The glare remains firmly on City's Joe Hart
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Positive steps but the glare remains firmly on Manchester Citys Joe Hart
A big decision was how Manuel Pellegrini described what he faced with regards to Joe Hart and whether he would pay the price for recent errors by being dropped for the game against Everton.
The sense was though that axing Hart was not something that Pellegrini was truly minded to do, that the very fact that such a decision was being mulled over would be enough to provide whatever rocket or motivation was required. And so it proved.
When the teams were announced late morning on Saturday Harts name was not amongst the six who found themselves out of the starting line-up following defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Whilst City ultimately overcame previously unbeaten Everton 3-1 it was not a victory or performance without question. It was not just Hart of course. The City performance as a whole was a nervy and at times hesitant one, understandable given the twin defeats over the past week that did much to damage confidence.
Chants of Englands number one rang out throughout the game and each save no matter how routine was heartily applauded.
When Joleon Lescotts error on the quarter-hour mark allowed Romelu Lukaku to put Everton ahead there must have been a sense of foreboding given Evertons recent return against City. The goal also raised further questions against Hart with opinion very much divided on whether he should kept Lukakus shot out.
Hart was clearly not helped by Lescotts mistake, which allowed the striker a clear shot at goal, but whilst no means an error on Harts part the fact that Lukakus shot did not have either the power or placement expected in that situation Hart will feel that he could, and perhaps should, have kept it out.
It was evident too that Hart had the unequivocal backing of the City fans. Chants of Englands number one rang out throughout the game and each save no matter how routine was heartily applauded, a nice touch if somewhat generous in rewarding what was actually achieved.
Post-game, Hart embraced with City goalkeeping coach Xabier Mancisidor and if anything there was a sense of relief that he emerged from the game unscathed and post-game Pellegrini backed Hart and his decission to stick with the under-fire goalkeeper.
It was not a simple decision to keep Joe Hart in the team but I know that he needs all of our trust the trust of me, the players and the fans, he said. I talked a lot with him after the match against Bayern of course he feels he didnt do well in the last game but today he showed his strong character.
With both City and England it is unlikely that Hart will be faced with a situation where he is called upon to make a string of confidence-boosting saves to grab the headlines.
Instead, he will need to be a game manager, providing confidence and a presence from the back and eliminating the mistakes seen of late. The performance against Everton was a positive start but the glare upon Hart is unlikely to dim any time soon.
A big decision was how Manuel Pellegrini described what he faced with regards to Joe Hart and whether he would pay the price for recent errors by being dropped for the game against Everton.
The sense was though that axing Hart was not something that Pellegrini was truly minded to do, that the very fact that such a decision was being mulled over would be enough to provide whatever rocket or motivation was required. And so it proved.
When the teams were announced late morning on Saturday Harts name was not amongst the six who found themselves out of the starting line-up following defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Whilst City ultimately overcame previously unbeaten Everton 3-1 it was not a victory or performance without question. It was not just Hart of course. The City performance as a whole was a nervy and at times hesitant one, understandable given the twin defeats over the past week that did much to damage confidence.
Chants of Englands number one rang out throughout the game and each save no matter how routine was heartily applauded.
When Joleon Lescotts error on the quarter-hour mark allowed Romelu Lukaku to put Everton ahead there must have been a sense of foreboding given Evertons recent return against City. The goal also raised further questions against Hart with opinion very much divided on whether he should kept Lukakus shot out.
Hart was clearly not helped by Lescotts mistake, which allowed the striker a clear shot at goal, but whilst no means an error on Harts part the fact that Lukakus shot did not have either the power or placement expected in that situation Hart will feel that he could, and perhaps should, have kept it out.
It was evident too that Hart had the unequivocal backing of the City fans. Chants of Englands number one rang out throughout the game and each save no matter how routine was heartily applauded, a nice touch if somewhat generous in rewarding what was actually achieved.
Post-game, Hart embraced with City goalkeeping coach Xabier Mancisidor and if anything there was a sense of relief that he emerged from the game unscathed and post-game Pellegrini backed Hart and his decission to stick with the under-fire goalkeeper.
It was not a simple decision to keep Joe Hart in the team but I know that he needs all of our trust the trust of me, the players and the fans, he said. I talked a lot with him after the match against Bayern of course he feels he didnt do well in the last game but today he showed his strong character.
With both City and England it is unlikely that Hart will be faced with a situation where he is called upon to make a string of confidence-boosting saves to grab the headlines.
Instead, he will need to be a game manager, providing confidence and a presence from the back and eliminating the mistakes seen of late. The performance against Everton was a positive start but the glare upon Hart is unlikely to dim any time soon.
