Joe Hart

He's definitely not become a bad keeper, words like "decrepit" are disrespectful. He was world-class in his prime and that buys you a lot of space to decline into. By the time he joined us, he had already declined from "world class" to merely "very good". Now, I'd say he has declined further to just "good"; but he's still on a par with what Gordon was and still better than Bain will ever be. So in that respect, replacing him is good if we can but not an absolute priority.

However, if Rodgers wants to play a way that needs a keeper who can ping passes then we have to go and get one for him. Not doing so would be the very definition of not backing him. Talk of 30 million misses the point that we'd be looking for young players with potential. The quality we need for any position would be easily £30 million if we were buying finished articles; but we don't buy finished articles.

And yes, a young keeper will drop a few clangers that Hart likely wouldn't. That's for Rodgers to decide.

 

He gets more stick then he deserves imo but definitely would like us to sign a no1

 

If Joe Hart is told he can just punt it up the feild if he needs to, we may lose possesion. If he tries to play it it out we may lose a goal.

Which is the hardest to come back from?

I get that coaches/managers like to a play a certain way, but you have to work towards that and compromise on the way.

If Joe is our number 1 next season he has to be allowed to do it his way. Even if he's the back up keeper, then in the games he plays he needs to have the freedom to do what he thinks he needs to.

 

We would likely loose the initial possession to opposition center half's header but it would be a lost possession in a safe area and I would expect our midfield to mostly regain possession from the header.
Point I am making is that there is way too much emphases placed on this playing out from the back in tight situations. Just punt it if not safe to play out.

 

Well said, good post.

 

Exactly. It doesn't matter who has possession, but where. I'd immediately agree to our European opposition having 75% possession if the majority of it was in their half or 35m away from our goal at best. Let Hart, or anyone else punt the ball as they see fit.

 

If a pass isn’t on, he needs to go long. I don’t think Ange previously or Brendan now will be telling him any different to that however. The keeper literally sees the whole game. He is the one that knows if a player has someone tight to him, so he knows whether a pass is on or not. The friendly against Wolves however, all of his mistakes came from either passing it straight out the park, or straight to an opposition player. There was always a pass on, he just didn’t execute it. I think he knows his position is under a lot of scrutiny, because against Wolves I think he looked nervous. Hart has been a very good signing for us, it’s time to bring someone on who is more suited to how we want to play though.

 

You can have opinions about his ability, but don't be disrespectful. He deserves nothing but respect and i would keep him and wait to replace him for next season.

 

He's been an excellent leader and really like him as a person, shown loads of class...

However, we can't afford sentiment we need better that's the fact.

 

Even if the pass is on, if he's not comfortable that he can execute it, then just punt up the park.

 

Nah that’s not good enough. That’s just surrendering possession more often than not. A big part of our play is being able to transition from defence to attack quickly. Simply pumping the ball up the park isn’t doing that and it will only play into the hands of teams domestically.

 

Probably echoing what everyone in here is saying, but I love Joe, he's been an unbelievable signing - that said, if we go into the new season with him as no.1 it's total negligence from the club.

 

I'm not suggesting he does it every time. Only when he thinks it's the best option.

 

Aye we should completely throw away our style of play because a goalkeeper isn’t comfortable on the ball.

Just sign a new one. Resorting to hoofball is a laughable suggestion.

 

The opposition now know to close him down as quickly as possible which often leads to him passing to an opposition player our giving one of our players a hospital pass. So yes, if it's clear that passing the ball out from the back is on do it but if there's a chance where he put's both himself and the defence under unnecessary pressure them clear it up the park away from danger. I fully appreciate that it's not the fashionable thing theses days however, what would we prefer - not loosing silly goals fannying about at the back or a team who might just make the opposition think twice to committing players to press our defence knowing that we have speed merchants like Kyogo and Maeda who can get in behind them.

 

What's laughable is trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole.

Are we going to get a new GK in the next 24hrs? Doubt it.
Will Siegrist start? Hope not.
So whilst Joe is our number 1, let him play the way he thinks is best.

 

There’s a balance though isn’t there? In pre-season Hart was trusted maybe a bit too much with the ball, because he’s good at showing as the option. Use other options around whilst playing out from the back.

We done it very well first time round under Rodgers with Craig Gordon at the back, Hart’s better on the ball than Gordon.

If you’re married to the style of involving the keeper as orchestrating the play at the back, and that’s it regardless, not allowed to switch it up… then you start Scott Bain, Because he’s the only keeper we have suited to that. He’s also not good enough at the rest of the * we need but on the ball, he’s good.

 

If it’s the only option I’d want Hart or any other keeper to go long. The problem is that most of the time there is a pass on but Hart struggles to execute it. I really like Hart to be fair, but realistically he isn’t going to improve with the ball at his feet now, so we need to bring in someone who is.