the season. After these errors he dropped down to number three once again.
The 27 year-old goalkeeper faced quite the predicament; he was too good to be sold, and not good enough to start, with Van Der Sar proving a steady influence between the sticks once more and Kuszczak’s form in his absence proving equally as solid. It took a statement of intent by him a week or so ago saying “You never want to leave Man United but I want to be playing football. I am not interested in just hanging about. I would go if the club wanted to sell me” to prompt the £4m move to Birmingham that now looks to just a case of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.
Joe Hart faces a very similar situation at City next term to the one that Foster had found himself in at Man Utd for the past two or three seasons. He’s too good a player for the club to want to sell, but he’ll most definitely go into next season as number two behind Irishman Shay Given. The position of goalkeeper is one that requires regular football, otherwise the lack of match practise can be particularly telling. Just look at how shaky number two goalies are when they deputise for their injured counterparts.
Hart’s development as a keeper’ will simply stall unless he gets regular football, and without it, it would seemingly waste all the progress he’s made this season and render his achievements with Birmingham somewhat pointless. Shay Given is probably the second best keeper’ in the league for my money, fractionally behind Pepe Reina at Liverpool, and at 34 years of age, although he may be no spring chicken, 34 is not that old for a keeper’ and he looks to have a few years left in him at the top just yet.
City are obviously delighted to have such a young and promising keeper such as Hart as Given’s understudy. They’re rich beyond most clubs wildest dreams; they have no pressing need to sell Hart and I very much doubt that they would as they’d just need to sign a replacement for Hart in a few season’s time, by which time the young goalkeeper could conceivably be England number one. But Hart could just as conceivably be sat on the bench for the next two or three seasons waiting for another injury like Given’s season ending dislocated shoulder, or simply having to settle the odd cup outing.
On the international stage, England manager Fabio Capello is known to be a fan of Foster and chose him to start in the friendly against Brazil in November, but he missed out on the provisional thirty-man party to the World Cup through a lack of first-team football after being frozen out at Man Utd. Should Foster get back to his best under manager Alex McLeish, and should Hart start the season sat on the bench, to a manager such as Capello where regular football is a big determining factor in his selection policy, Foster could end up leapfrogging Hart in the England pecking order.
The contrasts with Joe Hart are clear for all to see. He’s had a potential escape route out of Man City blocked by Foster’s move to the club, and although Birmingham wanted Hart back on another season-long loan, parent club Man City refused this request. It’s a win/win situation for Man City at the moment; they have Shay Given, a world-class keeper as number one and Joe Hart an England international with great potential as number two.
This season could be a pivotal crossroads in Hart’s career, should the 23 year-old chose to be brave and speak up, attempt to engineer a move away from the club in a bid to guarantee first team football next season, he could go on to have a flourishing career for both club and country. But should he decide to stay put in the hope of breaking through into the first team, Ben Foster’s unfulfilled career to date should serve as a precursor, and just goes to show that things to do not always go according to plan if you stick around waiting for things to happen. Hart would do well to learn from Foster’s experience, or rather lack of, if he wants to have a successful career.
Written By James McManus